Free Daily Podcast Summary
Chalk Dust: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Nathaniel Swain
Welcome to Chalk Dust, the podcast that gives you a front row seat into some of the best classrooms in the world. There are lots of great conversations about teaching and education happening around the world right now. There are already so many fantastic podcasts out there about evidence based practice, and we're so excited to bring you one more, but this one has a distinctive difference. Each episode, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain break down real classroom footage to illuminate the moments that make great teaching great. Teaching is both a science and an art. There are proven techniques that we know to work, but applying them in real classrooms is where the complexity lies. Our goal? To help you develop the eye of an expert observer, so you can see what makes lessons effective and apply those insights into your own teaching or coaching practice.
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- 1 weeks ago37 min
Season Two, Episode 12: Big-style Belonging with Dr. Staci Bain
SummaryIn this episode of Chalk Dust, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain are joined by Dr Staci Bain, literacy leader, co-founder of Educate America and author of Empowered to Teach and Lead. Through classroom footage, Staci demonstrates how precise literacy instruction and deliberate acts of encouragement can work together to create classrooms where students feel successful, supported and ready to learn.The discussion begins with handwriting instruction, exploring how tracing, visualisation, movement and carefully sequenced practice help young children learn letter formation. The conversation then turns to the small but powerful interactions that build belonging, including positive narration, individual encouragement and whole-class celebrations.Throughout the episode, Rebecca, Nathaniel and Staci explore the relationship between effective instruction, human connection and classroom culture. They consider how teachers develop the judgement to respond to the energy of a classroom, and why early career teachers need practical strategies for building belonging alongside behaviour management.Mentioned resources and explainersDr Staci Bain and Educate America: Staci Bain is a literacy leader and co-founder of Educate America, supporting schools to strengthen whole-class literacy instruction. She is also the author of Empowered to Teach and Lead: Whole Group Literacy Instruction Made Easy. Her TikTok is here. On the Road to Literacy Success: Staci’s podcast explores literacy instruction and school improvement. This Chalk Dust episode is part of a collaboration between the two podcasts.Virginia Berninger’s Handwriting Research: Research on handwriting and dysgraphia informs Staci’s approach to combining letter names, sounds and formation, alongside tracing and visualisation.The Imagination Effect and Embodied Cognition: Rebecca and Nathaniel discuss how mental imagery and physical gestures may support learning. Staci demonstrates how skywriting also allows teachers to identify errors before students put pencil to paper.Positive Narration and Affirmations: Brief, specific acknowledgements and shared celebrations help reinforce desirable behaviour, build relationships and create a positive classroom culture.‘With-it-ness’ and Cresting the Wave: The ability to notice what is happening across the classroom and adjust instruction accordingly. The discussion considers how experienced teachers learn when to increase energy, celebrate success or return students to focused work.Listen or view, and support our work🍏🎧 Apple Podcasts — like, review and follow🎵💚 Spotify — follow and rate📺🔔 YouTube — subscribe and like✍️ Rebecca’s Substack — read more✍️ Nathaniel’s Substack — read moreTakeaways* Effective handwriting instruction integrates letter formation, letter names and sounds.* Tracing, visualisation and skywriting provide opportunities for practice and immediate feedback.* Small, deliberate acts of encouragement can help students feel recognised and valued.* Building belonging requires practical teaching skills, not simply positive intentions.* Clear instructional systems can reduce teacher workload and free up energy for human connection.* Whole-class affirmations can celebrate success and strengthen classroom community.* Expert teachers continually monitor classroom energy and adjust their responses.* Classroom culture depends on balancing warmth, encouragement, expectations and boundaries.* Early career teachers need explicit coaching in relationship-building as well as
- 4 weeks ago42 min
Season Two, Episode 11: The Penny Promise with Kris Boulton
