My experience in ManingridaUnlike other classes within the school, the Transition class I was working with were all Indigenous students, meaning they all spoke English as a second language. There were up to 7 different language groups within the class alone and some students spoke up to 3 or 4 of those languages. Therefore, the differentiation needs for this class were varied and also quite broad depending on the attendance. There were 44 students enrolled in the class, however the number of students that attended each day varied significantly.
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Reflecting on my lesson plans
Lesson 1 - What worked
When looking at the planning of my first lesson, I had spoken with my mentor and I decided I would focus on Number and Place Value; identifying numbers within the environment. Although this had been touched on in the beginning of the year, we had been introduced to a whole new rotation of students by the time I arrived and needed to readjust the learning to suit the needs of the particular students. This ties back in to the complexities of attendance within remote Aboriginal communities. As all students were ESL learners, many of the students struggled to decipher the difference between numbers and letters with no real meaning (Eather, 2015). This lesson was really valuable in collecting the data needed for those new students to see what level of understanding they had previously about numbers.
My mentor had very strong, positive relationships with her students, and being Indigenous herself I found she was able to include a lot more of the community within her classroom. This meant that there was a lot of participation from parents and grandparents whom would support her through language translations when delivering a concept, behaviour management and being able to rely on having other adults within the room to assist with student learning. This part was particularly crucial to my initial lesson plan because I knew I had the support of others to take the students outside and know they wouldn’t run off or become distracted. This assisted with those students who weren’t to confident working inside a classroom and those who struggled to sit for long periods of time. Teaching and learning outside the classroom enables students to put meaning in to ‘real world’ experiences (Bandy, Bruff, Clariborne & Morrell, 2012). Sarra (2013) discusses the importance of outside classroom learning within Indigenous contexts and how this can be a successful teaching strategy for engaging learners who are not used to a classroom setting. |
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Lesson 2 - Always have a backup plan
The original lesson plan I had prepared for my second lesson was not used due to the dynamic of students that were there on that particular day. I had no Teaching Assistants and no parents. Although I had prepared extension activities for one particular student, he was feeling vulnerable that day without his father and was not engaged at all. He also had another student that distracted him and they started running outside of the classroom, which created a domino effect for all students to pick up toys and completely disengage.
Instead of trying to continue with the lesson, I used the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) to pull up a picture from the picture book ‘Window’ by Jeannie Baker and turned off the lights and had students start pointing out objects that they could see. This brought the focus back to the mat and they started to all reengage. From here, I then sat them all down at their tables with calming music, paper and colouring in pencils and asked them to recreate their own interpretations of this picture. The results were amazing. I had some students who attempted to replicate the Jeannie Baker ‘Window’, others who drew windows outside of their house in a particular part of the community and then those who drew pictures of their homelands. EvaluationAs stated before, it is important to adjust teaching to the particular students, on that particular day within a remote community (Eather, 2015). My mentor and I were very limited with support that day, so we drew on what we knew about the kids; their love for art and their strengths for interpreting through pictures rather than words and we created something that was valuable to their learning. Jensen (2009) acknowledges how important it is to modify styles of instruction according to the students present within the class and their abilities. This includes varying teaching strategies according to students’ interests and needs.
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Having different students attend class each day made it very difficult to plan and cater to the specific needs of the students. It was important to ensure there was always a back up plan like extension activities and alternative learning activities and support for every lesson, just in case. Having Assistant Teachers and parental support within the classroom was one of the most important factors that enabled learning to be successful.
This particular support within the class enabled specific language translations during lessons that I would not have been able to do on my own, nor would the students be able to understand all the English instructions I was giving. The Assistant Teachers and parents were also very supportive when communicating respect and expectations of behaviour within the classroom and they would manage any interruptive behaviour allowing me to continue teaching with all other students.
This particular experience has been very unique and has definitely challenged my prior understandings and theories about education. I have found previous experiences with native English speaking students have been far easier to plan and cater to differing needs through a constructivist approach, extension activities, use of technology, class rotations and assistant teacher support. However, after working with only ESL students I have found explicit teaching to be far more appropriate.
This particular support within the class enabled specific language translations during lessons that I would not have been able to do on my own, nor would the students be able to understand all the English instructions I was giving. The Assistant Teachers and parents were also very supportive when communicating respect and expectations of behaviour within the classroom and they would manage any interruptive behaviour allowing me to continue teaching with all other students.
This particular experience has been very unique and has definitely challenged my prior understandings and theories about education. I have found previous experiences with native English speaking students have been far easier to plan and cater to differing needs through a constructivist approach, extension activities, use of technology, class rotations and assistant teacher support. However, after working with only ESL students I have found explicit teaching to be far more appropriate.
Teaching standards achieved within these lesson plans:
1 Know students and how they learn
1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students 1.2 Understand how students learn 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds 1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities 2 Know the content and how to teach it 2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area 2.2 Content selection and organisation 2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting 2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians 2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies 2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) |
3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
3.1 Establish challenging learning goals 3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs 3.3 Use teaching strategies 3.4 Select and use resources 3.5 Use effective classroom communication 3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs 3.7 Engage parents/ carers in the educative process 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments 4.1 Support student participation 4.2 Manage classroom activities 4.3 Manage challenging behaviour 4.4 Maintain student safety 4.5 Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically |
5 Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning
5.1 Assess student learning 5.2 Provide feedback to students on their learning 5.3 Make consistent and comparable judgements 5.4 Interpret student data 5.5 Report on student achievement 6 Engage in professional learning 6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice 6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice 6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community 7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities 7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements 7.3 Engage with the parents/carers 7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities |
References:
Bandy, J., Bruff, D., Clariborne, L. & Morrell, J. (2012). Centre for Teaching: Teaching outside the classroom. Vanderbelt University Press. Retrieved 29 September, 2015 from
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-outside-the-classroom/
Eather, A. (2015). (personal communication, September 5, 2015)
Jensen. E. (2009). Teaching with Poverty in Mind. Retrieved 12 September, 2015 from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx
Sarra, C. (2013). Stronger Smarter Indigenous Education Leadership Institute. Stronger Smarter: Getting closer facilitation guide. Retrieved 29 September, 2015 from http://strongersmarter.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/getting-closer-facilitation-guide.pdf
Scheermeijer, T. (2015). Lesson Plans
Bandy, J., Bruff, D., Clariborne, L. & Morrell, J. (2012). Centre for Teaching: Teaching outside the classroom. Vanderbelt University Press. Retrieved 29 September, 2015 from
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/teaching-outside-the-classroom/
Eather, A. (2015). (personal communication, September 5, 2015)
Jensen. E. (2009). Teaching with Poverty in Mind. Retrieved 12 September, 2015 from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/109074/chapters/How-Poverty-Affects-Behavior-and-Academic-Performance.aspx
Sarra, C. (2013). Stronger Smarter Indigenous Education Leadership Institute. Stronger Smarter: Getting closer facilitation guide. Retrieved 29 September, 2015 from http://strongersmarter.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/getting-closer-facilitation-guide.pdf
Scheermeijer, T. (2015). Lesson Plans