1. Know Students and How they Learn
early learning involves discoveries, in- and out- of doors
Directly related to this Graduate Standard, are my own philosophy objectives:
•I will understand and address the diverse learning needs and styles of my students;
•I will establish learning environments that demonstrate and inspire respect for and understanding of the value systems within multiple and diverse cultures, especially the cultures of Indigenous Australians;
A range of knowledge contributes to the understanding of children’s and adolescents learning in the classroom. I feel that I have taken my knowledge deeper in the course of my studies prior to the Dip T&L, through a well developed analysis and critique of past policies in and around learning for Indigenous children in the early years. I developed a particular interest in learning style differences across cultures as well as within them, and made it my goal, from the outset of this diploma, to become a teacher who incorporated many teaching and learning styles into my classroom and across the school. Only by being aware of various needs of my students can I truly begin to teach them, and cater for their diversity in development across physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual levels.
The next seven standard subsets give examples of my growing knowledge in childhood development and its links with learning in the classroom, with a focus on the early and mid-primary years.
Tash built interested and professional relationships very quickly with the students. (Sarah Morris, placement mentor ETP426, WPS 2013)
1.1. Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students. – Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and how these may affect learning
Working with students from grades prep through to grade 4, means I am working with children in the “middle childhood” age category. I can incorporate my knowledge of children’s physical development in the classroom by being aware of their physical, social and emotional levels.
Using fine motor skill development as an example:
The middle childhood age bracket includes a wide range of developmental abilities and maturation, but it can generally be asserted that younger children require more patience and attention to the development of their motor skills, especially fine motor, before they can move forward into reading and writing activities. The first months of the Prep (or Foundation in the NT) year therefore, would not expect children to already be able to form letters and numbers with a pen and paper, though some students will be able to do this from home-time and pre-schooling practice.
In grade 3 and 4, students range from 8 to 10 years of age. This age group generally have mastered the art of writing, and have extended words into sentences and now legible and sensible pieces of text for entertainment, reflection, informative or other purposes. Development of fine motor skills also means that they can be more creative with their work, on an artistic level.
In summary, for my grade 1 and 2 students (6 to 8 year olds), but also for many of my 3 and 4 students (8 to 10 year olds), I can incorporate the following into my teaching practice wherever possible to strengthen physical development:
- Integrate physical activity into academic tasks
- Encourage self-organisation and responsibility for activities in both play and academic assertion
- Teach basic physical movement and motor skills through physical education activities, and encourage a confidence in movement and skill through organised sports and games
- Praise fine motor skills, even in the older end of the age range, but don’t penalise for delays in precision. Rather encourage improvement through writing activities and fine motor games and creative tasks (such as knitting, threading, beading for incorporation into academic presentations)
In terms of social and emotional development, I am particularly aware, having worked in the 8 to 10 year old range for a term now, that the older end of the age spectrum are beginning to carry behavioural traits resembling pre-pubescence. Students in the 3/4 class who have reached 10 years are showing greater awareness of the opposite sex, and effects on classroom behaviour are beginning to show. The boys, especially, are hyping up with regards to competition and showing their worth in a classroom with many strong personalities.
As children enter this pre-pubescence, it is important that I display positive role model characteristics as their teacher.
- I need to show students a commitment to my health and fitness, helping children to adopt healthy approaches to life and lifestyle
- Provide privacy and offer it where needed for students to address concerns of bodily function or of social worry
- Explain sexual harassment and that it is not tolerable
- Explain the risks of risky behaviour, weighing up the costs associated with self-esteem or status gain
- Make the classroom a warm and open arena for discussion, and a place where students know that they can approach me when they have social matters which are concerning them (and are, as a result) affecting their level of concentration and learning outcomes.
As an extra to my placement at Manunda Tce Primary, I requested that I spend a day with the school’s onsite occupational therapist. Her approach to working with students who have been identified with behavioural and learning concerns, is holistic, addressing the whole realm of development.
