TEACHING METHOD WORKBOOK SPECIALISATION

Overview

Please refer to the Instructions below that pertain to your relevant course.

Note that specific due dates for these Teaching Method Workbooks for your course
are identified each Teaching Method Unit Outline. These due dates must be
adhered to as penalties will apply for late submissions.

Failure to submit the Teaching Method Workbooks will result in a fail grade for
the unit, which may have implications for your Internship and School Experiences.

Upon completion of the Teaching Method Workbooks, complete the University

Assignment Cover Sheet (included with each Booklet) and place the Booklets in
the Education Assignment Box located downstairs in the School of Education
building.

Specific Instructions...........READ CAREFULLY

Graduate Diploma Education (Secondary)

Complete two Teaching Method Workbooks and submit by due dates as per your
unit outline:

1. Workbook Major Teaching Area (answer questions 1-5)

2. Workbook Specialisation (answer ONLY questions 3-5 inclusive)

Please contact your Tutor or Course Coordinator if you reguire further

clarification regarding these instructions.

1
NOTE: THIS WORKBOOK IS NOT A TEACHING PRACTICE ASSESSEMENT ITEM. A
SEPARATE BOOKLET IS PROVIDED FOR THAT PURPOSE.

Student Teacher's Name: xxxxxxxx

Course: Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary)

Unit Code: EDSS08
Name of Participating School:
xxxxxxxxx

Date Workbook Completed: Tutor's Name: Dr Peter

27/03/2017 07/04/2017 Carey

Learning Area:
Digital Technologies

ASSESSMENT TASKS AND GRADING

Master of Teaching & Graduate Diploma of

Education complete sections 3-5 ONLY. Bach Degree to which completed
of Educ complete ALL 5 sections.
High Average Poor
1: School Profile (Day 1 & 2)

2: Policies and Procedures

3: Structured Observations HD D C P F

4: Resources


5: Final Reflections

Final Grade Awarded: HD

Comment

Tutor's Signature: Date:

2
 Lower Secondary
Part 3: Structured Observations
(A)
During the school experience, formally observe any ONE lesson taught by your
teacher and comment on the following. NOTE: This is not an evaluation of the
teacher's lesson but a description of what transpired.

Planning Early finishers were encouraged to support their

Examples: peers no extension task available. Before
Strategies for early finishers. lesson started teacher checked to see if TV was
Preparation of equipment for working correctly and that resources for the
Lessons. lesson were accessible for students.

Lesson Beginning
Examples: Gaining attention.
Motivation, arousing interest
Recall of prior knowledge.
Teacher used raising their right hand to signal for
attention all students raised hand and fell silent.
Students were shown a short video clip on
searching the internet, followed by questions by
the teacher assessing prior knowledge on the
topic. Answers given by show of hands and
selection by teacher

Clarity Explicit teaching showing students how to search

Examples:
Giving instructions and directions.
Providing explanations.
Monitoring / Supervision
Examples:
Whole class awareness and
attentiveness.
Teacher positioning.
Gaining attention for further
instructions.
Behaviour Management
Examples: Attending to:
- off task behaviour
socially unacceptable
behaviour
Strategies:
- ignoring,
look/pause/comment/reminder
proximity to student reminder of
rules etc Reinforcing desirable
behaviour: recognising appropriate
behaviour
the internet. Students given instructions on what
to do verbally supported by PowerPoint slides on
the TV screen. Teacher questioned individual
students on what they were doing to check
understanding of task before setting class off on
the activity. Repeated important steps several
times.
Teacher remained very central at the front of the
class whilst giving instructions. Use of raising
hand and students to copy to get silence and
attention. Use of calling students by name to
demand attention. During activity teacher roamed
the room, supporting students where necessary
and checking progress.
When raising hand for silence teacher didnt
speak until class were fully silent, often waiting
up to a minute to achieve silence. During activity
when roaming, teacher stood over chatty
students in close proximity to make sure they
remained on task. When roaming during activity if
teacher saw an example of good work they would
stop class, praise the student and show work to
the rest of the class. At the end of the class
students who tidied up their computer area and
stood quietly behind their chairs first were
rewarded by being praised and were able to
leave the class first.
Communication At the start of the lesson the teacher made use of
Examples: Use of voice Question non-verbal communication to signal to students
techniques Non-verbal to take their hats off. When certain students
communication Checking didnt, eye contact glare was used until they
understanding methods Eye removed caps. Teacher raised the volume of
contact their voice at the start to gain attention, however
used lower volume, softer tones during class
discussion. Teacher used different pitch in voice
and moved around room to keep students
engaged whilst carrying out explicit teaching and
instructions.
Methods to promote student Early finishers were encouraged to teach and
participation help their peers to increase engagement.
Examples: Teacher roamed the room and checked progress
Verbal to make sure all students participated.
Non-verbal When the teacher or student was talking in a
Contextual, cultural etc discussion all other students had to shut their
laptops to ensure they were concentrating and
showing respect.