SummaryIn this episode of Chalk Dust, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain are joined by Kris Boulton, founder and CEO of Unstoppable Learning, to explore atomisation, an approach to instructional design that breaks complex learning into carefully sequenced, manageable elements. Drawing on classroom footage of Kris teaching algebra to primary and secondary students at Mastery Schools Australia, the discussion examines how precise explanations, minimally different examples and systematic checking for understanding can enable students to master mathematical concepts that initially appear well beyond their capabilities.Kris demonstrates how deliberate instructional design can remove unnecessary cognitive demands, allowing students to concentrate on exactly what they are learning. Through examples of expanding algebraic expressions, he explains why the selection and sequencing of examples matter, how to separate arithmetic from new mathematical procedures, and how mini whiteboards and immediate corrective feedback help teachers identify and address errors before moving forward. Central to his approach is the Penny Promise: if students give their attention and follow the instruction, the responsibility for their success rests with the teacher.Throughout the episode, Rebecca, Nathaniel and Kris explore the relationship between instructional design, cognitive load, student motivation and teaching expertise. The conversation extends beyond mathematics into broader questions about teaching sentence construction, selecting examples, managing instructional pace and the balance between explicit modelling and guided practice. Ultimately, the episode challenges teachers to consider how much more students might learn when every explanation, example and practice opportunity is designed with precision.Mentioned resources and explainersKris BoultonKris Boulton is an international teacher educator and education writer specialising in evidence-informed instructional design. He has contributed to England’s Early Career Framework and Ofsted’s Mathematics Inspection Framework, led teacher educator development at Teach First, and helped design Up Learn’s learning system.Unstoppable LearningFounded by Kris Boulton, Unstoppable Learning works with schools to improve mathematics instruction through a structured approach to instructional design known as atomisation. The organisation focuses on making complex learning accessible through precise explanations and carefully sequenced examples.AtomisationAn approach to instructional design that breaks learning into a small number of fundamental elements, each requiring a particular form of explanation and sequencing. Kris argues that identifying these elements allows teachers to design instruction that minimises ambiguity and prevents predictable misconceptions.The Penny PromiseNamed after Kris’s early-career mentor, Penny Jones, the Penny Promise is a commitment to students that if they pay attention and follow the instruction, they will succeed. It places responsibility on the teacher to design and deliver instruction that makes success possible.Engelmann and Carnine – Theory of InstructionSiegfried Engelmann and Douglas Carnine developed Direct Instruction, a systematic approach to instructional design that informs Kris’s work. Their Theory of Instruction examines how examples, non-examples, transformations and carefully controlled variations can support accurate learning and generalisation.Minimally Different ExamplesExamples that change only one carefully selected feature at a time. By controlling what changes and what stays the same, teachers can direct students’ attention to the specific concept or procedure being taught.The Setup PrincipleA principle associated with Engelmann and Carnine’s instructional design in which irrelevant features of examples are kept constant while the feature being taught is varied. Kris discusses how this might apply to teaching sentence syntax without simultaneously introducing challenging vocabulary.Cognitive Load and Instructional DesignKris explains how unnecessary arithmetic can interfere with learning a new mathematical procedure. By using simple number facts or stopping tasks before the calculation stage, teachers can direct students’ attention towards the intended learning rather than competing demands.Instruction and Testing SequencesKris distinguishes between the initial presentation of carefull
- Aug 30, 202636 min
Season Two, Episode 10: Professor Anna Stokke on Effective and Engaging Math(s) Instruction
SummaryIn this special in-person episode of Chalk Dust, recorded at researchEd Melbourne at Haileybury, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain are joined by Professor Anna Stokke, mathematician, educator and host of the Chalk & Talk podcast. Together they analyse classroom footage from Australian mathematics lessons, exploring how carefully sequenced instruction, explicit teaching and strong classroom routines support successful mathematics learning.Across examples including number bonds, subtraction algorithms, number lines and percentages, Anna explains why mathematics should be taught through deliberate sequencing, clear modelling and extensive guided practice. The discussion examines pair-share routines, scripted mathematics programs, mastery of mathematical symbols, the role of automaticity, and why concrete materials should be viewed as temporary scaffolds rather than permanent learning tools.Throughout the episode, Rebecca, Nathaniel and Professor Stokke discuss mathematics-specific pedagogy, instructional coaching, pedagogical content knowledge and the importance of ensuring every student has access to effective mathematics instruction. The conversation argues that explicit mathematics teaching is not passive or robotic, but highly interactive, intellectually demanding and built around giving students repeated experiences of success.Special thanks to Pat Sanders, Ollie Lovell and Brendan Lee for their help with this episode. Mentioned resources and explainersProfessor Anna StokkeAnna Stokke is Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Winnipeg, adjunct professor and honorary co-director of the Science of Mathematics Lab at La Trobe University, and host of the Chalk & Talk podcast. Her work focuses on evidence-informed mathematics education and improving mathematics instruction.Chalk & Talk PodcastAnna Stokke’s podcast exploring evidence-informed mathematics education, instructional practice and educational research.Explicit Mathematics Program (EMP)A structured primary mathematics program developed by Toni Hatton-Roberts and Ollie Lovell. The program emphasises carefully sequenced instruction, explicit modelling, guided practice and cumulative review.Mastery Schools AustraliaAn Australian special-assistance school network implementing explicit, carefully sequenced mathematics instruction.Number BondsAn early mathematics concept helping students understand part-whole relationships between numbers, providing foundations for later arithmetic and algebraic reasoning.Standard AlgorithmsTraditional written methods for operations such as subtraction. Anna argues that carefully sequenced instruction in standard algorithms develops procedural fluency while reinforcing place value understanding.AutomaticityThe ability to retrieve basic number facts rapidly and effortlessly. Automatic recall reduces cognitive load, allowing students to focus on more complex mathematical thinking.Concrete MaterialsPhysical manipulatives used to introduce mathematical concepts. Anna argues they should be temporary instructional scaffolds rather than ongoing computational tools.Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)The specialised knowledge teachers need to teach a particular subject effectively, including understanding misconceptions, sequencing and representations. Rebecca reflects on whether mathematics-specific instructional coaching deserves greater attention.Scripted InstructionInstructional programs that carefully sequence explanations, examples and practice opportunities. The discussion explores how well-designed scripts can support teacher expertise while still allowing individual teaching style to emerge.Listen or view, and support our work🍏🎧 Apple Podcasts — like, review and follow🎵💚 Spotify — follow and rate📺🔔 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC43wzow7iN4
- Aug 10, 202639 min
Episode 9: Every Class is a Reading Class
SummaryIn this episode of Chalk Dust, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain are joined by Andrew McCrorey, an experienced educator and instructional leader at Monterey Secondary College in Victoria. Drawing on classroom footage from a secondary setting serving a highly disadvantaged community, Andrew demonstrates how explicit instruction, trauma-informed positive education and high expectations can work together rather than compete with one another.The discussion explores entry routines, co-regulation, secondary choral reading, gist statements, cold calling, participation as an equity issue, and the explicit teaching of behaviour expectations. Andrew explains how consistency across classrooms can function as an equity strategy, creating predictable environments in which students know what success looks like and teachers can focus on teaching rather than repeatedly resetting behaviour.Across the episode, Rebecca, Nathaniel and Andrew return to the idea that supporting students does not require lowering the bar. Instead, effective practice combines strong relationships, clear routines, deliberate participation structures and carefully sequenced academic support. The result is a classroom where students are both safe and challenged, and where literacy, behaviour and wellbeing are treated as interconnected parts of successful teaching.Mentioned resources and explainersAndrew McCroreyAndrew McCrorey is an educator with more than 20 years’ experience teaching in Australia and internationally. His work focuses on explicit instruction, behaviour support, trauma-informed positive education and improving classroom practice in complex educational settings.Monterey Secondary CollegeMonterey Secondary College is located in Frankston North, Victoria. Andrew describes the school’s approach as combining evidence-informed teaching, trauma-informed positive education and consistency across classrooms to improve student learning and engagement.Trauma-Informed Positive EducationA framework used at Monterey to support student regulation, relationships and readiness to learn. Andrew emphasises that trauma-informed practice is not about lowering expectations, but about raising expectations while providing the support students need to meet them.Four-to-One Positive to Corrective FeedbackAndrew describes using a high ratio of positive to corrective feedback during routines such as lesson entry. Positive narration, greeting students warmly and acknowledging successful behaviour help establish a calm, predictable start.Entry RoutinesA tightly rehearsed lesson-entry process in which students know what materials to collect, where to go and what task to begin. Andrew explains how predictable entry routines support regulation, reduce bottlenecks and maximise learning time.Choral ReadingStudents read a text aloud together, following the teacher’s pacing and expression. Andrew uses choral reading in secondary English to build fluency, confidence, prosody and participation while allowing the teacher to hear and correct reading in real time.Gist StatementsA summarising strategy in which students identify who or what a section is about, select key details and then condense the information into a single statement. Andrew uses this as part of a gradual release process to support comprehension and later writing.Cold CallingAndrew uses cold calling after students have had time to rehearse thinking through pair discussion. He frames participation as an equity issue, while also maintaining flexibility when a student is not ready to respond.Tracking the SpeakerA universal attention routine used across the school. Students are explicitly taught to orient towards the speaker so that teachers can secure attention efficiently and maintain lesson flow.Explicit Teaching of BehaviourRather than relying on broad classroom rules, Andrew teaches specific routines for situations such as arriving late. Students are shown what to do, what to expect, and how consequences will work, reducing uncertainty and preserving learning time.Listen or view, and support our work🍏🎧 Apple Podcasts — like, review and follow🎵💚 Spotify — follow and rate📺🔔 YouTube — subscribe and like✍️ Rebecca’s Substack — read more✍️ <a target="_blank" href="https://nathanielswai
