Bradley
Disley
Standard 3 - Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning.
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Focus Area: 3.1 Establish challenging learning goals.
Graduate Descriptor: Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics.
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Elaboration: Establishing challenging learning goals is essential to student success in learning, and improved self efficacy. When teachers know their students, and how best they learn, they can more appropriately plan and implement lessons around prior knowledge. Discussions with students, and teachers, helped identify what skills have already been learnt in previous activities, so that these skills could be built on and expanded.
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Evidence Description: Discussions with my mentor teacher about what projects had been built prior to my arrival, identified tasks which incorporated all the learnt skills, with the addition of some more complex skills. Previous skills included; hand-sawing, drilling, sanding and finishes. The unit I designed demanded those skills, with the addition of designing, sash clamping, and laser etching.
Evidence Supplied: Professional Experience and Reflection 1 and 2 combined final report. pg 3 Mentor teacher comments. (click to expand)
Focus Area: 3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs.
Graduate Descriptor: Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies.
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Elaboration: Key to being an effective educator is good planning and organisation. Included in this is the combination of relevant curriculum, differentiation for a variety of abilities, and flexibility for teaching in a complex environment. Multi modal delivery of information in a sequential order allows for students to access the learning information in their preferred learning style and pace. Techniques I used in this unit include white board task lists, a worksheet with step by step pictures, recorded software videos on moodle, prepared folio and evaluation sheets, and hands on daily in-class demonstrations.
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Evidence Description: The evidence I have attached to display this standard is a 4 week Year 9 Materials unit, making wooden chopping boards. The unit and lesson plans attached outline the sequence of the topic and the learning outcomes expected. The unit displays links to the Australian Curriculum in the area of Design and Technology for the specific age group. Additional material was produced to support these lesson plans with differentiation, which is not included.
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Evidence Supplied: 4 week unit plan for Year 9 Materials, making wooden chopping boards. (click to expand)
examples of unit plan page 1 and 2.
examples of Lesson 1 page 1 and 2.
Focus Area: 3.3 Use teaching strategies.
Graduate Descriptor: Include a range of teaching strategies.
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Elaboration: For teachers to effectively deliver content to a wide variety of students,
it is important that they have many techniques to suit the variety of learning styles. The Felder-Silverman table, outlines the variety of preferred learning styles that students may possess. Some students may prefer reading, making, thinking or watching to learn new skills. When teachers deliver content through as many techniques as possible, it will better engage with each student through their preference for learning.
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Evidence Description: The evidence I have provided for this standard is knowledge of students' preferred learning styles, and the application in my practice. As highlighted in my mentor teachers comments, I used explicit teaching, recorded software lessons, one to one, group work, open questioning and structured scaffolding as examples of strategies to engage as many students as possible in my lessons.
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Evidence Supplied: Professional Experience and Reflection 1 and 2 combined final report. pg 3 Mentor teacher comments. (click to expand)
Felder - Silverman Learning styles. (click to expand)
Focus Area: 3.4 Select and use resources.
Graduate Descriptor: Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage students in their learning.
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Elaboration: It is important that teachers have a broad knowledge of resources that can assist in student engagement in projects. Drawing upon different materials and techniques can spark interest in students and provide them with a source of autonomy in their work. Understanding this, sourcing a variety of materials, and applying new techniques also allows students options for creativity.
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Evidence Description: The evidence displayed for this standard is examples of students work created during Year 9 Materials. Pine was available in the workshop, and had been used previously in all other projects, for its affordability and ease to work with. At home I had a large variety of coloured scrap wood which I thought would mill down nicely, and incorporate with pine. At my expense and time, I prepared the timber for the students to use in their chopping boards. Everyone seized the opportunity to use this new resource with enthusiasm and spectacular results.
ICT was used in the same way, with illustrator lessons and a Rayjet printer, to create unique motives which students laser etched onto their finished products
Evidence Supplied: Finished examples of students work during Year 9 Materials, making wooden chopping boards. (click to expand)
Focus Area: 3.5 Use effective classroom communication.
Graduate Descriptor: Demonstrate a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student engagement.
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Elaboration: Teachers should be proficient in a range of verbal and non-verbal techniques for engaging students and keeping them on-task. Using verbal techniques such as, active or passive listening, I-messages, and assertion are all ways of effectively communicating by ensuring student dignity is always maintained. Non-verbal techniques include body language, and teacher positioning can be used to display that a teacher is open to approach, or conversely, to prevent unproductive disruptions during content delivery.
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Evidence Description: The evidence supplied for this standard is my mentors comments outlining some of the strategies used in my classroom. Explicit teaching by applying assertion, open ended discussions with active listening, and questions requiring statements are all techniques employed. Equally I used my teacher positioning to minimise interruptions, or get down on the students level, to provide additional support
Evidence Supplied: Professional Experience and Reflection 1 and 2 combined final report. pg 3 Mentor teacher comments. (click to expand)
Focus Area: 3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs.
Graduate Descriptor: Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning.
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Elaboration: It is vital for teachers to reflect on their practice, to improve it not only for the students learning, but also for improved job satisfaction. Reflecting on how things could be improved, or streamlined, allows for teachers to plan for a different approach in the future. Another more deliberate approach is through action research, which involves the five steps of identify, plan, act, observe, and reflect in a constantly evolving spiral. Teachers can use action research to identify a source of improvement, create a plan, put in action, observe the result, and reflect if improvement occurs, thus identifying again.
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Evidence Description: The evidence I have supplied to demonstrate my knowledge of strategies to evaluate and improve my practice is my action research plan I developed during Contemporary Practice in Education Research EDUC 5204. The action research proposal identifies a gap in research to improve engagement in the wood work department. A plan to improve student engagement using short motivational videos, and wood shop based games, is observed by the mentor, students, and self. Triangulation of the mentor data, student comments and self reflections will determine its effectiveness.
Evidence Supplied: My action research proposal for improving student engagement in Year 9 Materials, including literature review, resources, unit plan, and detailed lesson plans. (click to expand)
An example of the mentor teacher checklist I designed, from the proposal, to measure the number of on-task students during lessons.
Focus Area: 3.7 Engage parents / carers in the educative process.
Graduate Descriptor: Describe a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the educative process.
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Elaboration: To be effective, teachers must not only have parent support, but use strategies to actively involve them in the educative process. Having staff-parent meetings improves family ethnography, and consequently improved planning of relevant material. It also allows for parents to express concerns, or expectations. Keeping parents in the process using email is an efficient way to pass information, whilst displaying an openness to communicate.
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Evidence Description: The evidence supplied to demonstrate this standard is an email I received as communication about the educative process. The parent contact me, through my mentor, because the student was unwell and the parent was concerned the student would miss handing in a movie assignment. I assured the parent, the student would not miss any opportunities, and we would be excited for the students return, and wait to share the opportunity to see the finished movie as a class.
Evidence Supplied: An example of an email from a parent to inform me one of my students was unwell. On this placement I was not supplied with a school email, so I was contacted through my mentors email. Unfortunately I did not keep a copy of my reply. Next placement I will keep these correspondence as evidence. (click to expand)
This email has had names removed to de-identify parties.