In this final episode of 2025, we’re doing a Teaching Together take on Spotify Wrapped and reflecting on the moments that really shaped us as teachers this year. The minutes we have spent in teacher mode, the top emotions, routines on repeat, and pedagogical “genres” that have defined our year. As Grayce would say, this episode is all about cognitive closure — reflecting, putting 2025 down gently, and giving ourselves permission to properly rest and recover before kick-starting the 2026 school year.
We had a lot of fun reflecting on the year that has been, and we hope that this episode helps you find some cognitive closure of your own before resting, resetting, and heading into whatever comes next.
See you next year!
It's nearly Christmas🎄which means most of us are just coming out the other side of report writing, probably a little worse-for-wear. In today’s episode, we chat about one of the trickiest parts of the process: reporting on the qualitative stuff.
We chat about why it’s hard to assess and measure attributes like student mindset, attitude to learning and positivity as we reflect on our own recent report-writing experiences. We also explore simple strategies we can put in place for 2026 to make reporting on these less-tangible qualities more consistent, fair, and meaningful for all of our students—not just the enthusiastic or bubbly ones.
If you know the weight of trying to decide whether someone 'always, usually or sometimes' shows a positive attitude to their learning, then this one is for you!
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 1.1 – Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
Focus Area 5.5 – Report clearly, accurately and respectfully to students and parents/carers
Focus Area 6.2 – Engage in professional learning and improve practice
In this episode, we’re pulling apart one of the biggest assumptions in education right now — that we can standardise our way to better teachers. 🎓
The Strong Beginnings report argues that high-quality, uniform Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs will create more effective teachers — and in turn, solve the teacher shortage. But that idea misses a huge piece of the puzzle.
Today we unpack why “teacher effectiveness” can’t simply be built through university content or policy frameworks. Whether you’re in ITE, mentoring a graduate, or somewhere in between, this episode challenges the myth of the “perfectly prepared teacher” and reminds us that teaching is as much art as it is science.
💡 Helpful Links
Mason & Matas (2015) – Teacher Attrition and Retention in Australia
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 6.3 - Engage with colleagues and improve practice
Focus Area 7.4 - Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
In today's Recess Digest, we're unpacking two more Habits of Mind - Applying Past Knowledge and Taking Responsible Risks. We chat a little bit about what these habits mean and share some ideas and language you can use in your classroom to start building these habits in your own learners!
Helpful Links 💡
Teaching Together Habits of Mind Stamp!
Project Zero - Thinking Routines
Parent–teacher interviews: love them or dread them, they’re one of the most nerve-wracking parts of the school year. In this episode, we get honest about how we typically prepare, and share some strategies for both primary and high school settings, including how to navigate the tricky conversations that inevitably come up from time to time.
You’ll also hear some practical wisdom from one of our favourite books for new graduate teachers, Bianca Hewes’ On Teaching — including her must-have interview survival tips — and we’ll share our own hacks for keeping calm, confident, and compassionate during long nights of back-to-back meetings.
Whether you’re a beginning teacher heading into your first round of interviews, or if you just want to feel a little less panicked and a little more prepared, this episode has something for you!
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 3.7 - Engage parents/carers in the educative process
Focus Area 7.3 - Engage with the parents/carers
Focus Area 7.4 - Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Helpful Links 💡
Cool.org – Connecting with Parents: Sustainable Connection for Stronger Family–School Partnerships
Welcome to Term 3! Whether you are a few weeks in or just getting started, the end-of-winter burnout is probably creeping in, if it hasn't already crash-landed in front of you.
In this episode, we talk honestly about the emotional rollercoaster of teaching across the term and pull apart some recent research about teacher wellbeing, including some surprising stats on how our energy and motivation shift week by week as the term goes on.
We also share some practical strategies and mindset shifts that have helped us to reset and win the arm wrestle against fatigue and burn out as the term goes on. If you’re feeling flat, fatigued, or like you're just going through the motions — this episode is your mid-year circuit breaker!
