Reegan Ker 32925659 BED150

Topic 1- Reflection and Teaching

Focus Questions
Why have you decided to become a teacher?
Being a teacher has always been something I have wanted to be, working with children and
students is such a rewarding experience and I love being around them. I have decided to
become a teacher as I would love to inspire students to have excitement towards school and
for them to love learning, it would also be amazing to have a positive impact on the
students and to create an enjoyable experience for them. To me, becoming a teacher allows
for many opportunities such as travel, working with a diverse range of cultures all over the
world would be an opportunity of a life time, not all job careers offer overseas
opportunities. The holidays that teachers are given is also a bonus and in the future when I
want to start a family it would work well with having babies of my own.

Outline of positive experiences

A positive experience for me was finishing year 12 and graduating, this felt like a huge
accomplishment and I was proud of myself. I found school so rewarding and an exciting time
as most of my teachers were super supportive and they encouraged me to push myself to
my full potential. This was encouraging and was a positive experience that I had when I was
at school. These positive experiences make me want to be like the teachers I had and to
create an amazing time for students when they are at school.

Outline of negative experiences

A negative experience that I came across was in primary school when I got shut down in
front of a large group when I was quite young because I gave the wrong answer. This may
only be a little thing now at this age but when a 7-year-old is put down for no real reason it
can lead students to lack confidence and not want to share ideas or answers in front of
people. This negative experience has allowed me to see that I wouldnt ever want to
embarrass a student or shut them down in a negative way.

A brief outline of your family experiences of education

My Mum is a primary school teacher and she has been a huge influence on why I want to be
a teacher. She is such an amazing teacher and I would love to follow in her foot-steps. My
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family has always been super supportive when it comes to education. I was the first person
in our family to graduate.

Your feelings about your educational history

Looking back at my educational history it was such a positive rollercoaster and I am very
proud and I feel as if I have accomplished lots. The teachers were supportive and I had a
great learning experience.

Topic 2- Communication and Teaching

Focus Questions

Groundwater-Smith et al, 2015 states on page 237 that:

The teaching-learning process is essentially a communication event.
How do you understand this?
To me this means, to allow the students to learn, the communication between the teacher
and student must be clear, positive and encouraging. If the communication is weak or
negative in any way the student will feel unencouraged and will automatically not want to
learn or listen. Communication in the classroom is so important as messages are interpreted
in many ways and if a teachers communication is aggressive or confusing then they can be
portrayed in a negative way and the wrong message will be conveyed.

What are the roles of speaking and listening in effective communication?

Assertive and active listening is an important skill for a teacher to have, it allows the teacher
to understand what the student may need with their learning. Listening helps with
understanding what the student is trying to say so you can effectively communicate with
them. Having good speaking skills is also key for a teacher if they need to get a specific
message across in a clear way so the listener understands.

Using Blooms Taxonomy think about the three question types (convergent,
divergent, evaluative) and the reasons for using them.

Convergent questions are used for determining prior learning and knowledge of the
student, these questions are used to gain a specific answer. These are more closed off
questions that only require only one broad answer.
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Divergent questions are put in place to allow the students to explore their answers that
prompt individual thinking to explore various answers or meanings. These are open ended
questions and there are no fixed answers.
Evaluative questions are used for letting students share their judgements, personal opinions
and values when answering a question. These are open ended questions where the answers
can determine a position or thought of the student.

How can teachers use questions to promote learning?

Teachers can use questions to promote learning by asking appropriate questions that might
trigger students to think deeper about a specific topic. This then allows the teacher to have
clarification of the students understanding. Asking questions to students can encourage
them to enjoy learning and gain more knowledge about a specific topic.
Task 2

Question type Questions with text or topic as the subject

Recall What is the Eiffel tower, where is it and when did it get built?
Recall facts or
information

Comprehension Give an example of why someone might go there and what is its
purpose?
Understand meaning,
interpret

Application What might be advantages and disadvantages for Paris being

that they have the Eiffel tower?
Use the information in
a new context
How does the Eiffel tower differentiate from other tourist
Analyse
attractions all over the world?
Organise the
information into its
component parts

Synthesise What would happen if the costs increase to over $1000 to visit
the Eiffel tower?
Put the parts together
to form a whole (create
new understandings)
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Evaluate How important do you think the Eiffel tower is for France, and
why? How important do you think it is for the rest of the world
Make judgements
about the value of ideas and why?

