Knowledge for Teachers

Fluency is often treated as a small piece of mathematics learning, but in reality, it may be one of the most important and overlooked foundations for long term success.

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Brendan Lee speaks with Dr. Brian Poncy, Professor at Oklahoma State University and the creator of Facts on Fire, a highly regarded program designed to build maths fact fluency through short, structured, and evidence informed daily practice.

Brian challenges the common resistance to timed practice, arguing that fluency—defined strictly as accuracy plus speed—is the bridge that frees up working memory for higher-order problem solving.

Listeners will discover why timed practice only works when students are placed at the right starting point, how small sets and careful sequencing can dramatically improve motivation and success, and what schools can do to implement fluency routines effectively in just a few minutes a day.

The episode also explores the powerful concept of contingency adduction, where mastering component skills can lead students to solve complex problems they have never been explicitly taught.

A practical and thought provoking conversation for any educator serious about improving mathematics outcomes.

 

Catch Dr. Brian Poncy in Australia:

Tickets can be purchased here:
Perth: https://www.trybooking.com/DHYZM
Adelaide: https://www.trybooking.com/DHZSU
Melbourne: https://www.trybooking.com/DIABM
Sydney: https://www.trybooking.com/DHYZG
 
Resources mentioned:

M.I.N.D. 2.0 - FACTS ON FIRE

Chalk and Talk podcast (Anna Stokke)

Morningside Academy

PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports)

Rocket Math 

Times Tables Rock Stars

Engineering the “Aha!”: When Discovery Learning Actually Works

 

You can connect with Brian:

Twitter/X: @brian_poncy

Website: M.I.N.D. 2.0 - FACTS ON FIRE

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 
https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

Implementing Effective Primary Maths Instruction
For School Leaders
This is a two day online course for school and middle leaders and it is all about implementation. We look closely at curriculum and lesson design, assessment, coaching and the systems that help teachers change practice in a sustainable way.

Register here

Have you ever taught a "perfect" lesson where every student got the answer right, only to find they remembered absolutely nothing the next day? In this episode, education author David Didau joins me to reveal why what looks like learning is often just a "performance"—and how our best intentions might be fueling the illusion. 

 

We dig into five common teaching habits you need to stop immediately, including why "Sat Nav teaching" is creating dependency rather than independence and why the popular idea of "productive struggle" might actually be setting your students up to fail. David challenges deep-seated beliefs about practice, compliance, and memory, offering a provocative look at what it really takes to make learning stick.

Resources mentioned:

Books

David Didau – What If Everything You Knew About Education Was Wrong? 

David Didau – Intelligent Accountability 

Websites & Tools

Carousel Learning 

People

Robert Bjork 

Adam Boxer 

Carl Hendrick 

Christina Milos

You can connect with David:

Twitter/X: @DavidDidau

Linkedin

Substack: https://daviddidau.substack.com/

Website: https://learningspy.co.uk/

 

David Didau Events:
Canberra - Thursday 12th March - https://events.humanitix.com/david-didau-full-day-event
Melbourne - Thursday 19th March - https://events.humanitix.com/coach-to-5k-writing-workshop-with-david-didau 
About David Didau
David Didau is an educator, author, and professional learning leader known for his evidence-informed work on teaching, writing, and curriculum. He is the author of several highly regarded books including What If Everything You Knew About Education Was Wrong? and The Secret of Literacy. David writes in his blog The Learning Spy, a widely read platform supporting educators to translate research into classroom practice.

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 
https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

The Primary Maths Instruction Framework
For teachers
This is a three day online course for teachers where we focus on how learning happens and how to design maths lessons that support acquisition, build fluency and help students generalise what they know.

Register here

Implementing Effective Primary Maths Instruction
For School Leaders
This is a two day online course for school and middle leaders and it is all about implementation. We look closely at curriculum and lesson design, assessment, coaching and the systems that help teachers change practice in a sustainable way.

Register here

In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers podcast, Brendan Lee is joined by Brad Gaynor, an Australian educator, leadership coach and former principal with decades of experience across schools and systems. Brad is also the author of the new book From Burnout to Breakthrough: The Leadership Reset.

The conversation centres on burnout in education and what sustainable teaching and leadership actually look like beyond surface level wellbeing advice. Drawing on Brad’s lived experience and research informed work, this episode explores why burnout is more than just feeling tired, how hidden emotional labour shapes the work of teachers and leaders, and why framing burnout as a resilience issue can miss the real problem.

Listeners will hear a practical framework for resetting habits and expectations, learn why boundaries are essential rather than optional, and gain insight into how clarity, systems, and culture can reduce cognitive and emotional load.

