Year 2 - Term Four
3.4 Select and/or create and use a range of resources, including ICT, to engage students in their learning.
5.5 Report clearly, accurately and respectfully to students and parents/carers about student achievement, making use of accurate and reliable records.
The end of 2015 saw me working for the whole of term four with a year 2 class. This time was to be a significant stretch to my capabilities, and by the end of the year I had won over this special group of children, and consolidated my proficiency in lower primary.
In a previous role at the school as a physical education teacher in term three, I had taught all classes at the school, including this year 2 class. From this experience, it was my belief that this group, dominated by competing boys, was the most challenging class of the school. Due to this observation I decided to introduce a theme to my teaching that would appeal to boys, and so I taught through the term with a theme of reptiles.
This theme was an instant hit with my challenging new class, and I utilised a significant range of activities and methods of lesson delivery, including a heavy usage of ICT based teaching. Many interesting materials exist online regarding reptiles, and so our class was treated to annotative diagrams, interactive websites and nature based videos, including clips from Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60 and Walking with Dinosaurs. This reinforced other material such as classroom art displays and literacy and numeracy material delivered with a focus on reptiles. Given that eventually I would have six boys on behavior management plans in this class, this was the perfect way to guide this somewhat troubled group when I commenced with them, to greater success by the end of the year. Another way in which I utilised ICT to promote a positive classroom was by having a compilation of interesting smart work writing exercises available on the smartboard for students to engage with each morning.
Part of my role in relieving a retiring teacher from this class was to compile student achievement material for completing school reports in term four. Given that I was new to this role in term four, this required immediate collaboration with surrounding teachers, and targeted summative assessment through my own teaching. Having been provided with guidance by the previous teacher did help with this, such as existing maths, reading and spelling ability groups and some reliable data, however I had to generate much material myself quite quickly, as report comments were due in to administration mid way through the term. Working with a number of teachers, I worked out gaps in our understanding of student progress, and either liaised with the retired teacher for more information on these areas, or conducted testing to resolve these issues. This required me to quickly develop relationships with parents, so that any issues contained within student reports would be already known to them. Although this certainly tested my judgement and capabilities, it was another valuable experience with reporting.
5.5 Report clearly, accurately and respectfully to students and parents/carers about student achievement, making use of accurate and reliable records.
The end of 2015 saw me working for the whole of term four with a year 2 class. This time was to be a significant stretch to my capabilities, and by the end of the year I had won over this special group of children, and consolidated my proficiency in lower primary.
In a previous role at the school as a physical education teacher in term three, I had taught all classes at the school, including this year 2 class. From this experience, it was my belief that this group, dominated by competing boys, was the most challenging class of the school. Due to this observation I decided to introduce a theme to my teaching that would appeal to boys, and so I taught through the term with a theme of reptiles.
This theme was an instant hit with my challenging new class, and I utilised a significant range of activities and methods of lesson delivery, including a heavy usage of ICT based teaching. Many interesting materials exist online regarding reptiles, and so our class was treated to annotative diagrams, interactive websites and nature based videos, including clips from Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60 and Walking with Dinosaurs. This reinforced other material such as classroom art displays and literacy and numeracy material delivered with a focus on reptiles. Given that eventually I would have six boys on behavior management plans in this class, this was the perfect way to guide this somewhat troubled group when I commenced with them, to greater success by the end of the year. Another way in which I utilised ICT to promote a positive classroom was by having a compilation of interesting smart work writing exercises available on the smartboard for students to engage with each morning.
Part of my role in relieving a retiring teacher from this class was to compile student achievement material for completing school reports in term four. Given that I was new to this role in term four, this required immediate collaboration with surrounding teachers, and targeted summative assessment through my own teaching. Having been provided with guidance by the previous teacher did help with this, such as existing maths, reading and spelling ability groups and some reliable data, however I had to generate much material myself quite quickly, as report comments were due in to administration mid way through the term. Working with a number of teachers, I worked out gaps in our understanding of student progress, and either liaised with the retired teacher for more information on these areas, or conducted testing to resolve these issues. This required me to quickly develop relationships with parents, so that any issues contained within student reports would be already known to them. Although this certainly tested my judgement and capabilities, it was another valuable experience with reporting.