2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
Graduate-level: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts, substance and structure of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area.
Children are active and involved learners (DEWEER 2009). They are curious about new things they could see and hear. Therefore, teachers must have a solid knowledge of the content they are going to teach in class. It is expected that teachers should be able to articulate and explain the content of the lesson and provide with effective teaching strategies, helping students to reach their learning goals (Lee 2007, p. 141). During my study at the university, I undertook many courses relate to English, Mathematics/Science, Arts, HASS and HPE. The study of these courses provides an insight in the possible learning contents of different subjects, and how to design and plan a lesson using Australian curriculum and Early Year Learning Framework as reference tools in structuring the lessons (ACARA 2018). I created a website that demonstrated my understanding and knowledge of HASS.
More importantly, during these courses, I have learnt various teaching strategies that can use to engage students and further elaborate on their understanding across different curriculum areas. The evidence below shows how I incorporated this knowledge into practice.
On my third practicum, I found that learning objectives and learning intentions were the two aspects that helped me to make the content of the lessons clear and focus. I always asked myself ‘if I were the child in the class, what are the things I want to learn from the teacher? Whether students can achieve the objectives after they finished the class I teach?’ For example, I prepared a maths lesson focused on simple additions within 20 using a split strategy. The split strategy is a mental method where numbers are split into their place value, making it easier to add or subtract them (Department of Education and Communities 2011). For example, 34 + 23 = (30 + 20) + (4 + 3) = 57. When planning, I was doing a lot of research on the language used by other professions regarding explanations of split strategy. I also watched videos that showed how did they deliver knowledge and wrote down some keywords that helped me to explain the concepts.
Moreover, I understand children are here with different learning abilities, so I prepared worksheets with differentiated problems. Once advanced students finished their work, they were invited to select a ‘difficult version’ to challenge themselves. For those who were struggling with the concepts, I usually gathered them on the carpet and gave them additional assistance.
Reference
Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2018, Australian Curriculum F-10, Australian Government, viewed 18 September 2020, <https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/>.
Department of Education and Communities 2011, Split strategy, State of New South Wales, viewed 30 November 2020, <file:///Users/sherry/Downloads/Addition-%20split%20strategy.pdf>.
Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) 2009, Belonging Being Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, Australian Government, viewed 18 September 2020,
<http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework ResourcesKit/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf>.
Lee, H 2007, 'Developing an effective professional development model to enhance teachers' conceptual understanding and pedagogical strategies in mathematics', The Journal of Educational Thought (JET), vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 125-144.
Evidence for 2.1: Differentiated worksheet (Split Strategy)
2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting
Graduate-level: Use curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to design learning sequences and lesson plans
Sequenced learning experience aimed to create transitions between lessons in order to meet the determined learning focus and to achieve optimal learning outcomes. Sequenced learning experience benefits both the teacher and the children. Classroom disruptions are minimised as the content of lessons is highly pertinent and connect to one another (Bowman et al. 2001, p. 184). Children knew the big picture of the learning focus and are able to expect what they are going to learn. Properly sequenced planning also helps children to acquire in-depth knowledge and understanding of a specific field (Bowman et al. 2001, p. 234) The stress on the teacher is reduced as sequenced lessons allow teachers to anticipate difficulties and problem areas. The sequenced learning experience in advance allows teachers to better assess children’s learning and make timely adjustments to further planning (Arter 1999).
The evidence that demonstrates my ability to design learning sequences based on curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge is my planning which teaches children about sustainability. The curriculum pointed out that the learning of sustainability aimed at promoting reflective thinking processes in young people and empowering them to act in ways that are necessary to create a more sustainable future (ACARA 2018). During my last placement, we have been talking about interesting facts about water and how to use water wisely. During the discussion, some children were curious about where water comes from and where it goes. Based on their interests, I found a story Danny the Drip and discussed the water cycle and the water pollution. I also invited children to draw what they could do to reduce water pollution and recorded their comments. After that, I planned to read a book, called ‘Reduce, Reuse and Rethink’, which talked about actions to create a more sustainable future. Surprisingly, in the afternoon, children who were playing in the sandpit, they started to experiment on how to stop rubbish rushed out of the catchment. The evidence strongly shows my ability to plan sequenced lessons by referring to the curriculum and build on children’s understanding of sustainability. Children are now taking this knowledge into their play! I’ve attached the sequenced plans and photos of children’s experiment in the sandpit.