Of particular interest to my practice and philosophy linking to health outcomes, physical activity lessons were not a rostered part of the curriculum at Manunda Tce, due to the need to build up the students of poor learning backgrounds in their literacy and numeracy first and foremost. While sessions were allocated to lower-school oral and motor skill development and the building of confidence, this did not extend as far as to physical activity sessions involving team-skill development and games. As a part of my teaching, I planned for health education lessons, in which I taught my grade 1 and 2s basic nutrition and healthy eating and combined these sessions with physical activity through games incorporating the lesson theory out of doors. Students responded really well to the physical nature of the classes and also to the short relaxation period that I set aside time for at the end of the outdoor play (important especially with the heat and with the easy transition into further learning in other classes beyond the PE lesson).
Across the primary school years, there are many strategies needed to respond to the range of ages and learning characteristics of my students. Included amongst these are the following considerations:
- I need to plan lessons in short spurts to take account of students cognitive and physical characteristics, realising that too much sitting and listening is not appropriate for the early years, and still not favourable in the mid- to older-primary years either.
- I need to be prepared to go with the flow for lesson timing and delivery across the day as well as day-to-day. I took into account the daily alertness and engagement of my students, which sometimes lies out of control of my own teaching strategies and more to do with the weather!
- I learned to anticipate classroom management issues through the growing knowledge I had of the class dynamics and my students’ individual needs. For example, seating arrangements in the 3/4 class are changed weekly, most often teacher-assigned as a matter of classroom management. Knowing how students best learn, and understanding their distractions including those they work best with, enabled me to assign these seats
- Various methods of attention-gain work best for different combinations of students. I had the experience of teachers using a variety of methods, and tried different methods myself, both saving my voice in times of noise and my patience when students were not responding:
- Clapping hands – either loudly or to patterns of rhythm which students are to repeat back (something I have used in pre-school classrooms as well)
- Whistle blowing – definitely good for outdoors’ activities
- Singing songs
- Chanting
- Playing games to gain attention and floor time
- On reflection with my mentors, it became clear that less
teacher-centred approaches work best to captivate and engage students across
the primary levels (although there will always be exceptions). Making students
the leaders of their own learning, and handing over the responsibility with
increasing ease as they mature through the primary years, gives them the
satisfaction of knowing they have the right to learn and to ensure their best
learning outcomes.
Following is a reflection on a series of lessons I planned for and delivered, with a Learning Management Plan as my guide, but, in reality following the individuals and the uniqueness brought to any lesson. I feel that my health lessons are a great example of addressing developmental need, especially with many children suffering from poor development in a psychological and physical sense due to disadvantaged circumstances of broken and abusive families, low income and support, and other unstabilising factors. I carried them out with the grade 1/2s at Manunda Tce.
Reflection: October, 2012
Having undertaken many lessons myself now, under the supervision of my mentor, but also without her in the room, upon her absence or release-time, I have included here a layout of the plan I put together for the Health and Physical Education lessons I took charge of during my time with the Year 1 and 2 class. The plan considers the development level of the children, and draws upon the NT Curriculum Framework for learning outcomes and objectives. I placed the students into band 1, with some being able to be challenged more into the band 2 level, after discussion with my mentor. I feel lessons were really successful, with students eager to participate in more of the same sorts of activities, and many students approaching me with their meals each day to ask me, or tell me, what food groups they were eating for lunch!
One of the best outcomes of my healthy eating lessons has been the students' interest in the food that I eat. I have always known the benefits of eating food that is healthy and nutritious around the children that I have nannied and looked after, but I didn't really come to school thinking about this. It occurred to me whilst the children were eating their lunch, having had them ask me numerous mornings what it was I was eating for breakfast (which I eat when I arrive at school from my bike ride in, before class starts). I made a point of at least eating some of my salads with the children. They asked about the different foods I included (the vegetables, protein, fetta, and mountain bread wrap), commenting with the appropriate "Mmm"s and "Ahhh"s!
On his birthday I had one boy, with signs emerging (to me) of affection-craving, ask me if I could bring some salad for him! I did - a chickpea, walnut, fetta, pumpkin and spinach salad, dressed only with lemon juice and sumac. He was amazed with the tastes he experienced. Saying how much he liked it and how he had never tasted things like this before. I then had two other students, Aboriginal siblings from a broken family (mother in prison and father not very reliable, from my discussions with my mentor) ask for some salad as well, which they put their pies aside for!! It was really a very rewarding experience, even if not all the salad was devoured the way I would eat salad!