💡 Helpful Links:
Be You Educator Wellbeing Toolkit
Be You Wellbeing Tools for Teachers
Be You Professional Learning for Educators
Black Dog Institute – Teacher Wellbeing Report
UNSW: Boosting Wellbeing at the Start of Term
📝 Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
• 6.2: Engage in professional learning and improve practice
• 7.3: Engage with colleagues and improve practice
• 7.4: Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
• 4.4: Maintain student safety and wellbeing
Welcome to another episode from the learning lounge! Today's special guest Matt Pitman, author of The Connection Curriculum, joins in for a powerful conversation unpacking some of the big, confronting questions for educators everywhere. We think about who our school system is serving, what does it mean to truly connect with students and help them find meaning in their learning. We also explore how school refusal and teacher burnout reflect deeper systemic issues, and why shifting our focus toward authentic connection could be a key part of the solution.
Helpful Links 💡
📘 The Connection Curriculum – Buy the book
📲 Follow Matt Pitman on Instagram – @mattlukepitman
Recording this at PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 1.1 – Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
Focus Area 4.1 – Support student participation
Focus Area 7.4 – Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Today we’re getting honest about the emotional and professional expectations we had walking into the classroom and how reality has reshaped those over time.
We open up about the emotional energy that teaching demands from us, some of the realities of which neither of us quite expected. We also challenge some of the professional expectations that we once thought were non-negotiables — think Pinterest-worthy displays, colour-coded planners, and perfectly ‘evidence-based’ practice.
Spoiler: we’ve learned that sometimes, doing the bare minimum is actually doing your job well.
Helpful links 💡
If you need a pick me up - Bluey Cake Fail
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 7.4 - Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
In this episode, we’re talking all things Proficient Teacher Accreditation. Whether you’re at the beginning of your accreditation journey or mentoring someone through it, this episode has got something for you. Sierra shares a few of her top tips to keep the stress levels low (did someone say proficiency party??) and Grayce shares how she has found the process to be so far.
We unpack the steps involved in NSW with plenty of practical tips, break down how to annotate your evidence, and touch on how the process compares in other Australian states, (spoiler alert, it's not too different).
You’ve got this — and we’re here to cheer you on!
Want our free Evidence Planning Matrix?
Send us a DM with the word “Proficient” over on Instagram @teachingtogetherthepodcast and we’ll send it your way!
Other Helpful links 💡
Compare the process in other states:
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 6.1: Identify and plan professional learning needs
Focus Area 6.2: Engage in professional learning and improve practice
Focus Area 7.2: Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements
Focus Area 7.4: Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
We are back for Term 2 and are super keen to bring you this conversation with Tom Mahoney, a passionate educator and PhD candidate at Deakin University. Tom's work involves exploring the impact of educational ideologies on education and educators, and seeks to look for ways to help teachers critically reflect on the ins and outs of their practice. We hope you find this discussion really helpful, maybe even challenging, as we consider the 'why' behind what we do.
Helpful Links 💡
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 6.2 - Engage in professional learning and improve practice
Focus Area 6.3 - Engage with colleagues and improve practice
In today's Recess Digest episode we continue exploring some more of the "Habits of Mind" that relate to creative thinking. We discuss some of the challenges that appear when students believe that they aren't creative, and share some ideas and strategies to help give your students procedures for developing creative thinking processes.
Helpful Links 💡
Project Zero - Thinking Routines Toolbox
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow, rate and share it with your fellow educators!
With NAPLAN testing in full swing, we’re diving into the real purpose of formative and summative assessment—how they work together, shape student learning and our own practice.
Of course, we can’t have this conversation without stepping onto our soapbox about standardised testing. Are we assessing what truly matters, or just what’s easiest to measure? And what does that mean for the way we teach?
Join us today for a challenging conversation that might just give you some food for thought as we consider the impact of standardised testing and the push for measurable performance outcomes on almost everything else we do as teachers.
Helpful Links 💡
Schiro's Curriculum Ideologies
Classroom Assessment and Pedagogy - Black and William
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 5.1 – Assess student learning
We know how important it is to equip students with strong writing skills, but how do we ensure writing is truly integrated across all subjects—not just in English? In this episode, Christine Teahan, the Co-Director of Academics at The Writing Revolution, joins in for a discussion on why writing instruction matters at every level of education. Christine shares valuable insights on how teachers can embed explicit writing instruction into all subject areas, helping students become stronger thinkers, communicators, and learners. Regardless of your context, this is such a helpful and valuable conversation!
