Critical
Analysis
using a
Sociological
Perspective
February 22
2012
This Journal aims to critically analyse issues and concepts discussed
throughout the course of EDFD 218/268. The development and
information contained in this journal stems from topics and
observations noted during lectures, tutorials and from the professional
experience placement program.
Author: Dylan Bartolo
Student number: s00118548
Lecturer in Charge: Amanda
Holloway/ Anne-Maree Dawson
Date of commencement: 22/02/12
The Journal.
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Week 1
The commencement of my critical analysis journal has begun following the expected introduction to
the course and an overview about responsibilities, assessments and general housekeeping rules. Ms
Holloway, the lecturer in Charge, welcomed the rather large cohort of pre-service teachers and
presented a thorough yet personalised presentation about the course and of the all-important
Professional Experience Placement Program. Ms Holloway conveyed quite a few interesting points
which Anne Maree-Dawson also noted. A major point worth discussing here is about first
impressions whilst out on placement in regards to appearance and dress. Many schools have
different expectations about staff attire which pre-service teachers need to adhere by and be
informed about prior to entering their first day on site. The group today was informed that some
schools have a ‘no jeans’ policy, do not allow the exposure of woman’s shoulders and even request
that all male staff be dressed in a suit with a tie. As you can see this is quite a large scale of
expectation and it is imperative that before entering the school this information is sourced and
adhered to appropriately. Another point that was brought up today is the varying degrees of
progress within the classroom and how different students gauge each activity/assessment. Within
the classroom students can be at different stages of learning, often ranging from the grade previous
to the grade ahead. It is essential to make notes as a teacher and be wary of each child’s learning
abilities. This will enable a teacher to track the progress of each child and to follow how they learn
best in a classroom environment. The expected outcome that is required during assessment time
may not be reached by some students, however, as teacher’s tracks their previous progress they can
liaise with parents as to how far the child has come from where they were before and to focus on
the child’s individual learning capacity rather than focussing on the expected level of competency
outlined by VELS.
During this week’s tutorial I particularly found interesting the discussion the group had on “Dealing
with sensitive issues and questions in the classroom.” The tutor, Jane Nigro, stimulated my thinking
when she asked, as a teacher how would you respond with a question based around suicide? This
sparked much discussion within the classroom and got me thinking. As pre service teachers we will
come across this dilemma at some stage in our careers, where by it may happen on teaching rounds
or when we are fully qualified, teachers must be able to respond to such matters in appropriate and
safe ways as to protect the welfare of the child and of themselves. I believe that when confronted
with such a situation it should not be directed or dealt with by the teacher and student alone. Such
questions that are sensitive and can spark parental concern need to be brought to the principal’s
attention and perhaps the parents of the child. When dealing with the child I believe a teacher has
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the responsibility of telling a child that he or she may seek the proper answers by talking with their
parents or guardian. As a teacher I would ensure that my tone of voice and body language is warm
and reassuring. I would provide openness to find answers without being expected to know all the
answers. A teacher may write a note or call the parents to inform them that the child is thinking
about these topics. If the question or topic relates to the whole class I would find a story book to
read to the class that may deal with the issue. Another idea is the use of a question box that is easily
accessible for all students. The anonymity of the question box doesn’t single students out and is an
accessible and non-judgemental form of communication.
Week 2
Today marked the second week in the course and quite a buzz was about the EDFD lecture as
placement locations had arrived and were readily accessible. Today’s lecture started a discussion on
some of the things pre service teachers will take part in on whilst on placement. I noted down some
points which I took from my previous placement. Some things I was involved in included;
Participating in after school care (Active After School Program), Planning for the next week,
participating in physical and art activities, yard duty, attending meetings, having control of small
group activities, interacting with students, teachers and parents as well as taking the roll. The class
then went through and discussed some teacher jargon that would be necessary to become familiar
with to gauge professional lingo during meetings and planning sessions. Most of these I am familiar
with and knew previously however have minimal experience with their use in context. Ms Holloway
then went on to discuss what it is to be a 21st Century teacher. Some points that she made were
particularly interesting considering the changing dynamics within the world and the variety of
paradigm shifts that no longer may accentuate the ‘norm’ in particular societies. As a teacher I must
embrace technology. This statement is rather important as the development of new technology and
the advancement of the digital age continues to seep into households and is exposed to children. To
be able to educate the fundamentals of technology prepares a child for the future where slowly but
surely technology will be used more and more in our daily lives. A teacher must also work in teams,
are organised, and have an awareness of the opportunities available for children. However another
important point worth noting is that teachers must be able to use different methods and approaches
to help students reach their full potential. I believe that teaching is not a static profession where
repetition of a particular task will result in the same end production. A teacher is forever adapting
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and connecting to the students in the class and is able to recognise who in the class responds better
to different types of education. No single child learns the exact same as the next and within the
classroom the teacher must deal with thirty different learning abilities appropriately and with
positivity. A final point regarding different assessment strategies will assist teachers in keeping track
of their student’s abilities and learning capabilities. Different assessments can range from formal to
informal. Each child should have an individual profile and file which contain; anecdotal notes and
records, information assessments may include verbal conferencing questioning whilst formal
assessment may include tests, tasks, projects and assignments.
