Self-Assessment:

Standard Situation Action Outcome Changes/Modification/Thoug

hts?
1. Know The class I During the first two days of The listing of individuals The separation of ability is
students worked with my placement I created a gave me the ability to an interesting concept and I
and how had a very spreadsheet containing the work out which students can understand its use,
they learn diverse level of students names and were working at which especially in a class such as
both numerical attempted to list which level and identify how this one. The real struggle I
and English groups each student best to work with them to have is how does a student,
literacy. The belonged to for mental help them achieve. I especially one performing at
class breaks maths, spelling, letters reviewed the work of all a level considerably below
down a lot of and sounds and maths in the different levels and their age group, ever catch
the work into an effort to work out which integrated some of the up to where they are
ability groups students where working at higher-level learning at supposed to be? What
to try to ensure which levels and help to an introductory level to strategies, outside of one on
that individuals cater to appropriate levels some of the lower one extra tuition, can be
dont feel like for the coming days performing students. utilised to help these
they are falling students achieve?
behind and
targeted
teaching
approaches
can be used.
2. Know the During my My first point of call was to I delivered 42 students a The transition from desks to
content placement, I discuss with the classroom lesson focusing on Peru the mat, combined with a
and how to was given the teachers to ascertain the and the Amazon multi-faceted delivery kept
teach it freedom to prior lessons and content of rainforest. We did some the students engaged
develop a one the subject. I was told that revision to get their throughout the lesson.
hour lesson for they had covered desert minds on track then Feedback from the mentor
the classes climates focusing on Egypt looked at what they teachers suggested that
 HASS period. It and cold climates focusing already knew about whilst the transition needed
was to be a on Greenland. We worked rainforests. Once we had work, it was generally
lesson on how together to develop a plan front loaded, we moved effective and that my use of
climate affects to look at Rainforests. to the mat and watched non-verbal cues to manage
the buildings a short video on the the behaviour of a large
and activities rainforest before having group improved as the
of the people a class discussion around lesson progressed.
living there the types of buildings
and activities they had
seen and why particular
things were done.
Standard Situation Action Outcome Changes/Modification/Thoug
hts?
3. Plan for During the I looked back at my plan The use of the video My mentor teacher
and planning stage and saw that the addition of towards the end of the suggested that the
implement of my graphs and videos to the first half of the lesson graphical comparison of
effective Rainforest current use of simple worked extremely well to temperature and rain was
teaching lesson, my pictures could add an re-engage the students. probably at a higher level
and mentor additional element. Using They enjoyed looking at than most of the students
learning suggested I the internet, I sourced a fun the pictures of the would understand. He did
mix up my video and some interesting buildings and people and concede that offering this
delivery data to compare Peru to the said that this helped did encourage the higher
through use of suburb where the children them to picture what it performing students and
more than just lived to offer perspective was like. that it did add an interesting
a verbal element to the lesson.
approach.
4. Create and The class I My mentor told me on day Throughout my Having the benefit of seeing
maintain completed my one to ensure that I jumped placement, I made a different teachers use
supportive placement in on poor behaviour quickly conscious effort to take different strategies it helped
and safe had some to ensure it didnt get out of not of the different me see how different
learning students with hand but to ensure I was methods the classroom children respond to different
 environme significant fair and consistent. I saw teacher utilised to approaches (linking this
nts behavioural five different teachers maintain control. As the outcome to Standard 1). My
issues. managing the class week went on I became personal behaviour
throughout the practice more effective at using management style matured
most of which had different the strategies and the significantly with the major
but effective measures of class responded learning point being that
dealing with disruption. appropriately. you cant be afraid to
escalate the strategy
quickly
5. Assess, On day four of The school undertakes a With my mentor teacher This activity helped me to
provide my placement literacy assessment of all and the class teacher we understand the schools
feedback the whole students during term one to assessed each student in whole of school approach
and report teaching staff identify the ability of each a year 1/2 class against a to improving the overall
on student got together to student. The student prescribed grading literacy level of the
learning assess literacy teachers were invited to framework. We then students. Most of these
testing of the partake in this diagnostic compared the outcomes students were already
lower school assessment. with a grading formula to performing well below the
students. ascertain what level the prescribed standard which
students were helped me to understand
performing at. the disparity in ability at the
year 5 level I was teaching.

