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

Observation Weeks

Observation Weeks

30th June, 2016

Matt discusses the value of observation time on placement and how to make the most of it.

With placement looming on the horizon for both myself and other education students all over, it is time to begin discussing it. Placement is many things to many people; to me, it is what I participate in university for, and a true test of my ability as a teacher. However, a feature of placement that will not change from year to year is the one known as the observation round/week. This is a week where teaching lessons is not the focus; instead we are to observe the processes, procedures and behaviours of the teachers we accompany. This time, especially for those students who have already taught in previous placements, may seem like a free week or a wasted one, but it provides the opportunity to promote success later in that or other placements. The following are a few short tips about getting the best out of your observation week or round. 

• Get to know the students: when you begin teaching a class, it is easy to become wrapped in making sure that the lesson works without a hitch. In such cases, it can be difficult to find the mental space and focus to really get to know the students you are teaching. Observations weeks are a great time for this. There is, generally, no obligation for you to organise or teach lessons, unless you want to, and as such more time can be devoted to this crucial area of teacher knowledge. Showing interest will help the students warm up to you, as well as providing information that will assist in your lesson planning and implementation. 

• Write down everything: some universities mandate that pre-service teachers take notes on classroom happenings as a placement-related assessment task. The fact that this is mandated can make it feel like a chore; however, it has been mandated for a reason. You have the time during an observation round to take notes about everything that you see and hear in the classroom, which will provide you with crucial information which teaching strategies and classroom management procedures are utilised in that classroom. It is also useful to revisit these notes and categorise them in the evening each day, to aide in recalling that information.

• Get to know the staff: as with learning about the students, learning about the staff (particularly your associate or supervising teacher) can only result in improving your placement performance. It will also help you to feel like part of the school community, which can be a significant factor in your overall emotional wellbeing during a placement, as anyone who has felt frozen out by staff can attest to.

• Have fun!: Now, I know that telling you to ‘have fun’, is one of the most cliché statements in the book regarding any assignment or task. However, when it comes to the observation round, it absolutely applies. Teaching lessons is fun, but it is also accompanied by some measure of stress. In the observation week or round, you are at liberty to really get involved with lessons in a way that will increase the enjoyment of both students and yourself. Put yourself out on a limb early and help wherever you can! 

These tips might be fairly basic, but I feel that they are important to revise before heading out on placement in order to get the most of the experience. For now, however, I must sign off, as myself have some placement tasks to do! Good luck to all!

- Matt

Image credit: University of Colorado 

Aaron's Placement Reflection

Placement Reflection or, how I intend on making the next one even better!

9th March, 2016

Aaron reflects on his placement and makes some suggestions on how to approach the next one

I started out writing this blog post as a reflection on the teaching placement I undertook in Term 4 of 2015, and then, like usual with these things, I deleted half of it…However this time it wasn’t for lack of confidence with what I had written, more that I noticed I wasn’t actually reflecting, I was planning different things for how to approach my next placement.

I’m not too sure what my peers’ experiences on placement were like as yet, however I have to say this most recent one has been my most enjoyable and rewarding round to date. Not only was it a more relaxed environment, that I felt very comfortable in, it was just a great working community that actually made the PSTs feel comfortable and I really felt like I was a part of the teaching team at the school. I was paired up with another PST during my time, as we were both in Prep classrooms, and it was great working together on lesson plans, team teaching and bouncing ideas off one another while out at the school. Which leads me into my planning for the next round, so here’s a list that I’m going to try and keep for myself this year, and one that I hope to stick to while I’m out in my final placement school.

1. Don’t be scared of sharing your opinions on, and ideas for lessons – I found with a teacher that was very welcoming to my thoughts I had a lot more confidence about what I planned when it came from an amalgamation of my ideas, the teachers plans and the school curriculum. This confidence was clear in more successful delivery of lessons than I have ever experienced before.
2. Plan using your strengths – with my background in Out of School Hours Care, this most recent round I tried to ensure I used as much of the skills learned in this field in the classroom as possible, and it really paid off. Behaviour Management strategies, Activities, Outdoor games and planning tools all came in to play here and helped me confidently conduct my lessons and time with full control in the class.
3. Ask as many questions as you can, no matter how stupid they may seem – in the past I have been quite reserved in talks with the teaching team, and perhaps was afraid to look like I didn’t know what I was doing. This isn’t the way to go, remember we are still there to learn, so ask questions, try and make sense of the answers and ask again if you need clarity, this will make for a better understanding of everything when you’re faced with 28 children waiting for your instruction!
4. Find a way that works for you and the Classroom Teacher, and use that method – at University we are inundated with different paperwork we need to use and templates that we are encouraged to work off, and I’m not suggesting to abandon these or the systems we are taught, but use your own judgment. I found far more success working with my AT on shared documents in the format she was comfortable working with, that the school used and working within the guidelines and teaching styles that have been established in the school, and the classroom, than those we are instructed to base our teaching off, at University.
5. HAVE FUN, DON’T WORRY ABOUT WORK AND OTHER STUFF, ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE, C’MON, YOU NEARLY HAVE TO GO BE A REAL ADULT! – Self explanatory, just relax, it’s 8 weeks in a year, learn something, have fun, then go back to the daily grind and bummer that is having to work for a living.

