Standard 6: Engage in Professional Learning
Reflective Commentary:
Just like my students, I believe teachers never stop learning and always learn something new. It is my responsibility to remain alert to and honest about challenges in my knowledge and practice and inadequacies as a teacher. For my students and their learning, it is imperative that I participate in professional learning on an ongoing basis so that I may continually improve the quality and content of the learning experiences I provide students. This standards require practitioners to engage in the steps that lead to professional learning to improve their teaching and to keep up with new teaching strategies to teach and implement the Australian Curriculum and the EYLF Outcomes.
Effective teacher to teacher communication and engaging with other colleagues is vitally essential to your success as a teacher. Having peers that you can collaborate, share ideas, share teaching strategies, share information, plan programming and assessment can be very helpful and very beneficial in your teaching career.
Just like my students, I believe teachers never stop learning and always learn something new. It is my responsibility to remain alert to and honest about challenges in my knowledge and practice and inadequacies as a teacher. For my students and their learning, it is imperative that I participate in professional learning on an ongoing basis so that I may continually improve the quality and content of the learning experiences I provide students. This standards require practitioners to engage in the steps that lead to professional learning to improve their teaching and to keep up with new teaching strategies to teach and implement the Australian Curriculum and the EYLF Outcomes.
Effective teacher to teacher communication and engaging with other colleagues is vitally essential to your success as a teacher. Having peers that you can collaborate, share ideas, share teaching strategies, share information, plan programming and assessment can be very helpful and very beneficial in your teaching career.
6.3 Engage with Colleagues and improve practice
6.4 Apply Professional Learning and Improve Student Learning
6.4 Apply Professional Learning and Improve Student Learning
Situation:
When planning for my professional practicum, I was concerned that I may not have had enough pacifical experience in the classroom to prepare me for a successful experience in engaging in planning, teaching and learning, and assessment processes. After completing my pip, having the two weeks off I had asked my teacher if I could go in and observe her and other ECE teachers teach, assess and program. This experience was invaluable to my professional development as it exposed me to a wide range of situations that commonly arise in classrooms and school.
As a preservice teacher this has been my first opportunity to engage in professional learning to help me improve student learning. I have worked and engaged with colleagues and other staff in my previous practicum and am very confident on how to do so however I'm nervous and unsure on how to enhance my professional learning in this standard in my final practicum. I am aware of the importance of professional development and am prepared to take initiative to undertake professional development in aim of providing all of my students with a high-quality education that empowers them to become "successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens" (Ministerial Council on Education, , 2008).
When planning for my professional practicum, I was concerned that I may not have had enough pacifical experience in the classroom to prepare me for a successful experience in engaging in planning, teaching and learning, and assessment processes. After completing my pip, having the two weeks off I had asked my teacher if I could go in and observe her and other ECE teachers teach, assess and program. This experience was invaluable to my professional development as it exposed me to a wide range of situations that commonly arise in classrooms and school.
As a preservice teacher this has been my first opportunity to engage in professional learning to help me improve student learning. I have worked and engaged with colleagues and other staff in my previous practicum and am very confident on how to do so however I'm nervous and unsure on how to enhance my professional learning in this standard in my final practicum. I am aware of the importance of professional development and am prepared to take initiative to undertake professional development in aim of providing all of my students with a high-quality education that empowers them to become "successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens" (Ministerial Council on Education, , 2008).
The ways in which teachers relate to each other and the quality of the relationships developed are of supreme importance in promoting change in schools.'
(Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R. and Le Cornu, R. 2003.)Mode
(Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R. and Le Cornu, R. 2003.)Mode
Action:
McNiff and Whitehead (2009) disclose that there is a limit on the potential of individual reflection. On an ongoing basis I reflected with my classroom teacher about the lessons I was doing, behaviour management strategies, teaching strategies and the children’s learning. My teacher was very helpful and always showed me support and gave me guidance. The teacher assistant was also very helpful and was lovely to work with. She would give me advice on how to be more creative and how to do little things such as ideas on what resources to use, where to buy cheap resources and showed me little ways to make creative things. She had so much experience with being creative and thinking outside the box when it came to art.
