Chris Duffin 3756704

APPROACHES TO TEACHING AND LEARNING 2

ASSESMENT 1: CASE WRITING
CASE DESCRIPTION
PRACTICE DESCRIBE
The music stopped to conclude lunchtime on a bright and clear Friday afternoon. I was ready to conduct a Year 11 Physical Education lesson on
Biomechanics, specifically the principles of linear motion. I had arrived early to class to write up the Learning Intention and Success Criteria on
the whiteboard, confident, as I had previously taught the same content in the morning to another class. I had taken this class of students for the
previous 3 weeks, so I was familiar with the students and today I had an extended audience observing the class including my second mentor
teacher, a Pre-Service Teacher and a Casual Relief Teacher.
The class slowly arrived taking their seats at the computers.
Class, please get your books out and write down the Learning Intention and Success Criteria so we can begin our lesson. I instructed.
Whilst the students were following instructions, I was preparing for the first activity, by getting up the video of Cathy Freemans 400m Gold
Medal run from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. There were still students arriving, despite class starting several minutes earlier. A group of 3 boys
came in talking loudly and walked straight to their seats.
Why are we late boys? I asked.
With heads slumped down, the boys shrugged their shoulders and offered little more than I dont know.
Well considering you are 8 minutes late, you will be held back after school for wasting my time I replied.

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The class went silent and I repeated my first class request to begin writing what was written on the whiteboard. As I had already taken the class
earlier in the day, I had the video of Cathy Freeman already open and was waiting for it to load so I could play it and ask students some questions
regarding it. The video seemed to be taking its time uploading, so I explained the plan for the class and how we were going to use this video to
apply our knowledge of linear motion. I wrote up the questions I wanted answered on the board and went back to my laptop to begin the video.
I was able to identify that the Internet connection was the main issue. Previously I had connection issues using my personal laptop, so I kept a
school-hired laptop with me for situations like this. The school laptop was taking time to load up and the class began to become restless. Upon
loading I attempted to search for the video, however the educational filter at the school had disabled the search and as such I couldnt use that
laptop to play the video I wanted. I called over the other Pre Service Teacher and asked if I could use his laptop, noticing that he had his opened.
I also asked if he could run to the Learning Resource Centre to get an appropriate connection for the projector screen. He nodded and headed off
as quickly as he could.
Whilst waiting for the Pre Service Teacher to return, one of the boys John who was late to class called out Why are we even watching this video
for?
My reply was So that itll give you a visual image of what we have been learning about with Linear Motion.
John immediately responded with But Sir, youre wasting our time now. He was highlighting the fact that it was now 13 minutes into the
lesson and the class still hadnt began an activity.

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With my head down, I was unresponsive and waited for the Pre Service Teacher to arrive back with the correct cable. Finally after 15 minutes,
the video was shown and the activity could begin. The anxious beginning to the lesson filtered throughout the remainder of the class, with
students failing to engage with the content and the activity was not as successful as planned.

CASE COMMENTARY
PRACTICE EXPLAINED
The lesson designed for the Year 11 Physical Education class involved the principles of linear motion in Biomechanics. The Victorian
Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA, 2015) Physical Education study design was incorporated into the lesson, following the Unit 1
outcome of students investigate and analyse movements in a variety of activities to develop an understanding of how the correct application of
biomechanical principles leads to improved performance. The Cathy Freeman video activity was designed to allow students to demonstrate their
understanding of content taught in the previous lesson. The use of ICT in the classroom is important to allow for greater student engagement and
caters for different styles of learners. Classes on a Friday afternoon are often hard to engage students, especially with challenging topics such as
Biomechanics, so using ICT was used as a way of improving interaction from students.
The beginning of the lesson was interrupted courtesy of late students. They were met with a negative attitude from myself, informing them that
they were wasting my time. This attitude built from the ICT issues and from the pressure felt having three people observing the class.
Having taught the same content in the morning, I anticipated the video would work immediately. ICT issues had occurred before, so I needed to
ensure that it was working prior to the class. The class became restless when I attempted to try a different laptop to try to get the video working,
and as such became unhappy that they were being made to wait. This prompted one of the late students to make the comment about me wasting

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their time. This negative response was a direct retaliation to the response I had previously given and I didnt respond to the comment.
Throughout the situation, the mentor teacher did not intervene, rather waited to give feedback about the class at the end.