Coming from a low-socio-economic area, the students at this school don't all bring lunch in themselves, with a community-run room set up for the Indigenous students' outlet, but also for the purpose of preparing meals for those parents who don't or can't. Families pay a small amount for two meals and a snack daily for their children from this resource. I love the idea of this! It really falls in line with my health promotion background and knowledge and understanding of the need for fuel to nourish a growing brain to learn. Such facts are becoming more widely known. My only concern is that the food served to children in these rooms is not nutritionally-dense. Pies, pastries, Nutella and white bread sit high on the menus, with frozen cordial or choc chip biscuits as snacks as a choice chosen most above the apple or banana option! It is a work in progress, a great initiative, but one I would one day like to perfect for all its worth (knowing all-too-well that financing is an issue).
1.2. Understand how students learn – Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching
Copious amounts of research looks at the ways in which students learn and how this can be applied to teaching. But it is not until you are given a classroom of children, each unique as an individual and as a learner, than such applications can be ruled as either successful or unsuccessful. Every child, and adult for that matter, learns in his or her own way, with degrees of parallel across learning styles, but each particular to themselves and to the dynamics of the classroom or other learning environment they are in.
Two theories of learning have guided the development of my own teaching philosophy, and I will emphasise these a little here. However, it is important to note that I do not think that any one theory can fully explain every single child, and it is necessary to have an awareness of multiple theories, as well as being open to challenges and unforeseen cases of learning as well.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Learning and various Multiple Ways of Learning Theories
I first came across Vygotsky's theory as I was writing my thesis in Indigenous learning styles and development in 2009 - the links for my thesis being with health promotion as I had never actually studied education previously (Vygotsky 1978). I delved into his socio-cultural underpinnings for development, seeing the links it made with the ways in which children from diverse cultures are influenced by their upbringing and worldviews. While I understand that Vygotsky overlooked the impact of biology on childhood development, I still hold his underlying theory in high regard and liken it to Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (Gardner 2003), and further to the theory of Learning Styles endorsed by Hughes (1987) and later, by More (1990; also see Hughes & More 1997).
In particular interest to my passion for equity in learning, especially for Indigenous learners across Australia, the recurring Aboriginal (and Torres Strait Islander) learning styles have been proposed by Hughes and More (1997) and further by Harris (1980) as 'global (holistic)', 'imaginal (visual)', 'contextualised' and a combination of 'trial and feedback' and 'reflection'. The first of these has, in fact, grown out of Vygotsky's own work (1978). Briefly, just to give you an understanding of why I feel the consideration of learning styles and cultural underpinnings are so crucial to child development and educational outcomes, the main aspects of learning arising from general patterns of childrearing in Indigenous Australian cultures include group-orientation, cooperation, and external locus of control all of which emphasise the importance that the earliest years of socialisation for any child have on their adoption of culturally-significant learning styles (see also, Yavu-Kama 1988; Barnes & Rowe 2008; Purdie, Milgate & Bell 2011).
Bringing it back to the classroom, Vygotsky’s theory accepts that there will be many individual cases of learning within any room. Individual differences are paramount, and shaped by social interaction and circumstance (Vygotsky 1978). In the very nature that it is social, teaching, and teachers, guide students’ learning so that they may push the boundaries of their Zones of Proximal Development, where they begin to feel the challenge of the unfamiliar but are supported to push through with initial assistance before being able to accomplish new skills and gain new knowledges for themselves.
Piaget’s Theory of Development and Learning
In addition to Vygotsky, and to Gardner, Harris, Hughes, More et al., as cited above, I would also like to briefly consider Piaget and his theories of development.
Piaget took a constructivist approach to learning, proposing children construct knowledge out of the world that they know. They act upon their immediate environment, and move through four universal stages – the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage.