Teaching strategies Students were placed in a seating plan grouping

Examples:
Repetition / emphasis Seating
strategies Knowledge of subject
matter Didactic v's discovery
methods Classroom awareness
Student receptivity
Lesson conclusion
Examples: Methods used
Focus of conclusion
Management of materials
Transition strategies
Recording methods
students by ability. Teacher made sure they had
a full view of the classroom at all times and never
turned back on students. Teacher was aware of
possible students who may go off task and
regularly checked progress and quizzed students
to ensure they kept working. Lesson relied on
explicit teaching methods. Teacher showed a
video on how to do various internet searches,
then demonstrated this with students copying
teacher. Students were then free to practise
themselves.
Printouts of screenshots taken by students at
each stage of task were handed into teacher for
assessment. Teacher reviewed learning and
understanding by asking questions to students
and answers given by hands up. Students were
made to tidy area around them and stand behind
their chairs in silence ready for bell to go.

Below, indicate the most important thing that you learned from observing this
lesson:
When trying to gain the attention of students, the teacher used the method of raising their
right hand in which the class were used to copying the teacher, falling silent and focused
their attention on the teacher. The teacher didnt speak until the class were absolutely silent
and then they remained that way through the teachers instructions. In contrast, another
teacher I observed using the same method didnt wait for silence and was then battling for
the students attention all the way through their explanation. So, I learnt from this the
importance of being patient and waiting that extra bit longer for silence to ensure class
remains focused and ready to learn.
Part 3: (B)
Structured Observations
During the school experience, formally observe any ONE lesson taught by your
teacher and comment on the following. NOTE: This is not an evaluation of the
teacher's lesson but a description of what transpired.
Planning
Examples:
Strategies for early finishers.
Preparation of equipment for
lessons.
Lesson Beginning
Examples: Gaining attention.
Motivation, arousing interest
Recall of prior knowledge.
Clarity
Examples:
Giving instructions and directions.
Providing explanations.
Monitoring / Supervision
Examples:
Whole class awareness and
attentiveness.
Teacher positioning.
Gaining attention for further
instructions.
Behaviour Management
Examples: Attending to:
- off task behaviour
socially unacceptable
behaviour
Strategies:
- ignoring,
look/pause/comment/remin
der
proximity to student
reminder of rules etc Reinforcing
desirable behaviour: recognising
appropriate behaviour
Upper Secondary
Teacher ensured at start of the day that all the
necessary resources and tasks for that lesson
were uploaded to SEQTA, the school virtual
learning environment and checked they were
working correctly. Teacher checked projector was
working correctly with sound before lesson.
Teacher showed a good example of a students
work that they had completed so far to the rest of
the class. Teacher led a class discussion on its
good points and how it could be improved.
Teacher then quizzed other groups on what stage
they were at and what they needed to do today.
Tried to motivate students.
Teacher spoke in a much more casual and more
conversational manner to students than in their
lower secondary classes. Teacher often remained
seated and didnt need to repeat instructions.
Teacher sought for students to answer their own
questions rather than being source of the
information.
Much smaller class size so teacher didnt have to
roam as much. Less supervision and checking
progress, students trusted to take responsibility
for their learning. Teacher didnt need strategies
for gaining attention, if students were still talking
after prompting often other students intervened to
get silence.
There werent any low-level behaviour issues to
deal with throughout the class. However, teacher
had to try and keep motivating students to get
them to work consistently. Teacher offered lots of
encouragement to groups and repeatedly
reminded students of the upcoming deadline for
this element of work.
Teacher explained the consequences if deadline
wasnt hit, but made it clear that it was there
responsibility as year 12s.
As teacher identified examples of good work,
teacher would stop class and carry out a mini-
plenary, highlighting good points of skills used.
Communication
Examples: Use of voice Question
techniques Non-verbal
communication Checking
understanding methods Eye
contact
Teacher questioned students almost solely with
open questioning, prompting deeper thinking.
Constantly asking students to expand, simply
asking why or how, looked to build on
everything a student said and involve the whole
class. Asked class to raise hands if they agreed
with a students opinion and then selected
students to ask why to check understanding.

