Mid prac thoughts

As the second week of my prac placement draws to a close I have been reflecting on what I have learnt so far and what I am going to improve on during my final week. I am thoroughly enjoying my time in a Prep classroom, the children in my class are beautiful and my mentor teacher is amazing. I could not have asked for a better first prac in a school. I am pretty proud of myself for learning all 24 names within 3 days! I am feeling a lot more confident to teach lessons in my second week and if I forget anything such as rhymes or whats next, they excitedly remind me. Bless.

The school I am at follow the C2C, I am lucky enough to be able to adjust some of the lessons as they are a bit dry. My mentor has allowed me to make adjustments to the lessons to make them a bit more engaging for the children and they have loved it. I am going to miss the children once prac is over but it has definitely reignited my passion for teaching (I work in childcare management so I haven’t worked in rooms with children as such for many years). I hope everyone is enjoying their prac as much as I am and learning valuable insights into the world of teaching.

My recollection and understanding of the theories/models/frameworks in EDC3100

Part of this week’s requirements is to complete a table as an overview of all the theory’s we have learnt in our course so far and how we might use them in our Assignment 3. Below is the table I completed with some ideas on which sections of the Assignment I can include the theories into.

Theory	Purpose	Application to Assignment 3/Professional Experience
CLEM Model	Help understand how to learn about a new ICT and how to use it to enhance student learning.
TPACK framework	TPACK helps to identify knowledge required by teachers for ICT integration in their teaching,	This will be useful for Part D of my assignment
Backwards design	Method of designing learning by setting goals before choosing instructional methods and forms of assessment.	I used this in assignment 2 and would like to use it again for assignment 3 possibly
SAMR Model	Useful for teachers to assess how ICTs are being used in the classroom.	The SAMR model could be helpful for Part B
TIP Model	Assesses student skills and capabilities with ICT’s to determine how to use the ICT to enhance education.
The 5Es	The 5 E’s is a model which builds or contructs on learners old ideas with new ideas.	I find the 5E’s useful when planning lessons
WALT & WILF	Useful for developing lesson objectives.
Connectivism	Theory similar to Vygotsky’s ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD)	I like connectivism for designing lesson plans, and Part A of the assignment
Bloom’s taxonomy	refers to a classification of the different learning objectives that educators set up for students.	I will be using this theory in designing my lesson plans and Part B of the assignment
Postman’s 5 things	A framework useful for identifying if ICT has been beneficial in students learning
Toolbelt theory/TEST framework	Used for deciding which ICT’s can be used effectively for learning experiences and learners. Task, Environment, Skills and Tools –
PKM	Not really sure how to explain this one

Interactive Whiteboards….33 interesting ways to use interactive whiteboards!

In preparing for prac, I thought it would be a handy idea for me to look up how to actually use an interactive whiteboard. My interactive whiteboard skills consist of a 10 minute introduction by my mentor after I expressed my interest in their whiteboard as I had never really seen one and certainly never used one! So it’s safe to say that my skills are fairly limited. I decided to Google interactive whiteboards so that I could learn more about them after sparking my interest after the study desk reading. I came across a PowerPoint presentation created by Tom Barrett called 33 interesting ways to use your interactive whiteboard.  This is a really useful slide with links to online applications that can be used with the whiteboard to enhance teaching and there is also links to YouTube videos that demonstrate how to use interactive whiteboards…which is great for newbies like me!

Preparing for Assignment 3

I am preparing my lesson plans for my prac, I have not previously been on a prac in a school so unfortunately I do not have any previous lesson plans I can use. I am really lucky because I am going to be planning lessons for Prep Geography from the Australian Curriculum and I had used this for my Unit plan in Assignment 2 so at least I have an outline I can use.

I have found this course really challenging at times but I have to say, learning how to use Diigo has really made my studies more organised as I no longer have a thousand pieces of paper with websites and online readings scribbled down for later reference. No longer am I having heart attacks when I lose those pieces of paper either! Diigo allows you to organize and tag websites that you find useful so that at a later date you can see all the resources you have tagged relating to that topic. It has already been such a help in developing my lesson plans as I am able to use great resources that I have found weeks ago and had forgotten about which means one less stress in preparing lesson plans!

25 Ways Teachers Can Use iPads In The Classroom

This list of ideas for Teacher’s to use Ipads in the classroom is a really great tool to use when planning for lessons using ICT.

