Oz Lit Teacher Blog

The Problem with Turning Good Teaching into a Checklist Oct 25, 2026

I've been head down, bum up, working on my Master's dissertation recently. This has had me poring over piles of journal articles on teaching, literacy...

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Should you still teach the comprehension strategies? Aug 09, 2026

I recently received a great question from one of the participants in my Comprehension Rethink course: 

If comprehension is more than strategies, why ...

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When NAPLAN shows you need to improve inferring Jul 26, 2026

I’ve noticed a bit of a pattern lately… schools are starting to analyse their NAPLAN reading data and are coming up with the same conclusion- our stud...

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Why ‘Correct’ Structure Isn’t the Key to Great Writing Jul 27, 2025

I’m currently reading a fabulous biography on the life, times and writing of Banjo Paterson. I loved Banjo’s poems as a child and was thrilled to nab ...

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What Works in Writing Instruction? Moving Beyond the Hype Jun 22, 2025

In my last blog post, I shared respected writing researcher Steve Graham’s uncomfortable revelation about The Writing Revolution: that despite being w...

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What The Research Really Says About Teaching Writing Jun 09, 2025

With so much debate and noise in the world of writing instruction, it’s hard to know what actually works. So when I had the chance to hear from the wo...

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Fascinating Dictionary Facts May 11, 2025

A few weeks ago, I shared something in my fortnightly newsletter that was a surprising hit... a pile of fascinating facts about the dictionary! It mad...

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Teaching vs Presenting. What’s the Difference? Apr 21, 2025

There’s a well-intentioned (but problematic) practice gaining ground in schools right now… 

It seems that in a well-meaning attempt to reduce the (ve...

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6 (More) Books to Read For Harmony Week Mar 16, 2025

Around this time last year, I invited a guest blog writer -my daughter Ashleigh-  to share some of the texts she has read to her students to celebrate...

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The Teaching Stocktake: How to Reduce Learning Shrinkage Mar 02, 2025

I’ve noticed a worrying trend in schools lately… 

With all the pressure to ‘catch kids up’, ‘prepare for the NAPLAN’, and ensure they’re ‘implementin...

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