Multi Engaging

Experience
(MeE)
By: Alexis Burrows

Contextual Description

Bonnyrigg public school holds roughly over 200 students. The school is made up of a high
multicultural population due to the surroundings of 3 Buddhist temples and churches around the local
area. The school also entails a large amount of Indigenous Art throughout the school and prides itself
with murals painted by elders from the local area on each door. The school encourages great
Academic and sportsmanship awards throughout the school and also showcases art works selected
and hung throughout the halls. The school is separated into wings where 4/5LH the classroom I was
assigned with is at the furthered wing, there structure of the school is also set out as a goanna which
could be utilised in a history or English KLA to explain the different dreamtime stories or the
significant role the goanna may play in certain tribes and would be effective to teach as a visual by
using google maps. The school allows parents to come in and be an aid or visitor to help guided and
shared reading. The parents are also welcomed in to watch the school assembly, take part in the
newsletter, attend the morning breakfast club, help out with the veggie garden and assist with
activities and festivities throughout the year.

The Learner: Tjulburra

Tjulburra is a bright and charismatic
student in year 5. He is an intelligent
and confident young boy who takes
pride in his Indigenous heritage and
holds a great sense of culture.
Tjulburra lives in the same suburb as
his school with his Mother, Nan,
older brothers and sister.
Hobbies: Tjulburra loves to play sport and
represents the school in PSSA, every lunch
time he is the first to be out on the field
kicking a ball. During PE he's athleticism
shines and he prides himself on being a
very good football player. Academically
Tjulburra enjoys mathematics and
understands new concepts quickly when
taught explicitly and is confident in
reading and prefers talking and listening Tjulburra is usually on task however
I believe that the seating
tasks.
arrangement, that being of free
range and where ever the students
Achievements:
- Tjulburra came first in his age group for want to sit does not benefit he's
learning needs. Other disruptive
the cross country carnival and made it into
students will often wonder around
zone.
during each lesson which takes he's
- Represents school in PSSA
attention off his task for which he
- Was chosen to attend the local high
usually would get in trouble for.
school

When looking at
Tjulburra attendance I
noticed he was away
quite frequently. I was
able to have a
conversation with his
mother in the classroom
after school on the 3rd
day of prac and
explained my role in the
classroom and the
project I wanted to
complete whilst assisting
Tjulburra in aspects on
literacy and writing. After
this conversation
Tjulburra had been to
class every day that I
was in for prac and he
was eager to receive an
AP award for a full 5
days of attendance.
Throughout the course of
my prac I observed
Tjulburras attendance
rate uctuating. Once
returning to the second
half of the prac I decided
to implement and
research strategies on

Description of MeE
I decided as a future educator to implement
and assess lessons that significantly enhance
students learning in Literacy. I chose to focus
specifically on scaffolding , writing and text
types to assist stage 2 and 3 students and to
correlate into the pre existing lesson outlines
created respectively for NAPLAN which occurred
during my practicum.
I decided as a future educator to implement
and assess lessons that significantly enhance
students learning in Literacy. I chose to focus
specifically on scaffolding , writing and text
types to assist stage 2 and 3 students and to
correlate into the pre existing lesson outlines
created respectively for NAPLAN which occurred
during my practicum. For my MeE assignment I
chose a year 5 boy named Tjulburra as a focus
student. I particularly chose this child to
undertake observations and queries into how i
can incorporate appropriate culturally based
writing activities to suit his specific learning
style. I initially decided to assist the class with
scaffolding in literacy and to break down
How I collected my data:
narrative writing.
I used the four styles of assessment and
correlated all items of samples
systematically. I received data for all of the
4 assessment procedures.

Overview and Description of Lessons

undertaken
Lesson 1: Introduction - Alpha Antics
Lesson 1: Body - persuasive text Topic: Should school students be allowed to travel
to the moon?
Lesson 2: Introduction - Mars website
- Read as a class
- Pose the question
- Think Pair share
- Brainstorm opposing ideas on the board
Lesson 2: Body - Persuasive text
Topic: Convince me as to why I should or should not give you the last ticket to mars?
- Using brain storm create story board
- Draw pictures justifying for or against
- write 2 -3 sentences using sentence starters
After completion students created a Tellagami character and recorded there
persuasive texts in an impromptu format with the visual aid and sentences as cues.
Lesson 2: Conclusion - Persuasive text present tellagami and story board to the
class.