In my classroom, I would use Piaget’s theory to back my sensitivity to the readiness of students to learn. Without gaining familiarity in one area of learning, foreign concepts are likely to remain that. Individuals vary in their readiness to take on new ideas and concepts, and discovery, via various means, should be promoted.
1.3. Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds – Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds - An inclusive system benefits all learners without any discrimination towards any individual or group. It is founded on values of democracy, tolerance and respect for difference.
- (UNESCO, 2012)
- In education, inclusion is based on the philosophy that schools should, without question, provide for the needs of all the
- children in the community, whatever their background, their ability or their disability. Inclusive schools welcome and celebrate
- diversity in ability as well as in cultural, racial, ethnic and social background (Giorcelli 1995).
- In education, inclusion is based on the philosophy that schools should, without question, provide for the needs of all the
- children in the community, whatever their background, their ability or their disability. Inclusive schools welcome and celebrate
- diversity in ability as well as in cultural, racial, ethnic and social background (Giorcelli 1995).
- (cited Foreman 2011, p. 16)
As I have made my number one priority in my teaching knowledge gain, and in my future teaching career’s enlightenment, it is important that the lessons I plan and teach take into account the wide degree of diversity amongst students in any classroom environment. Belonging to a culture seemingly outside of the mainstream, the facing of financial hardships, same-sex parents, multi-racial or -ethnic families, adoptive families, disrupted families (single parent or otherwise) – these are all important features of our students’ lives outside of the classroom which effect their learning and their development.
The unit I undertook into creating inclusive practice in the classroom was one I found greatly beneficial to developing and advancing my knowledge. I want to make sure that the classroom I teach is a place in which every child can grow and develop as an individual and that each and every one of my students has the right and ability to learn at their optimum.
The Inclusive Classroom
In inclusive education, the learning program of every student is adapted so that it is appropriate and meaningful to the individual learner, thus increasing the likelihood of students reaching their full potential in a positive learning environment (UNESCO 2012; Lyons et al. 2011). The range of successes and achievements of all students are celebrated and are not confined to competitive assessment and comparisons alone (Foreman 2008, 2012). My approach to inclusive teaching will reflect the Five Principles of Inclusion (Foreman 2008, 2012):
1. Principles of social justice and human rights;
My teaching approach will:
· Consider the behaviour, not the ‘behaver’ as my challenge (Slee 2012)
· Adapt teaching methods, providing for range of differences (Curtin & Clarke 2005 cited Foreman 2008, p. 8)
· Begin new themes, as well as beginning and ends of daily teaching, with discussions – opportunity to consider previous knowledge, experience, interests, concerns; offering a sound level of control over decision-making, contributing to their self-value.
2. All children can learn;
My teaching approach will:
· Encourage students to express their feelings to me and others, rather than to act in surges of aggression, avoidance or hyperactive distractions (changes to cognitive-behavioural processes will be long-term)
· Adopt a positive rewards scheme to reinforce correct behaviours in and outside the class
· Collaboration in deciding upon correct behaviours and rewards for ‘wanted’ behaviours
3. The ‘Least Restrictive’ environment;
My teaching approach will:
· Model value and acceptance of differences – behaviours, culture, social circumstances;
· Show my class that ‘cooperation and acceptance are valued in the classroom’ – increase the likelihood of positive social interaction and relationships forming (Foreman 2008, p. 56)
4. ‘Normalisation’;
My teaching approach will:
· use open discussions – all students’ contributions will help them to feel included; each individual’s unique histories and experiences make everyone as ‘different’ as each other
· Ask open-ended questions, evoking interest, and creating pride in each student
5. Age-appropriate;
My teaching approach will:
· Involve active learning – games, dance, music and arts, outdoor-settings – break up the day, giving students a chance to learn, whilst having fun and interacting with one another in a less formal way, developing friendships (in spite of difference) (Advocacy for Inclusion Inc. 2007; Foreman 2008).
· The above has the added effect of on-task performance where attention span can often be the main behavioural issue in a classroom for more formal class work
My teaching will be responsive to the individuals in my classroom. While my placement at Westgarth Primary School did not expose me to a plethora of cultural groups, the differences in my students, and those across the school, still exposed me to diversity. For my discussion, here, though, I will refer to my placement at Manunda Tce, mostly, with a student population consisting of 52% Aboriginal students, and the majority of the other half from refugee and minority backgrounds, all coming to a school in a low-socioeconomic area of Darwin, consistent with the issues following low social “standing”.
