Episode 7: Explore Exploit

One to one feedback is a great tool for a teacher, but in today's teaching environment it's not always easy to find a teacher who has the time to spare to watch you teach and give you feedback afterwards. On LessonStack we're working on ways for teaching communities to share feedback on activities, so that when you need some ideas on how tio improve your teaching, you can find them. Whilst this will never replace one to one feedback - it will provide a complimentary avenue to explore, anmd give you insights into what teachers who teach the exact same activities as you are doing. Check it out at https://lessonstack.net - it's free!

How do you deal with it when students say: "I hate this I'm no good at it"?  In this episode I talk about dealing with students who 'catastrophize' when their learning doesn't go smoothly, and the inherent dissatisfaction of 'the grind' when learning a skill. 

Often learners will begin a new undertaking with low confidence and this will show in their posture and technique. As a coach, or teacher or any kind of mentor, it's important to understand that in order for a student to progress, they must be encouraged to unapologetically be themselves. This process begins by creating an atmosphere of safety and encouragement where learners feel they can challenge themselves. This is a problem that does not affect everyone, but as a coach it's important that you teach to the student needs. If you fail to create an atmosphere where students can grow into their confidence, the result is a self selecting process, where less confident learners drop out, and whilst as coaches we can't always help everyone, if we have a pattern of people dropping out then it becomes a failure of our coaching that we have to reflect on and improve.

Explore Exploit is the term used in the study if algorithms, put simply it asks the question - when is it valuable to explore new things, and when is valuable to exploit the knowledge you already have. In this episode we'll talk about how this applies to teachers and how to use explore exploit intentionally in your teaching.

When you're a teacher, clarity is your secret weapon. In this episode I'll tell you about a lesson observation that didn't go as well as I hoped, and how that experience fed into LessonStack

We all know that we should reflect on out teaching, but the reality is that there just isn't enough time in a working day to spend time reflecting on a lesson. Today We'll look at some strategies for reflection that will pay dividends and add real value to your teaching

In this episode I talk about the pace of change in your lesson, and keeping the pot boiling. 

When teaching and coaching skill based learning, impatience for action is something to be fostered. In this episode I talk about leading students toward the more uncomfortable path of learning, and away from the comfortable path of listening.

When you're teaching, time is tight! In this episode we talk about simplicity, markdown and why we've opted for a simpler user interface for educators using LessonStack. LessonStack is the awesome free planning tool for all kinds of teachers, and you can start using today at https://lessonstack.net

In this first episode of the LessonStack podcast I talk about the future of teaching, and a lesson plan that changes the game