This is a thoughtful and practical conversation for educators who want to keep doing this work well, without burning themselves out in the process.

 

You can connect with Brad:

Twitter/X: @brad_coaching

Linkedin 

Website: bradgaynor.com.au

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

 

The Primary Maths Instruction Framework
For teachers
This is a three day online course for teachers where we focus on how learning happens and how to design maths lessons that support acquisition, build fluency and help students generalise what they know.

Register here

Implementing Effective Primary Maths Instruction
For School Leaders
This is a two day online course for school and middle leaders and it is all about implementation. We look closely at curriculum and lesson design, assessment, coaching and the systems that help teachers change practice in a sustainable way.

Register here

In this episode of Knowledge for Teachers, host Brendan Lee speaks with Natalie Wexler, education writer and author of The Knowledge Gap, The Writing Revolution, and Beyond the Science of Reading. Together they explore what truly drives reading comprehension and why knowledge rich instruction is essential for every learner. Natalie unpacks the surprising limits of treating comprehension as a set of isolated skills, explains how background knowledge shapes understanding in powerful ways, and shows why writing can be one of the most effective tools for securing learning. Listeners will also hear how cognitive load theory connects to literacy and what strong knowledge building lessons look like in real classrooms. A practical and thought provoking conversation for teachers and leaders who want to strengthen literacy through the lens of research.

Resources mentioned:

The Knowledge Gap by Natalie Wexler

The Writing Revolution by Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler

Beyond the Science of Reading by Natalie Wexler

Why Don’t Students Like School by Daniel Willingham

You can connect with Natalie:

Twitter/X: @natwexler

Linkedin

Website: nataliewexler.com

Substack: http://nataliewexler.substack.com

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 
https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

 

The Primary Maths Instruction Framework
For teachers
This is a three day online course for teachers where we focus on how learning happens and how to design maths lessons that support acquisition, build fluency and help students generalise what they know.

Register here

Implementing Effective Primary Maths Instruction
For School Leaders
This is a two day online course for school and middle leaders and it is all about implementation. We look closely at curriculum and lesson design, assessment, coaching and the systems that help teachers change practice in a sustainable way.

Register here

In this episode, Brendan sits down with Ingrid Sealey, founder of Teach Well, to explore the hidden nuance behind great teaching. Drawing on her work with thousands of teachers across Australia, Ingrid shares what she has learned about the small deliberate practices that make a real difference for students.

They unpack why clarity matters more than complexity, how spaced practice can shift long-term learning, and why full participation is not about getting every student to join in but about getting every student to think. Ingrid also explains why explicit instruction is not a script but a way to support better decision making in the classroom.

The conversation also dives into her new bookTeach Well’s Instruction & Coaching Companion, which captures the core practices and insights that have shaped Teach Well’s approach. Ingrid reflects on how the book came together and how teachers can use it to make practical confident changes in their everyday work.

They also discuss how professional learning can move beyond one off workshops and become something that genuinely changes practice. Ingrid offers insights from Teach Well’s long-term partnerships and shares examples of what happens when teachers work on small tweaks over time.

This is a thoughtful and practical episode for anyone who wants to refine their craft and understand what really drives effective teaching. If you are looking for ideas you can take straight back to your classroom or leadership team, this one is full of them.

Resources mentioned:

Teach Well’s Instruction & Coaching Companion

Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction – Barak Rosenshine

Why Don’t Students Like School – Daniel Willingham

Dylan Wiliam – formative assessment and full participation strategies

Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) – John Hollingsworth and Silvia Ybarra

You can connect with Ingrid:

Linkedin

Twiiter/X: @TeachWellAus

Teach Well Website: teach-well.au

 

You can connect with Brendan:

Twitter/X: @learnwithmrlee

Facebook: @learningwithmrlee

Linkedin: @brendan-lee-kft

Website: learnwithlee.net

 

Support the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast: 
https://www.patreon.com/KnowledgeforTeachersPodcast

Evidence in Action: The Primary Maths Partnership


A long-term professional learning partnership built around what actually works.
This 24 month program provides schools with 20+ hours of structured professional learning grounded in the science of learning spaced out over time — including explicit instruction, daily reviews, fluency-building, and problem-solving.

We work together to create a practical, sustainable implementation plan — so what you learn becomes what you do.
Optional Add-ons:
✓ Lesson modelling
✓ Leadership implementation sessions
✓ Coaching and feedback cycles
✓ Ongoing Q&A or online check-ins

Learn more > [email protected]