- Jul 19, 202637 min
Season Two, Episode 8: Getting Hands-On
SummaryIn this episode of Chalk Dust, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain are joined by STEM educator Amber Haven to explore what happens when explicit instruction meets genuinely engaging hands-on learning. Using footage from Amber’s middle-school STEM classroom, the discussion follows a lesson on neutral buoyancy, revealing how carefully designed routines allow practical investigations to remain cognitively demanding rather than descending into chaos.Amber demonstrates how retrieval practice, mini-whiteboards, Six Bricks, gesture, choral response and explicit behaviour routines work together to create classrooms where every student is thinking. Throughout the episode, Rebecca, Nathaniel and Amber discuss the importance of background knowledge, continuous checking for understanding, purposeful transitions, differentiation without lowering expectations, and designing practical activities that provide immediate feedback. The conversation highlights how high-quality classroom routines free students to focus on learning rather than logistics, making complex scientific concepts accessible through deliberate instructional design.Mentioned resources and explainersAmber HavenAmber Haven is a STEM educator with more than 16 years of classroom experience and a strong focus on translating cognitive science into practical classroom strategies. She has presented at ResearchED conferences across the United States and at the Thriving Educators Summit, and her work has been featured by The Learning Scientists and in Powerful Classrooms by Patrice Bain.Retrieval PracticeThroughout the lesson, Amber demonstrates retrieval as an ongoing classroom habit rather than a single lesson component. Students repeatedly retrieve knowledge through mini-whiteboards, questioning, gestures, closed sentences and practical activities.Mini WhiteboardsMini-whiteboards allow every student to participate, provide immediate formative assessment, and make thinking visible. Amber discusses the routines required to use them fluently throughout a lesson.Six BricksSix Bricks is a hands-on retrieval strategy that uses coloured Duplo bricks to sequence concepts, definitions or problems. Students retrieve vocabulary while constructing a coloured stack, allowing rapid checking for understanding and high levels of engagement.Continuous Checking for UnderstandingRather than reserving checks for understanding for isolated moments, Amber embeds them throughout explanations, transitions and instructions, ensuring students remain cognitively engaged from beginning to end.Gesture and Dual CodingThe episode explores how gesture, movement and simple physical cues support memory and retrieval—even with older students who may initially resist participating.DifferentiationAmber demonstrates how differentiation can maintain common learning goals while adjusting the amount of work or level of support individual students receive, rather than lowering expectations or creating entirely different tasks.Practical Science with Explicit InstructionThe discussion explores how carefully sequenced demonstrations, clear success criteria and explicit routines allow practical science lessons to remain focused on conceptual understanding rather than entertainment.Listen or view, and support our work📨 Substack — sign up🍏🎧 Apple Podcasts — like, review and follow🎵💚 Spotify — follow and rate📺🔔 YouTube — subscribe and like✍️ Rebecca’s Substack — read more✍️ Nathaniel’s Substack — read moreTakeaways* Retrieval practice is most powerful when woven continuously throughout lessons.* Strong routines allow practical learning to remain focused on thinking rather than managing behaviour.* Mini-whiteboards provide rapid formative assessment while ensuring whole-class p
- Jun 21, 202651 min
Season Two, Episode 7: Everyone can learn mathematics with John Mighton
SummaryIn this episode of Chalk Dust, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain are joined by renowned mathematician, educator and founder of JUMP Math, John Mighton. Drawing on classroom footage from Canadian primary classrooms, John shares the instructional principles that underpin his work: breaking complex ideas into manageable steps, ensuring every student experiences success, and building confidence through carefully sequenced learning.The discussion explores the relationship between motivation and achievement, challenging the idea that some students are simply “maths people” while others are not. John argues that confidence is not a prerequisite for success but a consequence of it. Through examples from lessons on place value and long division, he demonstrates how micro-scaffolding, structured inquiry, and deliberate practice can help