Standard 1.1: Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students.
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social and intellecutal development and how these may affect learning.
It is important for a teacher to understand how students develop socially, physically, and intellectually. Understanding development in these areas gives a teacher greater ability to encourage deep learning and engagement by tailoring lessons that nurture these changes. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of ways that students' ICT use can influence students' social and intellectual development and how this may affect the students' engagement and learning.
ICT could be used in various ways to encourage this development. Group work is one way to encourage students to interact socially and improve their communication skills. This will promote a good in-class environment, making students feel safe and comfortable, in turn, supporting emotional and intellectual development. There are many ICT tools to make group work fun, students could work together on a Prezi or PowerPoint presentation, they could even make a podcast. |
Evidence.
On my most recent practicum I was teaching the Industrial Revolution in year 8 History where students were allocated a specific inventor, invention or event from this period. The idea being that there would be groups of around 4 students all researching the same subject. I aimed to group students with varying academic abilities together. For homework they were to find out as much information as possible and then in the next lesson they would share this information with one another. Students then worked together to prepare 5 minute PowerPoint presentations about their topic which they then shared in class. One of the main aims of this task was to encourage social engagement between peers and to encourage students to support one another intellectually. Below is a copy of the template I provided to students to take notes during other groups' presentations. |
inventors_of_the_industrial_revolution_group_work_template_.pdf | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: |
Standard 1.2: Understand how students learn.
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of research into how students learn and the implications for teaching
Teachers need to understand the different ways in which students learn in order to adapt their lessons to encompass all learning styles. There are a wide range of learning styles such as - logical, interpersonal, linguistic, and musical. By adapting lessons and providing a range of tools all learning styles can be accommodated. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how student engagement and learning can be enhanced through the use of digital resources and tools.
There are a variety of ICT tools which are aimed at engaging all learning types. Excel is good for logical learners, discussion boards can be used for linguistic types, music and music clips can be played from YouTube for musical types, and presentations and group work using Prezi appeal to social types etc. Each ICT tool is aimed at engaging a particular learning style. |
Evidence.
In my last year 10 English class students completed the Gardner's Multiple Intelligences test online, which assisted our understanding of how each individual learnt. This was incorporated into their next assessment piece where they were given the freedom to complete 6 small assessment pieces all focused on our study of the Crucible by Arthur Miller. They had to use Bloom's Taxonomy to design one task that applied to each of the following: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating. After the completion of each task they had to write an evaluation of their chosen piece and how their leaning style was reflected in their work. For example, one student who was a visual learner created a diagram showing how each character from the play was connected, this piece was designed to apply to the remembering strand from Bloom's Taxonomy. |
Standard 1.3: Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.
The students in our class will have a range of abilities and come from diverse backgrounds. Teachers need to account for these differences in the classroom to give all students the opportunity to thrive in the classroom. The first step is to establish the student's specific background and family situation, from this point the necessary support systems can be put in place. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate the ability to match digital resources and tools with teaching strategies in ways that are responsive to students' diverse backgrounds.
ICT can be used to respond to these diversities. A well organised learning platform is one way to provide additional tools to those students who may need help. For example, at the end of every day (or week) the teacher could post a review of the day’s lessons and ask that students look over it once they get home. Here the teacher could also provide additional notes for students, this would help ESL students and any students with linguistic difficulties as they could look over the work in their own time filling in the bits they've missed. A simple technique like this supports student learning, working to minimise the gap between these students and the rest of the class. Demonstrate knowledge of teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds. |
Evidence.
During one of my previous practicums we had a refugee student who had recently arrived at the school. The student was having considerable difficulty adjusting to the school. In a bid to help that student feel more engaged we encouraged the student to share things about their culture and language. We used various strategies with that student, for example learning about the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which we incorporated into our Australian History class. We were able to talk about the various waves of migration, and the humanitarian intake of refugees around the world. The student shared his experiences with us, explaining that he had family members living in Australia, Canada, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Doing this promoted understanding and compassion in our classroom, there was a significant improvement in the student's school work, social connections and general level of happiness. |
Standard 1.4: Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture, cultural identity and linguistic background on the education of students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
Although all of our students are unique and have specific needs, teachers need to be especially aware of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students as they may need more support than our non-Indigenous students. Hence, it is important to understand their cultural identity and linguistic background. This way we can tailor lessons to best meet their needs and help them achieve success. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of ways that the use of digital resources and tools can complement the engagement, and integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
ICT can be used in the classroom to scaffold these students. For example, the use of a learning platform is crucial because Indigenous students sometimes need to be absent from school for cultural reasons. Having all of the class work online will help these students keep up while they are away. |
Evidence.
