Graduate Level: Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities and characteristics.

My understanding of this focus area is that teachers need to provide learning tasks for children which challenge them. This includes creating appropriate challenging tasks for children at a range of different ability levels to ensure their learning needs are met.

This evidence piece comes from my professional experience three and it is an excerpt from my final written report completed by my supervising teacher. In the report, my supervising teacher states that I have planned challenging learning goals for a range of learning abilities, planned lessons for a variety of learning abilities and provided challenges for both the capable learners and learners that need extra support. It said that I did this while ensuring opportunities for success were achievable. It also states that I have evaluated and made adjustments (sometimes in the middle of a lesson) where needed to lessons, children's learning goals and learning experiences to ensure the children were challenged and successful in their learning.  

This demonstrates that I meet this focus area because my mentor teacher explicitly said I have shown that I am meeting the requirement of providing children with challenging learning goals and tasks.

Graduate Level: Plan lesson sequences, using knowledge of student learning, content and effective teaching strategies.

My understanding of this focus area is that lessons need to be sequenced, meaning students are provided with scaffolded learning tasks that extend their knowledge learnt in the previous lesson/s. Lesson sequences include learning activities, resources, differentiation and should be planned in accordance to the student's learning levels, abilities and needs and mapped against the ACARA document with a range of teaching strategies implemented.

The first evidence piece was created during my fourth year professional experience and it is a unit plan for Mathematics on data and statistics. The unit plan demonstrates that I can effectively use background and contextual information on students, their prior knowledge and the Australian Curriculum to plan and implement sequenced learning plans that scaffold children's learning. The plan shows that at the start of each lesson I recapped what was learnt in the previous lesson/s and extended the learning further through explicit instructions and modelling.  

The unit plan showcases the teaching strategies I used. These strategies were identified as needing to be included in the plan from the contextual information, conversations with my supervising teacher and Australian Curriculum content. These strategies included differentiating learning tasks, scaffolding, using wait time when questioning and providing hands on experiences.

The second evidence piece is a weekly planner from my third year professional experience. The plan shows that I am capable of planning, sequencing and implementing a full time teaching load. It shows that I have the skills and abilities to teach a range of learning areas over a period of time and use knowledge of student learning to plan effectively.

Graduate Level: Include a range of teaching strategies.

My understanding of this focus area is that it is vital as a teacher to have a range of teaching strategies that I can use to foster children's learning, create a safe and calm environment, promote student wellbeing and impact their overall school experience. This includes seeking out new teaching strategies and practices and reflecting on them to identify if they work, need to be implemented in a different way or not implemented again.

The first evidence piece was collected from my fourth year professional experience and it is a log which highlights the teaching strategies implemented, dates they were used and comments on the effectiveness of each strategy. The evidence demonstrates that I am capable of using a variety of strategies during my lessons and teaching. These strategies include behaviour management, positive reinforcement, selecting resources, ICT, differentiation and catering for different learning styles. 

The second evidence piece comes from my fourth year professional experience and it is a unit plan for Mathematics on data and statistics. The unit plan identifies teaching strategies used which include open ended tasks, modifying tasks for a child with cerebral palsy, creating extension learning experiences, scaffolding learning, using explicit instructions, modelling and asking open ended questions. These evidence pieces demonstrate that I have an understanding of teaching strategies, can include them in planning and effectively implement them while teaching.

Graduate Level: Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT that engage students in their learning. 

My understanding of this focus area is that teachers need to select resources that are able to inform their practice and provide opportunities for children to be successful and engaged in their learning. This includes providing children with resources that are age appropriate, engaging, linked to teaching content and incorporate ICT. 

This evidence piece is an evaluation on my last Science lesson which was completed during professional experience three shows the range of resources used in the lesson. The evidence shows that the resources were engaging for the children and provided them with a hands on experience.