During the tutorial today most of the time was spent discussing our articles on education that each
student in the course brought to class. My article is titled “Raise your own kids – teachers” which
was found in the Herald Sun. The article was written to shed light on a sparking debate regarding
parents’ attitude to teacher’s discipline within the classroom. The article reads that Parents are
shirking the responsibility of disciplining their kids, and turning teachers into makeshift mums and
dads. Three quarters of Victorian teachers believe parents have unreasonable expectations about
the schools role in raising kids. The Victorian Principals Association stated that, students are
increasingly likely to be sent to school without adequate discipline from home. During my last
teaching round it was quite apparent that some children hadn’t been informed of growing issues
that surround our society. Things such as cyber bullying, having girlfriends and boyfriends and how
children respond to conflict seem to be non-existent in some children. Whilst this continually occurs
I believe it places more strain on classroom teachers to put aside actual teaching and spending time
educating children on these issues which should have already been discussed at home. Parents have
the responsibility as educators as well as classroom teachers and should provide children with this
knowledge so the children are readily prepared when faced with certain issues and situations. I
believe if parents continue this trend the outcome of each school year will not be as productive and
children will not get the education they have a right to receiving.
Week 3
This week students in EDFD 218 will be going on placement. During today’s lecture we discussed
aspects of communication and journal writing, two important things that pre service teachers must
possess when out in the field on placement. Amanda Holloway went into quite some detail about
Communication. The definition of this is; the sharing of messages as attitudes that produces
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understanding between two people. We discussed that communication can take the form of verbal
and non-verbal cues. I thought this was particularly interesting because a lot can be understood and
communicated through the use of body language. As a teacher I must be conscious of how I present
myself to the children by the way I move, my posture and the use of my gestures. I also must be
aware of my oral communication, in the way I manipulate voice volume as well as tone and pitch. In
the past I can think of examples when a teacher of person of authority has asserted their voice to
gain or maintain control within a situation and I believe as teachers we must master this ability to be
able to control and convey information to a classroom of children. The lecture also consisted of
some important responsibilities a teacher must fulfil, such as; the appraisal of staff and yourself as a
teacher. It is important to recognise a success and to also learn from mistakes and errors. Teachers
must also facilitate planning, which is important to understand the content you are teaching and to
remain within the standards and guidelines of VELS. The final thing that is worth writing here is the
aspect of journal writing. The journal is an important tool is reflect on as a teacher and is a good
practise for when teachers have to journal about individual students and informal assessment
writing. The journal should have a clear heading and be dated. In the past I have constructed my
journal through the use of dot notes that I take throughout the day. These dot notes are relevant
and important notes based on, lesson ideas, strategies, discipline, class resources, daily events, staff
meetings and student reactions etc. After that day at school I generally type or write up a formal
flowing piece of writing which I go into detail analysing these particular points.
Placement Observation Day 1
(7.03.2012)
Today was my first day on placement at St Peter the Apostle located in Hoppers Crossing. Upon
arriving at the school we were introduced to our Student Teacher Coordinator, Ms Glenice Bonew.
Mrs Bonew introduced us to staff members and gave us a tour of the school. St Peter the Apostle is a
well-established school with great facilities and technological resources a twenty first century
primary school should have. I noted that St. Peter the Apostle is making the transition into open plan
learning environments and are trialling this type of education with the grade four classes. After the
orientation to the school the preservice teachers were welcomed into their relative classrooms. My
associate teacher was away today so I had the pleasure of observing Mrs Tina Spiteri’s grade 2
classroom. I was introduced to the class and a reading groups session was about to commence. Mrs
Spiteri assigned me to work with the lowest ability group in the class which comprised of four male
students. I observed other groups who integrated technology into their shared reading time. IPad’s
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and laptops were being used for various activities. I noticed that one of the boys in the lowest group
was an ESL student who had Sudanese ethnicity. The children were given a list of common words
and the task was to read each word and to construct it using cut out letters which were jumbled on
the table. I spent time with each student and noticed that although this was the lowest group, the
Sudanese student struggled significantly more than the others. The child was easily distracted and
found it difficult to concentrate on the task. The task was relatively kinaesthetic with the
manipulation of tangible letters which some of the students liked. Two of the four boys were
thoroughly engaged with the task and found creating the words particularly enjoyable. The words
varied in complexity and I noticed that some of the students would guess a word they were unsure
of. After reading groups the children worked individually on their handwriting. Each child has a
handwriting book and today’s focus was on J and G. As I roved around the class I noted that the two
children who found the activity in the reading groups difficult had the least legible handwriting. The
ESL student’s writing was at a lower standard than the rest of the class and even his tracing was
messy and illegible. The class did this in silence and individually. After snack time the class came back
in for Numeracy. Mrs Spiteri introduced the class to the topic of chance and data in particular
probability. I am unsure if there were any previous sessions on this topic or if it was the first one
however my observations suggest that this topic was fairly new as this lesson and the vocabulary
being introduced was quite basic. The lesson began with the children on the floor facing the
electronic whiteboard as Mrs Spiteri introduced the new vocabulary. Words such as; impossible, not
likely, possible, very likely and certain were displayed on a kind of ‘word number line’ with possible
being the middle (50%) , impossible being on the end (0%) and certainly being on the contrasting
end (100%). The teacher used about fifteen minutes to explicitly teach the new vocabulary and ask
questions which required participation and discussion. I noticed that she used open ended questions
and after each answer would respond with, why? Or how can you explain that? By challenging
conjectures the teacher is fostering high order thinking and learning within each statement and
answer. She also chose students who weren’t as engaged to participate in discussion and controlled
the noise level of the class with ease. After that students engaged in an individual activity which
required each student to complete a worksheet. Questions needed visual and worded responses and
I roved around answering questions and praising good work. Children who finished were then sent
to the floor with me to participate in a group activity using unifix blocks. By following the
instructions on the board children needed to show their understanding of the new vocabulary by
constructing a unifix tower that complied with the instructions. Some children took longer to grasp
the concept than others however I think it was a great task which challenged the thinking of the
children. During this class I noted behaviour management and discipline that took effect when
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children weren’t following the classroom rules. A child was sent to five minutes time out. Each child
has a plastic pocket with a traffic light card in each. The different traffic light colours indicate various
punishments and are a straight forward plan that is easily understood by all students in the class.
