How's my target group going?
My target group is interesting, they didn’t test particularly well in the mid-year PROBE assessments, but despite that, they are showing great progress in other areas. They are developing confidence and skills in extended discussions and podcasting. Within this group, some are naturally talkative but need to deepen their ideas, while others are quieter and are learning to contribute more regularly.
What change/s have you made to your practice?
I’ve introduced podcasting as a tool to create authentic discussion opportunities. This has included giving students real-world models (like our Podlab visit), teaching discussion moves explicitly, and using Vosaic to reflect on my own questioning and facilitation. I’ve also shifted from teacher-led questioning to encouraging students to ask each other questions, creating more peer-to-peer dialogue. I've started looking into Ad-Lib podcasts, giving students a chance to have more authentic discussions.
Alongside this, I’ve implemented a weekly reading task where students are given a single text with 5–6 questions. These tasks are designed to strengthen inferencing skills and encourage connections to the wider world, helping learners prepare for richer class discussions and podcasts.
Some observations about progress
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Even though their mid-year PROBE results weren’t strong, students are showing clear progress in their ability to think critically, make connections, and express themselves in discussion.
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Students are showing growth not just in how much they talk, but in the quality of what they say — linking ideas, giving evidence, and building on others’ contributions.
Students are producing great, engaging podcasts about a range of different topics.
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Quieter students are beginning to contribute more regularly when the purpose feels authentic (e.g., recording for a podcast).
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My Vosaic reflections showed improvement in my use of open-ended questions, though students still need more scaffolding in developing their own questioning.
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The weekly reading task is beginning to build a stronger foundation for inferencing, which students then carry into wider class and podcast conversations.
Where to next
I want to continue developing student-led discussions by teaching explicit strategies for questioning each other. I also plan to give students more ownership over podcast topics and formats, so the motivation to participate comes from them. Finally, I’ll keep using Vosaic and peer feedback to refine my own practice, especially around balancing when to step in and when to let students sustain the talk (54 - 46 percentage Teacher Talk- Student Talk).
Dorothy also suggested trying the Mic Drop podcast idea as a reading activity. This would mean students recording conversations about random topics, giving them the chance to practise being more comfortable talking about a range of ideas with different people. This could be a powerful way to build fluency, confidence, and adaptability in discussion, which would then transfer into their more structured podcasting and text-based conversations.
