Becoming Educated Darren Leslie

This week I am joined Dr Jo Castelino who is a secondary Science teacher based in Yorkshire. Jo has a TLR for leading homework in her school and has recently shared her knowledge of how homework can become a successful part of schooling at ResearchEd.
Jo writes about her work on her blog which can be found here. I would recommend this article Jo wrote for Impact where she discusses how homework, done well, can become a ‘significant motivator for learning.’
In this episode we discuss the following and so much more:
How we get it right so that homework becomes a ‘significant motivator for learning.’
How we get students to do their homework.
What makes for effective homework.
How important it is that homework becomes a habit and embedded within the routine of schooling.
How we ensure homework doesn’t further disadvantage disadvantaged students.
I learned so much from Jo in this conversation. She highlights some key things we should all consider and demonstrates the importance of thinking deeply about what we do with regards to homework.
Get involved and share widely.
Please join our Facebook Group. I would love for you to join and share your takeaways from this episode and engage in discussion with fellow listeners.
Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie
If you have time, I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.
You can support the ongoing production of the podcast by buying me a coffee
This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:
Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads.
Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes, and exam preparation material. Teachers’ direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning.
97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve? Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount

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This week I am joined by Ross McGill, founder of Teacher Toolkit, his alter ego you might say. Ross is the bestselling author of ‘Mark.Plan.Teach’, Teacher Toolkit and Just Great Teaching and has also co-authored brilliant books including ‘The Revision Revolution’.
Recently, Ross released 'The Teacher Toolkit Guide to Memory' and it really is a fantastic addition to the cogsci discussion. Ross describes it as a beginners guide to memory, but it is so much more than that and we unpick some of the key themes in today’s episode.
In this episode we discuss the following and so much more:
Why memory is the number one thing to know about
Some basic parts of the human brain and why we should know about them
How memory is shaped in the brain
How we can use Direct Instruction and Dual Coding to deliver content clearly and efficiently
The different types of memory including short term memory and long-term memory
The connection between emotions and learning
This is a far-ranging conversation and Ross speaks with honesty and clarity when explaining complex concepts.
Get involved and share widely.
Please join our Facebook Group. I would love for you to join and share your takeaways from this episode and engage in discussion with fellow listeners.
Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie
If you have time, I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.
You can support the ongoing production of the podcast by buying me a coffee
This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:
Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads. Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes, and exam preparation material. Teachers’ direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning. 97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve? Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount
 

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This week I am joined by Adam Boxer. Adam is the head of science at Totteridge Academy, co-founder of Carousel Learning and author of the brilliant book ‘Teaching Secondary Science’. In the book Adam distils years of hard-won experience and outlines his approach to teaching and it goes well beyond just science. The huge 100 plus pages on explanations are worth the purchase of the book alone and his outline on how to build a culture of retrieval.
In this episode we discuss the following and so much more:
Why our teaching should be content-led and not resource-led
What is meant by the term 'Ratio'
Why a good explanation is the 'beating heart of an effective learning sequence'
The features of an effective explanation
How Adam is building a culture of retrieval ‘to ensure students conduct lots of retrieval practice in their own time’
This conversation has so many takeaways so I would advise that you listen twice and make sure that you have a pen and paper handy, Adam's thinking really is brilliant.
Get involved and share widely.
Please join our Facebook Group. I would love for you to join and share your takeaways from this episode and engage in discussion with fellow listeners.
Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie
If you have time, I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.
You can support the ongoing production of the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie
This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:
Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads. Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes, and exam preparation material. Teachers’ direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning. 97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve? Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am joined by Amarbeer Singh Gill. Singh is a lead practitioner of secondary maths and a teacher educator. He blogs at unpackingeducation.wixsite.com and you can find him on twitter @InspiredLearn_
Recently, Singh wrote a brilliant book as part of the In Action series, 'Dunlosky's Strengthening the Student Toolbox in Action' and we discuss the contents in todays episode. Dunlosky's research focussed on study strategies that are regularly employed by our students during their independent study and he ranked them from most to least effective.
In this episode we discuss the following and so much more:
How Dunlosky's paper impacted on Singh's classroom practice
What we need to know and understand about Dunlosky's research
The strategies that are most effective including practice testing and distributed practice otherwise known as retrieval practice and spacing
The strategies that are least effective including highlighting and re-reading
What we should be teaching our students to do during independent study
This is an enriching conversation Singh and I got so much out of it. Especially, the words of caution that Singh provides near the end.
Get involved and share widely.
Ive just formed a Facebook Group and I would love for you to join and share your takeaways from this episode and engage in discussion with fellow listeners.
Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie
If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.
You can support the ongoing production of the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie
This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:
Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads. Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes and exam preparation material. Teachers direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning. 97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve? Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk, and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subject Specific: English
This week welcomes the first subject specific episode of Becoming Educated and I am joined on the interviewing side by Nikki Waite, an Assistant Principal for Teaching & Learning, and an English Teacher.
We explore Ready to Teach: A Christmas Carol with the authors Amy Staniforth & Stuart Pryke.
Stuart Pryke is an English teacher and Teaching and Learning lead in a secondary school just outside of Ipswich, Suffolk. He is a LitDrive regional advocate and has worked with Oak National Academy. He tweets @SPryke2 and blogs at englishteachersnotebook.blogspot.com
Amy Staniforth is an English teacher and Vice Principal for Quality of Education at a rural secondary school in Norfolk. She is also the Research Lead for teaching and curriculum in a multi-academy trust. She tweets @teachals and blogs at thingsshetaught.wordpress.com
In the episode we discuss the following:
How Amy & Stuart navigate the vast hinterland of A Christmas Carol
Is it possible to truly understand the powerful message of The Carol without understanding Dickens himself?
What English can learn from History with regards to Big Questions
The strategy of Read, Re-read and Read Again
Amy & Stuart also shared these links with us from our discussion:
https://www.jstor.org/
https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians
You can buy Ready to Teach: A Christmas Carol from:
John Catt: https://www.johncattbookshop.com/ready-to-teach-a-christmas-carol
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ready-Teach-Christmas-compendium-knowledge/dp/191526121X
Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/ready-to-teach-a-christmas-carol/stuart-pryke/amy-staniforth/9781915261212
Get involved and share widely.
Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie
If you have time, I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.
You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie
This episode is sponsored by UpLearn:
Up Learn is an online, curriculum-learning resource for A Levels that helps teachers improve educational outcomes amongst students, whilst reducing their own workloads.
Developed by an experienced team of educators, Up Learn courses contain high-quality videos, quizzes, and exam preparation material. Teachers’ direct students to certain sections of Up Learn as homework, facilitating flipped learning, consolidation of classroom material and independent learning.
97% of students who complete an Up Learn course achieve A*/A, with many starting from D's and U's. What could yours achieve?
Find out by booking a demo today at uplearn.co.uk and be sure to quote Becoming Educated for a 10% discount.
 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I am joined by Alex Gordon.
Alex is Assistant Principal of Teaching & learning at Chingford Foundation School.
In this episode Alex and I discuss his schools evidence informed journey including:
What this has involved since September 2020
How Alex went about refreshing his schools pedagogical principles
The five strand interconnected model for professional development
How Alex shares best practice in the school
This was a great conversation and there is so much gold for Teaching & Learning leads.
You can follow Alex on twitter @MrAWGordon_
Get involved and share widely.
Keep the conversation going using #becomingeducated and tagging me @dnleslie
If you have time I would love for you to review Becoming Educated and share what you love about the podcast.
You can support the podcast by buying me a coffee here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dnleslie
 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.