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs
Focus Area 2.1 - Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
Focus Area 2.5 - Literacy and Numeracy Strategies
Helpful Links 💡
How do we make sure that our fast finishers aren't just doing 'busy work?' In this episode, we explore the research on extending and challenging students in the classroom, drawing on insights from the latest AERO practice guide. We’ll break down what meaningful challenge looks like in the classroom and share some practical techniques and strategies that you can draw on to effectively extend and challenge all learners, not just your 'fast finishers.'
Helpful Links 💡
AERO Practice Guide – Extend and Challenge
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 1.5 – Differentiate teaching to meet the specific needs of students
Focus Area 3.1 – Establish challenging learning goals
Focus Area 4.1 – Support student participation
Mistakes happen, but do your learners see mistakes as roadblocks or learning opportunities? As we head into a new school year and work towards building safe and positive classroom environments, we have a chat about the research on error climate in the classroom and explore how students’ perception of mistakes shape their motivation, confidence, and willingness to take risks.
We’ll share some practical strategies to help students build their tolerance for errors and consider how our own reactions and responses shape the error climate in our classrooms—often more than we realise!
Helpful Links 💡
British Journal of Educational Psychology - Error Climate
Edutopia: Growing Students' Mistake Tolerance
APA: The Interplay Between Mistakes and Learning
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
Focus Area 3.3 – Use teaching strategies
Focus Area 4.1 – Support student participation
Focus Area 6.2 – Engage in professional learning and improve practice.
BONUS EPISODE ALERT! 🚨
Hey Teachers! We hope you have been loving your school holidays and enjoying a well-deserved rest. As the start of Term One approaches, we wanted to bring you some bonus content to help with your planning and to give you a little bit of inspiration as you prepare for this school year. We are joined today by Andrea Hillbrick, an educational consultant who draws on her vast knowledge and experience as a teacher to share with us 10 strategies we should 'pack' into our teacher bags for 2025. We both came away from this chat feeling so excited and inspired for this year, and we hope it does the same for you!!
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs
Focus Area 2.1 - Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
Focus Area 2.5 - Literacy and numeracy strategies
Focus Area 3.3 - Use teaching strategies
Focus Area 3.4 - Select and use resources
Helpful Links 💡
As the year comes to a close, join us as we craft some adorable clay fridge magnets for Grayce's kindy students and and spend some time reflecting on her first year as a teacher.
We also dive into the festive season with a lighthearted discussion about Christmas gifts—teacher presents, thoughtful gestures for colleagues, and ideas for managing the gift budget. It's a little different to our usual format, but it’s the perfect way to wrap up and celebrate the year that was.
Whether you're wrapping gifts, finishing reports, or just looking for some cheerful company, press play and let’s wrap up 2024 together!
In this special episode, we chat with one of our friends, Hannah, about the ups and downs of her first few years as a teacher. Together, we reflect on first-year challenges, favourite teaching moments and the lessons that come with more time and experience in the classroom. Hannah shares her journey to obtaining approval to teach in the NSW Department and the importance of working together with your colleagues...especially when you decide that putting on a school musical in your first year of teaching would be fun!
Whether you are heading towards your first year of teaching or just reflecting on your growth, this episode reminds us that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel!
Helpful Links 💡
Today's second Recess Digest episode continues exploring some more of the "Habits of Mind" - Metacognition, Flexible Thinking and Questioning. We feel that these dispositions are all really closely related and that fostering them in your classrooms doesn't happen without intentional planning and purpose. Listen in for some ideas and strategies to develop routines and habits in your classroom that build these essential habits for our learners.
Helpful Links 💡
Project Zero - Thinking Routines Toolbox
If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow, rate and share it with your fellow educators!
In today's (slightly longer than usual) episode, we’re breaking down key strategies from the 'Great Teaching Toolkit' to help you promote deeper learning and critical thinking in your classroom. We guide you through six core elements—Structuring, Explaining, Questioning, Interacting, Embedding, and Activating—giving you practical tips and examples that you can start using right away.
You’ll learn how to simplify complex ideas without overwhelming your students, ask the right questions to encourage critical thinking, and help your students become more independent learners. Whether you’re an experienced educator or just starting out, this episode offers actionable insights to help you foster more meaningful learning experiences in your classroom.
TL;DR
Helpful Links 💡
Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review
Project Zero Thinking Routines Toolbox
Understanding How We Learn - Book
Recording this as PD? Here are the relevant APSTs:
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow, rate, and share it with your colleagues! Stay tuned for more strategies to support your students' learning.