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Tag: Blog

A Practical Guide to Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports: Key Concepts and Classroom Strategies

Posted on May 6, 2025May 6, 2025 by Brendan

Understanding and supporting student behavior is essential for teachers. Conversations with Dr. Brandi Simonsen highlight the importance of proactive approaches, linking behavior to academic performance and attendance. Key strategies include teaching routines, setting clear expectations, and using specific praise. A strong school-wide support system is crucial for effective behavior management.

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Explicit Instruction: A Key to Learning, But Not the Whole Story

Posted on April 8, 2025April 8, 2025 by Brendan

In education, we often get caught in debates where people talk past each other. Sides are taken, lines are drawn, and not much listening happens. One of those debates is around the idea that “education is more than just explicit instruction.” And I agree—but I also think there’s a missing piece in how we’re framing that conversation. That’s what I explore in this article.

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Creating an Instructional Playbook

Posted on February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 by Brendan

One of the biggest sources of frustration between teachers and school leaders is due to not having a shared understanding. Whether it’s about pedagogy, curriculum, or school expectations, if everyone isn’t on the same page, they may as well be speaking different languages.

That’s where instructional playbooks come in. They provide a clear, structured way to align educators—getting everyone on the same page, both literally and figuratively!

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When teaching maths… Instead of this, Do this

Posted on December 3, 2024December 16, 2024 by Brendan

I’ve worked with a number of schools and teachers over the past few years and I have come across many common challenges and questions. So, I thought it might be useful to put together these infographics that break down what teachers need to stop doing and what to do instead when it comes to teaching maths.

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The Gradual Release of Responsibility in Action

Posted on October 23, 2024December 3, 2024 by Brendan

In this article, Brendan Lee unpacks the gradual release of responsibility. You’ll read about how he uses it in his lessons now and he addresses some of the misconceptions of it. You can even see videos of him using it in a lesson.

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5 SIMPLE STEPS TO SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

Posted on June 24, 2024October 23, 2024 by Brendan

The blog discusses Brendan Lee’s recent focus on applying the science of learning with schools and teachers nationwide. Key points for school improvement include: establishing and aligning a clear vision, prioritizing the primary focus, sequencing steps incrementally, ensuring teachers understand this focus concretely, and recognising the complexity in implementation. Emphasizing the importance of incremental progress and deliberate planning amidst school complexities, the post outlines five essential steps to effective school improvement.

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Implementing a Behaviour Curriculum

Posted on January 21, 2024February 22, 2024 by Brendan

The topic of school behavior is widely discussed, but can be a taboo topic within schools. It poses a significant barrier to learning and retention of teachers due to constant disruption. Studies show that time spent managing behavior is substantial, and disruptive classrooms affect student learning negatively. Implementing a whole school approach and a behavior curriculum is essential for creating a positive classroom culture and improving learning outcomes.

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5 Key Principles for Teaching Primary Mathematics Effectively

Posted on July 24, 2023January 23, 2024 by Brendan

Currently, there are a lot of misconceptions about how to teach primary mathematics effectively. In this post, Brendan Lee offers five research-informed principles for teachers to follow in order to improve student learning outcomes.

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Gradual Release of Responsibility for Teacher Development

Posted on May 24, 2023July 12, 2023 by Brendan

We know how valuable the gradual release of responsibility model can be for supporting our students’ learning, but why don’t we also do it for teacher development? This article looks at how we could transfer the approach to support teachers’ practising new techniques in the classroom.

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A Systematic and Structured Approach to Teaching Primary Mathematics (Part 1)

Posted on March 8, 2023January 23, 2024 by Brendan

This article looks at how we can take a systematic and structured approach towards teaching primary mathematics. In Part 1, Brendan Lee gives an overview of the Pre-Lesson Phase and the Daily Review Phase.

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Recent Posts

  • S03E08 – Craig Barton on Becoming a Better Maths Teacher
  • A Practical Guide to Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports: Key Concepts and Classroom Strategies
  • S03E07 – Jeanette Breen on lessons learnt from high-performing schools
  • Explicit Instruction: A Key to Learning, But Not the Whole Story
  • S03E06 – Dr. Carl Hendrick on Five Things Every Teacher Should Do

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