Standard Situation Action Outcome Changes/Modification/Thoug

hts?
6. Engage in I endeavoured The ability to respond to The shift in my ability to The constructive feedback
profession to actively feedback and make yourself manage the class from immediately following my
al learning seek feedback better is a highly important my first lessons on the lessons provided me with
on my mechanism in a profession Tuesday through to the the opportunity to reassess
performance as such as this. After each final lessons on the my performance and take
the placement individual lesson and Friday came along leaps key learning points into my
 went on. throughout my placement
in general I sought
feedback from my mentor
teacher to try and improve
my performance. We
discussed delivery, content
and behaviour
management techniques
after every one of my
lessons and throughout the
day.
7. Engage For completion Before approaching the
profession of one of my parent, I spoke with both
ally with assignments I my mentor teacher and
colleagues, needed to lecturer to determine what I
parents/ liaise with a needed to ensure that all
carers and parent for my responsibilities were
the permission to covered. We also outlined
community interview their the requirements with the
child. student to ensure that they
were comfortable and
advised the parent that if
there were any issues to
please contact us directly.
and bounds.
Implementing the tips
that I was given helped
me to maintain control of
the class and as a result
present the lessons more
effectively. They also
helped me to earn the
trust and respect of the
students which in turn
helped with maintaining
control.
By engaging with my
mentor early it allowed
us to prepare a concise,
appropriate response to
the parent requesting the
assistance of their child
with the assignment. The
parent felt well informed
of the requirements and
was more than happy for
their child to participate.
next lesson often with
noticeably positive
outcomes. The best part
was when my mentor said
that it was not often he will
sit and mark work while
someone teaches his class
but he felt confident that I
had it under control.
There was some confusion
at a higher level as to the
necessity for the
overarching permission. I
think it is better to take a
cautious approach
especially when dealing
with parents to ensure that
their trust is maintained.

Overall, I think I did very well for a first visit. The practice did reinforce the fact that I have made the right decision however it
did potentially adjust my view on what year level I wanted to teach. It was a highly enjoyable experience and I have learned a
lot in a short time. I am looking forward to returning to the class and seeing how they have progressed and demonstrating
how I have.
Lesson Reflections

Lesson One: Small Group Mental Maths (Tuesday) level c. Introduction to daily
metal maths. Short time frame limited discussion although worked through a
couple of the trickier questions with the students. Try to utilise the time more
effectively to give a chance for more Q&A. Small group works well with students
of lower ability. Time allow you to actually spend some 1 on 1 time to help with
advancement of concepts. Need to ensure that I am over the methodology used
to teach the concepts to ensure the discussion aligns with classwork

Lesson Two: Letters and Sounds (Tuesday) this was an ad-hoc lesson that I
offered to take as Dan got a visitor when lesson started. Very structured plan
with little flexibility. It was interesting to see that the whole school split on ability
not on year group or simply in class ability. Structure was a little shaky at first but
got into the swing quickly. Students know the format and were happy to help.
The Letters and Sounds program focuses on phonics to help English concepts.
Level of Literacy is relatively low across the class with many students working at
a level below their age group. Intro by fire to non-verbal cues in behaviour
management. Often I fell back to trying to talk over the dim. Have identified this
and will endeavour to work on it in future lessons

Lesson Three: Group Mental Maths (Wednesday) level d higher level than
yesterday and definitive gap in ability. This group was much more capable (in
general). Still some struggle with basic concepts around time. Encouraging
students today to check answers and actually go back and work out where they
went wrong as opposed to simply marking right or wrong.

Lesson Four: Rainforest Climate and Effects on buildings and activities

(Wednesday). First full class (48 students) and I was very happy with the first go.
Transitions went really well, although need to break up into slightly smaller
groups to move. It was very hard to manage all students as large field of view.
Some assistance from Dan but overall BM was much better than yesterday. The
use of a video at the 10minute mark was effective in re-engaging the students to
topic especially after transition.

Lesson Five: Group Mental Maths (Thursday). Level e. Top group maths today and
it was very interesting to compare these students with others. They were all very
confident and no problems asking if they struck an issue. Allowed more time for
discussion at the end as all of the students finished well within their allocated
time. Overall average score was much higher despite the more difficult content.
Small BM issues but again this was due to early finishing leading to talk as
opposed to actively disruptive.

Lesson Six: Maths (Level 3) (Thursday) Level 3 Maths. This was the toughest
lesson of the week. Although the content was 100% prescribed and at a level
below the age group delivered to, dealing with the lower end of the knowledge
spectrum introduced its own issues. Firstly many of the students didnt
understand the concept, and I am unsure if it was due to them not understanding
the prior concepts and this flowing through or if the lesson was a little confusing.
Many of the students requested or needed individual attention to get through the
activity many of which didnt finish. The tight time/structure doesnt allow much
time for individual help. Dan outlined effective strategies to maintain BM whilst
assisting individuals

Lesson Seven: Last Post History, Appreciation and Thoughts (Friday) I built this
lesson around a couple of concepts that the students had been looking at during
the week, music appreciation and emotive writing. All of the students identified
the piece of music and the discussion around the type of music and how it made
the students feel seemed to engage the students. Next time get the students to
write their sentence before the discussion as prior discussion led to nearly all of
the sentences being identical. I need to work on timing of delivery as it ran a
little short, but back up plan of discussion on music leading to emotion was ok
with more participation than expected. Focused this last part around some of the
more disruptive kids interests (sporting teams) which reduced the impact of their
disruption which worked well.