Inclusive practice needs to consider the curriculum content, the instruction in lesson delivery, and the assessment following and alongside these lessons. It is not something which can be considered just at the forefront of classroom planning. An inclusive classroom is one in which every student, regardless of background, has access to learning, and has the opportunity to participate in all areas they desire to.
It is my wish that I maintain a classroom environment in which everyone can feel a sense of belonging, find a sense of pride and be free to express it, enjoy purposeful learning and develop the desire to achieve to their very personal best.
1.4. Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students – Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds
** included below are pictures of Aboriginal artwork, texts and landart (Gunbalanya and Ubir stone art) **
I have made Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education a focus of my teacher training, and thus have tried to include it across the units presented. For the purpose of this Teaching Standards, I would like to reflect upon my use of Reconciliation Week as an avenue for bringing Aboriginal Culture and History into the classroom.
Australian teachers need to be aware of the multiple ways in which children learn, and the influence that culture has on this learning. Since the 1980s, research has been undertaken to address the nature and differences in learning styles. Studies theorise that cultural differences change the way that we each learn. ‘This is not to argue that there is anyone clear 'Aboriginal learning style' (Anderson & Walter 2010, p. 74).
Past educators have searched for ways to accommodate the needs of Indigenous students in our teaching methods and styles. Harris (1984), for example, considered the following to be important elements of Indigenous learning (from pp. 77-90):
- Learning through performance, rather than practice in contrived settings
- Learning context-specific skills rather than abstract principles
- Learning through observation and imitation rather than through oral or written verbal instruction
- Learning through trial and error rather than through verbally-mediated demonstrations
- Employing an orientation towards people rather than tasks or information.
Like any students, Indigenous students need to have a motivation and drive to learn. They need to have the self-confidence and self-efficacy, the self-esteem and pride in what they are doing and what they can do (Ewing, 2010). In addition, a teacher needs to establish trust, be flexible and imaginative in her lessons to meet difference in circumstance, show concern, and hold a high expectation for all children (matching her lesson plans to meet the varied needs of the students, but not matching her expectations for them on past-elicited assumptions – see, eg. Annenberg Learner, 2012). This is important in any classroom, and is not unique to the classroom containing Indigenous learners. Cultural understanding is important for inclusion and acceptance of difference to take place, and for all students to feel that they and each of their peers have the same rights to learn as one another.
I undertook the extra Summer unit in Indigenous teaching and learning, and made my past self-education in this area more concrete.
* see picture below of Reconciliation work at WPS *
1.5. Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities – Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
Has an understanding of varying learning styles of individuals and plans accordingly (Kathy Dinoris, Mentor ETP420 Practicum)
My experience of teaching and of classroom dynamics speaks for itself for the need to make lessons differentiated for the many individual and unique learners in any one place.
When planning lessons for the differentiated classroom, some strategies may be adopted:
- Individual student growth and improvement are seen as paramount and general to each and every student, as envisioned and expressed by the teacher, and as adopted by each student for themselves and for others (see picture of the Super Hero Rights from 3/4 S)
- Students are involved in the shaping of their classroom so that it is a place of belonging for all, and so all students feel they own it to some extent
- Goal-setting and aiming for improvement are made a priority, with smaller, achievable and measureable goals encouraged and the developing of these assisted where required
- Differentiation is proactive, rather than reactive. The teacher arranges lessons and classroom set-up based on knowledge of what works with this classroom of individuals, and is flexible to change in a positive light if “disaster strikes”
- Leadership is offered to students as well as being part of the teacher’s role, so that students showing great knowledge in particular areas of lessons can take on a role of ‘expert’ or ‘vice teacher’ in the teaching and scaffolding of their peers.