The evidence demonstrates my teaching at a graduate level because my supervising teacher stated how engaged the children were and that the ICT resources (PowerPoint and YouTube video) created an added level of interest, engagement and were particularly beneficial for visual learners. The evaluation also states that I used a number of other resources to assist with planning the lesson which included hands on materials (fabric, string, pegs) to assist children with making their parachutes. It also states the teaching resources I used to inform my practice which include 'Teach Starter' and the 'Primary Connections Push and Pull' teacher's handbook. This demonstrates my knowledge of using a range of resources (including ICT) and my ability to select appropriate resources and implement them in my lessons to provide children with engaging learning experiences.  

Graduate Level: Demonstrate a range of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to support student engagement.

My understanding of this focus area is that teachers need to demonstrate an understanding of using effective verbal and non-verbal communication strategies build relationships and support student engagement. Building relationships with students encourages them to show respect for you as a teacher and therefore this helps them to become personally invested and involved in learning (McDonald 2013). 

The first evidence piece is a feedback sheet completed during a problem solving Mathematics lesson on my third year professional experience. The feedback shows the verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that I used throughout the lesson. These included getting down to the children's level, stopping and re-reading questions to clarify them and using questioning effectively. 

The second evidence piece comes from a Managing Learning Environments (3007) essay I completed during the third year of my degree. This essay highlights my understanding of communications strategies that need to be used in the classroom to foster engagement. They include using eye contact, positive facial expressions, active listening, open questioning,  I-messages and forming relationships with children. 

The evidence pieces show I have an understanding of effective verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that can be used in the classroom. This shows that I am aware of a variety of communication strategies that need to be used and incorporated into creating effective student engagement.

McDonald, T 2013, Proactive Teacher Behaviours, Classroom management: Engaging students in learning, South Melbourne, VIC, Oxford University Press, pp. 106-154.

Graduate Level: Demonstrate broad knowledge of strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching programs to improve student learning.

My understanding of this focus area is that teachers need to be aware of the different strategies that can be used to evaluate teaching practice and programs so that student's learning can be improved. This includes teachers critically reflecting on their own practice and changing aspects of their program and plans to benefit children's learning. 

The evidence for this focus area is an evaluation of a science lesson which was completed during my third year professional experience. The evaluation outlines what went well, what was a challenge, feedback from my supervising teacher and what I would have changed in the lesson. I completed evaluations like this throughout the course of the professional experience to ensure I was critically reflecting on my practice and the children's learning needs were met accordingly.  

Other strategies I used to evaluate and improve my teaching programs included discussing lessons with my supervising teacher and other pre-service teachers, writing down evaluations after lessons, seeking written feedback from my supervising teacher and getting another pre-service teacher to sit in on one of my lessons so she could provide me with feedback. 

This evidence meets the graduate level for this standard because it shows that I am able to confidently reflect and evaluate lessons and programs for children and make changes in order to improve student learning.

Graduate Level: Describe a broad range of strategies for involving parents/carers in the educative process.

My understanding of this focus area is that it is important to involve families in their child's learning journey and form strong, respectful relationships with them. This promotes a partnership where families feel comfortable, will be more likely to open up about their child and share information (Carter 2009).

My first evidence piece includes debate notes from an assessment task about relationships with families, which comes from the Critical Perspectives on Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment (EDUC 4212) course completed in the fourth year of my degree. This evidence demonstrates my understanding of strategies to form relationships with families and include them in the educative process. These strategies include inviting parents into the classroom, having an open door policy, hosting parent-teacher interviews, welcome evenings and information nights and making the most of one on one conversations (Finn 2019). Other strategies that could be used include having positive non-verbal communication with eye contact, open body language, appropriate posture and positive facial expressions (Finn 2019).  

The second evidence piece comes from my third professional experience report. The report talks about how I used strategies of communicating effectively with families, following up on parents' requests and inviting families to an open morning where students could share their learning. These evidence pieces demonstrate that I have a range of strategies to foster relationships with parents and include them in their child's educative process because I have completed research in theory and implemented strategies during my placement.

References:
Carter, J 2009, Orientation to education and curriculum, University of South Australia, Adelaide, pp. 1-8.

Finn, R 2019, Specifying the contributions of parents as pedagogues: Insights for parent-school partnerships, The Australian Educational Researcher, pp. 879-881.