While there has been much interest in cognitive load theory (CLT) – Dylan Wiliam, quoted in Greg Ashman’s blog Filling the pail, says he thinks it is ‘the single most important thing for a teacher to know’ – very little has been written that specifically address early years teaching. One aspect of CLT discussed by… Continue reading Cognitive load theory, element interactivity and phonics teaching
Following on from my last post, here, after three years of Sounds-Write, are the results from St George’s CEPS at the end of Year 2. As before, if you look at the table, which I have anonymised, you can see that 30 children in Year 2 (the end of their third year of schooling) did… Continue reading A Class Act, Scene 2, Year 2
A couple of weeks ago, Debbie’s son Kofi wrote his name. Kofi and his mother Debbie had been making a shopping list when Kofi asked for a piece of paper and wrote his name. He wrote, completely unaided, without his mother having to hold his hand or to prompt him, and, said each sound as he… Continue reading Kofi and the art of the possible
This is the fourth and final blog post about my talk at ResearchEd Auckland. The earlier ones are here, here and here. Learning, as we always tell teachers on our phonics training courses, is uneven and is punctuated by sudden improvements, long plateaus, and/or periods of regression. That’s what learning looks like. It’s messy! To… Continue reading The role of the teacher
Can you imagine teaching a group of as many as ten children, of which two are autistic, one has cerebral palsy, two have severe hearing difficulties, and one has ADHD, in one classroom all at the same time? That’s the kind of thing they do every day of the school week at Multikids Inclusive Academy… Continue reading Teaching literacy in a truly inclusive school
You might be wondering why I haven’t posted in the blog for a while… Well, I have been busy writing a free-online course for parents and carers, and I am delighted to let you know that it is now live. In fact, it has been live for two weeks now, and since then, nearly 1300… Continue reading Help your child to read and write