Source: Tomlinson, C. A., Eidson, C. Cunningham. (2003). Differentiation in practice: a resource guide for differentiating curriculum, grades K-5. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
In my own teaching, differentiation is taken into account during all lessons from the point of planning. In the majority of my lessons, whole-class initial activities and explicit explanation of topic areas were followed by smaller-grouped work assignment – with tasks for each group option taught explicitly during the initial introduction, as well. Tasks were prepared with the aim being to challenge learners within each group, regardless of ability and strengths or weaknesses.
Ideas to bring to lesson planning for differentiation include:
- Students choose from a host of activities or tasks developed for different learning strengths across the various ‘Multiple Intelligences’ or learning styles - Verbal/linguistic; Visual/Spatial; Logical/Mathematical; Intrapersonal
- Individual scaffolding is adopted where required, and in some cases individual or small group guided activities can take place to enable this supported learning from within students’ zones of proximal development
- Self-paced learning, or completion of activities can be allowed to an extent, with the option of extension for students who move at a faster rate.
With the help of my mentor, I identified opportunities for targeted interventions arising out of learning, which can be supported through the use of carefully selected resources. For example, guided reading groups were (and are) selected according to reading needs and I used the reading of a play script with my lower-level group to engage and excite them, where they otherwise showed easy-distraction and boredom.
As a teacher, I need to be able to engage with learners from various backgrounds, so that they may grasp the concepts of my lessons. To do this, I utilise more than one method of assessment, catering for diversity, and allow for flexibility when delivering learning sequences. There are different ways of conveying students’ understandings of new ideas and information – for example, by using Multiple Intelligence methods of assessment, students’ strengths can shine and enlighten the teacher to their learning outcomes.
** see picture below – Multiple Intelligences Assessment **
Reflection - end-of-placement (P.E. teaching as part of my ten week block at WPS), 26th July 2013
Students are observably and outrightly excited when they know that I will be taking them for a session, and it is so nice to have those from all ages and classes (in addition to my grade 3/4s) running up to me in the playground to greet me and tell me something about their current state of affairs! P.E teaching, in addition to providing me with skills in teaching physical education, has allowed me to teach all age groups in the school, without always having the forward-planning possible in everyday class situations (especially with weather a factor of consideration for sports and games play). I am aware of my variations of teaching and interaction styles across the different age-groups, and am satisfied that I feel comfortable across the board! Those scary grade 5/6s (remembering I was feeling that this age group would be my challenge given my lack of previous experience working with over 8 year olds) are far from scary, after all! I really do feel I could teach at any age group in the primary years now, and with placements coming to an end, this is a satisfying thought!
1.6. Strategies to support full participation of students with disability – Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of legislative requirements and teaching strategies that support participation and learning of students with a disability
Legislation across Australia, at the national level, exists for the provision of education for students with a disability and learning disorder. States and Territories have their own acts and agreements as well, however given my experience across different states/territories, I have chosen to highlight the main Australian level legislation here.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992
This Act provides protection for everyone in Australia against discrimination based on disabilities. It encourages everyone to be involved in implementing the Act and to share in the overall benefits to the community and the economy that flow from participation by the widest range of people.
The Disability Standards for Education 2005 (formulated under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992)
These Standards clarify the obligations of teachers, principals and other education service and training providers. It ensures that they enable students with disabilities to access and participate in education in no lesser way than those without disabilities.
http://deewr.gov.au/disability-standards-education
The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians
The Melbourne Declaration, published in 2008, sets out goals to improve educational outcomes for all young Australians, including those with disabilities.
Accessible as PDF from Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf
The National Education Agreement
This Agreement is one of 11 agreements which form the overarching Intergovernmental Agreement on Federal Financial Relations between the Commonwealth and State/Territory Governments. This funding framework provides flexibility for states and territories to allocate Government funding to areas they believe will produce the best outcomes for all students, including those with disabilities.
http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/national_agreements.aspx
I can draw, here, upon my work with the Grade 1/2 ESL group at Manunda Tce in 2012. Working with this level of readers was a new and interesting experience, and a rewarding one at that. Finding something the children were passionate about and running with this topic to encourage a greater love of reading, where language barriers and learning difficulties made it challenging beyond the norm, made for successful lesson delivery.