The teacher and the teacher assistant both gave me feedback and ways on how to improve and also loved some of my great ideas. As cited in McInerney & McInerney (2010, According to the National Competency Framework for Beginning Teaching (1996), one of the many indicators of being able to critically reflect on one’s own practice and improve the quality of teaching and learning is to involve colleagues in planning so as to improve teaching and learning. By reflecting with my teacher it helped me to critically reflect and evaluate my lesson, thus helping my future planning.
An example of an activity that I did with my students that my mentor teacher, teacher assistant and other ECE teachers thought was a great idea, so creative, smart and engaging. We were reading the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and was learning the life cycle of a butterfly, students were to then write down the correct order of the life cycle of a butterfly and glue the pasta that looks like each stage. The children and parents also loved this.
McNiff and Whitehead (2009) disclose that there is a limit on the potential of individual reflection. On an ongoing basis I reflected with my classroom teacher about the lessons I was doing, behaviour management strategies, teaching strategies and the children’s learning. My teacher was very helpful and always showed me support and gave me guidance. The teacher assistant was also very helpful and was lovely to work with. She would give me advice on how to be more creative and how to do little things such as ideas on what resources to use, where to buy cheap resources and showed me little ways to make creative things. She had so much experience with being creative and thinking outside the box when it came to art.
The teacher and the teacher assistant both gave me feedback and ways on how to improve and also loved some of my great ideas. As cited in McInerney & McInerney (2010, According to the National Competency Framework for Beginning Teaching (1996), one of the many indicators of being able to critically reflect on one’s own practice and improve the quality of teaching and learning is to involve colleagues in planning so as to improve teaching and learning. By reflecting with my teacher it helped me to critically reflect and evaluate my lesson, thus helping my future planning.
An example of an activity that I did with my students that my mentor teacher, teacher assistant and other ECE teachers thought was a great idea, so creative, smart and engaging. We were reading the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and was learning the life cycle of a butterfly, students were to then write down the correct order of the life cycle of a butterfly and glue the pasta that looks like each stage. The children and parents also loved this.
In order to improve my practice on my PI placement, I spent many afternoons engaging in professional discussions with my colleagues; my mentor, other classroom teachers and education assistants. These discussions allowed me to seek and apply constructive feedback and thus improve practices. As a pre-service teacher I am always seeking ways to improve my practice and these conversations enable me to discover areas of merit or improvement I may not have been aware of.
During my professional practicum, I attended all staff meetings that my mentor teacher and other ECE teachers attended. There were school staff meetings every second Wednesday afternoon. Teachers and staff discussed about the Edu Dance concert, the school carnival and also ways to improve things around the school for next term.
I had asked the principal and my mentor teacher to attend to any Professional Development Programs they might attend in term 3. The Principal enrolled me in the PD days that they were going to attend. I was really happy and excited to be able to attend and finally experience a PD day and enhance my learning. Both the PD days went from 9 to 4:30 on a Saturday. The first PD that I attended was about how to prepare a teaching program with "Lets Decode" . Dr Lorraine Hammond was the person who was running the PD, she is currently one of the Lectures at Edith Cowan University.
Her pd was very interesting and taught me teaching strategies on how to use different formats on how to teach the following:
During my professional practicum, I attended all staff meetings that my mentor teacher and other ECE teachers attended. There were school staff meetings every second Wednesday afternoon. Teachers and staff discussed about the Edu Dance concert, the school carnival and also ways to improve things around the school for next term.
I had asked the principal and my mentor teacher to attend to any Professional Development Programs they might attend in term 3. The Principal enrolled me in the PD days that they were going to attend. I was really happy and excited to be able to attend and finally experience a PD day and enhance my learning. Both the PD days went from 9 to 4:30 on a Saturday. The first PD that I attended was about how to prepare a teaching program with "Lets Decode" . Dr Lorraine Hammond was the person who was running the PD, she is currently one of the Lectures at Edith Cowan University.
Her pd was very interesting and taught me teaching strategies on how to use different formats on how to teach the following:
- Isolating Words
- Blending
- Rhyming
- Segmenting
- Sounds
- Sounding Out
- Irregular Words
The second Professional Development Program that I attended was John Fleemings Explicit Instruction Training. I found this very helpful and will definitely use in my teaching career. In this PD i learnt:
Bellow are some of my notes that I took and my certificate for attending the Professional Development Program.