Methods to promote student Teacher used mostly verbal cues to motivate

participation students and encourage involvement. Teacher
Examples: used lots of humour and engaged in jokes with
Verbal students which I hadnt seen at all with lower
Non-verbal secondary classes.
Contextual, cultural etc
Teacher tried to relate work ethic in school to
encourage students to prepare themselves for
their future working lives.

Teaching strategies Use of open questioning to encourage deeper

Examples:
Repetition / emphasis Seating
strategies Knowledge of subject
matter Didactic v's discovery
methods Classroom awareness
Student receptivity
thought and reflection.
Students could work in groups of their choosing
and had no restrictions on where to sit. Students
therefore sat with their friends and struggled for
motivation.
Students were expected to lead their own
learning and produce a video through practising
skills they had already learnt. Lots of online
tutorials for students to study through at their
own pace.

Lesson conclusion Not an obvious plenary at the end of lesson.

Examples: Methods used
Focus of conclusion
Management of materials
Transition strategies
Recording methods
Teacher simply checked what stage students
were up to and reminded students of deadline.
No formal handing in of work or recording of
where students were all verbal.
Students did not have to stand behind their chair
like they have to at lower secondary and left at
their own accord on bell sound.

Below, indicate the most important thing that you learned from observing this
lesson:

In this lesson, I learnt how in Year 11 and 12 students are expected to take control of
their own learning. It was very apparent that were more emphasis on self-discovery
rather than the teacher giving the information to the students. The teacher acted
more like a facilitator of learning such as chairing debates, prompting deeper
thinking, challenging students etc. I found it will be important to change my teaching
style accordingly for Year 11 and 12 students.
Part 4: (A) Lower Secondary Resources

Student Teachers are required to familiarize themselves with a range of

resources used within their learning area and critique each.

1. Text/s
Which textbook/s would be a valuable resource for teaching in the learning area
you are considering in this school experience?
Textbook:
Practice IT for the Australian Curriculum Book 1-2: Lower Secondary (digital),
CCA1108/4208 Communications and Digital Technology, Digital Technology by Chris
Woodford.

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

The technology staff at @@@ didnt value textbooks very much for use with teaching
digital technology. As Digital technology is a fast-paced changing environment,
textbooks are often out of date before they are published. Therefore, most educators
prefer online resources such as online learning tutorials.

2. Websites
Which websites would be a valuable resource for teaching in the learning area
you are considering in this school experience?
Website:
http://www.teach-ict.com/, https://teachingmethodsict.weebly.com,
https://www.khanacademy.org/, https://www.tes.com/, https://padlet.com/,
https://www.clickview.com.au/, http://www.teachthis.com.au/,
https://www.scootle.edu.au, https://kahoot.it/, http://www.teachertoolkit.com

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

The wealth of educational websites online available today is a great asset to any
educator. Everything from lesson resources, to educational videos, to interactive
activities can be found online. More specifically the emergence of websites like
Kahoot.it make learning more interactive, competitive and fun. The ease of which
millions of pieces of learning material can be shared and updated means resources
online are often more up to date than printed resources. However, the challenge for
educators is to find the best learning resources by filtering out the poor examples and
not to use online resources just because its more convenient.
 3. Information & Communication Technology
Which ICT Resources (eg: apps, movie makers, video analysis) would be
valuable for teaching in the learning area and year level you are considering
in this school experience?
Resource Name:

www.Kahoot.it app, projector/Apple TVs, Laptops, Interactive electronic

whiteboards/projectors, IMovie app, https://www.plickers.com app, Doceri app,
www.Padlet.com app, SEQTA virtual learning environment, Office 365, www.weebly.com.

