​Date: Friday, 31st March 2017
​
Today I Did:

• Attended their school sport/athletics carnival.
• I was shadowing my 2 of my mentor teachers around with their classes doing events throughout the day

Today I Learnt:

• It was observed that an all-girls school environment seems to be a ‘lighter’ environment.
  • Lack of teenage males.
  • Teacher student relationship is more friendly and light hearted.
• Observed that this is a smaller school in comparison to other schools that I have been involved with. 500 students in comparison to 800 plus students.
• They are in the same sort of context as to where I went to high school
  • Low socio-economic area.
  • Secondary Catholic Education.
• My placement school seems to be a strongly community focused and parents seemed to be heavily involved in the school life.
• The school focus on student coming to these days.
  • However, it is to be on their own terms.
  • This sort of school days and events foster making memories and relationships outside the classroom.
• Identified issues surround mental health within the school.
  • Year 10 girls – struggle with anxiety.
  • They with these students don’t force/push participation.

Next Time:

• I will have the opportunity to attend a ALL COHORT excursion with the Year 10. I will be attending the RAA Street Smart High Seminar Day.
• I seek to look at risk management plan for this excursion, see what content this seminar involves and learn about how the teacher predict what is going to happen in terms of student reactions with what is occurring on these day.

 

For Placement 3, I am going to an all girls secondary Catholic College, with 620 students from Years 8-12. XXXX is a vibrant, inclusive and hopeful community, in which each individual is valued. Our passionate, generous and highly competent staff, prepare students for future challenges by encouraging creativity, perseverance and resilience. They encourage excellence. We strive to develop within each girl confidence in her particular talents and abilities and the knowledge that she is important and unique.

The College I am to be involved with outlines this mission:
• engender a passion for lifelong learning.
• encourage excellence.
• value each individual’s gifts and talents.
• are generous with our time and care of each student so that she develops her full potential.
• are a welcoming, vibrant and inclusive community in which we celebrate diversity.
• prepare students for future challenges by encouraging creativity, perseverance and resilience.
• encourage young women to work for social justice so that they recognise that they can make a difference.
• allow students to explore their own faith journey.
• nurture faith in Catholic tradition.
• empower students to practise reconciliation.
• understand and accept the challenge of the Gospels to challenge injustice.
• are proud to be part of the community and are advocates for the school.
• have passionate, generous and highly competent staff.
• are hopeful.

I see this as being a good fit with my current values as an educator but all my personal Catholic values I have. I am looking forward to the challenges that placement has for me but also the challenges and new approaches which an all girls schooling context will throw at me.

I feel as though my placement and time at XXXX ​ College has been a positive experience that has helped to further develop my skills and abilities as a teacher. I feel as though I am well on the way to becoming a competent and effective teacher in my chosen fields of expertise.
 
My focus for my placement this time was not so much finding confidence in myself but learning and implementing different classroom and behaviour management strategies, in particular finding something that suits my style and of course the group, I work with.  To enable this, I stepped outside my learning and subject area and reached out to other teachers to observe their class, Religion, English, History, Science and Research Project. Through this, I was able to see how different subjects and teacher management their own classroom and find adapt things I had observed when the opportunity arose in my class the following lesson or day. I also sought to understand the curriculum of both senior and junior schools, through program development, looking at school resources and asking following up questions. I was also involved in some marking of a timed assessment in Stage 1 Religion Studies. I also participated in college life to the fullest engaging in Student Voice, Junior Relay for Life, School Masses and Year 12 Farewells. I feel this enabled me to get a sense of the true culture of XXXX  College and truly understand the community I am working in. I feel getting to know the community is an important aspect of a teacher starting out in a new school. I feel also as though forming a professional relationship with my Mentor enabled my experience to be as positive as it has been and also enabled me to learn as much as I can about the role of a teacher not just in the classroom but administratively.
 
Strengths: I have identified the following as points that I have been able to continue the development of and identify these as strengths or positives as this point in my journey.
 

• Beginning to use my bigger voice.
• Building relationships with students – learning names, interacting during class and before and after class, using icebreaker (every lesson in the first week of teaching an icebreaker was used) and presence in the classroom during my teaching time.
• I am able to organise and be efficient, having everything ready to go for the lesson and having it all at my fingertips.
• Started to develop class strategies - hand up to let them know that I want their attention, "Year 11s can I have your attention this way" and then waiting, seems like a long time but in actually fact student don't notice and give them a chance to all stop and listening. How to deal with students who may be off task.
• Allowing students to evaluate learning through exit cards at several points - enable them to look at the important bit they will take away and also for a reference when planning and where there might be gaps.
• Using what is available - technology (Electronic Whiteboard & workspace) adapting to the school and how they do things.
• Was able to continue to develop a strong understanding of the curriculum (Acara and SACE) to enable my unit to be stronger - enable through my own planning and see my mentor and other teachers action lesson and their planning guides.
• Able to bring the subject into a real life context using contemporary and modern themes that students were able to relate to. Enable them to practice strategies in a class and providing example activities and sharing my own personal experience.
• Through me sharing, the student were able to share to especially relevant for the task where students are looking at self-identity. Sharing, the students were able to share to especially relevant for a task where students are looking at self-identity.
• I felt like my unit themed together well and enable scaffolding and progression as well as closure and evaluating of learnings.
• Create a collaboratively working environment, where students are comfortable, on task and productive.
• Adapt unit to work with my style of teaching and for the students. My teacher style is very much one which involves students as the inquirer – ask questions of me, themselves and their peers to find the answers. I use a lot of group work and interactive activities. Students direct their own learning to some extent.
• Able to evaluate and improve my lessons/units and teacher practices through self-reflection but also through period feedback from students at various stage of the unit/lesson. I really see value in getting the student feedback and also have them recap was they do in class at various points - beginning of a lesson, end of a lesson and end fo unit.