After this session I had the opportunity to take part in yard duty on the grade one adventure
playground. Disputes in the playground were often over who’s turn it was to play on the playground.
Because of the high student cohort at St Peter’s, different classes are allocated to each area of the
playground. During this time I was told by Mrs Spiteri that the ESL student was not funded and in
turn the school could not supply him with a classroom aid. Within my observations I think that this
student needs one on one help with his school work because unfortunately he will fall further and
further behind in class. The final session was religion and consisted of a lesson based around lent
and Holy Thursday. After the school day the pre service teachers had the opportunity to attend a
staff meeting. The meeting was based around personalised learning and the move towards
contemporary learning environments. The staff watched a video from the TED website and were
further educated on what personalised learning is. Personalised learning is allowing the children to
engage in self-directed learning, with an aim to raise standards by focusing teaching and learning on
the aptitudes and interests of pupils. Its main function relies on self-management and self-provision
which defines what personalised learning is. The principal noted that it would mean a change in
PLT’s and learning goals would be personalised to each student. In conclusion I had a great first day
and cannot wait to go back to St Peter the Apostle school next Wednesday.
During the tutorial this week the class was split up into groups for the first assignment. Each group
consisted of three or four members and were each assigned a particular topic that the assignment
would correspond with. My group consists of Felicity, Tanya, Marie and myself. We were assigned
with the topic and focus of “The seashore, looking beyond the sand.” After getting into groups we
swapped numbers and email addresses. After this the tute progressed and an interesting statistic
that I noted was that 50% of all teaching time should be dedicated to explaining new material,
discussing and reviewing. 35% of that time should be used to monitor students whilst 15% should be
classroom management. The group went on to do a fun activity which asks questions to determine
what kind of a learner you are. I am supposedly a visual learner which is quite interesting to say the
least! The class then went on to explain attributes a good teacher possesses. These qualities and
attributes consist of, having a succinct behaviour system. Spending little time socialising within the
classroom, which can be quite hard with the presence of parents and late children. Distributing
opportunities for verbal responses, which is important for building confidence and a classroom
environment which embraces equality. Praise when appropriate, this is important because it fosters
confidence as well as self-worth for a student. Rephrasing questions if a student gets it wrong, is
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important so students do not get disheartened if they answer incorrectly. Their answers are still
valid and have made a contribution.
The tute then went on to explain that children learn best when quality relationships are formed,
through trial and error, within a secure yet varied environment and through experience. By
understanding these a teacher can recognise and aid learning within the classroom as well as
building on areas that are lacking and identifying problem areas quickly.
Week 4
The lecture this week was broken into two main focus points, a discussion and insight into the
Victorian Essential Learning Standards, or VELS, and handwriting. Prior to this lecture I had some
previous knowledge of VELS and have incorporated it into some of my assignments and also have
noted its use during placement rounds. However today, pre service teachers were given a detailed
introduction and presentation on understanding VELS. It is important to note that VELS is a guideline
which bases state averages across subjects within the curriculum. It is arranged within standards and
provides schools with a planning framework to meet the goals outlined within its domains. VELS was
previously known as CSF and will soon be interwoven with the upcoming National curriculum which
will be introduced into schools within the next few years. I believe VELS is an important tool that
every teacher must be familiar with in order to meet the expectations and level the state requires. If
a teacher fails to plan and teach in accordance with VELS their students are at not meeting the pre
required level that is necessary to commence work in the level above and thus will be at risk of
falling behind. VELS aims to mould students into successful thinkers who understand the world and
to act effectively within its environments. VELS has three core strands that are skill areas covered
within different subjects taught at schools across Victoria. Progression points corresponding with
each level help teachers plan effectively and critically assess each student. During the remaining
time of my course I will endeavour to further my study of VELS and implement its use on my block
placement. It will definitely be necessary when I start devising lessons and having control of the
classroom.
Victorian Modern Cursive handwriting was the second topic that was discussed in the lecture today.
Because of the digital revolution that is seeping its way into classrooms across the world handwriting
is suffering because lesser time is being devoted to teaching the skill to students. Writing is
becoming typing, erasing becoming a simple backspace and ruling a margin non-existent as
computers take over the modern world. Handwriting is becoming more and more illegible and I have
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experienced and observed this in the classroom. The communicative tool is an essential skill that
must be retained and taught properly to children in primary school. I believe more emphasis on
handwriting is necessary to avoid the ‘ancient’ skill becoming a thing of the past. Children must be
able to identify and write legibly the letters of the alphabet whilst holding the pencil or pen in a
correct manner. Left or right handed, children will develop writing through the use of their motor
and fine motor skills. By doing things such as playing ball games, cutting and pasting, painting and
manipulating jigsaw puzzles all aid the use of these muscles and will ultimately mould the child into
capable writers.