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

Students all have their own laptop or iPad at @@@ @@@ @@@ that they bring to
every lesson. Teachers therefore have a fantastic opportunity to use them as a
positive learning tool. The interactive apps can be used to incorporate several types
of formative assessment into lessons. Often the apps are engaging, check
assessment and provide instant feedback to the teacher, so are a good asset to the
teacher. The interactive projectors at @@@ are also a fantastic way of increasing
engagement in the classroom. Students can come to the board and add manipulate
resources, add information, complete activities and then it can all be saved and
uploaded to the school SEQTA site and used as revision later.

4. Guest Speaker and Excursions

What Guest Speakers and Excursions would be valuable for teaching in the
learning area and year level you are considering in this school experience?
Resource Name:

Scitech both excursions and incursions available introducing coding, robotics and
movie making

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

Both the excursion and incursion available from Scitech are fantastic educational
resources. Excursions can be planned alongside other subjects to give students a more
diverse experience. Scitech also offers the chance for students to see how technology is
used in the real world which is always a brilliant way of engaging students. The
excursions/incursions require no lesson planning from the teacher and are delivered by
experts so no training for upskilling is needed to be paid by the school.
Part 4: (A) Upper Secondary Resources

Student Teachers are required to familiarize themselves with a range of

resources used within their learning area and critique each.

1. Text/s
Which textbook/s would be a valuable resource for teaching in the learning area
you are considering in this school experience?

Textbook:
Introduction to Digital Design Process & Principles by Jamie Campbell, Jennifer
Howell Teaching with ICT textbook

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

The technology staff at @@@ didnt value textbooks very much for use with teaching
digital technology. As Digital technology is a fast-paced changing environment,
textbooks are often out of date before they are published. Therefore, most educators
prefer online resources such as online learning tutorials. I agree that textbooks
shouldnt be heavily used when teaching Digital Technologies.

2. Websites
Which websites would be a valuable resource for teaching in the learning area
you are considering in this school experience?
Website:
http://www.teach-ict.com/, https://teachingmethodsict.weebly.com,
https://www.khanacademy.org/, https://www.tes.com/, https://padlet.com/,
https://www.clickview.com.au/, http://www.teachthis.com.au/,
https://www.scootle.edu.au, https://kahoot.it/, http://www.teachertoolkit.com

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

With Year 11 and 12s all having their own laptops and being expected to do a lot self-
learning both in class and at home, websites can be a useful learning tool for teachers
in upper secondary. Teachers can easily upload a list of websites that students have
to review for homework and then reflect on in class. As for planning lessons,
everything from lesson resources, to educational videos, to interactive activities can be
found online to aid teachers planning.
3. Information & Communication Technology
Which ICT Resources (eg: apps, movie makers, video analysis) would be
valuable for teaching in the learning area and year level you are
considering in this school experience?
Resource Name:

www.Kahoot.it app, projector/Apple TVs, Laptops, Interactive electronic

whiteboards/projectors, IMovie app, https://www.plickers.com app, Doceri app,
www.Padlet.com app, SEQTA virtual learning environment, Office 365 suite,
www.weebly.com, Adobe Photoshop, Apple Pages.

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

The schools virtual learning environment SEQTA is the biggest asset to teachers
in upper secondary school at @@@. All course outlines, resources, revision
material and assessment material are uploaded online. Teachers, students and
parents can log on at any time and see what is going to be taught on any given
week or lesson. This allows students to take control of their own learning. If they
miss a school day then they are automatically in the mindset that they need to log
onto that week and catch up. @@@ @@@ @@@ has created a fantastic culture
in using ICT in that respect.

4. Guest Speaker and Excursions

What Guest Speakers and Excursions would be valuable for teaching in the
learning area and year level you are considering in this school experience?
Resource Name:

IT Support/Coding/Game Design Careers Advice incursion.

Brief reflection on its educational merit:

At upper secondary students start to think about what they would like to do for a
profession when they leave education. Therefore, in Digital Technologies at @@@, the
teacher arranged several guest speakers from the IT field to come and talk about what it
was like in their profession and took questions from the class. This allowed students to
get to know what it would be like working in the digital technologies environment and
provided insight into why they were learning certain skills on the course now. The
students were very engaged and asked many questions. Showing students what it is
like in the real-life work environment and how digital technologies are applied can only
be a good thing to help students engage and increase learning.
Part 5: Final Reflections (pertinent to Specialisation learning area)

Use this section to REFELCT on your experience. Specifically examine and

discuss:

Lesson Preparation:

