Collaborative Online Planning

Collaborative Online planning

28th July, 2016

Alex shares some of his recent experiences in online shared planning

At my current placement each year level works together to collaboratively plan what they are going to teach for the term, from that they decide what to do each week. This is the usual method of schools in regards to planning and has a number of benefits; cohesion across the year level classrooms, discussion of ideas, and support for beginning teachers. However, many schools are also adopting the use of online methods to share their planning with each other. My placement school currently uses Google Drive, Google Docs and Dropbox to allow its teachers to share resources and collaborate on their planning. It works wonderfully; here are a few reasons why.

Everyone can contribute during planning. Gone are the days of one teacher hunched over a computer acting as the scribe, typing into a closed document while several other people squabble about ideas. With Google Docs everyone can be writing in the same document at the same time. It seems like a small thing but it balances out the power of group dynamics and allows people to quickly brainstorm ideas.

Resources are always shared. One of the main problems with sharing resources is finding the time to actually give them to other people; you need to scan them, send them and sometimes teachers feel they just don’t have time to do that. With Dropbox, you store your resources in one communal online location, which means that people can share resources quickly and ultimately it lightens the burden for everyone.

There’s cohesion as everyone can see what’s coming. My placement creates term planners which are available to be viewed and edited in Google Drive. This has been fantastic for me, and the other teachers, as we can all see what is coming up in the next few weeks and anyone can add in more information as we progress. It means that everyone is clear about what is happening and people have the freedom to plan ahead.

Although many schools have already taken to using some form of online planning tool, it is clear that not all of the teaching community has made the transition. I would recommend getting familiarised with the available online sharing platforms, as they provide numerous benefits when planning and will be of great help when you start teaching!

- Alex

Two's Company

Two’s Company

14th July, 2016

Alex talks about his first experience of team teaching at placement and some of its positive aspects

Coming up to this placement I had never been in a team teaching situation before and was feeling a little apprehensive about my first experience. However, I’m now two weeks in and I can say that team teaching, when done well, can be an absolute delight! I think it’s also of benefit to students too. In the school I’m at team teaching takes place in all year levels, except foundation and year 6. Grades are paired up into open plan learning pods which basically mesh two classes together. In my pod there are two main spaces; one is utilised for direct instruction and is where the projector is, the other is designed for working space and contains all the tables.

Students in the two classes do everything together, apart from specialist lessons such as PE and arts. It was a bit of a shock on my first day to watch a teacher leading a class of around 45 students, as I was accustomed to working with around 25 students. However, as my first week went on I noticed a few distinct positive aspects which work for both teachers and students.

Team teaching provides freedom. It only takes one teacher to lead the introduction or direct instruction part of a lesson – so when you team teach it provides a great opportunity for one teacher to be free to conference with students, organise other sessions and generally be available to observe what’s going on.

Two brains are better than one. This may seem like a corny cliché, but it truly helps out to have someone with you when you’re brainstorming ideas, planning, and implementing new concepts. A situation where two teachers have different ideas, but can work together, means a constant flurry of creative spark.

More support for everyone. In my view the most positive aspect of team teaching is the support network both the teachers and students have. There is always someone else there to help you through and another person the kids can turn to when they need assistance.

While I acknowledge that the basis of team teaching relies on you getting on with your partner, I must say that when it’s working well, it truly works. Team teaching is becoming more and more prevalent in our schools today and I hope it continues this way!

- Alex  

Placement Reflection

Placement Reflection

7th July, 2016

Aaron looks back on the first week of the last placement round for his final year

Placement, the time where we finally get to put all the hours of reading, listening, writing and falling asleep in front of the computer late at night to good use! I’m always pretty excited about placement; I think after spending a long time working with children, this is actually the part of studying education that makes the most sense to me now. I feel confident when I walk into a room of total strangers, all of which are much smaller than me, and can at times be a challenge to manage. I think this challenge is rapidly becoming one that I enjoy the task of completing. This first week out was a great way to get to know the students, and as much as I’d prefer this all to be done in one go, I’m starting to understand why the final placement has been laid out in 3 sections – it’s easing me into it quite well.

As with my previous round, I have been placed in a Prep classroom and once again appear to be pretty fortunate with a class that has a very loved and respected classroom teacher. I spent the week observing as much as I could to take in all the intricacies of how the teacher runs her lessons and manages behaviours and routines in the classroom, as to not cause too much of a stir when I take control, and I think this week was a good chance to see it all. Final week of term can always be a bit hectic, and seeing Prep students at that stage in the year attempting to cope with disruption and change to their learning is quite eye opening. In the last round, we had students at the end of the year, excited and eager to move on, this time we are seeing them smack in the middle, and their resilience is really tested at this point and it shows that at this stage in their learning you really are teaching them a lot more than just numeracy and literacy – you’re preparing them to deal with the unexpected and the unknown, something they likely have had little experience with at this stage.

Similarly to last time as well, I have been placed in a classroom that does a lot of team teaching, and with another PST – this will be a good way for us to support one another and I think will work to both of our benefits having someone their to assist and pick up some slack where needed. I’m looking forward to getting into running some lessons and planning classes with the team when we return from the break next week, I’m feeling pretty antsy at this point, like I’m sure a lot of other final year students are, as we’re so close to the finish, and so close to getting paid for our time – which at this point is getting pretty necessary! I think all lessons you learn in life are important, and the task of completing a degree at University has been a lesson I have been learning for a while now – I’m ready to use the fruits of this labor to start planting seeds and starting down a path that I haven’t been fully expecting, much like the Preps before the holiday break! 

- Aaron Osborne