Placement Observation Day 2
(14.03.2012)
During placement this week I was given the opportunity to observe and work with many students
from a variety of ability groups. The morning started off with an introduction to the class I will be
teaching in during my block placement, class 2B. This was the first week I had met my associate
teacher and the students of 2B. She unfortunately had planning during the morning session so her
class was taken by Mr Bryan Hudson. I was informed that this class had children with a significant
degree of varying intellectual abilities, with one student being a fully funded autistic child. The first
session started with reading groups and I had the opportunity to take the lowest ability group with a
worksheet on proper nouns. The sheet was a reading and responding type activity (refer to folder for
a hardcopy of worksheet) that was completed with a lot of difficulty. Many students required
frequent help and prompting and couldn’t spell common words that were clearly displayed around
the room. After telling the children that if they were stuck on a word to look at the birthday chart
(for the months of the year) they still were confused and asked me how to spell these words. The
student who has autism was surprisingly more competent at completing the task than most of the
other students in his group. I was told a couple of the students in the class had low IQ levels however
did not receive funding as they weren’t significantly low. After this task was completed the small
group played ‘celebrity heads.’ I noticed that some of students missed the concept of the game and
did not ask questions relating to their mystery identity. Instead students in this group would just
guess without asking any questions. A few of the students were not respecting the speaker and
continually spoke over who was talking. I had to constantly remind the students that we listen to
each person and when it was their time to talk that everyone will listen to you. When a child
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correctly identified their identity I encouraged the group to clap the student. After that activity and
the healthy snack time the next session was based on writing – with the focus being recount writing.
Mr Hudson introduced the lesson by explaining the worksheet and the expectation that each
question on the sheet was to be answered in full sentences. During this explicit explanation he
picked students to give examples of what they did on the weekend in order to demonstrate what
was to be expected with their writing. He repeated what was expected and as the children started I
began to rove and inspect the children’s work. I noticed the range of competency in writing, spelling
and grammar was extensive and will have to be considered when devising and creating lessons
myself. Mr Hudson circles words that are incorrect whilst roving which is a great way to inspect
every student in a short amount of time. After first break I was introduced to the Prep C classroom. I
spent the rest of my day here and thoroughly enjoyed observing and interacting with these little
balls of energy! The first session was dedicated to maths with the focus on shapes and their
properties. After the teacher explicitly recapped what the class had learnt and introduced the
activity I again began to rove and ask students to justify their knowledge of the shapes they were
drawing. I went around and asked students what they were drawing. How they knew what shape
they were drawing, and I also asked them if they could help me count the sides and points of the
shapes they were drawing. The teacher related shapes to things students may know, such as an
octagon was related to an octopus because it has eight sides/legs. The teacher than went around
and photographed each child’s drawn shapes and displayed them on the electronic whiteboard. The
conclusion of the lesson ended in a discussion about some shapes that different students drew and
students got the opportunity to share and talk about shapes together. I had the opportunity to read
a story to the Prep class titled ‘Noni the Pony.’ I used some read to techniques to assess the children
on their reading capabilities. After second break I was asked to work with a particular student in the
other class who was being extremely hostile to the teacher and refused to do any work. The teacher
brought me into the class and I noticed his head was on the desk and he was banging his pencil on
the desk in a very violent manner. I sat beside this student and introduced myself in a calm and
friendly way. I complemented the work and drawing he had done and spoke in a way that appealed
to him. By asserting to the child that his name was ‘cool’ and his work was ‘awesome’ he slowly
opened up to me. Without directly asking him to continue working I suggested that we work on the
task together. He liked the idea however wanted me to do all the work whilst he ‘watched.’ I asked
the child some questions about the task and related it to some things he may like. He started to
think about things that he would draw on the page and I told him ‘if you draw them, ill write the
names of the things you draw.’ After he thought of a few things I praised him with a high five which
stimulated his desire to think more about the task. We continued to work on the task together and
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by the end of it he had completely changed his attitude. I was praised for this and I noticed a lot of
what I’ve been studying in class was put to practise and it worked in guiding and supporting this
student. Clapping in patterns that the class has to respond to is a good way of getting attention in all
year levels and quietens down the class quickly for further instruction. Today was a great day and I
really believe I am progressing as a teacher.
The focus of today’s tutorial was handwriting more specifically; writing on the whiteboard,
chalkboard, butcher paper and dotted thirds that as a pre service teacher I must master. The class
rotated and each person had a go at writing on the different materials. As a left hander I am at a
disadvantage because as I write on a whiteboard I find that the word before the next is covered by
my hand hence my tendency to slope. I find that my whole hand must be off the board to negate
smudging and if I want to observe the class and write at the same time I have trouble writing legibly.
Today the class also had the opportunity to view some previous assignment resources that covers
assessment task 2. They were all of high quality standard and I am really looking forward to getting
started on my own.