- The I DO, WE DO AND YOU DO steps and ways and strategies to teach them.
- The Knowing, Practising and Applying strategy.
- 5 Keys of Writing, 1. Sentence Construction 2. Intentional Teaching of Vocabulary 3. Modelling 4. Sharing 5. Moderation.
- Examples of writing and reading warm ups
Bellow are some of my notes that I took and my certificate for attending the Professional Development Program.
Outcome:
Professional Development opportunities I believe helped my understanding of how schools operate and contributed to my own professional development by allowing me to gain knowledge and further my education. One example of this was my attendance at a Professional information session on Lets Decode and Explicit Instruction Training. I found the PD opportunities very informative as well as giving me a range of resources that I can use within my own classroom in the future.
I received positive feedback from my mentor teacher and principal for my professional engagement and how I had the time and made the effort to go and contribute to every meeting and PD days.
Action Plan:
I intend on continuously seeking professional advice and feedback from fellow teachers, principals and other school staff so I can enhance my learning and find new ways of teaching strategies. I believe that teaching is a constant journey of reflection and learning, in saying this, I will make sure that I can go observe other teachers on their classroom find different ways of using resources, what behaviour management they use, how they do their planning and assessment and also how they implement play in the learning areas. I will do my research on the school, the school policies and documents which will allow me to have a better understanding of the correct procedures I need to follow.
Attending two PD days in my professional practicum made me realise that it is very important to attend to these opportunities as it enhances your learning, makes you learn new teaching strategies and makes you become an effective teacher. So I plan on being an active member of my school, participating in any form of staff meetings and PD available to me.
I plan to keep a reflective journal this is because I would like to record my thoughts and experiences on days, theoretical findings, ideas and advice from other staffs in the school. Reflecting in a journal on a continual basis will give me the benefits of a deeper insight and ongoing development of my practice. (O'Connor & Diggins. 2002) I will read through my reflective journals and reflect on things that I have written, helping me gain a better understanding of events that occurred which will then enable me to se my own development and growth.
Professional Development opportunities I believe helped my understanding of how schools operate and contributed to my own professional development by allowing me to gain knowledge and further my education. One example of this was my attendance at a Professional information session on Lets Decode and Explicit Instruction Training. I found the PD opportunities very informative as well as giving me a range of resources that I can use within my own classroom in the future.
I received positive feedback from my mentor teacher and principal for my professional engagement and how I had the time and made the effort to go and contribute to every meeting and PD days.
Action Plan:
I intend on continuously seeking professional advice and feedback from fellow teachers, principals and other school staff so I can enhance my learning and find new ways of teaching strategies. I believe that teaching is a constant journey of reflection and learning, in saying this, I will make sure that I can go observe other teachers on their classroom find different ways of using resources, what behaviour management they use, how they do their planning and assessment and also how they implement play in the learning areas. I will do my research on the school, the school policies and documents which will allow me to have a better understanding of the correct procedures I need to follow.
Attending two PD days in my professional practicum made me realise that it is very important to attend to these opportunities as it enhances your learning, makes you learn new teaching strategies and makes you become an effective teacher. So I plan on being an active member of my school, participating in any form of staff meetings and PD available to me.
I plan to keep a reflective journal this is because I would like to record my thoughts and experiences on days, theoretical findings, ideas and advice from other staffs in the school. Reflecting in a journal on a continual basis will give me the benefits of a deeper insight and ongoing development of my practice. (O'Connor & Diggins. 2002) I will read through my reflective journals and reflect on things that I have written, helping me gain a better understanding of events that occurred which will then enable me to se my own development and growth.
References:
- McNiff,J. Whitehead, J. 2009. Doing and Writing Action Research, London: SAGE Publications.
- McInerney, D. & McInerney, V. (2010) Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning. 5th Ed. Sydney: Pears
- Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008, p.7).
- O’Conner, A., & Diggins, C. (2002). On Reflection: Reflective Practice for Early Childhood Educators. New Zealand: Open Mind Publishing.