Lesson Eight: Last Post History, Appreciation and Thoughts (Friday). Second go
at the lesson which was a great learning opportunity. This class has less physical
disruptors but plenty of almost over keen answerers so a different challenge.
Switching up the discussion to after the individual writing worked well. Also
allowed them to discuss their outcomes with their groups prior to full class
discussion.
Student Assessment

sounds letters &

name

maths mental

spelling

maths

Notes
gender
Ailaina F e pink 6 ? Ailaina was a quite interesting student. She doesnt come across as one of the more
capable students but is very conscientious and achieves good results. She is in the higher
groups across all disciplines. She has a cheeky sense of humour which sometimes leads to
some distraction in her group. Very friendly with a couple of the other students
Putu F e purpl 6 ? Originally from Bali ESL. Quiet and conscientious. One of the more capable students in the
e class. Will ask questions when not understanding a concept. Potential subject for EDN612
assignment. Will monitor
Teliesh F e purpl 6 ? Took a little bit for her to warm to me being in the class but after that was very keen to be
ia e involved and help where she can. Showed a lot of interest in this assignment. Suspect has
some underlying health issues with regular hospital visits but not confirmed. Works at a
high level but did miss 2 days of class.
Blake M c yello ? 3 Main class disruptor. Seems to have always been the case so behaviour management
w spectrum escalates very quickly for him. More into sports than school and is identified as a
talented soccer player. Using PE/Fitness as an incentive has worked. Although when he is
contributing has shown that he is more than capable. Leaving the class at the end of the
semester to another school.
Jade H F c yello ? 3 Keen to contribute but struggling across the board. Three days off after needing surgery for
w a broken elbow offered limited time to assess. Suspect being treated very much like an
adult at home with the attitude often portraying as such. Parent interaction shows
apparent limited literacy also.

Ellie F e blue 6 ? Quiet but very smart. Avoids distraction well. Handwriting is probably the best in the class
but still in the lower group in Literacy which I found confusing.
Taiawh M d purpl 6 ? NZ. Tai is a very interactive capable student. He actively seeks to participate and provide
io e answers to most questions (more so when it is something of interest). He is easily
 sounds letters &
name

maths mental

spelling

maths

Notes
gender distracted or is the distractor (not aggressively but has a group of followers who
encourage) and as such his work appears to have suffered. Another talented sportsman.
Seems to be really into lessons with an ICT focus. Particularly when the use of video and
computer/ipad and during the Sphero coding lessons
Kail M c purpl 5 3 North American? Smart kid. Suspect has the potential to really succeed but is easily
e distracted. Kail will often do the working in his head and only write answers, which was
occasionally to his detriment. He has no problem explaining his process. Will increase
Maths level if he pays attention.
Blaze M b oran ? ? Blaze has a recognised learning disability currently learning at or near a year 1 level.
ge School has suggested Blaze be enrolled in the collocated ESC but mother wants him with
kids his own age. Has EA 3 days a week and attends some different classes
Jayden M d blue ? ? Hard to determine. Was only in class 2 days before crashing bike and spending the rest of
the week in hospital. Pretty quiet.
Caysie F c gree 5 3 New to the school. Has had an issue with bullying at previous school so very low
n confidence. Keen to learn but very quiet/wary (or tired?). Missed two days during prac due
to illness
Wayde M c gree ? 3 Wayde was very disruptive during the week with multiple infractions. Apparently not his
n usual behaviour and something confirmed as going on at home although I was not privy to
the discussion. Suspect he is an ok student but didnt really get to see it during the week.
Aleish F c purpl 6 3 Very confident but sometimes rushes to finish which can work against her. Will answer
a e when asked but avoids actively chasing answers.
Brayde M e pink 6 5 Very smart young boy but easily distracted. I think he is keen to have the more popular
n boys like him so occasional play up esp. when co-located. Was suffering from a nasty
eczema breakout on his face during my visit which he was very conscious of.
Suzan F c gree ? 3 Middle eastern student. ESL. Super quiet. As per cultural norms doesnt speak to men
ne n openly including teachers even to ask questions. Avoids eye contact if possible.
Keira- F e pink ? 5 TWI. One of the top students in the class I think she really has the capacity to achieve good
 sounds letters &
name