Following up from meeting mentor

So it’s been a week since I met with my mentor that I will be completing prac with. And I feel a little bad that I really haven’t progressed to far on developing my lesson plans. I hope you all have an amazing mentor, my mentor was able to send me a copy of the planning (Backwards mapping) that she had completed for the previous Geography unit that was completed 2 terms ago. This has been a huge help to see what they have been learning, and I am a little jealous that we have to put so much information into our lesson plans yet it doesn’t seem that when we are teaching in schools we won’t have to follow such detail. But then again, I understand that it is important for us to complete whole lesson plans as we are learning the ropes and need to understand all aspects of planning an effective curriculum for children’s learning under the Australian Curriculum.

I did find it interesting as well that my mentor sent me the C2C curriculum for Prep Geography to have a look at to get ideas for planning my lesson plans. My mentor did explain that she doesn’t follow the C2C as it is very dry and consists of a lot of mat time learning for the children. After reading it, I did get some ideas which was really helpful but I have to agree that the lessons definitely need jazzing up. Goodluck everyone on your prac!

Reflection…what does this mean for assignment 3?

So it’s been a little while since I have blogged and I feel a little behind the eightball with module 3. Trying to get my head around all the requirements for assignment 3 and preparing my lesson plans for prac….ah I feel like the end of semester is approaching but there is still such a workload to get through!

I thought I would share a resource that I have used in my work in Early Childhood centers to support educators with reflection. A big part of Assignment 3 is reflecting on our prac and lesson we have learnt while teaching. I have found the Reflections resource from Gowrie really useful. The Summer Edition from 2011 has an article on critical reflection and layers of reflection that educators/teacher should use when reflecting on their teaching practices. If you are wondering how and what we reflect on after reading through the weekly studydesk readings still, have a look at this….hopefully it might help.

Meeting prac mentor

Last night I blogged about things that I would need to do or find out before I go on prac. Well today I met with my prac mentor and she is so lovely! I feel so much better about going on prac, whilst I am still a bit nervous I definitely think if you have the opportunity to meet with your mentor….do it. I was able to cross off over half my checklist off. I was able to find out what ICT the class has available, what the students learning needs are, what they are going to be learning next term and most importantly have they already learnt. I am going to be completing my lesson plans for the Geography component from the Australian Curriculum.

I feel a lot more prepared to develop my 5 lesson plans, as I have to develop my lesson plans as I have not previously been on a prac in a school environment. All I have to do now is get started on developing the lesson plans! Good luck to everyone with their prac!

Preparing for Prac

I go on my first prac placement in a primary school in 3 weeks, and I am feeling rather excited and nervous at the same time! What can I expect? Am I going to be a good teacher? Will the children like me? These are all questions that are running through my mind. So, a suggested blog post is making a list of everything we would need to know for prac. I have come up with some of the below items:

• Organise meeting with prac mentor
• Meet with mentor
• Find out what ICT the class has available
• Find out what subject I will be completing my lesson plans for, what is the prior learning students will have?
• How many students are in the class?
• Discuss students in class e.g. any challenging behaviours, additional needs, gifted students etc
• Discuss how I will observe then teach in class. 
• What is the class schedule?
• What is appropriate clothing (common sense here really) e.g. hat, closed in shoes, professional but comfortable clothes, hat, sunglasses etc
• Organize date to meet student before end of term
• Discuss my lunch options, pack meals or purchase food?
• Develop 5 lesson plans from USQ studytdesk and send to mentor for feedback to ensure they work in with her teaching plan for students
• Take a certified copy of my blue card for school to keep

This seems to be all I can think of to ensure that I am adequately prepared for my time on prac. I do think that if I can organize answers and information for all my checklist then I will hopefully be as prepared as I can! I would love to hear if you think I have left anything off my list so that I can ensure I am fully prepared.

Teaching Cyber Safety with Connect.ed

Part of this weeks learning path tasks is to complete the modules for cyber-safety for students through Connect.ed. This online program allows teachers to up skill their own knowledge to ensure they have the confidence and resources to assist students in learning how to be cyber-safe when using the internet. I have completed all 4 modules and achieved my certificate of completion and it was really interesting to see the simulations on how easily it can turn into online bullying from students peers, it was an eyeopener for me to realize it is not as easy as ‘turning off the computer’ to deal with online bullying. I definitely feel that I would be able to support cyber safety a lot more confidently now.

I met with my mentor teacher today who I will be completing my prac with, and when I asked her if the students had completed cyber safety as part of their learning, and they haven’t. So straight away I was excited that I would be able to teach them about how to be respectful digital citizens and be cybersmart!