Week 5
Today’s lecture was definitely not one to miss, as Amanda Holloway presented a comprehensive and
detailed information session on lesson plan writing. Lesson plans are essential for pre-service
teachers and are a key to success to running good lessons and doing well throughout the course.
Much information was presented today on the purposes of a lesson plan and how and why teachers
create plans. A lesson plan requires careful planning and effective presentation skills along with a
foundation that centres around positive teacher/student relationships. Before starting to write a
lesson plan pre service teachers must first determine what they are going to teach. During rounds
the associate teachers will help determine what the focus of the lesson will be for the particular
domain being taught. Teachers must then think about how they will teach the content to the class.
How much time will be allocated to explicit teaching and how will the lesson be facilitated. What
sort of resources can I use and what is the aim of my lesson. Lastly pre-service teachers should be
organised and access as much support as they can to implement an effective lesson that will benefit
their students. When planning the lesson, teachers must devise an assessment strategy that will
allow them to track each student’s progress. A teacher will need to know where the students are up
to in regards to their conceptual knowledge or if the concept being taught is fresh and has not been
taught before. A good idea is to scan the school library for teacher resources that may assist with the
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lesson. After following each step teachers must provide a reflection at the end of each lesson taken.
They must address several questions which relate to the student’s learning as well as their own. The
associate teacher must be given a copy of the lesson plan and provide feedback on the lesson. I
personally, am really excited to start drafting my first lesson plan! It seems like a lot of work
however as I get more confident with doing them I can cut them down based on strengths and
improvements. I believe I may have trouble with speaking in front of the children and the associate
teacher. With such a large amount of students and also an ‘assessor’ watching I may get nervous and
stammer a little. Also I believe timing may be an issue with the lessons I deliver. Planning to be exact
on 50 minutes will be a challenge and I could possibly under plan or over plan which have significant
risks and pitfalls. During this lecture I have learnt how to format a lesson plan, and the content it
requires and involves when submitting or putting into practise one of my own.
Placement Observation Day 3
(21.03.2012)
During placement today I spent every lesson in my grade 2B classroom. It was the first day that I
observed Mrs Ross teach and I found it beneficial because I could focus on building positive
relationships for the whole day. This morning Mrs Ross showed me her assessment book, which was
an organised and cohesive folder which included the relevant VELS domains and progression points
for every student. It was arranged with the clear intention of manageable navigation and included
observations as well as formal pieces used in assessment. It was a wet weather program today so
the “Walk-a-thon” did not go ahead today however we were told it would be rescheduled for
another day. During the morning session Mr Hudson took grade 2B to release Mrs Ross for planning.
We started off the day with prayer and then literacy group activities. Today the internet was down
and some groups could not complete the desired tasks. They were instructed to do silent reading
and I used this opportunity to do some guided reading with two individual students. An interactive
resource created for 2B which consists of different activities on a net page was given to me today.
The URL, username and password is detailed within my placement exercise journal. This may be
useful for assignment 1 (EDLA204). Another lesson which followed literacy groups was recount
writing. Today children wrote of their experience from the assembly they had on Monday. During
this lesson I roved around checking for spelling, punctuation and comprehension. It was interesting
to gauge the different ability levels with writing and spelling. I was given the opportunity to correct
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some of the students work. If a word was spelt incorrectly I would circle it and help the student
sound out the word graphophonically. If it was quite a long or hard word I would just write the word
above the attempted effort and sound the word out after I had done so.
After lunch Mrs Ross came back and took class 2B for numeracy, which was centred on data and
tallying. The teacher introduced maths by doing an interactive counting game, which simply had the
children following a hundreds chart counting up by 5’s, 10’s and starting from different numbers.
Mrs Ross then asked the students questions to go over and recap what was taught last lesson.
Within the questioning she explained different vocabulary and key points that are worth
remembering. She then used Sunshine Online to read a story based on data. The story was about a
boy who tallied up all his friends’ favourite games. After the story the teacher used the whiteboard
to tally up everyone in the class’ favourite game. The whole class was involved and everyone had a
turn to contribute. Mrs Ross then explained the activity and the essential elements and expectations
that would be included in their own graphs. Students had the opportunity to construct a bar or
pictograph. This individual task required students to walk around and discuss and tally up and create
their own graph. This was a rich activity because children could confer and discuss with other
students which gave the task a relatable purpose. Mrs Ross then showed me an observation sheet
(which can be viewed in my placement folder) which includes the students name, date, observation
and action taken (what they did wrong). The key concept was the title and the focus was shown for
organisation purposes. After lunch the class had religion, which was based on good Friday. Mrs Ross
read the story of Jesus’ capture and showed this using wooden block which visualised the story and
was quite appealing. This lesson then followed with students copying the main elements of Good
Friday into their religion books and decorated their page with related drawings. The children today
were very well behaved and no disciplinary action was given to any students today. The last session
was a fun colouring and cutting activity which was taken by an emergency teacher. After school we
had a wellbeing meeting which covered a series of interesting topics. The presenters first discussed
the children who receive funding and are classed as special needs. My class, 2B, has the most special
needs children in the whole school with a total of 4 students. Outlines and Individual Learning Plans
of these students can be viewed in my placement folder. The meeting progressed with topics such as
humour and teambuilding.
