Blog post 5: Reflection

Reflection about how parents and/or caregivers are important to and may assist in the educative process of their child:

Parents/caregivers are an integral part in the education process of their child as they are able to provide teachers with an insight into their child (how they learn, what they like, how they behave at homes, duties, hobbies, etc). During my practicum I was able to sit in on parent-teacher interviews and listen to how teachers and parents discuss how to further help the child’s education. Communication with parents is also important when students have behavioural issues at school as the parents need to be aware of the best possible way to change a situation for the better.

Reflection on how well you achieved the goals set in blog post 1 and the areas of further improvement that are still ahead of you:

Out of the three main goals I set for myself in blog post 1, I feel that I am confidently achieving all three of these goals:

·    Develop a deeper understanding of the range of different learning styles and methods which can be used in the classroom to enhance student understanding of the content. (Element 2 – 2.1.1., 2.1.3, 2.1.5)

From working with a variety of different classes made me aware that different levels of learning have different needs which lead to creating different worksheets and tasks based on the needs of the class. E.g. one of my Year 8 classes had poor literacy skills with a majority of the students having learning or behavioural difficulties so I created worksheets which helped build their literacy skills and were short so that students were not weighed down with loads of information (as shown in blog post 4).

·    Develop effective communication in classroom discussions to reinforce and develop areas of content. (Element 4 – 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.3)

        Classroom discussion were an integral part of most of my lesson introductions or conclusions as it is a wonderful way to revise, memorise and reinforce different areas of content. Discussion between students was also encourage through the establishment of group tasks (as discussed in blog post 3).

·    Use feedback as a means of improving and developing on teaching and learning practices. (Element 6 – 6.1.5)

From listening to advice given from my colleague teacher, practicum supervisor, students and other members of staff, I have been able to adapt and change my teaching and learning practices to improve and develop the way I teach. Feedback is essential whether it be written, verbal, or just passing comments. I will continue to seek feedback throughout my teaching career.

I still have much to learn and develop ahead of me to become a professional teacher but from these goals I have achieved so far, I am willing and ready to develop these other skills through the help of study, communication and involvement.

Blog post 4

Element: Element 2 Teachers know their students and how they learn

Teaching Standard: 2.1.6. demonstrate knowledge of a range of literacy strategies to meet the needs of all students including:

·         Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

·         Students with Special Needs

·         Non-English Speaking Background students

·         Students with Challenging Behaviours

Reasoning for selected evidence:

The evidence attached is a series of different worksheets developed for one of my Year 8 classes. The majority of this class has high literacy needs due to learning/behavioural difficulties and thus theirs literacy skills were something I wanted to focus on in the unit of work I established for them. In Visual Arts, there are many difficult words and concepts that students learn about and for students with poor literacy skills it is integral to build up vocabulary and concepts in a way that they can understand. I considered this when creating worksheets for the class which lead to using small, easy to read paragraphs, dictionary definitions, and tasks which have a fun element to it (getting students to colour or link words). Students enjoyed the worksheets and during my time with them, I saw their skills for writing and discussing art build with students reflecting on the information in their worksheets.

Blog post 3

Experience: Group Research Task (Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain) with Year 11 Visual Arts

Teaching Standard: 4.1.4. Use student group structures as appropriate to address teaching and learning goals

Students are nearing Preliminary examinations and begin Year 12 studies next term; this task was designed to help students develop their research skills to use for case studies for their exam and for next term. In this task, students were to identify important information from different articles regarding Marcel Duchamp and the Conceptual Framework. Each group was given a different agency from the Framework (Artist, Artwork, World, and Audience) and then each group member had a different article to read. Students then collaborated their findings with the rest of their group to create a poster focusing on that agency. At the end, groups explained their findings to the rest of the class and the posters were hung on the wall.

Students seemed a bit confused to begin with as they were given small tasks to complete which they had difficulty seeing the bigger picture, however, once they saw what they had completed, students were pleased with how much research the class had discovered. Not only did this task build students personal awareness of how to focus on a single point to find notes on in an article but also how they can study with others to gain more information over a short amount of time.

A few possible ways to improve this lesson:

·         Try to provide clearer explanation of the task to assist with students who were a bit confused at the beginning – perhaps a how to chart which lists the different steps involved in group research.

·         Get students to find their own articles (this could be a feature of the next time this task is done as a means of assessing students understanding of what kinds of articles/information is appropriate).

·         Introduce new articles/get students to find new articles after the first sharing of their findings to see if students can then build on the information they have already discovered.

·         Introduce an essay question at the end of the research task for students to answer or discuss how they would answer it based on the information they have found and what they have learnt from their group members and rest of the classes findings to assess if the information/method of research is useful.