From left: 1. and 2. Aboriginal Australia, map for introducing students to Aboriginal names, places and diversity, ie. Reconciliation Week work or work with students living in communities for relation to the rest of Australia; also a great book I found for incorporating Aboriginal language and song into learning, which I plan to draw upon for remote and other Aboriginal teaching experiences, as well as other classroom teaching in the early primary and early childhood years;
3. Recognition at Westgarth Primary, along with the "Welcome to Country" words spoken at each assembly; 4. Reconciliation Week work by students
Developmental Theory Assignment One - Essay, September 2012
Case Study Scenario One:
Kyla is eight years old. She is often late for school; she is sleepy in class and often doesn’t seem to comprehend what is being said. She never finishes any class activities. Other students think she is weird, and say she has a funny look about her.
Kyla is eight years old. She is often late for school; she is sleepy in class and often doesn’t seem to comprehend what is being said. She never finishes any class activities. Other students think she is weird, and say she has a funny look about her.
etp420_1._scenario_response_n.godfrey_s238544.doc | |
File Size: | 67 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Lesson Planning, September 2012
~ my earliest attempts at planning for early childhood, specifically the Foundation (school-entry) Year - prior to teaching practicum ~
The Northern Territory Curriculum Framework (NTCF, NTDET 2009) and the Australian Curriculum (ACARA 2009) provide the outcomes that are used to plan, implement and evaluate lessons across the school board in the Northern Territory. These outcomes state specific stages in a learner's development, and are read as part of a continuum to demonstrate the achievements of students for the meeting of curriculum goals. Below you can find my own attempt at a lesson plan, based on my intentions to work in the early years, and thus developed for the Foundation Year. I have selected English for this plan, but links can be made (especially) with Studies of Society and the Environment (SOSE) and Indigenous Studies as well.
My class task is based on an illustrated book about the seasons in the Northern Territory, specifically in Kakadu. It uses Aboriginal knowledge and concepts to identify and describe the seasons and the events correlating across the year. While some aspects of the text will be too difficult to gauge for some students, I will be concentrating on the season names and events, highlighting aspects of the illustrations to demonstrate the different times of the year. Students will be able to identify with the changes that they are developing an awareness for in the climate they live in, and will gain insight into language differences, and Indigenous knowledges as well.
My class task is based on an illustrated book about the seasons in the Northern Territory, specifically in Kakadu. It uses Aboriginal knowledge and concepts to identify and describe the seasons and the events correlating across the year. While some aspects of the text will be too difficult to gauge for some students, I will be concentrating on the season names and events, highlighting aspects of the illustrations to demonstrate the different times of the year. Students will be able to identify with the changes that they are developing an awareness for in the climate they live in, and will gain insight into language differences, and Indigenous knowledges as well.
A Learning Management Plan, September 2012
my_learning_management_plan_-_foundation_literacy.doc | |
File Size: | 52 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Lesson Plan Example - First Attempt, August 2012
lesson_plan_1._foundation_year_english.doc | |
File Size: | 65 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Reflections
October 2012
I have completed half of my placement now, and am gaining wide and invaluable experience and knowledge with every moment of it. For this reason, I would like to add reflection on my first lesson plan attempt, and will provide my new Learning Management Plan and Lesson Plans which I have been working on and will continue to implement in my final weeks of placement. I am now more aware of where my students are at with their learning comprehension, capabilities and developmental stages, and while some of this 'lags behind' expectations for the Australian Curriculum and even Piaget, it follows a consistent developmental pattern, which can be used to enhance and add to the learning experience, challenging and scaffolding where appropriate.
October 2012
I have completed half of my placement now, and am gaining wide and invaluable experience and knowledge with every moment of it. For this reason, I would like to add reflection on my first lesson plan attempt, and will provide my new Learning Management Plan and Lesson Plans which I have been working on and will continue to implement in my final weeks of placement. I am now more aware of where my students are at with their learning comprehension, capabilities and developmental stages, and while some of this 'lags behind' expectations for the Australian Curriculum and even Piaget, it follows a consistent developmental pattern, which can be used to enhance and add to the learning experience, challenging and scaffolding where appropriate.