Organisation: Department of Education
Job Title: Classroom Teacher, 7.6 hrs
Location: Lysterfield Primary School
Demonstrated understanding of initiatives in student learning including the Standards, the
Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and Assessment and Reporting Advice and the capacity
to implement curriculum programs consistent with their intent
I possess a high level understanding of the Australian Standards and Principles of Learning and
Teaching (PoLTs) through a broad range of research, reading and networking within the Australian
teaching environment and through my Graduate Diploma of Primary Teaching qualification. To
ensure students’ learning is supportive, I ensure that I get to know all of them by name quickly
after the start of the school year. In addition, I design and play games with the students so that
they are encouraged to get to know me and one another. One such ice breaker activity is where
we sit in a circle, one person holds an item and tells the class what that item is to them. With the
younger grades, I would start the process, telling them the item was a netball trophy, or
something that meant a lot to me. We would then progress around the circle, each having a turn.
This activity lets them find out a little about me and I them, and makes for a good start to the year.
In addition to ice breaker activities, I work with the class to set some rules and boundaries which
apply to us all. By involving the students in this process, they then understanding the
consequences of their behaviour and generally this reduces disruptive or disrespectful behaviour.
A productive classroom can be achieved through the students understanding their roles and tasks.
This means ensuring lessons are pitched at a level that is relevant to them, and setting
expectations of their work with their input. Students are very honest when they are asked to self-
evaluate work and I find this a good way to have them produce their best and progress
accordingly. By focussing on the individual and setting their goals at a level they think they can
achieve, they are more likely to succeed and gain confidence. During my practicum placement, I
was involved in the splitting the grade 3/4 class into six ability groups and then setting
expectations of each group dependant on their abilities. This meant that everyone was included in
the activities and everyone had an opportunity to succeed. A significant part of the PoLTs is about
the role of the teacher to facilitate the learning experience, to provide the foundation for
independence and self-evaluation, so students can manage their own learning beyond school.
The learning environment I create within my classes promotes independence, interdependence
and self-motivation through the promotion of autonomous learning. This is achieved through
structured lessons with clear directions. One set of lessons I planned was based on the Olympic
Games and I planned it as integrated learning to bring in a range of areas, and to promote
independent learning and inquiry. Within this six week plan, I talked about how the Olympic
Games is more than just sport and asked the students to think about other ways the games were
valued. The students would use maths to talk about times, distances and heights, diet to talk
about health requirements, SOCE to talk about countries and cultures and use the topic to learn
about values and world issues. I would supply rubrics to the students so they understood their
direction and what they were trying to achieve, ensuring they could be motivated and fulfil these
requirements independently.
To encourage students’ to participate in deeper levels of thinking, I have structured lessons using
critical thinking activities using guiding open-ended questioning and having students think about
situations from different points of view. One way I have done this is to play a role or character for
the students, and portray how a situation might play out from within that character. This enables
the students to visualise the person in a situation and think about it differently. In this situation,
they can apply problem solving skills to help the character and investigate what might have gone
wrong in the situation given. This process has been very successful in encouraging deeper levels of
thinking about a range of situations.
Reporting and Assessment
Assessment practices are an integral part of teaching and learning and I use a variety of methods,
including written class tests, online tests, portfolios, group assignments, presentations, verbal
presentations, essays and reports. I ensure the use of different testing methods depending on
time allowances and believe it is important to provide a range of assessment practices that cater
for different learning styles. I make sure when I carry out any assessment that it is professional
and to a high standard and I use the principles stated below for learning, as learning and of
learning, students are given enough time to complete the assessment and have all the information
required to achieve success.
Assessment is described as an ongoing, cumulative process of gathering, analysing and reflecting
on data and then making informed judgements to enhance future student learning.
– There is assessment for learning, where you use knowledge of a student and their progress
to inform teaching delivery.
– There is also assessment as learning, where students reflect on and monitor their progress
to inform their future learning goals.
– Finally there is assessment of learning, which incorporates the more standard process of
using evidence of student learning to make judgements on their achievement against goals
and standards.
All units I have planned and delivered have been based on the curriculum, including a persuasive
writing unit my mentor teaching was teaching. This teacher was having some trouble having the
kids understand the concepts of persuasive writing, so I asked if I could plan a lesson which may
help. The teacher agreed and I developed a lesson which allowed for the Grade 3 students to
identify three persuasive writing examples, and the grade 4 students to identify five. The lesson
itself was made up of giving each student a sheet with one type of example on it, ie. a statistic, PE
or research. The students had to decide which category their example was in and move around
the room to find their group or category. After more learning on the different examples, students
were then asked to stay, or move if they had changed their mind about which category the writing
on their page belonged. This lesson was very successful and fostered a passion and understanding
for persuasive writing.