Lower Secondary

During my time on immersion I experienced how varying styles of teachers

prepared for lessons. Some teachers simply used their own knowledge to almost
go into lessons with little preparation, relying on their experience to teach the class
and often only having one activity per lesson. However, other teachers created
lesson plans, structured their lessons and broke the lesson down into 3, 4 or even
5 smaller parts. The teachers that I observed that had structured their lessons into
smaller chunks seemed to have a lot higher engagement from the students and
much less low level behaviour issues.
From what I observed students liked it when the lesson started with clear learning
objectives and seemed less anxious. The students also responded well when
teachers planned starter activities reflecting on the previous lesson and plenaries
into the end of the lesson reflecting on what they had learnt that lesson. Whereas
when teachers only had planned one activity for the full lesson, students often
became disengaged and went off task.

Upper Secondary

The way teachers planned lessons for upper secondary at @@@ was significantly
different to lower secondary and involved planning a lot more student led learning
into their lessons. Teachers also spent a lot more time preparing for coursework or
past exams for students to complete and planned lots of time into lessons to work
on assessment practice.
Teachers were much more fluid with their lesson planning to upper secondary and
were more likely to veer off from their planned lesson if they found students needed
more work in a certain area.
The teachers spent a lot of time uploading content to the school virtual learning
environment SEQTA for students to do further study at home. I found teachers
planned a lot more open ended questions into their lessons and tried to lead
students to self-discovery of information rather than simply giving the information to
the students. Therefore, the teachers spent more time preparing focus questions
rather than activities for their lessons, whereas in lower secondary planning it was
the opposite way around.
Classroom Management Techniques:

Lower Secondary

The majority of teachers I observed used mostly non-verbal prompts to gain the
attention of the class. The best example of this was when a teacher raised their
hand to prompt the class to be quiet. Another effective verbal prompt was the 5-4-
3-2-1 method with the teacher signalling the countdown with their hand and using
the tone of their voice to silence the students.

Teachers were selective about what lower level behaviour they challenged at
certain times to ensure the flow of the lesson progressed at a good pace. They
often returned to students after the class had been set of an activity to talk to
students who hadnt met expectations, ensuring the class wasnt disturbed.
Sometimes teachers used non-verbal cues such as gesturing to take off their hat,
or simply glaring at students to be quiet to good effect. Instead of challenging
students who were calling out immediately, teachers would use tactical ignoring or
redirection to enable class discussions carried on, rather than challenging every
low-level disruption and the situation escalating.

The good teachers that I saw had very little low level behaviour to deal with as their
lesson planning was thorough, including varied and appropriate tasks so that
students were engaged and on task. They then backed this up by lots of praise and
showing examples of excellent work which the students responded well to.

Upper Secondary

In Years 11 and 12 at @@@ there were a lot less low level behaviour issues as
students wanted to be there and had chosen the subject as they had a keen
interest in the area. The teachers still had the same expectations in the classroom
but rarely had to step in, possibly as expectations had been enforced in previous
years or simply the students were more mature. If any students were a bit chatty or
disengaged the teacher only had to verbally say to them this is your education and
your time youre wasting and students would apologise.

I observed that teachers could use far more humour with the students at upper
secondary to engage the students and redirect them back onto task. This seemed
to help build relationships with the students.

The teachers didnt have to patrol the classroom as much with upper secondary
students and there was a lot more trust between teacher and student.

At lower secondary students are required to line up outside before lessons and
when entering the classroom are required to stand behind their desks and wait for
the teacher to allow them to be seated. However, at upper secondary it is a lot
more relaxed and students are free to enter and leave the classroom at their will.
Students are given the responsibility to take control of their own learning.
Teaching Methods (Pedagogy including integration if ICT):
Lower Secondary

The most effective teachers I observed structured the lessons to include a variety
of different activities to cater to different learning styles. At lower secondary, the
activities were kept shorter to ensure students were engaged and fully focused.
The lessons that I feel the most progress was made often started with outlining the
lessons learning objectives, had a short starter activity to hook the students into
the topic, followed by one or two short activities consolidating learning and finished
with a plenary where students reflected on what they had learnt.

In Year 7 and 8 especially, several teachers at @@@ seemed to rely on didactic

teaching methods where information was given to the students rather than any self-
discovery teaching methods or peer teaching. On these occasions, some students
became disengaged quite quickly and the teacher had to rely on their presence in
the classroom to keep students on track.
From what I observed students given hands on tasks especially the activities that
involved self-discovery methods seemed to retain information a lot better when
recalling learning in the plenary at the end of the lesson.