PRACTICE THEORISED
It is important to begin lessons with clear direction and with activities, which are planned with purpose. MacGrath (2013) believed that in order
to get a clear beginning to a lesson, initiate a minor activity to allow the teacher an opportunity to set up either a video or the next substantial
activity. The Biomechanics lesson used a video as a way for students to demonstrate their prior knowledge, however it may have been more
beneficial had the class began with a minor activity to allow myself time to set up the video. This wouldve enhanced the students potential to
demonstrate their prior knowledge, as the activity would begin when the video had loaded.
Yisrael (2012) states that good behaviour and good lessons go hand in hand. Behavioural issues become a non-issue when the students are
engaged rather than bored and not appropriately challenged. The student John demonstrated these behaviours having not engaged with the
content and with an issue with the video, he became bored. As his behaviour was challenged upon his entry into the class, he reacted negatively
towards myself in retaliation and as a way to exact revenge. This aligned with Ayres and Gray (2013) who theorised that pupils seek attention
inappropriately from teachers as a way of gaining power, avoiding participation in classroom activities and to exact revenge.
The anxiety and stress that I exhibited when trying to manage the ICT issue, highlighted the lack of experience I had in coping with unexpected
issues in the classroom. Lazarus (1966) described coping as a dynamic, complex process that can change due to the resources that are available
and the demands of the environment. In this situation, I attempted to find other resources to use such as another laptop, however with the
demands of the environment and extra observers in the class it led to me acting less confident. To avoid misunderstandings effective

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communicators must be aware of their non-verbal communication, especially how it may be interpreted and inferred (Lyons & Ford, 2013). The
situation required me as a teacher to remain calm, and to demonstrate positive body language and non-verbal communication, as it potentially
influenced the decision making of the student to act out due to the lack of confidence and composure.

PRACTICE CHANGE
The outcome of this case may have been altered had the approach to the class been different. Firstly, with ICT issues occurring frequently, I
needed to ensure that the video was set up, ready to go before the students arrived. I assumed that because it had worked previously that it would
work straight away. Should an ICT issue arise, I need to rectify this by moving the class onto another activity before coming back to the video.
This was mentioned in the mentor feedback, and was something that I immediately agreed with.
The class was unsettled because they did not have an activity to keep them occupied. By moving on to the next activity, students wouldve been
able to start new content and I would have had time to compose myself and fixed the ICT issue. An alternative may have been to get students to
demonstrate the activity rather than watching the video. The shape of the classroom may have made it practical to have students demonstrate the
activity, allowing for the visual representation.
In relation to the students behaviour, disciplining students in front of the class gives them a platform for further negative behaviour. The
offending students needed to be taken aside and in a balanced tone asked why they were late. This would have reduced the chances of a negative
response from them and diffused any negative repercussion later on.

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REFERENCES
Ayers, Harry; Gray, Francesca 2013, Classroom Management : A Practical Approach for Primary and Secondary Teachers, e-book, accessed 27
July 2015, <http://VU.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1562146>.
Lazarus, R. S. 1966. Psychological Stress and the Coping Process. NewYork: McGraw- Hill
Lyons, Gordon; Ford, Margot 2013, Classroom Management : Creating Positive Learning Environment, e-book, accessed 27 July 2015,
<http://VU.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1990991>.
MacGrath, Michelle 2013, Art of Teaching Peacefully : Improving Behavior and Reducing Conflict in the Classroom, e-book, accessed 22 July
2015, <http://VU.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1583141>.
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), 2015. Victorian Certificate Of Education Study Design- Physical Education. 4th ed.
East Melbourne: State Government of Victoria,
<http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Documents/vce/physicaledu/phyedusd2011-2014.pdf> . Web. 26 July 2015.
Yisrael, Sean B. 2012, Classroom Management : A Guide for Urban School Teachers, e-book, accessed 27 July 2015,
<http://VU.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=864778>.