Demonstrated high level classroom teaching skills and the capacity to work with colleagues to
continually improve teaching and learning.
I possess excellent classroom teaching and management skills, including ensuring content is
engaging through the use of IT and other tools, differentiated for a range of learning abilities and
works towards assessment in a range of ways. By making the content engaging and interesting to
the students, more than half of the classroom behavioural management is mitigated.
In relation to behavioural management, the first thing I would do at a new school is find out what
the school policy is, in relation to appropriate management and discipline. One of the first things I
do with a new class is to get to know students, and in the process, set expectations for classroom
behaviour and respect for both me and one another. Another strategy I use is not talking whilst
someone else is talking. This is something I enforce in my classroom as I like to make sure
everyone understands what is happening or being said. This rule also applies when a student is
talking or giving answers and/or making a presentation to the rest of the class and comes back to
respect.
Whilst I do have and follow through on agreed consequences for distractive behaviour, I am a
believer in providing incentives for listening and trying hard, and often find reasons for rewarding
students for great behaviour as well. This approach, along with making learning fun and
interesting, makes my life as a teacher easier and gets better results with students.
I have the capacity to work with colleagues to improve teaching and learning and since my return
to the classroom, have already taught in a combined class where the maths skills of one teacher
were used to teach both classes, and the other teacher taught other topics. In addition, I have
worked in teams where I took the PE classes due to the other two teachers being heavily
pregnant, and asked for some guidance along the way. I think the sharing of resources is a
wonderful and sensible addition to the teaching profession which didn’t happen as much
previously and have both benefited from receiving and sharing my resources during my practicum
placement. Really, it is about engaging with colleagues to improve student learning outcomes,
building and sustaining collaborative and cooperative relationships to leverage the skills and
expertise of others to delivering excellent educational results.
ICT is about delivering a blended learning experience in teaching delivery which allows certain
efficiencies, along with flexibility of design, delivery and access to learning activities which in turn
can enhance the independent learning experience of students. In addition, it is a multimodal way
of presenting content and reduces the amount of print text which often appeals to learner
preferences for the visual or the kinaesthetic online content can provide a more flexible learning
environment and it provides connected layers of information that imbed and sustain the learning
process. I possess strong ICT skills and have a good understanding of how to blend them into my
teaching in the classroom as well as use them in differentiated learning tasks to benefit students.
Demonstrated ability to monitor and assess student learning data and to use this data to inform
teaching for improved student learning.
Assessment for learning
Data collection and analysis is important in teaching to assist in determining student progression
and planning priorities. I would like to use a combination of past results and conduct my own class
tests to gain understanding of my students’ knowledge. I would use the same test during the unit
to measure their progress. Working back from the assessment to the lesson planning, I would then
be able to plan, re-assess the learning to ensure students are progressing to the right level before
assessment. I have learnt a great deal during my placement about this area, and on one occasion
in an art lesson for grade 3/4 students, realised I had made the lesson far too hard for anyone to
achieve successfully. I was able to modify the lesson to a more basic skills lesson on the run and
deliver it successfully. I went away and, even though I had no opportunity to re-deliver the lesson,
modified it anyway to get some practice in this area.
Assessment as learning
During one science lesson I planned and delivered during my practicum placement, I designed it
around making of a lava lamp which used a bottle, alka seltza, food dye, water and oil. This lesson
involved a number of integrated components and including watching the lava lamp being made
and then taking the materials to make one. During the observation of me making one, students
were asked what they thought might happen when I put in the alka seltza and whether anyone
knew the scientific name for what was happening. The students then made their own versions of
lava lamp, after which they were asked how they could have done that job better or more
efficiently, and what might happen when different combinations of materials were put in the
lamp. This class went extremely well and students were keen to take their lamps home.
As a general rule, I encourage reflective activities for students, to cement their learning and to
understanding how they could do things better the next time. This is something that has assisted
me in my return to teaching and I believe it assist students in much the same way.