Justification
I decided as a future educator to implement and assess lessons that significantly enhance students learning in literacy and more in depth writing and talking skills
in class. I chose to implement Indigenous perspective into my lesson plans to
In the beginning of my correlation of ideas and framework for my MeE project I initially designed my lessons around narrative writing and implementing scaffolding
to assist with the students writing skills. throughout the practicum it was clear that the teachers excessively persuaded me to teach persuasive texts with the
students as that was a text type released for NAPLAN 2015 for my stage 3 students. Without hesitation I composed new rich and engaging literacy lessons
concentrating on persuasive text.
I had ideas on integrating ICT and completed research on the benefits of regularly using computers and iPads for literacy and once completed successfully covers
the Australian Professional standards for teachers in the graduate focus area 2.6 in implementing teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum learning.
After conducting research on ICT within the classroom It was clear to see how most ESL and Indigenous students that learn kinaesthetically I wanted to allow
students to take ownership of their tasks and by integrating the Tellagami Application Tellagami is a mobile app that lets you create and share a quick animated
video called a Gami on the IPad students were able to design their persuasive texts, create a customised character and present to their peers giving them a sense
of creation and ownership on their own work.
I chose to correlate Indigenous perspective into my MeE project to further my own understanding of my cultural history and to assist Tjulburra in making
connections to his work. I also tried to envelop artworks, stories and positive narratives around Indigenous people as Indigenous students and make note to the
students the beautiful murals and stories they represent around the school. By highlighting these positive aspects on Indigenous history in the school it allows the
Aboriginal students to see themselves and their culture within their hallways and classrooms, Shipp (2013)
For Tjulburra It was a learning practice for my own teaching pedagogy where not all lessons designed will accommodate for every child. This seemed to be the
case for most writing tasks on prac and can be seen through my first attempt on narrative writing with the class. you can identify that some students were ahead
of the task and understood the content, however for Tjulburra and other ESL students who may have writing difficulties or are unable to relate to the topic through
writing will have difficulties completing a heavy written task such as a narrative.
With teacher feedback and taking into account conversations I have had with Mrs H she expressed that most students lacked understanding and "were not up to
writing proper narratives and you could focus more on a persuasive text" as they have completed these previously. In lesson 1 I decided to look at and break down
a persuasive text using a big book. I allowed think pair share and appointed Tjulburra with Kayla, a student who modelled good behaviour.
Due to the important role that technology has in the classroom, I had the students utilise and visual aids through drawings and then ICT with the Tellagami
Application on iPads. In conjunction to the idea of inevitable technological classrooms, Winch, Johnston, March, Ljungdhal and Holliday (2010) agree that
multiliteracies such as television, the internet and computers "provide a very rich source of other reading matter" Winch et al. (2010) which may enhance and
create an easier formation of persuasive texts. The possibilities with ICT for a kinaesthetic learner are endless however need to be implemented and maintained
successfully as there is "risk of not creating enough change in practices to make potential benefits of the technology worthwhile" Spencer and Mullen (2014)

Journal Entry Samples

I correlated a numerous conversations from teachers and observation notes that were made / specifically on Tjulburra and questions that I had on
he's learning.
Journal entry - Cross country 04-05-15

Alexis: I asked my fellow prac student Ashleigh to observe how many times Tjulburra would be told off for various reasons in front of he's peers, and
school for cross country and she had agreed that he was excessively being given negative feedback majority of the day from multiple teachers
including the AP.

Journal entry - 12.05.2015 Mrs H was teaching the year 6 collectively during NAPLAN and explained impromptu speech and the use of the Tallegami
application.

Mrs H: "Tjulburra is a person who may not be able to write a narrative in 5 minutes but... it a good example that can get up and speak and speak and
have a good impromptu speech rather than writing it down".

Journal entry - 06.05.15

Mrs L and myself had just walked the students out to the quad and returned back to class once school had ended.

Alexis: "... I know that in this school the Indigenous students tend to have a lower attendance rate... what are some strategies you implement into
your classroom to improve attendance that I can incorporate into my future classroom?

Mrs L: "We have spoken to the mother and Nan about his (Tjulburra's) attendance and explained the importance of coming to school everyday... but
she (the mother) always says things happen in the family that is unavoidable, I have tried and tried... it is really down to the parent".
Journal entry - 07.05.15

During my session on Narrative writing

Mrs H: "Maybe you should stop and do a lesson on reading different dreamtime stories or allowing time for them to do their own reading... because
they just don't have the background knowledge, or just drop the cultural perspective and focus on space".
I took in this constructive criticism and decided to base my content for the persuasive text on space and decided to build on prior knowledge. Janssen
et al. (1999) suggests that through a constructivist view "individuals make sense of their world... by constructing their own representations or models
of their experiences" this emphasises that knowledge cannot be simply transmitted to the students and that a foundation of knowledge must be
taught first.
Journal Entry - 12.05.15
During a lesson the day prior to the numeracy NAPLAN test, teachers looked overwhelmed and frantically tried to cram in word problems on perimeter
and multiplication.