 
Limitations: At my current stage I need to work on the following areas to improve and develop my practice as a teacher.

• Personal literacy – missing glaring easy errors on student worksheet, need to take the time to check properly before uploading and distributing. 
• I need to be careful of the language I use - e.g. 'assessment' rather than the word 'exam', especially with the younger year. I am now aware some words have the ability create anxiety and stress in students that is unnecessary and effects the overall outcome of activities and assessments.
• Voice projection – sometimes not loud enough – this is something that has improved by still needs work. I have seen myself during class fixing this as I go.
• Authoritative voice – e.g tone. Needs to be improved.
• Sometimes, my words run in to each other, I need to articulate more and slow my speech.

 
I feel as though if I continue on the path I have been with my development as a teacher, I can be successful and engage students and have them be successful. The experience at XXXX has been wonderful and I as aforementioned I have learnt so much and will take so much away for use in my effective practice.

XXXX College is a private co-educational Catholic College situated in the North Eastern suburbs of Adelaide and is part of a three-campus initiative which includes XXXX High School (Government School) and XXXX (Christian School). The cultural background of the student population is comprised predominately of students with Anglo-Saxon and European heritage. The socio-economic background of the students is mainly middle income. The school is an active part of the community, involving students in various after-school sport, open nights, external work experience and community service activities.
 
My practicum specifically included:

• Teaching a Stage One Religion Studies unit he created as well as implanting the curriculum already existing
• Teaching a Year 10 Child Studies class implementing a unit about planning an activity session for a Primary School  
• Observing and delivering prayer in Morning Care Group
• Observing Year 11 F&H class and being a part of a function day
• Observing lessons in other various classes that he organised
• Attending a Parent/Student/Teacher Interview
• Attending and observing a Staff Meeting for Technologies Learning Area and for the whole school staff.
• Attending school Moderation Day – taking part in discussions about future curriculum in the school and line structure.

Following thread, Professional Reflection, will be used to document my journey on my last three placements within my Bachelor of Secondary Education.

• Placement Comments from Mentor Teachers and Site Directors
• Daily Reflection (ProfEx 3 &  4)
• End of Block Reflection (ProfEx 2, 3 & 4)

Non-physical intervention in managing behaviour
Non-physical intervention is the recognised means of managing the behaviour of children and young people within a school as a profession teacher. Where a problem with a child or young person’s behaviour becomes apparent, non-physical interventions are used.
 
They  include:

• directing other children and young people to move away from the situation
• talking with the individual child or young person (asking
• Them to stop the behaviour, and tell them what will happen if he/she does not stop)
• directing them to a safe place
• directing other children and young people to a safe place
• sending for assistance from other staff, or in extreme cases, the police.

 
Use of verbal directions is always preferred to physical intervention. Physical contact with a child or young person (e.g. pushing, grabbing, poking, pulling, blocking) in order to ensure they comply with Directions is not appropriate ever. Under no circumstances should staff engage in any form of conduct which might cause physical or emotional harm to children and young people.
 
Staff may make legitimate use of physical restraint if all non-physical interventions have been exhausted or are impossible in the circumstances and a child or young
person is:

•  attacking another child or young person or adult
  
•  posing an immediate danger to him/herself or others.

 
Staff are to use physical restraint only as a last resort and not as a response to property destructions or leaving the classroom or the school (just to name a few)
 
What I feel comfortable using?
I would choose to direct the other children and young people to move away
from the situation, this would draw the attention away from the student  and hopefully have them stop the behaviour that has coursed the other children to move away.
 
I would also choose to talk with the individual child or young person (asking
the child or young person to stop the behaviour, and telling the child or young person what will happen if he/she does not stop), this would allow the child to be aware of the situation and what they are coursing to again cease the behaviour. Maybe even why they are doing the behaviour in the first instance.
 
 
***This has been completed prior to starting the course in 2014. Certificate of Attainment is below.
​

Roles
Teacher
Colleague
Friend
Family member

• Son, daughter, mother, father, sister, brother etc.

Responsibilities
People (use of interpersonal skills)

• The children, your colleagues, the children's parents/caregivers and the members of the community.*your colleagues include...teaching staff, school and organisation leaders, other professional staff ( your peers).
• Your family and friends (at the end of the day) 

Relationships

• The relationships teachers have with their student in the early career is the one they have with their students.
• Be vigilant about your relationships with children and young people.
• You need to be alert to your interactions with the adults in this setting.

 ​

Choose one justice alert. How you would respond to it in terms of your own experiences of schooling? 

The justice alert I have chosen is 'who is heard and who finds it difficult to be heard?'
 
This means is everyone being heard and voiced in discussion and being active in classroom life. This does not just involve the student but the teachers as well. It involve the classroom being structured in a way that allow the entire class to be heard and no one to fall into the background and be unnoticed.
 
In terms of my schooling I found that It was very easy to fall in the the background and not be heard or notice. This is why I always tried to be what is classed as an active student. I would be involved in classroom life and make I self notice in the appropriate manner. I found myself as a result being able to talk problems out with my teacher and fellow student and also being able to balance my work whilst still being able to help other and make use of my interpersonal skills. This was all as a result of gaining feedback from my teachers and fellow students and adjusting my behaviourism if I felt it was required.
 
As a teacher I would need to make sure that I am paying attention to the introverts and the extroverts.