Topic 3- Lesson Planning

Focus Questions

Why is it essential to plan your lesson?

It is important to plan lessons as it can be used as a teaching tool to plan and show the
purpose of the lesson. It gives yourself as a teacher professional accountability to
demonstrate what you are teaching to other admin, staff, parents and students. Another
good reason to plan lessons is if, you need a relief teacher to fill in for you at a short notice.
If the lesson plans are done for a few weeks or days in advance then it will be less stressful
and it will assist the relief teacher to run a smooth lesson.

What role does the identification of a clear teaching/learning objectives play in

determining the lesson planning process?
If you have clear learning objectives then you have more focused goals to aim towards, it
will help with the lesson planning process as you have something to work and plan around.
By having teaching/learning objectives you can plan specifically which will allow the
students to have a better chance at achieving the objectives.

Why should your planned learning outcomes reflect your teaching/learning

objective?
The planned learning outcomes should reflect the teaching/learning objectives as it is
important to stay focused and to stay on track with the lesson and with what is going to be
taught and learnt. If the lesson doesnt reflect the learning objectives then the students will
not be following the content that they need to learn. Learning objectives are put in place to
help improve the students knowledge and skills that you want them to achieve by the end
of a lesson or specific amount of time.

Groundwater-Smith et al (2015) highlights seven principles of planning on pages

207-214. Consider the importance of each of these principles in the planning
process.
Careful preparation balanced with flexibility this is very important as not every lesson will
how you exactly planned it, so it is important to be flexible but to understand the key
learning intentions so you can cater for un expected things happening.
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Planning based on current knowledge about how students learn not every student learns
the same, so it is important to have a variety of different strategies to help the students who
learn differently. Understanding what a child needs is also important because they will learn
better if you give them an opportunity to do things their way.
Planning needs to consider diversity planning always needs to cover diversity and it needs
to give students the time that they need to complete an activity so they can think for
themselves without being rushed.
Planning backwards: analysis of achievements and future needs Giving the students an
opportunity to mark their own work, getting them to reflect on it or peer reviewing work
will give you important information about the student so you can plan for the future. This
will give them goals to work towards and they might not feel as nervous about grades.
Planning must be negotiable- This principal is quite important because it allows the students
to have a say in their learning and can give them responsibility. This could create a positive
environment in the classroom and the students may be excited and want to take ownership
in their school work as it was their ideas.
Planning should consider integration possibilities- Connecting school work in alternative
ways with integration curriculum is so important so the students can see that they are not
just learning things for no reason, but they are learning them so they can use them for real
life situations. It gives purpose to the work they are doing.
Planning involves attention to detail and resources- This principal is specifically important
because the more detail that you have put in the plan, the more learning opportunities the
students will have and the more organised the lesson will be. Planning ahead gives you the
chance to collect all the resources you will need for the lesson and it will give you time to
make an example you might want to show to the students.

Task 3

Develop a lesson plan based on one of the following. Be careful when considering your
lesson outcome(s). Remember the objective is linked to the evaluation. How will you know
the students have achieved the lesson objective? Remember to use appropriate
questioning and to include them in your plan.

If none of these interest you, choose your own lesson activity.

Lesson Plan:

Teacher: Miss Reegan Ker

Week/Session: Term 3, Week 5, Thursday
Class: Year 5/6
Learning Area: Health and Physical Education
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No. Students: 23
Length: 50 minutes

Australian Curriculum: Strand: Movement and Physical Activity: Learning through

movement: Participate positively in groups and teams by encouraging others and
negotiating roles and responsibilities (ACPMP067 - Scootle )

Teaching Objectives: On completing this lesson each student should be able to:
Explain and understand why it is important to include and cooperate with others
when engaging in physical activities
Work in teams and encourage others to participate
Nominate roles and responsibilities to each team member

Students prior knowledge: Students have experience working in groups and they have a
positive attitude towards physical activity.

Materials/Resources: 2 footballs, 2 hula hoops, flag belts, cones

Procedure:
Set up the game prior to the lesson on the oval, in the gym or in a large area.