With all students bringing their own laptops to school, there is lots of opportunity at
@@@ to teach in a more self-discovery method of learning and which I would like
to exploit when I do my next practicum there. Having the technology in the
classroom also allows teachers to do ICT based learning such as online quizzes
which increases interactivity and engagement amongst students.

Upper Secondary

The most obvious change in pedagogy at upper secondary is that most lessons
were linked back to assessment preparation. Lessons very rarely had an obvious
structure and often just included students working at their own pace through online
tutorials or working on their coursework.

Teachers often relied on simply giving information to students verbally. As the

students were generally motivated to do well the teachers often only did one
activity all lesson and relied on the students wanting to learn to stay engaged and
on task.

Teachers heavily used the schools virtual learning environment SEQTA to upload
content and tasks that students were expected to work through before set
deadlines. Teachers checked learning a lot less, incorporating much less formative
assessment than in lower secondary and trusted the students to manage their own
learning.
Relationships with Students:

Lower Secondary

In lower secondary, the teachers I observed had a more authoritarian style

presence in the classroom. Teachers were constantly reinforcing standards and
expectations to the class or individual students. However, teachers I observed also
made a notable effort to encourage students to talk about their own background
and stories that linked to learning. Not just for the learning benefit but to get to
know the students more in order to plan future lessons more effectively and build
relationships.

Teachers would never leave the room for a prolonged period when taking a lower
secondary class. There often wasnt the trust there that teachers have with most
upper secondary classes.

Students seemed to see the teacher in the room as a fountain of knowledge that
was never wrong. Students accepted criticism well when put in a constructive way
and when fairly applied to the whole class. Problems arose when students thought
they were being treated unfairly or that one student was being singled out or given
more leeway. Finally, students responded well to praise whether it was as a class
or individually. Teacher who praised more often definitely had better engagement
from the students than teachers who offered very little praise.

Upper Secondary

In upper secondary, the teacher and student relationship was a lot more laid back,
with a lot more trust between the two parties. The teacher had far less low level
behaviour to deal with. Teachers on the most part already knew the students well
and vice versa. Teachers could use humour in the classroom a lot more to build
relationships, as they knew students wouldnt take it the wrong way.

There was very much the attitude that it was the students responsibility to take
control of their learning. That the teacher would support the students as much as
possible, however if a student was struggling it was up to them to work hard to
improve.

Teachers allowed students to enter and leave the room freely, there were no
seating plans in upper secondary and students had more freedom to move around
the classroom.

The relationship of the teacher to students became more like a mentor in some of
the classes I observed. With the teacher offering students advice, encouragement
and reminding students why they were working hard for future university studies or
employment.
Significant things you learned from this Experience:

Lower Secondary

I found that the best lessons I observed all started off in a calm and positive way.
When teachers greeted the students at the door and took time to praise students
and ask them about their day, I found transferred into a positive start to the lesson
and students seemed engaged and ready to learn. This especially worked well
when teachers had a short starter activity that was displayed on the board for
students to walk into. Students would enter the room in a calm and positive way
and then proceed to get on with the task in hand with minimal fuss. This is a stark
contrast to some teachers who would allow students to enter chaotically then try
and explain a complicated activity when students were not in the right frame of
mind to learn. I would like to make sure I plan short starters into my lessons to
allow students to settle and focus their minds.

The most influential thing I learnt however is that students can easily identify
teachers who have put little effort into their planning. Students in some lessons
became actively disengaged very quickly when set a task that offered little variety
and went on for too long. Whereas students could often then move onto the next
lesson where the teacher had planned a well thought out lesson with different
activities to engage students and their behaviour would be perfect. So, I took away
from this that planning is a key part of the teaching process and it is worth putting
more time into planning to achieve better engagement and learning outcomes for
the students, especially in lower secondary where students often have a lower
attention span.

Upper Secondary

The most significant thing I learnt from observing upper secondary lessons is that
even the most creative of teachers had to resort to lecture style teaching methods
in order to get the content across in the time frame given. There was such a focus
on preparing the students assessment that it was a struggle for teachers to plan a
variety of activities for the students. So therefore, when I am planning for ATAR
classes I will make sure I constantly refer to the SCSA syllabus, grade descriptors
and example tasks to make sure I am preparing students to achieve best grade
they are capable of. To do this I will also need to make use of SEQTA the schools
virtual learning environment to upload resources and learning material for students
to study in their own time.