Now I don’t know if these points will be useful to everyone, but from my experience in the last round, these are some things that I’m going to try hard to remember and stick to my plan to try and make my last placement the best one yet. I’m not sure where my future career path will take me, and whether I’ll even end up as a classroom teacher in a Primary School setting. But while I’m paying for an education and a hugely important part of that is spending time in schools on placement, I intend on having my final round be as successful and enjoyable as possible – and hopefully I teach the children a thing or two in the process.

- Aaron

End of Placement

End of Placement

7th January, 2016

Nick discusses his placement experience and a different type of special need

Happy New Year to all fellow PSTs and others who are visitors to the blog, I hope your Christmas and New Years break was enjoyable!

It has been a few weeks since my placement block concluded, however, what a wonderful and interesting four weeks it was! This experience for me was one like no other. I was placed in a primary school where a large majority of students were English as Additional Language Learners (EAL). My work as an integration aide and previous placements has provided me some exposure to teaching EAL students, however, this placement involved me learning a lot of new ideas to better inform my overall teaching practice. Many new and interesting challenges arose throughout as it was during report writing time, and there were many extra curricular activities occurring within the school as well.

The most important idea that came out of the four weeks is the significance of modelling correct language, both written and oral. It is something that I have been aware of, but have not consciously implemented into my practice. My associate teacher placed a large emphasis on pausing at words students may find challenging and using their ‘detective skills’ to attempt to work out what the word means in context. Furthermore, I observed the importance of modelling correct language to students. I witnessed many students attempting to implement some new and challenging words into their writing that arose from class based discussion or simply from a word that was read in a book.

One of the absolute highlights for me from this placement was being able to read to the students regularly. This particular group of students were really engaged with teacher read alouds and subconsciously were able to learn a lot from what they were listening to. Asking the question “With a title like this, what do you think is going to happen?” instantly had hands flying up to answer. This inferring practice is an important part of reading comprehension, especially when teaching EAL students as it encourages them to think about what they are reading while reading it. A follow up question I asked throughout the text was; “What do you think will happen next?” Again students were extremely eager to make predictions based on what they had read already. Reading aloud to students is something I value highly as a future educator and will endeavour to do on a daily basis as I think a lot can be learnt from simply listening to a teacher read a text. Students were also able to use their text-to-text, text-to-self and text-to-world connections in order to enhance their ability to predict what they thought was going to happen next in the story.

So how does this fit in with special needs education? As discussed in previous blog posts, the term ‘special need’ is a specific educational requirement that a student may need to benefit their learning outcomes; EAL students fall into this category. To be an inclusive educator lessons must be adapted to incorporate each student within the learning space. A slight adaptation to a lesson such as pausing and discussing new words is an example of being inclusive to this particular special need.

As future educators I believe it is a fundamental requirement to incorporate simple practices like these into the learning space to ensure each student feels as though they are supported and included within ALL lessons and activities.

 - Nick

End of Placement

End of Placement

13th December, 2015

Alex talks about his placement experiences at a rural school

After four wonderful weeks my placement has now come to an end – and what an experience it has been! I thought this would be a good chance to talk about some of the different challenges I faced, and the strategies I found worked well.

I had never worked with a composite class before, but now after having year 3/4/5 and 6 I’ve got a pretty good feel for how they run. Differentiating work is the main challenge, I found the best way to do this was to give each student the same task, but have different levels of difficulty within that task. This provides accessibility to the developing students and layers of complexity for the higher achieving students. While this may not work for all subjects, I think it’s a strategy I’ll use with my own class; within any year level there is likely to be a three-year span of capability, so it makes sense to provide a lesson where students can challenge themselves independently. It also linked in with the self-regulation learning behaviour my associate teacher was maintaining. Another good way to facilitate independent learning is through (and I never thought I would say this) rubrics. They work best in a senior classroom, but are great at essentially providing written success criteria and extensions for students. They put students in charge of their learning and achievement, which is great.