During the tutorial today we recapped what was introduced on Tuesday’s lecture. The concept of
lesson plan writing is a major part of teaching and today we broke down the fundamentals of writing
up a plan successfully. We went through Learning outcomes and standards, indicators, assessment
strategies, improvements, resources, WOW factors and the conclusion. It was an informative lesson
and all information can be found within my EDFD218 exercise book. The elements of a lesson plan
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were observed within my placement on Wednesday and whilst I observed a maths lesson I broke
down all of the elements and identified each of these elements into the headings the lesson plan
assumes. This exercise will also assist my understanding of the first assessment task required for
EDLA204.
Week 6
Today’s lecture was based on the concept of assessment. Within the lessons that pre-service
teachers this year will create, assessment strategies and techniques are essential to understand and
play a big role in the responsibility of classroom teachers. Assessment is a term used to describe
knowledge, skills and attitudes that are sought through classroom activities. Assessment helps a
teacher gauge the understanding of their students and allows them to effectively develop a cohesive
student report. Assessment can be conducted in a variety of different ways and I have definitely
noted some inferences in the multiple types of formal and informal assessment strategies. To
develop a deeper understanding about the ability of my placement students I aim to start writing
observational notes about each child based on their numeracy and literacy skills. This will aid in my
planning and overall understanding of their conceptual knowledge behind classroom and individual
activities. Before conducting assessment teachers must first define the purpose for their assessment.
They then need to ponder what kind of information they require for that type of assessment. Finally
teachers must ask themselves what conclusions they wish to draw from the assessment. In my case,
I aim to take observational notes with the purpose to enhance my understanding about the different
abilities that are present within my classroom. Assessments are continuous and cumulative which
span over the entire school year. However assessment shouldn’t dominate learning programs and
teachers must ask themselves if they have the time to correct twenty seven pieces of that work type.
Teachers use assessment to help students become aware of their learning and to outline strengths
and weaknesses within their learning spectrum.
After discussing the concept of assessment the topic shifted to that of ‘explaining and
demonstrating’ course material. I personally believe that this is where my weakness as a teacher
may lie and I will be focussing on this as a goal to strengthen whilst on my placement rounds. When
teaching I must aim to make the subject matter as clear as possible, am patient with the delivery and
possess sufficient knowledge on the content before teaching it. The use of examples, particularly to
use examples within a context is a key element and a good teaching tool to keep children engaged
and to pass on knowledge effectively. I must present the topic in clear logical steps and engage the
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class with my tone and voice. It is also wise to avoid jargon and language that is too sophisticated to
steer clear of confusing the students.
Placement Observation Day 4
(28.03.2012)
Today St Peter the Apostle school was filled with the Easter spirit. This morning I embraced the
opportunity to correct the class’ spelling words correcting misspelt words, and feeling more and
more like a part of the class. The first literacy lesson this morning went a bit like my upcoming
lesson! My associate teacher began by introducing the lesson by reading a text from Sunshine
Online. It was a multimodal text based on fruit salad. The teacher used her pointer when reading the
title and when reading some parts of the text. During the reading of the book, the teacher’s focus
was on talking marks and reading with expression. When a character spoke in the text the teacher
would ask all the students to read in their ‘character voices’ altogether. This led into literacy groups.
Most of the group’s activities’ were based on Easter and I was put with working the lowest ability
group. Today my group made Easter bunny badges which could be pinned on their jumpers. I
noticed that it was quite a procedural task which even came with instructions. Instead of telling the
students what they had to do I took the teaching opportunity to allow the students to read to the
rest of the group what each step required them to do. I chose a student to tell the group each step
and clarified important information after the student finished reading. The children preformed really
well at the task however much guidance was necessary in getting them on track and following the
correct steps. When the task was finished I used my knowledge learnt on placement and
appropriately pinned the badges on the arms of the female students. The next activity was
handwriting. I again took the lowest ability group and focussed on the sizing and correct letter
formation of tail letters. I worked with this group (which were mostly students with intellectual
disabilities) and noticed a couple of students wrote letters backward. This is a sign of dyslexia (which
none of these children are identified as having). After the break a maths lesson typically followed,
which was going to be an assessed piece on graphs and data. The assessed work that the children
will complete will be put in their assessment folios and shown at parent/teacher interviews. The
maths lesson started off by Ms Ross typically recapping what was learnt last week. She wrote key
information and vocabulary on the board and then explained the activity and how it will be assessed.
Ms Ross then wrote up on the board a heading called “Success Criteria.” Under this heading, she
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explained, are things that the children needed to include in their work. If a child was unsure of what
to do next they could have a look at the “Success Criteria” and check off the things they had done.
Children were required to survey their classmates on a topic (of their choice) and put this data into a
graph (of their choice). The whole room was buzzing with interaction as one side of the class
interviewed the other and then swapped over. During this time I just roved and ensured children
were following and including all the elements of the success criteria. After children finished this task
they went on with a word search. The rest of the day was based on enjoyable Easter activities. The
children made split pin bunnies and continued independent writing based on Easter themes. There
was no meeting today so everyone went home after class.
During the tutorial today we had the chance to write down information regarding each heading
within a lesson plan. It was quite an informative tutorial and if I had missed it I would definitely be in
a rut. We were also told that the lesson plan assignment is to based on assignment two and have
clear relevance to the theme “Beyond the Sand.” To view notes taken in today’s class please refer to
the blank lesson plan document.