Introduction (5 minutes)
Introduce yourself
Tel them what they will have achieved by the end of the lesson, make them
accountable for their work.
Think, Pair and Share:
Get them to pair up at their desks, seated, and ask them to discuss for 1 minute,
Why is it important to encourage others to get involved in team work? After the
minute, get them to put their hand up when they have finished and choose some
pairs to share with the class

Class discussion on some games or activities where you need to work well as a group
Now remember put your hands up, what are the advantages of working in teams?

Tell the class that they will be playing the game Capture the ball and that they
will be reflecting and doing writing after the game.

Engagement (35 minutes)

Split the class up into two teams, putting each student in either the apple or orange
group, explain the rules and how to play the game capture the ball.
Get the students to bring their writing books and pencil case and walk down to the
oval with the class
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Capture the ball rules and how to play

There are two teams, blue and red, who must work together as a team to try to
win
The blue team starts on one side of the oval and the red team starts on the
opposite side
Each side of the oval has a hula hoop with one football in it, the hula hoops are at
the back of each side of the oval
Each player has a flag belt on
The aim of the game is to try and steal the other teams football from the hula
hoop and bring it back to their side without getting caught
Some team members may decide to stay back around the hula hoop to protect
their ball, although once the opposition are in the hula hoop they are safe, they
just must run back to their side without getting caught
If you get caught you go to jail on the other teams side where you were caught
One of your team members must come save you by running into the jail without
being caught, then you are both free
If the football is stolen from a team and brought back to the other side, by either
trowing it to team members to try to make its way to their side, then the team
that stole the ball wins

Play the game for 30 minutes and whichever team wins the most number of rounds wins.

What to do if a student isnt participating or not wanting to play

Tell them that participation is required
Encourage them to think about what area they would do best at in the game
Allow them to umpire the game

Conclusion (10 minutes)

When the game has finished, gather the students back to the class room or to an
undercover area
Point out some positive teamwork that was made by some students and address
this to the class

Ask- So what was the purpose of this game? Do you think you could win this game
without everybody participating? Why?
Ask these questions in relation to blooms taxonomy to understand where the
students are at with knowledge to the lesson, to assess their learning.

Class discussion - What was the most rewarding part? Saving your team members?
Stealing the ball? Guarding the ball?

Student activity in pairs Get the students to in pairs, sitting down at the area chosen to,
write down the roles and responsibilities that they added to the team during capture the
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flag and how you encouraged others to participate. Or how they could have been more
involved. THINK, PAIR, SHARE.

Assessment and Evaluation:

(a) Were all students able to work together?
I plan to find this out by observing while they play the game
Walking around and looking at what each student is doing
(b) Did all students have nominated roles and responsibilities?
I plan to find this by asking specific questions at the end of the game so the
students can recap on which roles they played in the team game.
(c) Were all students involved or encouraging others to be?
I plan to find this out by analysing the students and asking specific questions
Self-Reflection:

Best part of this lesson

Trouble spot

What would I do differently if I was doing that very same lesson tomorrow

Catering for diversity

Ask mentor teacher:
Are there any students on an individual education plan? Behaviour Management
Plan/Contract?
Are there any students with special needs?
Is there a health/emergency plan? E.g. EpiPen

Topic Four: Classroom Management

Focus Questions

What is the purpose of an effective approach to classroom management?

The purpose of an effective approach to classroom management, is to make sure the

classroom can be a safe, approachable and enjoyable environment for the children to learn
and explore. By having an effective approach to classroom management means the students
will learn early on about being socially appropriate and about making acceptable choices in
a classroom environment.

What are some basic guidelines for effective classroom management?

Having a sense of fairness is important when you are dealing with classroom management
and having a reasonable and understanding attitude towards your students. Keeping a sense
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of community and always give praise to the students. Making sure students take
responsibility for their learning and their actions without you as a teacher, yelling or
lecturing them. Treating each child as an individual is an important guideline for effective
classroom management.

What factors do teachers need to consider prior to responding to off-task behaviour?

Teachers need to consider prior to responding to off task behaviour is, their body language,
the personal space of the student, the tone of their voice, their gestures and cultural
differences. These are all factors that must be considered and remembered before
approaching classroom management issues. This is because there are a variety of students
with different backgrounds and cultures that could take offence to your approach with
dealing with off task behaviour, it is better to think about your actions prior.

Groundwater-Smith et al (2015) cites, on page 274 a situation confronting many

student-teachers on school-based experience.