Assessment of learning
As mentioned previously, I am able to use a broad range of tools in the assessment and reporting
of student’s achievements, including written class tests, online tests, portfolios, group
assignments, presentations, verbal presentations and reports. Using these tools well, gives me
data to determine high and low achievers within each group, sparking the need for strategies to
use in the group. These include strategies for gifted and talented students, such as higher level
thinking activities, leadership opportunities, independent work, research projects and critical
thinking models such as Bloom’s Taxonomy and Debono’s Hats. Low achieving strategies might
include more repetition, quizzes to test previously taught knowledge, scaffolding, using writing
frames and graphic organisers, vocabulary lists and group work. Having access to this vast array of
tools and strategies ensures inclusive teaching and learning and allows all students to progress
regardless of their starting point.
Demonstrated high level written and verbal communication skills and high level interpersonal
skills including a capacity to develop constructive relationships with students, parents and other
staff
I possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills and can communicate effectively with
students, parents, colleagues and the community. My communication is clear and concise and
very much at the level of students when in the classroom. Students need to feel comfortable and
supported in their learning environment, a lot of which comes down to how teacher’s
communicate with them and the relationships they form as a result.
One strategy I use for good communication with students is analogy and explaining things in
language they will understand. During my science lava lamp class, I could see the students were
having some trouble understanding the concepts, so I came up with the following analogy.
Imagine the oil is the basketball team from one school and the water and food colouring is the
footy team from another school. The two teams end up at the same party and when they come in
the door, they instantly separate. There is one person who knows people in both teams (aka the
Alka Seltza), and this person bring the footy team up to meet the basketball team. As soon as this
person leaves the party, they separate again. This analogy worked really well with the children.
Across my varied career, I have used my communication skills to work with, nurse and teach
carers, the elderly, nurses, other teachers, councillors and the general public. My skills in this area
come naturally to me and I have never had any issues in this regard. My style is fairly straight
forward and honest and this seems to resonate with most people.
As a primary teacher, a relationship with parents is an important asset to have. Working together
with parents around their child’s education ensures better progress by students and more
informed parents. I have got to know a large amount of parents in the running of the Perceptual
Motor Program (PMP) which I run at my children’s school. I have a number of parents as helpers in
the program on a regular basis. This not only provides support for the students, but also gives the
parents an inroad to helping out. Overall, as long as parents can see that you have the best
interests of their child at heart, they will feel happy for you to be their child’s teacher. I have past
experience in both parent teacher interviews as well as reporting.
I get along with colleagues well and made an effort during my recent practicum placement to get
around a significant number of classes to observe their teaching styles. On one occasion I was
having some trouble preparing for a maths class, so I asked another teacher for help. I am happy
to ask for help and would rather do this than not understand. The other teacher assisted me
happily and I went on to teach the lesson successfully.
My written communication skills are strong, and have been demonstrated through writing
numerous papers, essays and reports for my Graduate Diploma qualification. In addition, I have
been responsible for writing of reports, including nursing reports and Planned Activity Group
reporting requirements, further demonstrating my skills in this area. During my years of teaching, I
wrote student reports for all of my students as well as writing of lesson planning.
Demonstrated commitment and capacity to actively contribute to a broad range of school
activities and a commitment to ongoing professional learning to enable further development of
skills, expertise and teaching capacity
I have demonstrated both the capacity and commitment to actively contribute to outside of the
classroom and after school activities. I have participated in camps and excursions both when
teaching and during my practicum placement. In addition, I have previously been involved in after
school sports coaching and would be very keen to undertake these types of roles within you
school. Not only have I participated in camps, but I have been responsible for the organisation of
camps for behavioural problem groups of young people as well as the implementation and
attendance at the camps.
I am keen to be involved in whole school activities such as school sports and swimming carnivals,
music and concerts as well as fetes and festivals celebrating different cultures. I believe this type
of event links schools to the community and teaches kids the value of both.
The best demonstration of my commitment to professional learning was the instigation of my
Graduate Diploma of Primary Teaching. I decided to take on this course to ensure my teaching
skills were up to date and my knowledge of current curriculum was comprehensive. I would be
keen to undertake more training as appropriate, including in-service training through colleagues.
To lead and implement a whole school approach to Inquiry Learning
Throughout my recent formal learning, I have developed my skills and understanding of inquiry
based learning and the benefits of students investigating topics and questions independently.
Inquiry based learning can branch out across a large number of curriculum areas and can assist
children to learn at their own pace and based on their own interests.
After I had delivered my lava lamp science class with grade 3/4 students, I reflected on the lesson
and found that it could have been more inquiry based. When I get another chance to deliver a
lesson such as this, I plan to use the students’ interest and research skills more than I did in that
lesson.
There are an unlimited number of topics that can be investigated and researched by students,
using technological and other tools. This exciting teaching strategy is something that I would like
to explore and implement as much as I can.