The flipped learning model I saw one teacher use where students are given a
reading task of new content at home to carry out and then when they come to class
the content can be analysed and reflected on in a more engaging way. This method
is more suitable rather than trying to learn new content and reflect on it all in one
lesson. This will be an important method for me to implement when there are tight
time constraints.

It is also important for me to remember that at this age students are young adults
and it is important to treat them as such. Providing support and guidance rather
than the authoritarian style that is often evident in lower secondary classes.
Areas which you need to work on in the future and how this will be
undertaken:

Lower Secondary

Although I have experience teaching before this course and have done several
theory based courses in the past, I am mindful that although my teaching pedagogy
and ability to plan lessons is quite strong, there is no substitute for experience
when building teacher awareness in the classroom. I know I need to work on
practising what I have learnt regarding managing low level behaviour, reacting
correctly to deescalate situations and to get to the point where I am managing
situations in the classroom as second nature without overly thinking about the
steps I need to carry out first. To ensure I develop my awareness in the classroom I
have arranged to observe and teach at other schools in my free time so I can gain
further experience implementing the theory I have been taught.

Digital Technologies is also a very broad subject to teach. I am mindful that I have
gaps in my subject knowledge, especially when teaching skills using Apple
software. To improve this, I have already purchased textbooks and online courses
covering the content of Year 7 and 8. I have set out a plan to do extra online
learning to improve my content knowledge in this area to make sure it doesnt
hinder my ability to teach the content. I have also already amassed a lot of teaching
resources from the schools I have visited in the UK and WA to help me plan
effective lessons.

Upper Secondary

Although I have no plans to teach digital technologies beyond Year 10 at the start
of my career as it is my minor area, I would like to be able to build up my
experience to be able to teach to that level in the future.

To achieve this I have already arranged to shadow a digital technologies teacher

one day week during term two to observe upper secondary classes. The teacher
will also mentor me in how to produce effective lessons for upper secondary
students and plan appropriately. I have also signed up to several online learning
courses to upskill my knowledge of digital technologies.
Your perception of teaching as a profession after having completed some
teaching in this learning area:

Before I started this course I already had some experience teaching having
completed a few different immersion teaching courses in the UK. I already knew
that teaching was a challenging profession, that requires persons that are
reflective, hardworking and resilient.

I was curious to find out how much Australian schools would differ to my
experience of schools in the UK. However, after my immersion experience I found
that there is very little difference between the two countries. Teaching requires a lot
of planning and hard work, like the UK, students recognise how much effort a
teacher is putting into their lessons and respond accordingly, whether it be through
being engaged or actively disengaged. My viewpoint therefore has not changed,
teaching is a hard profession, however, you get to work in an environment where
every day is different and at the end of it you can hopefully make a difference to
students development. There are not many other professions that offers that
opportunity.

I am mindful that @@@ @@@ @@@ is a fee-paying school and has some
control over its intake. Compared to the schools where I taught in the UK it has a
very positive learning environment and a culture that contains few serious
behavioural issues. I would therefore like to gain more experience in a range of
different schools to be able to compare teaching experiences. Therefore, I have
arranged to go into other schools in term two, including a rural school that struggles
to recruit staff and a school in a low socio-economic area. As I am interested in
working with all types of students, whatever their background.

For some students growing up, their challenging backgrounds means most of their
role models come from the school environment. It may be that the only praise and
support they receive each day is from a teacher during the day. I understand that
teaching is a privilege and each teacher should strive to be a positive role model for
their students. It must be very rewarding for teachers to see students develop and
grow as people each year and hope that one day I can achieve this too.

I did identify that the school is primarily an Apple hardware and Software based
school. Apple software features heavily in the teaching of Digital Technologies
there. Most of my experience is with using Windows software, so I will need to
spend time increasing my skill set in Apple software before I start my teaching
practicum. As part of this, I have arranged to follow an ICT teacher within a school
one day a week to learn more about Apple software teaching methods.

I am very much looking forward to starting my teaching practicum in term three and
enjoying the steep learning curve that teaching will bring.