Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

Standard 3.1 - Establish challenging learning goals. (Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics.)

It is imperative to have differentiation throughout all lessons, as to keep the students engaged and actively participating in classroom activities. Whilst I did still set essay for my classes, I also changed it up by adding in a “Family Feud Quiz Game” that allowed students to come up with their own questions on the Industrial Revolution and quiz other students in the class. This worked really well with my year 9’s and they were engaged and actively learning in an authentic assessment type. Furthermore, I allowed students in year 9 English to play a game of “Celebrity Heads” yet only allowed them to choose characters from the novel we were studying. This was not only a fun way to learn the characters, it also made the students think outside the square in asking questions about the novel. Through these activities it established challenging yet achievable learning goals for every student involved.

Standard 3.2 - Plan, structure and sequence learning programs. (Plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies.)

Planning, structuring and sequencing learning programs helps to enable students to achieve at the highest possible rate they can. I found it imperative to plan my lessons based on the student’s prior knowledge, therefore scaffolding the lessons and learning outcomes was imperative. For example, when teaching about the novel in year 9 English, it was important to give the students prior knowledge on the holocaust so that they understood the novel to its full extent. This allowed the students to understand the different language conventions in the novel and one student even recognised that the young character saying “out-with” was actually meaning “Auschwitz”. My mentor teachers were constantly praising my organisation skills and continuously encouraged me with excellent feedback on my learning programs.

Standard 3.3 - Use teaching strategies. (Include a range of teaching strategies.)

Variation when teaching is key to ensuring students are engaged and actively participating in classroom activities. I implemented responses to questions, role play, celebrity heads games, quizzes, essays and oral presentations.

Standard 3.4 - Select and use resources. (Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage students in their learning.)

I used an extensive range of different sources such as the school library to find books on my specific topics I was going to teach, the year level textbook, engaging online videos and I also created a few Kahoots in order to teach the students in a more engaging way. I hope to further develop my skills in this area and believe I will never stop learning as ICT is always changing and improving as time goes on.

Standard 3.5 - Use effective classroom communication. (Demonstrate a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student engagement.)

Communication is the most important tool to use when teaching students of all backgrounds. In my classroom I used various methods of communicating with my students such as verbally, written on the whiteboard, google docs, google classrooms and emails. Furthermore, it was also imperative for me to communicate with the parents and other teachers, through this we had staff meetings, parent-teacher interviews, I sent home positive letters in the students’ diaries and sent home emails. In class I would write visual instructions on the white board of what I expected from the students. Communication is a crucial part of teaching and it is important that as a teacher we make ourselves accessible to all students, parents and other teachers.

Standard 3.6 - Evaluate and improve teaching programs. (Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning.)

During my placement I sent out a student to teacher evaluation form in order to assess my teaching and evaluate where I could improve. Fortunately, 90% of the students gave me positive feedback, however I believe there is always room for improvement. Constantly having meetings with my mentors and the principle allowed me to understand where I could improve and allowed me to debrief about the lesson just taught. It is important to always evaluate our teaching practices as there is always something to improve on; asking students and colleagues allows us to make appropriate changes if necessary.

Standard 3.7 - Engage parents/carers in the educative process. (Describe a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the educative process.)

I believe it is crucial that parents and carers are involved in their students' learning. If students feel supported in their home-life, there is a greater chance they will receive higher marks at school. On my placement I was in correspondence with the parents and sent out a letter before the placement introducing myself. This allowed me to be approachable to these parents and carers. Furthermore, I experienced my first parent-teacher interviews where I was able to actively encourage the parents to be involved in their child’s learning. Furthermore, I believe it would be helpful to have not only the emails of parents and carers but also their phone numbers for quick and easy access to correspondence.