students tackle sophisticated mathematical ideas while remaining engaged and optimistic.Throughout the episode, Rebecca, Nathaniel and John discuss the role of challenge, the importance of maintaining students in an optimal learning zone, micro-scaffolding, and how effective teachers create classrooms where every learner can participate in meaningful thinking. The conversation extends beyond mathematics into broader questions about motivation, differentiation, classroom culture and what it means to teach with both precision and humanity.Mentioned resources and explainersJohn MightonJohn Mighton is a mathematician, playwright and educator best known as the founder of JUMP Math. His work focuses on making mathematics accessible to all students through carefully sequenced instruction, micro-scaffolding and high expectations. His books can be found here, here and here. JUMP MathJUMP Math is an instructional approach and curriculum developed by John Mighton. The model emphasises breaking learning into small achievable steps while maintaining conceptual understanding and challenge.The 85% RuleA principle discussed by John suggesting that learners are most motivated when they are successful most of the time, but still experience enough challenge to stretch their thinking. The goal is to avoid both frustration and boredom.Structured InquiryRather than choosing between explicit instruction and discovery learning, structured inquiry carefully guides students towards important insights through well-designed questions, examples and prompts.Micro-ScaffoldingA teaching approach that breaks complex concepts into very small, manageable components so that students experience repeated success while building towards sophisticated understanding.Collective ConfidenceJohn discusses how confidence can become a collective classroom phenomenon. When students repeatedly experience success and see their peers succeeding, expectations about who can learn begin to change.Deliberate PracticeThe idea that expertise develops through carefully designed practice targeting specific areas for improvemen
- May 31, 202643 min
Season Two, Episode 6: The Knowledge Rich Classroom of Laura Stam
SummaryIn this episode of Chalk Dust, Rebecca Birch and Dr Nathaniel Swain are joined by Laura Stam, a third grade teacher in Wyoming, writer of The Knowledge Exchange on Substack, 2024–2025 Goyen Fellow, and founding board member of The Reading League Wyoming. Laura takes us inside a knowledge-rich history lesson on the earliest Native American peoples of North America, with a particular focus on the Arapaho and Shoshone peoples of Wyoming.The episode explores how a text-based lesson can be highly interactive, precise, and content-rich without becoming fragmented. Using a knowledge organiser, document camera, shared reading, choral responses, pair shares, sentence stems, and a co-constructed Venn diagram, Laura shows how students can build deep knowledge while also practising reading, speaking, listening, and writing. The conversation highlights how explicit teaching can remain flexible and responsive when the content itself drives the lesson.Across the episode, Rebecca and Nathaniel unpack the small moves that make the lesson work: high participation, full sentence responses, careful questioning, purposeful pauses, and frequent opportunities for students to rehearse and elaborate their thinking. The result is a classroom where students are excited to contribute, but supported enough to do so with precision and confidence.Mentioned resources and explainersThe Knowledge ExchangeLaura’s Substack, focused on building teacher knowledge through practical resources, classroom examples, and reflections on evidence-informed teaching.The Reading League WyomingLaura is a founding board member of The Reading League Wyoming, part of a broader movement supporting knowledge about evidence-aligned reading instruction.Core Knowledge History and GeographyLaura adapted parts of the lesson from Core Knowledge History and Geography materials on the earliest Americans, then supplemented them with local content on the Arapaho and Shoshone peoples.Knowledge organiserA one-page resource that captures key knowledge for a unit, including timelines, maps, vocabulary, and important facts. In this lesson, the knowledge organiser supports retrieval, review, previewing, and coherence across lessons. More on this here.Document camera / visualiserLaura uses a document camera rather than slide decks so she can move flexibly between texts, maps, organisers, and student work. It allows live modelling, annotation, and co-construction.All hands upA participation routine where all students prepare an answer and raise their hands, giving the teacher a sample of responses while maintaining high accountability.Sentence stemsStructured sentence starters that help students answer in full sentences and elaborate their thinking. Laura uses them to support oral responses and later written work.Pair share: windows and doorsStudents are assigned as “windows” or “doors” partners so they know who speaks first. This keeps pair discussion efficient and gives every student an opportunity to rehearse.Shared reading with cloze responsesLaura reads aloud while students follow the text and chorally supply missing words when she pauses. This keeps attention high and gives students frequent opportunities to respond.Phrase readingStudents are called on to read short sections aloud, with support as needed. Laura uses this carefully so all students can participate without embarrassment.Advance organiserNathaniel connects Laura’s knowledge organiser to the idea of an advanced organiser: a structure given before learning that helps students make sense of new information.Venn diagramLaura uses a co-constructed Venn diagram to help students compare and contrast the Arapaho, Shoshone, Inuit, and Eastern Woodlands peoples. This supports conceptual links across lessons.Listen or view, and support our work📨 Substack