maths mental

spelling

maths

Notes
Jayne gender things if given the opportunity. She likes to ask questions when lessons are being delivered
and will seek one on one help when individual work is being conducted if she doesnt
understand. She is relatively quiet.
Thoma M c yello 5 ? Missed the first couple of days. Short attention span and very easily distracted. Acts the
s w clown to try and get a laugh (esp Brayden). One of the youngest in the class (and smallest)
and I think he is keen to be liked by the other kids. Achieving and a mid to low level
Mikayl F e purpl 6 5 Very clever. Art interests (drawing, unicorns etc.) higher levels on maths and literacy.
a e Mikayla will often get involved in class discussions offering well thought out answers or
opinions.
Jayme F d blue ? 3 Limited observation as she was off for the first three days of prac
Courtn F c gree ? 3 Suspected learning disability but nothing official. Very friendly with adults but a bit of a
ey n loner in the playground. Keen to impress and often says she understands although she
doesnt.
Jade L F c yello ? 3 AS. Very keen to impress often offering answers or approaching the teacher during class.
w Currently in a lower level Maths class but keen to move up. Often needs correction on work
due to rushing more than anything. Works extremely well when paired with one of the
quieter high learners (Telieshia or Ellie) but tends to fall back to Shariah (who is her cousin)
Sharia F c gree 5 3 AS. Easily distracted and not keen to ask questions. Appears to grasp concepts well when
h n explained one on one but I suspect is also keen to get positive feedback so will feign
understanding even when unsure at times. Distraction often involves talking with other
students at a low level then playing the it wasnt me card.
Tajh M e purpl ? 5 Can be highly disruptive/ bit of a class clown more than intentionally disruptive. Very
e social. I suspect that he is a very intelligent boy who disrupts when he is bored, when
engaged he finished his work very quickly with high results. Very into ICT focused, but
quick to get off track unless monitored. Strong maths also with high mental maths
results.Very into sports and a talented soccer player
Erin F e blue 6 5 Quiet conscientious worker, she is from Aus. /Pilipino parents. Contributes in class but only
 sounds letters &
name

maths mental

spelling

maths

Notes
gender when certain of the answer. Happy to answer when called on. Interested in music and sport
(soccer)

high f pink 6 AS Aboriginal Descent

e purpl 5 T Tiwi Island Descent
e WI
d blue 4 NZ New Zealand Descent
c yello
w
b gree
n
low oran
ge

Mentor Assessment

To be brutally honest I could not have planned for a better mentor than Dan. We immediately clicked after our initial meeting.
I think being similar ages, from similar backgrounds and sharing similar interests and styles we were very well suited. He
actively went out of his way to make me feel welcome in his classroom, giving me the opportunity to take as much
responsibility for the class as I felt I was capable of and offering strong constructive critiques after each lesson. I had the
taught lessons in line with his existing outline, stepping into maths, English and HASS lessons and then had the ability to
create a completely new lesson in a blank period which was a combination English, HASS and Music which was a little outside
of my comfort zone. I was lucky to deliver this lesson twice (we were in an open classroom). This allowed an opportunity to
reflect, assess and critique the delivery and the chance to re-deliver using the feedback to improve the lesson as well which
was great. Throughout the week I observed 6 different teachers (Dan and Megan, in our class; The Science, Music and Art
specialists as well as a substitute teacher) all of whom had different delivery styles and some really different ways of
behaviour management.

Avatars

I found the use of TeachLive an interesting experience however for me it offered little in the way of benefit bringing the
experience I had with the delivery of lessons to a group.

Pros:

I think for someone with little to no exposure to group delivery and public speaking this offers a great introduction to
public speaking and could help settle the nerves
The people running the avatars in the background are fantastic. I got to experience two different players and the
consistency with which the characters were delivered was great

Cons:

I found the inability to achieve multiple simultaneous interactions a little bit lacking but can understand the limitations
of the system to achieve such a result.
The scheduling was a little bit disappointing with most of the sessions scheduled for times when we should be in
workshops (EDN5501) or lectures (EDN 563). Again I realise that this is a bit out of the universities control and should
hopefully be better when local rights are allocated.
The ability to use non-verbal material for the lessons is a downside. Using ICT (video, presentation) or hard copy
(handouts, worksheets) is an integral part of many lessons. I dont know how this could be fixed but it does provide a
limitation to the experience.
I think overall it is a positive experience. With some tweaking and moving the back office to a local site (maybe on campus
would be best?) some of the cons could definitely be addressed