Week 7
During the lecture today the students completed an individual reflection on planning, which was
handed in as a part of our reflective journals. Upon reflecting on the concept of planning I referred
to what I have observed on placement and the lesson plans I have completed for assignments as well
as the future lessons I will develop on my teaching placement. On my placement day 4 my associate
teacher gave me a copy of her weekly and term planner for next term which will assist me in the
topics that I will be teaching for literacy, maths and the inquiry unit. I wrote within my reflection that
I struggle thus far, with organising my thoughts and ideas into a logical and sequential lesson. During
today’s lesson we also discussed the notion of questioning within the context of Blooms Taxonomy.
Blooms Taxonomy is essentially six levels which outline the basic to higher order levels of
questioning which aims at stimulating classroom thinking and reasoning. Blooms Taxonomy is a
great guide to the types of questioning I as a pre service teacher must encourage within my own
discussions and lessons. I believe it provokes deeper understanding and thinking about a topic and
as children progress through each level they begin to consolidate their thinking with reasoning and
more questioning! A particular concept whilst questioning is that of ‘wait time.’ Wait time is
described as being the brief pause between the deliverance of a question and the response.
Teachers must allow a sufficient wait time period that will allow the child to respond effectively
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whilst not feeling like they are under pressure or scrutiny. Research shows that teachers may be
giving to little “wait times” which is affecting the way children in classroom discussions respond to
questions.
Week 8
During the lecture this week the theme was based on dealing with different types of behaviour
management within our full control placement in June. A nice concept I will definitely use whilst on
teaching rounds is stating to the children my expectations of them. In the lecture today Amanda
suggested that before teaching commences I should outline my expectations of their behaviour,
conduct and work whilst I am taking the class. Amanda told us that this statistically will increase the
level of respect and compliancy that the students will have for me as the teacher. I believe that one
of these expectations should also be talked about in reverse, what they as a class can expect from
me. I will tell my class that I am here to help there and will do my best as their teacher to make
learning enjoyable and rich in understanding and learning.
Today Amanda directed the class through strategies that will assist teachers in handling aggressive
behaviour types whilst keeping cool, calm and collected and remaining in control of the situation.
The first type of aggressive behaviour that is seen in the classroom is the power struggle that can
spawn between a teacher and student. If found in this situation, whereby the student is refusing to
comply with the teachers instructions, and responds in a challenging manner that there are a
number of different ways of responding. The first is to divert the students attention from the back
and forth argument and to focus on what needs to be done. The second is to refuse to become
involved in an argument leaving the child with no rebuttal and the third is to simply leave the
conversation and ignore the child (which may result in desired outcomes being achieved as the child
has no attention). I must always remember to remain friendly and clam and conserve my dignity and
maintain respect as well as show respect for the child. Preventative, supportive and corrective
discipline is also imperative to engage children, because as common sense I’m sure will tell us, happy
kids aren’t naughty kids.
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Placement Observation Day 5
(18.04.2012)
Today my placement observation started off with the follow up of the Early Numeracy Research
Project consent forms and materials. Before class I had a brief meeting with the numeracy
coordinator to touch base on the status of the parent consent forms and to ask if the school had any
materials which correspond to the interview. My associate teacher and the numeracy coordinator
took me over to the planning room and I spent the morning sorting out the required materials
needed for the interview. Fortunately the school had all the materials required and actually do the
same testing along with regular visits from Doug Clark. After this I went to class which Mr Bryan
Hudson was taking (due to Mrs Ross’ planning absence) and the room was a buzz as soon as I walked
in. I was a little anxious that the students would have difficulty remembering me; however this
feeling was soon dispelled as they lighted up with excitement as soon they saw me (which filled me
with positivity and optimism for my teaching rounds). In the first session the children wrote Easter
recounts and spent the morning generally writing. I noticed that since my first visit to grade 2B the
students have gradually improved within their writing. I especially noted an intellectually disabled
student improve quite significantly within his legibility and spelling. I was also quite surprised and
impressed with many other students who have progressed in this domain of schooling life. After the
first break Mrs Ross came back in and took an introductory lesson on doubling numbers, which
started off the “Addition” unit for this term. She began the lesson by displaying picture cards to the
children who were situated on the floor. These picture cards showed the sum of 1 + 1 = 2 which was
accompanied by a picture showing the outcome 2. After the students went through 2 + 2 and 3 + 3
etc. Mrs Ross asked the students for their own examples and answers. She then took these examples
and explored strategies to help the students work out the outcome of doubled numbers. The
students directed their own strategies whilst the teacher asked how this strategy works and how.
The children then were asked to get in a circle and were shown how to play a card game of snap
which focussed on quickly recognising two same numbers and answering to win. The children were
split in pairs and groups of three to play this game and I roved around and got involved in playing
with some of the groups. After this the class were then asked to come together again and were
quizzed with more flash cards which resembled numbers in a dice format. Children were asked to
answer doubled numbers. Then when the answer was given one or two more digits were added and
the student had to respond with the new knowledge given throughout this lesson. At the end of the
day we had a staff briefing/meeting which was a general conversation on report writing and
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upcoming events and moves the school will be making in the future. A comment that was said by the
principal, Michael McGrath, was that the teachers comments on their reports must correlate with
the marks given. He stated that lots of reports have been given back for rewriting due to this
requirement not being met. I pondered for a second what he meant by this. Was this perhaps due to
teachers “sugar coating” a student’s behaviour or learning to avoid the response of a parent? This
was the only conclusion I could think of so I will definitely follow this up with the lecturers and tutors
at uni and respond to this.
