Emma & Tom Talk Teaching

Emma and Tom are joined by Dr. Kate North to discuss creative writing: its place as a creative art, its interdisciplinary nature, and the fact that everyone has the right to write! Kate tells us how creative writing can be used as an innovative way of collecting research data, and how in the process of doing so it can gently break down language barriers, throw light on competing priorities and level the playing field between powerful professions and the public they serve. In the wellbeing slot, Kate tells us how she keeps motivated to write when nobody's cracking the whip on her, she shouts out to a student for whom an unfortunate diagnosis was the stimulus for becoming a writer, and gives us a creative writing prompt that has us all cringing even while we acknowledge its genius. Plus, as an added bonus, we didn't want to miss the opportunity of asking Kate to read one of her poems to us! We hope the one we asked for has something to say to all of you - we loved it. We hope you'll be back next time, when we'll have another special guest who'll be telling us what it's like to be pioneering the new curriculum in Wales. Kate's latest collection of poems is 'The Way Out' published by Parthian Books: https://www.parthianbooks.com/products/the-way-out Barbara Stensland's blog is stumblinginflats.com   Main discussion (Creative Writing as an Expressive Art): (2:05 - 28:50) Wellbeing Slot (motivating yourself to write): (28:50 - 32:30) Shoutout (Barbara Stensland): (32:30 - 34:55) Something to Try (Writing Prompt): (34:55 - 38:40)   ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 1st November 2018

In their longest episode yet (a massive 51 minutes, so settle in!) Emma and Tom discuss the work of Australian educationalist John Hattie, and look into his famous 'visible learning' ranking of factors affecting pupils' learning and progress. The main focus of the discussion is 'jigsaw technique' - a highly-ranked strategy for pupil-led learning of content. The wellbeing slot takes a turn for the slightly bizarre, with an excellent tip from the world of outdoor survival that involves hot beverages. Our shoutout this time around goes to everyone at Teach First Cymru, and Tom gives us some ideas for thinking more systematically about how we put our pupils together to work in groups. Join us again next time for a very exciting guest episode featuring Dr. Kate North, Chair of Literature Wales, who'll be talking to us about creative writing and its place in your life! John Hattie's website is visible-learning.org The Belbin website is belbin.com Jigsaw technique is fully explained at jigsaw.org   Sections: Main discussion: 0:00 - 34:53 Wellbeing: 34:53 - 40:24 Shoutout: 40:24 - 43:03 Something to Try: 43:03 - 50:30   ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 1st November 2018

Episode 5 is all about the joys of working in a cross-curricular (or interdisciplinary) way. Tom makes his way upstairs from his decidedly humble ground-floor room to Emma's glorious penthouse corner office, and proceeds to be rude about the view from the window... With that small misunderstanding ironed out, Emma and Tom describe a project they have been working on to bring drama and music together, and discuss how the proposed new education system in Wales encourages a breaking-down of the traditional dividing lines between subjects. What does effective cross-curricular teaching and learning look like? The wellbeing slot focuses on the importance of being aware of your mood, being able to label your emotions, and making the right decisions about what to do when you feel a certain way. The calorie-free takeaway is a warm-up that'll get your classes focused and having fun whatever your subject. And we shout out to the PGCE students starting to take on their full teaching load next week and wish them good luck. If you want to read more about Emma and Tom's cross-curricular project, Tom's article about it is here: https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/media/university-of-cumbria-website/content-assets/public/education/images/documents/research/tean/Breeze.pdf   ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 27th September 2018

Emma and Tom tackle all things digital in episode 4! The introduction of the Digital Competence Framework in Wales, and the rise of digital technology in general, means that teachers need to be able to use a variety of techie tools with confidence and panache. Where do we stand on the debate about technology in the classroom, and how should we approach the arguments on both sides? The wellbeing slot takes a look at using social media to build a support community while on placement (though it works for serving teachers too!), Tom gives a shoutout to the PGCE Music class of 2018 with a montage created on their mobile phones, and Emma tells us about Finding Nemo round the back of a maths classroom in the Swiss Alps. If you want to find the book chapter we used today, it's: Anderson, M. (2011) ‘The Challenge of Technology’ in Masterclass in drama education : transforming teaching and learning. London: Continuum. See you all in a fortnight, when we'll be taking a look at cross-curricular teaching and learning!   ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 29th August 2018

Emma and Tom are joined this week by guest contributor Sally Bethell, Senior Lecturer in PGCE PE at Cardiff Met. Sally's research specialism is the relationships between student teachers and their mentors on placement, so she has plenty of good advice for student teachers about how to make the best impression, as well as tips for school mentors about how to ensure the student/mentor relationship is a productive and happy one. One of Sally's many claims to fame is that she teaches an enormous cohort of around 40 student PE teachers each year, and rarely loses a single student from the course. She shares her secrets to ensuring the wellbeing of her students, and celebrates a football specialist who tried her hand at teaching dance with spectacular results. Finally, in the 'something to try' slot, Sally suggest we all take a good look at the presentation of our resources. Follow us on twitter: @BethellSally, @ethayer_cmu and @thomasbreeze See you in a fortnight, when we'll be talking about all things digital!   ---------- Recorded at Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cyncoed campus on 28th August 2018

Emma and Tom try to get to the bottom of the difference between coaching and mentoring, and what's best for student teachers at different times in their course. The regular wellbeing slot explores an idea from David Allen's famous book 'Getting Things Done', we shout out to a multi-talented drama PGCE student from the 2017-18 cohort, and Tom finds a good use for an hour-long countdown timer in his lessons. Join us again in a fortnight, when we'll have a guest with us to put the theory into practice and discuss with us how student teachers can get the best from their mentor. (and vice versa!)   ---------- Recorded on 11th July 2018

In their first attempt at a podcast all about the wonderful world of the PGCE, Emma and Tom sit in a boiling hot hotel room in Bolton musing on the BESA2018 conference we have attended. There were talks on everything from equity in international education to school improvement strategies. The wellbeing slot is all about taking the time to do something to enhance your own work life, we shout out to a performance poet from the 2016-17 PGCE drama cohort, and Emma's calorie-free takeout (!) is called 'power walk'. Spontaneous decisions to record using only the equipment you've brought to a conference don't always result in the best sound quality, so don't judge us on that yet! Normal service will be resumed once we're back in sunny Cardiff. We're on twitter at @ethayer_cmu and @thomasbreeze so please do come and say hello. If you want to know more about PISA, take a look here: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/ If you've not come across John Hattie's work, check out his website: https://visible-learning.org/ See you in a fortnight, when we'll be musing on the many roles played by the people who teach our student teachers.   ---------- Recorded in Bolton on 29th June 2018

The second trailer for Emma & Tom's PGCE Podcast. Join us on September 7th for the very first episode.

Emma and Tom are coming soon with their brand-new podcast! Subscribe on iTunes or anywhere else you get your podcast fix. We're on twitter - @ethayer_cmu and @thomasbreeze