My final placement was in a year 6 class at John Hartley Primary School which is a Category 1 School in Adelaide, South Australia. There are numerous behaviour issues and a majority of students are struggling to achieve a satisfactory level of the Australian Curriculum. I was extremely nervous from the start but I was desperate to start teaching as much as possible from the start. My three focus students; Kasia, Stephen and Shannon were given to me by my mentor teacher. Shannon is a lower ability student who needs extra support for writing, reading, and maths. Kasia is an African EALD student, who is a satisfactory level student in most subject areas and Stephen is working at a satisfactory level in most areas. For the first three weeks of my placement I gathered as much evidence as possible to assist with future planning. Evidence included my own annotated notes, work book samples from all subjects, DECD and School required tests such as the Westwood Spelling Test and Running Records as shown in Fi .1 and Fig.2.
A key insight into my placement was the importance of annotated notes regarding student capabilities. Planning units of work once I had collected all the data and annotated notes was easier because of the accumulated knowledge of student capabilities. The mathematical focus for this term is the Australian Mathematical Curriculum areas; number and place value and fractions and decimals. School policy is to use ORIGO slate sequenced mathematics program which is specifically designed and sequenced using the Australian Curriculum, however even though a unit with lessons are provided, it is important to break down those lessons and teach to support and extend the students in the class. As a result of analysing where each student is at I have created a differentiated program that combines OrigoSlate with a combination of revision, extension and tasks designed to ‘fill gaps’ in student knowledge. I would take the students maths books home at least once a week to observe exactly where they are struggling and which gaps to fill. I would then differentiate one to two lessons a week and dedicate them to filling those gaps. I would also take the opportunity to extend those students who are keeping up with the work.
To help assist students, in conjunction with advice from my mentor teacher, I differentiated the summative assessments for maths to cater for the variation in student capabilities. This proved very productive because all the students were able to successfully complete those assessments and I could understand where their knowledge base is at for future learning. Fig.3 is a brief lesson plan that shows an example of the differentiation that occurred in the maths unit.
To help assist students, in conjunction with advice from my mentor teacher, I differentiated the summative assessments for maths to cater for the variation in student capabilities. This proved very productive because all the students were able to successfully complete those assessments and I could understand where their knowledge base is at for future learning. Fig.3 is a brief lesson plan that shows an example of the differentiation that occurred in the maths unit.
In previous placements, due to the length of time, I had completed only minor assessment of student’s work. This meant that this placement required a lot of discussion with my mentor and other teachers via moderation to gain an understanding on how best to proceed with assessment. Being on placement during report time was a fantastic experience as to learn and witness exactly how assessment works and linking it with the Australian Curriculum.
I feel that from the start of my placement I have grown as a teacher. I have learned to consistently reflect upon my teaching and my thinking in the way I approach the planning teaching and assessment of subjects. My mentor teacher has taught me a lot of different teaching methodologies and pedagogies that worked for her and have since proven to work for my teaching style. Overall I feel I can now effectively run and teach my own class successfully.
I feel that from the start of my placement I have grown as a teacher. I have learned to consistently reflect upon my teaching and my thinking in the way I approach the planning teaching and assessment of subjects. My mentor teacher has taught me a lot of different teaching methodologies and pedagogies that worked for her and have since proven to work for my teaching style. Overall I feel I can now effectively run and teach my own class successfully.