The tutorial today started with a question based focus on the upcoming resource package
assignment. All questions were cleared up and Jane summarised key points of the rubric that are
essential for passing this assessment. The bulk of the lesson was focussed on reflecting on our
observations and creating strategies that we will implement whilst developing lessons and being the
teacher to an early year’s classroom. Today we reflected and pondered in pairs of some of the
teaching strategies that our associate teachers use effectively. It wasn’t hard to think of useful
strategies that Ms Ross uses that adds depth to the class’ conceptual understanding. Such things like
starting the lesson with a wow factor to engage the class and pressing the question ‘why’ to get a
hold of that relational understanding that is ever so imperative to a child’s learning. The lesson then
pressed on to Jane showing the class Bloom’s Taxonomy which gave the class many examples of
lesson ideas and focus questions teachers can use in the classroom. Next week we will be presenting
our resource assignment. We have been regularly meeting and working collaboratively towards the
final piece. I am very excited about this and will include pictures in next week’s post.
Week 9 – Presentation
Photos of my week 9 presentation “Beyond the Sand.”
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Placement Observation Day 6
(02.05.2012)
Today’s placement observation was one to remember. During the first session the other preservice
teacher and I had the opportunity to watch Mr Doug Clark teach grade 6C about fractions. His one
hour session was both interactive and enjoyable presenting maths right in front of the childrens
eyes. Mr Clark introduced the lesson by talking to the students about fractions. He then detailed and
told the students what he was going to do for the main part of the lesson. Mr Clark told the students
that he would be placing three chairs out at the front of the grade. The first chair would hold one
chocolate bar, the second two and the third three bars. He picked ten volunteers and explained to
them that they have to stand behind the chair that they will get the most chocolate from. As the
children (one by one) decided which chair would produce the most chocolate it was interesting to
see the strategies used for calculating how much chocolate each chair would produce. After each
child would stand behind their nominated chair Doug would give the non-participating students time
to discuss and think about where they would go. I got the opportunity to go around to different
groups to ask and probe the students’ thinking and understanding. Mr Clark then asked students to
explain their thinking by using the whiteboard and constantly probed the thinking of the students by
asking why. Mr Clark then asked the students to hold the chair above their heads to show a physical
resemblance of a fraction! It looked so awesome, and the students loved it. It was maths working
before their eyes in a tangible and hands on way. It was hard to see students not participating in the
activity and you could see the rich learning and thinking that was happening within the class. I
believe Mr Clark set up a learning environment that created a relevant context which fostered
engagement and interest which, in turn, stimulated the thinking of the students. After Mr Clark’s
lesson I started his Early Numeracy Research Project interviews. The interviews went well however
as I predicted the Prep student quite quickly became disengaged and spoke about unrelated topics
that were far from what the interview questions aimed to achieve. When I finally returned to my 2B
class the children were a buzz as soon as I entered the room. It felt really good to see the joy on the
students faces as I walked into the room. They whispered, “Mr Bartolo’s here!” in a subtle tone of
happiness. I noted at that point that an emergency teacher was taking the class. She spoke for at
least an hour on how women were not valued within society and were seen as less capable as men.
She was presenting the issue of gender biases to the grade 2 class and as I peered over to Mrs. Ross
planner the subject was an activity on “Success.” I wondered why the E.T was talking to the class
about undervalued women and how much of this the children could understand let alone deal with.
At the end of the session the E.T contradicted her hour talk on gender bias by letting the girls in the
class go first out to lunch. During the next session a child in my class got in trouble at lunch for
playing in the sandbox, which was prohibited due to the wet morning. The child was dared to jump
in and as a result got wet pants and an appropriate disciplinary lecture from the principal. I
witnessed this and as the child came to sit back on the floor he broke down in a mixture of tears and
sobbing. A child whom I have grown to admire and bond with I deeply felt for this child as I know
that he was pressured into making this wrong decision. I decided to take him away from the class
(who were all watching him cry) and took him to the little bench outside the class for some fresh air.
I began to speak to the child, telling him he can learn from this mistake. I told him I know that he is a
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leader and a model student. The aim of this was to increase the students’ self-esteem and to take his
mind off the fact that he was upset. I then proceeded to explain to the student that at the end of the
day he only had wet pants. Within this two minute conversation I was able to literally turn the child’s
frown upside, his tears stopped and he went back to class and joined them on the floor. When
reflecting on this experience I believe that to get the most out of a moment like this it is important
to approach the child with a non-threatening disposition. I aimed to console the child by focussing
on turning the event into a positive experience that the child identifies as a learning curve that can
be thought about when dealing with a similar situation.
After the second break I took over the E.T’s role as classroom teacher and guided the class through
the inquiry unit of “Recycling.” I explained what the students had to do in the lesson and wrote up a
“Success Criteria” on the whiteboard that students could refer to if they didn’t know what to do
next. Students worked collaboratively to put together individual posters based on recycling. I believe
this was a great opportunity to scaffold my integration as classroom teacher and gave me my first
taste of full control. The children responded to me with enthusiasm and with respect and I have
great feelings about my teaching block placement.
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