Work Samples
Lesson 1: Introduction - Alpha Antic

Lesson 1: Body - persuasive text

Topic: Should school students be allowed to travel to the moon?
EN3-1A
EN3-8D
Identifies and
considers how
different viewpoints
of their world,
including aspects of
culture, are
represented in texts
By providing a
proforma it sets out
By breaking the
(HE) High
writing tasks to
expectations and
assist literacy
gives the student
needs it
ability to present as
correlates with
much work as they
standards 2.5
can and to break
of AITSL.
down the structure

EN3-1A
Communicates
effectively for a variety
of audiences and
purposes using
increasingly
challenging topics,
ideas, issues and
language forms and
features

By allowing students
to be up in front of
the class students it
can be documented
under (E) for
Engagement in the
QTF and (SSE) Self
regulation

Student self
assessment

Outcomes

Monitoring
EN2-10C
Thinks
imaginatively,
creatively and
interpretively
about
information,
ideas and texts
when responding
to and
composing texts

Observati
on

Outcomes
Observations

Monitoring

When looking at the

AITSL it is possible to
see 1.2 being able to
see alterations I had to
make to ensure the
lesson was focused on
listening and talking to
convey content learnt.
This builds (DU) deep
understanding
rather than just writing

EN3-1A
Communicates
effectively for a
variety of
audiences and
purposes using
increasingly
challenging
topics, ideas,
issues and
language forms
and features

Posing questions about

self regulating his own
work and continuing to
self reect it ties in with
SSR of the AITSL quality
teaching framework. It
can also be viewed
through the teaching
standard 2.2 where
Tjulburra organises
content with the use of

Interactio
ns
Tjulburra
observing
his work
when asked
what can he
add to his
writing to
help him
when he is
recording.
He replied
with miss I
haven't
finished my
boxes can I
write it
after.

Where to from here?

If I were the class room teacher I would implement new strategies for every day learning and
enjoyment so that Tjulburras attendance can improve slowly without incentive. This would
include having a class job or task that he will feel obligated to come into school for his peers.
I would also Implement activities catered for majority of the class that are ESL learners or
learners that prefer listening and talking tasks such as the Tellagami app that intergrade ICT
into the classroom.
Overall I have incorporated new learning strategies gained from the QTF such as 1.1 and 1.3
where accessible to allow movement and exibility in my future lessons in case I have to
change the subject matter or writing tasks such as in this prac.
Over all I was pleased with the learning outcomes achieved in Tjulburras learning and his
ability to attend school whilst I was on prac and attentiveness to complete task with pride and
a positive outlook. By looking at the samples from the first lesson on persuasive texts it is
possible to see that Tjulburra provides examples of the outcome EN3-8D where he critically
identifies and considers how other people view the world. However it is clear to see in lesson 2
that the proforma better suited to his style of learning which is talking and listening.
I have learnt that classroom teachers may not always agree with the content or may try to
take over the lesson and to be resilient and always have a back up plan when teaching with
ICT.
In the future I would try to incorporate more culturally based content rather than just
Indigenous to support other ESL learners in the class. Shipp (2013) emphasises that teachers
can incorporate members within the Aboriginal community such as parents and elders as a
means of support when teaching Indigenous content.

Refrence List

Reference List http://syllabus.bos.nsw.edu.au/english/english-k10/content-and-outcomes/

Borich, G. D. (2011). Effective teaching methods (7th ed.). Boston, MA : Pearson/ Allyn and Bacon.

Holly, M . L., Arhar, J & Kasten, W. (2009) Action research for teachers: Travelling the yellow brick road. (3rd
ed.). Boston, MA : Allyn & Bacon, MA :Pearson.

Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language scaffolding learning: Teaching Second Language learners in the
mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

New South Wales Department of Education and Training (2003). Quality teaching in New South Wales Public
Schools. Sydney: Professional Support and Curriculum Directorate.

Winch, G., Johnston, R.R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., & Holliday, M. (2006). Literacy reading writing and childrens
literature (3rd ed.). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Shipp, C (2013). Bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into the classroom: Why and how.
Wanniassa School, ACT