Standard 4.1: Support Student Participation.
Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities.
Student participation within the classroom is essential for student success. Some children are more involved than others, this often varies due to confidence and self-esteem issues. It is essential that all students are supported and feel included in classroom activities. |
ICT Elaboration: Identify strategies that address the diverse needs of learners through learner-centred approaches that are supported by selection and sequencing of available digital resources and tools.
There are various ICT tools that work to improve and encourage student participation. For example, one simple tool is the discussion board feature on Edmodo. This feature encourages students to put forward questions and ideas without a physical audience at the time the post is being made, hence, removing one barrier to participation (fearing immediate judgment from other students). The aim is that over time students will become more confident and then be able to increase their participation and engagement within the classroom and not just in an online sense. Another barrier to student participation might be more serious than self-confidence. Children suffering learning difficulties may feel isolated from the class as they struggle to keep up with class content. In cases such as these, participation and engagement can be encouraged through software developed to make classwork easier to understand. One such example is a program called Read & Write Gold which is a program specifically designed to help students with dyslexia. The program aids reading (using listen-to-learn technology the software the program can read most sections of texts aloud), assists with spelling problems it highlights ‘confusable’ words when spelt incorrectly. It also has a word prediction tool which works to increase that accuracy of assignments. These tools are essential for dyslexic students as they prevent students falling behind which has a negative impact on participation and engagement. |
Evidence.
There are many things I do to support student participation, some of them may seem small and insignificant, however, I believe they make a difference. During my last practicum I used seating plans for my year 8s. It was a big class, which meant it was easy for students to fall under my radar. I put the more confident independent learners towards the back of the class, sometimes seating more restless students with them. The aim is that the engaged, studious nature of one student would rub off on the other (desperately hoping it didn't have the opposite reaction). When we had a new student arrive I was careful to put her with some of the warmer natured students so that they would feel supported and as comfortable as possible in the new environment. |
Standard 4.2: Manage classroom activities.
Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear directions.
Well organised classroom activities and directions are important for not only the flow and structure of lessons but are also essential for any behavioural management issues. Easy and quick access to relevant information and task instructions helps students stay on task and become independent learners. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate the capacity to manage student access to digital resources and tools to support student engagement and learning.
One way to organise tasks and assessment pieces is to provide all the necessary information available in a folder uploaded to a learning platform such as Edmodo; if students get distracted or forget the aims of any given assignment they can quickly refer to the relevant information online. Providing work available in this way teaches students to take charge of their own leaning and encourages them to be a part of the learning process. By reducing the chance for students to become off task while waiting for instructions the opportunity for misbehaviour is decreased. |
Evidence.
In the lesson plan below it is easy to see how I manage my classroom activities. Everything is given an approximate time frame: introductions, concussions and breaks are all factored into my planning. This example is from the very first time I had the year 10 French class at Seymour, when I'm new with a class I tend to over-plan just in case things go ahead of time. |
my_first_lessons_with_the_year_10_french_students_.pdf | |
File Size: | 41 kb |
File Type: |
Standard 4.3: Managing Challenging Behaviour.
Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour.
For those who are new to the profession, managing classroom behaviour is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. It is important to have sound structures in place to prevent and manage challenging behaviour in our students. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches for encouraging responsible social interactions and make use of digital resources and tools, as appropriate to the needs, backgrounds and interests of students, when managing challenging behaviours.
Using ICT tools such as Edmodo we can monitor social interactions between students and work to limit bullying. Apps such as Smart Seat are specifically designed with behaviour management in mind. Using an app like Smart Seat you can create seating charts, and record (and export) attendance data. Successful management of students’ social interactions, attendance and behaviour help maintain a warm and positive class cohort which is essential for any learning environment. |
Evidence.
As mentioned in Standard 4.1 I like to use seating plans in my classroom. I believe that good preventative behavioural management is one of the most important steps to successfully managing challenging behaviour. I also like to have firm structures in place to ensure that students know what will happen if their behaviour becomes unacceptable. Clear, consistent and reliable 'discipline' also means that many students self-manage their own behaviour before I have to resort to corrective discipline. Earlier this year I made a behavioural management handbook. I complied my preferred teaching strategies and methods for behavioural management so that I would be able to refer back to it if need. |
behavioural_management_handbook_by_densie_reid_.pdf | |
File Size: | 776 kb |
File Type: |
Standard 4.4: Maintain student safety.
Describe strategies that support students’ well- being and safety working within school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements.
Student safety is something teachers need to be aware of at all times. The term safety is fairly broad and unspecific, as teachers we need to care for their physical, emotional and intellectual safety. |
ICT Elaboration: Demonstrate understanding of risks to students’ well-being and safety while using digital resources and tools. Demonstrate understanding of practices and tools to mitigate these risks.
Risks to student safety and well-being are increased when students work online as it is harder to monitor students’ activity. This is why schools need to use software to block sites that may pose a risk to student safety. BrowseControl is an example of software designed to restrict internet access. For example, by eliminating access to online chatrooms the risk of children talking with strangers is limited. Teachers can be confident that students are only accessing school approved material when searching online, ensuring student safety and well-being. |
Evidence.
The very best way to maintain student safety is to prevent unsafe incidents from arising and also knowing what to do when something goes wrong. For example, I have taken my emergency First Aid with the Red Cross, I am familiar with the risk assessment matrix (necessary for all field trips) and I have been the acting teacher during evacuation and lockdown drills. These are all essential parts of maintaining student safety. |
Standard 4.5: Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically.
Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and the strategies available to support the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching.
ICT Eloboration: Demonstrate understanding of safe, legal, and ethical use of digital resources and tools, including cyber safety practices, respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. It is important that teachers use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically and that they insist students do the same. An important issue, often overlooked by the general public, is the issue of copyright and intellectual property. Teachers should always reference where sources have been drawn from, whether that’s an online video, or perhaps a journal article. By adhering to a strict practice of referencing students will then be encouraged to do the same with their work. If teachers are concerned about plagiarism they could make it a requirement that all written work be uploaded to Turnitin to ensure the originality of student work. By using software such as Turnitin students are encouraged to use online content responsibly and ethically. |
Evidence.
I encourage my pupils to reference their sources, especially in History and English. Generally, most of their information is drawn from online resources. During my Main Lesson on the Industrial Revolution I gave all year 8 students a referencing template. They only had to include the name of the website and the site's URL. Their class teacher felt that they were too young to learn a specific referencing system and that at this point in time she really just needed them to understand why we cite our sources. I also referenced any work or information I had taken from the internet by putting the URL at the bottom of handouts. This was to lead by example, and show the students how we ethically use ICT. ICT safety was a concern at one of my other schools, we used a learning platform and email to communicate with students. Emails could only be sent to students from other addresses within the network, this was to limit communication from people outside of the school community. The school learning platform only had a discussion board, not a private chat option like Facebook. This small but important step ensures that students use ICT safely in the school. |