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Matt and Femi discuss the terms 'inclusive teaching', 'adaptive teaching' and 'responsive teaching'.  The point is also made that great teaching is, by definition, inclusive teaching: if not all of your students are making great progress then it's hard to claim that the teaching is 'great'.

Reflecting on a lovely message received from a former student, Matt and Femi discuss what it means to believe in our students and how that belief plays out in our actions and behaviour.

Welcome to Season 4! After brief introductions for new listeners Matt and Femi discuss the first part of Viviane Robinson's book 'Reduce change to increase performance'.  In particular they focus on the distinction between change and improvement, problem and goal clarity, the importance of understanding the beliefs and values that underpin the status quo, the concept of double loop learning, and the idea that true engagement requires both parties to have access to the other's thinking. We welcome listener feedback and enquiries - you can reach us via email: [email protected]

Femi reflects on the last year with one particular class in mind and asks: "Are my lessons challenging enough?"

Femi has been teaching a Science class and shares his approach and reflections with Matt.  They discuss 'learning to learn', booklets, AI, rounds of teaching and CFU, shed loads of practise, feedback and self-checking answers, precision and rigour and much more!

Amongst other things, Femi and Matt talk about how hard it can be as a middle leader to lead on change without strong models to refer to.

Matt and Femi discuss the subtle ways students can often make life difficult for teachers, and why this happens in some classrooms but not in others.

Matt and Femi have a chat about teachers using seating plan resets as a strategy, debate breaking down intangible aspects like 'feel' into granular concrete components when coaching, and the role and possible negative effects of prior information when it comes to planning seating plans and thinking about a new class.

Matt and Femi talk about coaching, and how teachers working on their craft will often need to stick with a particular focus and practice it with reflection and feedback to master it.

Matt discusses with Femi a recent conversation he had with a teacher that he supports regarding resetting a challenging class in which norms had severely slipped from previous high standards.  The conversation will be of particular interest to heads of department supporting colleagues in their team.

Matt and Femi discuss economy of language during explanations and the advantages of keeping teacher talk lean. Contact us at: [email protected]

Matt and Femi discuss a couple of really common issues that undermine teachers' ability to deliver powerful, clear and memorable explanations.

Matt and Femi discuss what to do with a comment often heard by the coffee machine... "This class doesn't retain things!" [email protected]

Matt and Femi talk to James Gisby about the challenges and intricacies of teaching History, and what good History lessons could look like.

Matt and Femi discuss why effective learning can often look somewhat boring from the outside, and why that can sometimes be problematic in schools. [email protected]