Excerpts from my Reflective Journal

2014 Practicum experience (Year 3 class)

Knowing how students learn
The most important thing I have learnt during my practicum is the importance of
using visuals. Things like anchor charts, PowerPoints, posters, word walls, YouTube
clips, etc. have all been utilised throughout my teaching experience in a year 3
classroom. I began using visual aids a lot more in the last two weeks of my
practicum. This is because I became to know my learners and their preferred
learning style, in which was visual.
In the first two weeks, my lessons used a large amount of technology, which was
engaging for the students. However, I realised that they also need this information
displayed around the classroom to refer to when technology is not in use. After
figuring out that I needed things like anchor charts, word walls, posters, etc. I began
to create various visuals (measurement anchor chart, preposition word wall) to
display in the classroom. After making resources and covering the classroom with
things that I had made for the students to refer to, I discovered that they still
werent really benefiting from them. This is because I had created them over the
weekend and stuck them up without the students knowing. From this, it finally
clicked that if the students help make these resources and physically stick them
around the classroom themselves, it is more likely they will refer to them because
they helped in making them. From that, the creating of visual aids then became the
main focus for the beginning of each unit during the final weeks of my practicum.
Knowing the content
From my experience in a year 3 classroom, I have become to realise how important
a teachers job is. Knowing the content to teach to 23, ten-year olds is a vital part of
their lives. There are two things that really stuck out to me during the past four
weeks, and that is to research the topic you are teaching to gain insightful
background knowledge, and the second one is to actually do the activity/lesson
myself, before setting it to the students.
Throughout my practicum, I realised that doing research before teaching specific
lessons was necessary. This additional research allowed me to gain specific
background knowledge that was needed to extend students learning, specifically for
the gifted and talented student in the class.
I also found that doing a snippet of each activity/lesson myself, before teaching the
lesson helped me adjust things that werent quite clear. By doing this, I also found
that it assisted me in developing points for discussion in the future.

Differentiation
With a wide range of students with a varying array of abilities, I initially found it
challenging to cater for all these specific learning needs. However through
observation from watching my associate teacher cater for these students, it allowed
me to realise that it can be done, it just takes additional consideration when
planning. From there I slowly introduced different strategies that would benefit all
students.
I began to incorporate students interests into lessons, which allowed students to
demonstrate and show off their knowledge to their peers. This strategy also
influenced other students, as they were able to learn something off one of their
classmates, rather than learning everything from the teacher, which produced a
greater appreciation between classmates.
Also maintaining the use of visuals like word walls, concept maps, visual organisers
and posters, is important for all students be able to constantly refer to.
When constructing group work activities, I ensured that each group was of mixed
ability, this promoted all students to participate in scaffolded interactions with their
peers.
I also encouraged students to set a personal learning goal at the beginning of each
day. This task was not compulsory, but was available for students to have a chance
to write down that they want to achieve each day. I also used this as feedback for
myself on figuring out what the students want to know and what I could incorporate
into my future lessons to enhance further interest from the students.
Lastly, in the final week of my practicum, I decided to create a way for students to
ask for help without drawing attention from the whole class. I used a request
assistance card. This card is just a coloured piece of cardboard that is kept in each
students desk. When they require assistance or need help with something, they
place this coloured piece of cardboard at the top corner of their desk which signals
to me as the teacher that they require additional help. Before implementing this
strategy I was unsure on how students would react to it, but decided to try it out. It
was extremely successful, with students using it responsibility and it is something I
would defiantly implement in my future classroom.

Supporting Harry
Harry has cerebral palsy.
Due to getting tired when writing, Harry has his own iPad that he uses at his desk
each day. When creating lessons on this practicum, it is important for me to keep in
mind how Harry could also actively participate in these lessons. Each morning Harry
would have an additional teacher in the classroom to be one-on-one with him. I
used this to my advantage and created the lessons in the morning which would
challenge Harry to remain focused, but with the guidance of the additional teacher
he would be motivated to participate. During lessons when the additional teacher
wasnt there to support Harry, I would set up specific programs on his iPad where he
could engage in similar learning at his ability.

Monitoring and assessing learning

This practicum made me more aware of the monitoring and assessing learning
process. I learnt that assessment occurs more than once throughout a unit and it
doesnt specifically have to be at the end of the unit with a rubric. It is more of a
process, and assessment can happen various times throughout a unit via checklists,
self-evaluations, peer-assessment, observation, discussions, graphic organisers,
feedback and rubrics.
I also learnt that the best way to assess of student learning is to use the content
descriptors, achievement standard and year level description from the curriculum to
guide the expectations that the students are working towards.