Show them whose boss, dont smile until after Easter; if it works use it; start tough, then you
can ease off; call their bluff.

Consider the relevance of this advice to effective classroom management.

I believe that this is very relevant to effective classroom management because if you
come across as tough or strict at the start then the students to know that you dont
want them to miss behave and that you wont put up with it. Tis may be relevant
because it may limit unnecessary behaviour. Then once they understand it is good to
ease off. Although at the same time I think it is important to gain their respect by
having a sense of humour with them and demonstrating to the students that you
value them.

Task 4 What would you do?

Study each of the behaviours below and choose 3 questions to answer. Consider how you
might respond. In determining how you will respond, think about:

Possible causes for the behaviour,

the action you could take, and
The likely consequences of your chosen response.

Kylie, a year six student, is chatting to the person sitting in the next desk. The teacher
has reminded her several times that she should be getting on with it. The teacher
asks her to move to a desk at the back of the room. She refuses.
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You could ignore the student at first and see if she moves, this is because she might be
doing it for attention and may like a reaction from you. If she doesnt move, tell her if she
moves her desk to the back of the room, and if she is behaving, then she can move back to
her normal seat the next day. If she still refuses tell her if she is not going to participate now
then she doesnt get to participate in sport or something she likes. If this does not work,
then further things can happen like tell her you will email or send a letter home to parents
or she can tell her to go visit the principal or tell her to go see someone of higher authority.
Hopefully by then, she is willing to cooperate.

A group of year ten students are copying notes from the whiteboard. Each time the
teacher turns his/her back to make additions to the board someone in the class makes
a loud tapping sound.

This might have been a student with a habit of tapping or attention seeking. You could say
Could the student who is tapping please stop. If the student doesnt stop, write the name
on the board of the student who is doing it. Giving no reaction or not saying anything, this
shows the students that you know who is doing it and you arent going to put up with it. If
this doesnt happen get a well-behaved student to write on the board while you walk
around and observing the students when they are working.

A year two teacher gives a child permission to go to the toilet during a mathematics
lesson but four children follow up with the same request.

Some students may need to go to the toilet or they just might want to go for a walk to get
out of doing mathematics. You could say yes to the first student and then send them one by
one by saying you can go when Johnny gets back. Using a timer might be a good idea to tell
them they have a certain time to go and come back. This will find out whether they just
want to go for a walk to avoid doing work or if they really need to go. If there are a lot of
students who need to go, it might be helpful to just take all students to the toilet at once to
get it over with.

A year five teacher helps an individual child with maths problems. While this is
happening other class, members become increasingly noisy with one or two major
disruptions.

Get someone or one of his classmates to help him

Get the whole class to stand up, wriggle their toes and do some jumps to get their
energy out and get them to sit back down
Have additional tasks for the high achievers to do when they finish early, means they
wont get as distracted
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Some students in the year eight English class consistently forgets to bring the
necessary materials in class. This makes it very difficult to get lessons under way.

This may be happening for many reasons, they might want to waste time every lesson or
they just simply forget it. Tell them that they can do the work in their own time or like
recess or lunch if they keep leaving it on purpose. Although if they keep forgetting its going
to mess up your lesson plan, so it would be helpful to get some extra materials that they can
borrow and give back. By providing the materials and keeping it in your own class it will limit
wasted time.
Topic Five: The Role of Schooling

Focus Questions
Identify the key features that have influenced schooling and its purposes in Australian
society over time.
- School is a place of learning for not just students but teachers, parents and the
wider community
- There are now a range of different cultures in schools
- The way that the community is very involved in schools
- Teachers and students are working more collaboratively together

Comment on the competing roles schools are asked to fulfil in contemporary

Australian society.
- The teachers want to push the students to do the best that they can
- Getting high grades
- To allow the students to be all-rounders, in lots of academic areas
- To be there for students and parents as a support in various areas

Consider the policies and processes that affect the work of schools and teachers.
- The duty of care for the students
- Personal relationships between students and teachers
- Needing to be able to identify abuse that the students may be involved in
- The amount of pressure on students

Learning Activities/Tasks

Task 5

Interview a person who was at school twenty to thirty years ago. What was the
most valuable thing he/she learned? What was valued more greatly, knowing how
or knowing what? What were the roles of school in the community at that time?

