Film, Review, Refine: A Practical Guide to Teacher Self-Coaching With Lesson Video

Good Morning!

This week’s episode is about a deceptively simple habit that can transform classroom practice: self-coaching through lesson video.

Kieran is joined by Jake Cowling and Will McLoughlin to unpack why recording your own teaching isn’t about cringing at yourself—it’s about seeing what memory can’t reliably capture. Video lets you spot the tiny variables that shape learning: the exact phrasing of an instruction, the timing of a routine, the moment attention drifts, or even the classroom “noise” you’ve stopped noticing (like displays or a clock pulling eyes toward break time).

What makes this conversation particularly useful is how practical it is. Jake explains how to avoid over-analysing by triaging improvements: identify what will have the biggest impact on learning, work on one thing at a time, and build confidence through quick wins. Will shares why video is such a high-leverage lever—helping you refine delivery, understand the student experience, and create shareable models of what routines look like when done well.

They also tackle the cultural conditions that matter: how to keep video-based PD peer-led and low-stakes so it doesn’t slide into performance management, and how shared frameworks (StepLab, Great Teaching Toolkit, WalkThrus, Rosenshine, Teach Like a Champion) can make reflection more rigorous and less “vibes-based”.

If you’ve been curious about video reflection but waiting for perfect tools or spare time, this episode will nudge you toward the simplest next step: record a lesson tomorrow—and choose one thing to get a little better at.

Hope you enjoy…

A link to wherever you get your podcasts…

YouTube Audio

Will and Jake’s Recommendations

Banking Routines - Peps Mccrea (Evidence Snacks)

Great Teaching, Unpacked - Steplab

Just Tell Them - Zach Groshell

Deliberate Practice for Educators - Harry Fletcher-Wood

Principles of Instruction - Barak Rosenshine

Visual Summary

TDaPE North West

Tickets for TDaPE North West on the 28th of March are already on sale here and there are just six days left to apply to speak. We’re looking for teachers and leaders to share their experience and expertise with us and like-minded colleagues. It’s a low-stakes, welcoming event to cut your teeth as a conference speaker and all in aid of Velindre Cancer Centre.

The Story of Maths

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Huge thanks to everyone who shared last week’s episode — it helps us grow our community of thoughtful primary educators. If you’ve got a colleague who likes reflecting on teaching, learning, or leadership, please do forward the link.

That’s all for this week. I’d genuinely love to hear what resonated (or what you disagreed with) — leave a comment wherever you listen, or reply to this email with your thoughts.

Until next time — thanks for listening!