- May 10, 202639 min
Season Two, Episode 5: The choreography of learning
SummaryIn this episode of Chalk Dust, Rebecca Birch and Dr Nathaniel Swain are joined by Hannah Pointon, a Year 3/4 teacher at Woodstock School in Hamilton, New Zealand. Hannah shares how her school has moved towards structured literacy, structured maths, explicit teaching, and teaching behaviour as a curriculum in its own right.Using early-year classroom footage, the episode explores how clear routines transform classroom life: lining up, entering the room, organising materials, whole-class reading, whiteboard responses in maths, and even collecting lunchboxes. Hannah shows how routines that look simple on the surface are deliberately taught, scaffolded, practised, and reinforced until they become calm, independent habits.Across the conversation, the hosts reflect on the difference between reacting to chaos and proactively teaching the behaviours students need for learning, safety, and belonging. The result is a classroom that feels purposeful, warm, and highly structured — not because students are constrained, but because they know exactly how to succeed.Mentioned resources and explainersStructured literacyA systematic approach to teaching reading that gives students explicit instruction in the skills and knowledge needed for reading success.Structured mathsAn approach to maths teaching that emphasises clear modelling, practice, fluency, and careful sequencing of foundational knowledge.The Writing RevolutionA writing approach that supports sentence-level and paragraph-level instruction through explicit, carefully sequenced routines.Teaching behaviour as curriculumThe idea that behaviour should not be assumed; it should be explicitly taught, practised, checked, and reinforced like any academic skill.Entry routinesHannah’s students line up, enter in order, put shoes away, sit down, and begin handwriting. The routine is scaffolded early in the year so students gradually become independent.Whole-class readingHannah uses routines such as tracking, echo reading, buddy reading, and self-reading to support fluency, accountability, vocabulary, and comprehension.TrackersStudents use a piece of paper to follow the line of text as they read. Hannah prefers paper over rulers because it is quieter and supports focused tracking.Whiteboard normsStudents practise answering on mini whiteboards, holding boards still, turning them together, and showing work even when unfinished. The routine supports participation and gives the teacher quick feedback.Fluency in maths factsThe episode highlights the importance of students knowing basic facts automatically so they are not held back by cognitive load when learning more complex maths.Pre-correctionNathaniel references Anita Archer’s principle: if you expect something, pre-correct it. Hannah’s routines show this in action by preventing predictable problems before they occur.Listen or view, and support our work📨 Substack — sign up🍏🎧 Apple Podcasts — like, review and follow🎵💚 Spotify — follow and rate📺🔔 YouTube — subscribe and like✍️ Rebecca’s Substack — read more✍️ Nathaniel’s Substack — read moreTakeaways* Behaviour needs to be taught explicitly, especially at the start of the year.* Clear routines reduce the need for constant correction because students know what success looks like.* Doing routines again is not punitive; it gives students another chance to practise correctly.* Entry routines help students shift from playground energy into learning mode.* Classroom organisation matters: simple systems for books, whiteboards, desks, and bags reduce friction.* Whole-class reading can build fluency, vocabulary, focus, and accountability when routines are carefully taught.* Echo reading supports expression, punctuation awareness, and fluent phrasing.* Mini whiteboards are powerful only when the response routines are also taught.* Maths fact fluency supports later mathematical understanding by reducing cognitive load.* Strong routines create safety, belonging, and calm — not just more learning time.Keywordsclassroom routines, behaviour curriculum, explicit teaching, structured literacy, structured maths, whol
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About Chalk Dust
Welcome to Chalk Dust, the podcast that gives you a front row seat into some of the best classrooms in the world. There are lots of great conversations about teaching and education happening around the world right now. There are already so many fantastic podcasts out there about evidence based practice, and we're so excited to bring you one more, but this one has a distinctive difference. Each episode, Rebecca Birch and Nathaniel Swain break down real classroom footage to illuminate the moments that make great teaching great. Teaching is both a science and an art. There are proven techniques that we know to work, but applying them in real classrooms is where the complexity lies. Our goal? To help you develop the eye of an expert observer, so you can see what makes lessons effective and apply those insights into your own teaching or coaching practice.
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