The most valuable ting that they learnt was to respect elders, to always use manners and to
try your hardest to make something happen because if you put your mind to it you will
succeed. Knowing how and knowing what is both important as you need to know how to do
things but then you also need to know what you are doing. Knowing how is valued greatly
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because it is the understanding behind what you will be doing. There wasnt much of a role
that the community played like now days. A role of the community was to send your kids to
school and to

Examine the Y diagram When I went to school on page 109 of your text and then
complete a similar diagram reflecting your own experiences. (The boxed questions
on page 110 may help you focus your thinking).

Looks like

- Tall people
- Green grass
- Maroon
uniforms

Feels like Sounds like

- Sand in - Sirens
shoes - Loud foot
- Dirty steps
hands and - Running on
knees the floor
- Happiness boards
- Fun on
playgrounds

Compare your own recollections with those of your interviewee and draw some
comparisons about the changed roles of schools in society.

When they were at school there wasnt much of a community role, most of the
teachers were there just to teach and nothing else. Whereas today, parents,
grandparents, volunteers and the community are all getting involved and helping
schools out. The teachers today have more roles in schools to help the students with
much more than just teaching them, they are a support to the students, parents and
other teachers.

Scope out their thoughts on the similarities/differences of their primary and

secondary experiences or alternatively reflect on your own.

When they got to high school it was pressured that they had to quickly make their mind up
on what they wanted to do for the rest of their life, this included leaving school to get a job.
In primary school, it wasnt pressured as much although they said that they had to be there
and for high school attendance wasnt as important.
In my own thoughts and experiences, when I was at primary school and high school were
important, attendance was key and there was a specific amount of days you had to go.
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Topic six: Ethics in the Teaching Profession

Focus Questions

Why is behaving ethically a responsibility for all educators?

It is a responsibility for all educators because it is a profession and there are no

excuses that are acceptable from any educator for any type of discrimination or
unethical actions. Teachers are role models for most students and it is their
responsibility to act professional, show respect and integrity.

Should there be a professional code of ethics, to which all teachers are required to
adhere? Would this create any dilemmas for the teaching profession?

I think there should be a professional code of ethics for which all teachers are required
to follow, that way everyone will be treated the same and hopefully it will avoid
unlawful things happening. I think some people of higher positions may not think it
includes them and the power could possibly get to some peoples heads, so having a
code of ethics for all teachers would help with this situation. If all teachers follow the
professional code of ethics then it should limit or minimalise any dilemmas in the
teaching profession. Although in reality, it will create because there will be teachers
who dont follow it and that will create an ethical dilemma that may be hard to
resolve.

Task 6
Groundwater-Smith et al state that:
an ethical dilemma is a complex problem, for which there is more than one solution, each
solution having varying degrees of advantage or disadvantage for different people
concerned (p.34).

Keeping this statement in mind, write your response(s) to three of the dilemmas on
page 35 of your text.

1. You observe another teacher publicly humiliate a child who is known for bullying
behaviour. Do you say anything?
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This situation is a tricky one, although in my opinion I think as a teacher it is your job
to support a child no matter what, they are your duty of care and I think it would be
wrong to ignore the situation. Even though the child is known for bullying, it isnt
right that a teacher goes out of their way to humiliate them back, because that is a
form of bullying in its self. It really depends on the situation though as we dont
know what was said. If it was very inappropriate and hurtful then I would step in and
ask what is going on.

2. A colleague tells you in confidence that she has just been diagnosed with a
medical condition that may cause her to lose consciousness at times. She also tells
you that she is not going to take the prescribed medication. The information has
implications for the safety of the children in her charge. What do you do?
I would let the colleague know that it isnt safe for her to lose consciousness at
random times as she has a duty of care for the students, I think it would be
appropriate to ask her what is going to happen if she does lose consciousness in the
class. I would also tell her that it isnt appropriate and maybe she could take a few
days off to recover and take her medication to avoid anything bad happening to her.
3. You are teaching in a small country town and a parent complains to you about the
social behaviour of one of your colleagues. How do you respond?
I would let the parent know that it isnt really any of my business to get involved in but I
could speak to the colleague if she would like me to about her concerns. Then I would
confront the colleague about what the parent had been saying and find a way to resolve
the issue, whether that be organising a meeting for them to talk.