My first 5 week teaching practicum was at Seymour College. At Seymour there is a particular focus on promoting Indigenous culture in the school and wider community. Since 2007 the school has been offering specific Indigenous scholarships to support Indigenous enrolments in a bid to encourage diversity in the community. During this time one of the students needed to take time out of school for family reasons. This is where SOCS (the Seymour learning platform) helped to minimise the disruption to the student's learning. I was able to upload our worksheets, lesson outlines, audio, and PowerPoint presentations to SOCS. The student could also send me messages via SOCS. This helped the student keep up with our classwork. I found that this was a fantastic tool providing continued support to the student while they took time out for cultural reasons. |
Standard 1.5: Differentiate teaching to meet specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.
The students in our classes will have a wide variety of abilities. It is important to differentiate our teaching methods and class activities so that all of our students can improve and feel like they are succeeding. |
ICT Elaboration: Select and use specific digital resources and tools that are matched to teaching strategies designed to meet students’ individual and diverse learning needs.
ICT can be used in many ways to differentiate work. Students can easily be sent links to extra or modified work, or asked to use specific apps which are aimed at their level of understanding. For example, the App Duolingo is fantastic for leaning verbs and vocabulary in language classes. The advantage of an app like this is that it moves through levels, so it is suitable for all learning abilities and students can progress at their own pace. |
Evidence.
While I was at Mount Barker Waldorf Steiner School I taught a year 8 class of 31 students. The abilities in this class were extremely varied, as such I needed to create both support materials and extension materials. For every History lesson I provided students with a PowerPoint which had dot-points explaining terms and concepts, I also provided some students with additional notes. Below is an example of the notes given to support students who found it difficult to keep up with the rest of the class and a PowerPoint from one of our classes. |
Standard 1.6: Strategies to support full participation of students with disability.
Demonstrate broad knowledge and understanding of legislative requirements and teaching strategies that support participation and learning of students with disability.
Standard 1.6 is designed to support students with disability. We must remind ourselves that the term ‘disability’ describes a whole range of issues, covering physical disabilities, learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities. Teachers need to familiarise themselves with the requirements for educating students with disabilities. Then they can make the necessary adjustments to their lesson plans. Information can be found at: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/studentdiversity/students-with-disability. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of digital resources and tools, including adaptive and assistive technologies, that can support the participation and learning of students with disability.
ICT tools can be used to aid students with disabilities. iPads are prefect because they are so versatile. For example, on an iPad documents can be enlarged for students with vision impairment and written instructions can easily be provided to students who are hearing impaired. Apps also make it easier for students with dyslexia. In a History class I would encourage students with disabilities to use iPads. As mentioned above, texts can be viewed and enlarged on an iPad, so I would provide digital outlines and explanations for all lessons. These students can also use iPads for writing; many word processing programs have predictive text options to assist dyslexic students. For children with certain types of disabilities, the simple implementation of iPads in the classroom supports their learning so that they can continue to improve and participate in class. |
Evidence.
At this point in my career I have had limited experience with students who have a disability. Dyslexia is the only disability I've had to contend with at this point. There are many ways to support a dyslexic student to fully participate in class. I believe that this standard refers to the things a teacher can do to ensure that the student is included in the class and not segregated by providing them with differentiated work. As such, class content is adapted so that student can do the same work as every other student. There are two simple things I have found to be helpful: using the Dylexie font and seeking advice from colleagues. The Dyslexie font is a specific typeface which is easier for students with Dyslexia to read. By making this the default font for all of my printouts and PowerPoints I have found that these students can work on the same tasks as the rest of the class. The second strategy is to seek advice from support staff. For example, on the last test I set for the Industrial Revolution I went to see the staff member in charge of learning difficulty support. I took a copy of my test and asked for ways in which it could be improved so that all students could be given the same test. Her main advice was to remove ambiguous words and make questions clear and direct. For example, sometimes the word 'explain' can be challenging for students with learning difficulties. For more information on Dislexie font follow this link: http://www.dyslexiefont.com/en/dyslexie-font/ |
main_lesson_test_-_industrial_revolution_.docx | |
File Size: | 20 kb |
File Type: | docx |