In this episode of Teacher Insights from Catalyst, join us for a captivating conversation with Peter Collins, teacher and Curriculum Coordinator at St Thomas Aquinas, West Belconnen, Canberra. Peter shares his invaluable experiences and successes in implementing Catalyst and HITP in the classroom. Delve into the world of EDI lessons and Direct Instruction programs like Spelling Mastery, as Peter discusses their transformative impact on student learning outcomes. Discover how Peter enhances students' mathematical understanding through engaging EDI Maths lessons and how he nurtures language skills with specific Vocabulary lessons. In addition, Peter discusses insights into adopting a Knowledge Rich Curriculum and its connection to reading. 

Mentioned article: The Coach in the Operating Room | The New Yorker 

In this episode Erica speaks about her role in the implementation of Catalyst. She talks about how she led the change process, The Writing Revolution, Macqlit as an intervention program and their use of engagement norms. Specifically, this includes:  

• How to use The Writing Revolution as a tool to teach writing within HUM (a combination of Humanities, English and Religious Education subjects)

• Sentence level writing

• How she uses choral response and whisper reading as engagement norms and teaching strategies 

To access supporting PDF's visit the episode page on the Catalyst website

In this episode Aimee speaks about her classroom routines and gives tips on using engagement and behaviour norms. During her lessons Aimee uses 6 concepts that she likes to ‘tick off her list’. They are: 

• Providing a high level of active practice from students to keep them engaged. 

Aimee also outlines the TAPPLE process and how it works during her lessons. 

Catalyst encompasses the teaching and learning approach of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn. Informed by the Science of Learning and Science of Reading, Catalyst delivers excellent learning experiences for students through evidence-based teaching practice and high-quality resources. 

In this episode Ross Fox, Director of Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG), speaks about the genesis of Catalyst and his future vision for CECG. We delve into what we know about learning now and how this affects the pedagogical demands of teaching. This includes the Science of Learning, Cognitive Load Theory, the Science of Reading and High Impact Teaching Practices. Ross reveals what he is seeing around the Archdiocese and the positive impact that Catalyst is having on student learning and on teacher self-efficacy.