After spending four weeks in a truly positive classroom environment, I can’t stress enough the importance of strong learning behaviours. My associate teacher really strives to imbue each student with these and it shows in the way students behave; they act independently, challenge themselves, regulate their behaviour, and take ownership of their learning. Some examples of positive learning behaviours are:

•  Attention to detail
•  Focus and concentration
•  Resilience and independence
•  Allowing others to learn
•  Thinking ahead
•  Organisation
•   Being accountable for my learning

It’s great to focus students in on these behaviours before each lesson just by talking about them, or give individual students certain learning behaviours to work on. Explicitly teaching positive learning behaviours and explaining, or modelling, how they are displayed will help establish an amazing classroom environment and give students a great mindset to learn with.

The most challenging aspect of the four weeks was trying to be organised and flexible at the same time! There is a lot going on at any one moment in the school year, especially at the end of term 4, so it’s vital that you always have a backup plan and are ready to quickly modify a lesson. I had a number of students absent with sickness over the first two weeks of teaching, which meant lots of groups progressing at different rates. I found that thinking a few lessons ahead of what you’re doing actually helps when students are ready to move on – you know the next step and can quickly whip up an activity for them to do. Ultimately there are some times where you won’t get everything completed, simply due to unexpected events popping up, and that’s ok – keep the big picture in mind!

I had such an amazing time on my placement; I truly fell in love with the school, kids and community! I’m missing them already and can’t believe I have to wait another six months before I can get back into it. I would definitely recommend completing a rural placement, there is really nothing quite like it. I know my school would love to have more PSTs and I wish there was more support for getting teachers out there! I hope everyone had a fantastic placement and learned a lot, a merry Christmas and happy new year to you all!

-Alex

Halfway Through Placement

Halfway through placement

22nd November, 2015

Alex talks about his placement experiences at a rural school

Given some pre-service teachers may never get the chance to complete a rural placement I thought it would be interesting to share my experiences. I’ve just finished my first two weeks of teaching and I can assure you the school and learning environment is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

The school is based in an extremely small town, about two and a half hours west of Melbourne. The current student enrollment is 38 and there are only two classes; foundation to year 2, and year 3 to 6. While I knew some of these details going in, the true reality of the size only hit home when I was standing at the whole school assembly on the Monday morning with 30 children. Needless to say, after my introduction to the school, everyone knows my name and who I am. In fact, I spent more time talking with the principal in one week, than I did with all the other principals of my previous placements combined!

The school is one of a few who are trialing a new integrated software platform that basically uses an online platform to create and store work. Every student has a computer and the school is well resourced; they even have a Polycon (a high quality camera system with monitor that allows them to video conference with other schools!).

But what does the school feel like?

From my first day I have become immersed in what can only be described as a truly community focused atmosphere. The teachers are genuine and the students are incredibly well behaved – it all feels like one big family. The outdoor area is huge and well utilised; they have a campfire area, sprawling veggie garden, chickens, basketball court and football oval. The other day in a garden lesson my associate teacher got the students to harvest some broad beans and leeks. The next day, during lunchtime, he cooked them up with some rice and the whole school had a communal feast.

Another interesting element is the kindergarten – it’s attached to the school! There are little ones running around during lunchtime and the transition to school is seamless. Perhaps all of these things add to the feeling of community and sense of belonging. While there was initially a sense of isolation (especially for me, being a city slicker) it becomes apparent that the internet and technology has connected people and communities to the essential resources they need. This school has an extremely strong and rigorous strategic plan for information technology, and makes excellent use of the online resources that are available.

My classroom itself is one of the most positive learning spaces I’ve ever encountered – largely due to my incredible associate teacher. He has made a point of not only encouraging a community of learners, but expecting students to support each other and regulate themselves. The students are incredibly proactive in seeking knowledge and managing themselves.  And the kids are fantastic. I thought teaching such a large composite class would be difficult, but my associate teacher has created an environment where students can progress through the curriculum at their own rate and focuses on 1:1 conferences with students about their learning.

All in all I’m in love with this school and the community it has created; I think there is a lot to be learned from their style of teaching. In my next post I will look more closely at what I’ve been teaching, how to work with a composite class, and how to create a positive learning environment.

Until then, all the best!

-Alex