Reference
Arter, J, 1999 ‘Teaching about performance and assessment’, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, vol.18, no. 2, pp. 30–44.
Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2018, Australian Curriculum F-10, Australian Government, viewed 16 November 2020, <https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/>.
Bowman, BT, Donvovan, MS & Burns, MS 2001, Eager to Learn: Educating our preschoolers, Washington DC, The National Academies Press.
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
Graduate-level: Know and understand literacy and numeracy teaching strategies and their application in teaching areas
Having planned learning experience before the lesson helps teachers to ensure the content and objectives of the lesson are connected to relevant curriculum and indicators. It also allows teachers to come up with various teaching strategies to promote children’s engagement and facilitate their thinking. Instructional teaching strategies such as modelling, questioning, listening, sustained-shared thinking and collaborative learning are effective in teaching numeracy and literacy in early childhood setting (Rey et al. 2017, p. 55). In particular, higher-level questions are vital in facilitating children to think rather than merely supply a fact from memory or perform a learned procedure. By listening to children’s responses at their levels, children are more willing to share their thinking to others (Davenport 2012). This informs teachers of further planning based on children’s theories and thinking processes.
The evidence which demonstrates my ability to apply various teaching strategies to promote children’s engagement and stimulate children’s thinking is a learning experience I implemented during my last placement. The learning experience aimed to measure and compare the length of sea animal cards using non-standard units. My plan includes a range of questions I prepare to ask, procedures of the activity (teacher-directed) and resources needed. I also attached a learning journey of children which contains children’s dialogues, questions asked and children’s responses. This documentation demonstrates I valued children’s voice and asked higher-level questions to develop children’s mathematical knowledge and vocabularies. It also shows that I ensure the activity prepared are connected to relevant theories and preschool indicators. It is lovely to see children came up with different ways to measure and compare sea animals, and some of them could even link to real-life situations. The evidence also shows I responded to children’s needs as I was able to make resources accessible at all times to support their learning (even they were not resources in the plan).
Reference
Davenport, LA 2012, Numeracy in inclusive early childhood classrooms: Embedding learning opportunities and using effective instructional strategies, The University of Utah.
Reys, RE, Rogers, A, Bennett, S, Cooke, A, Robson, K & Ewing, B 2017, Helping children learn, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Milton, Qld.
2.2 Content selection and organisation
Graduate-level: Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence
During my third placement, my supervising teacher gave me a list called ‘Year 1 Learning Overview Term 3 2020’ which includes all the curriculum subjects need to be covered and taught throughout the term. I chose to teach health, and the learning objectives were to let children explore feelings and emotions, respond to situations appropriately and ask for help when required.
The weekly planner (as attached) shows my knowledge of the content and how I sequence lessons in a logical way. This evidence demonstrates how I introduced the topic of emotions and feelings by reading the picture book ‘The Colour Monster’. I taught five common emotions (scared, sad, happy, loved, and clam) people have in their life and invite students to share their prior knowledge of these emotions in groups. Then I progressively build on the knowledge of each feeling throughout the weeks by preparing engaging activities. For example, students engaged in the book-making activities while they have the opportunities to recount, draw and share their prior experience of how to recognise and cope with positive or negative emotion in table groups. My lesson plan provided with opportunities for students to access prior knowledge and explore the topic through engaging activities before building on their understanding gradually through a series of guided activities (Taylor et al., 2012). I have attached a piece of feedback written by my mentor.
Lessons were planned using a lesson plan template that includes the topic, year level, strand, achievement standards, lesson context (students’ prior knowledge), structure (introduction, body and conclusion) and summary of the lesson. In the summary part, I usually write down the differentiation, learning intentions and objectives of the lesson and make sure students were able to reach their achievable potentials. The lesson plan template also allows me to design a lesson that strictly follows the curriculum. I have attached a copy of the lesson plan template that demonstrate components of one of my lessons.
Reference
Taylor, T, Fahey, C, Kriewaldt, J & Boon, D 2012, 'Place and time: explorations in teaching Geography and History', Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
Once I have decided the central concepts of the lesson, the very first thing I usually do is to have a look at the Australian Curriculum. By selecting the specific content descriptions of a targeted year level, I can see what concepts are being taught in schools, the quality of learning expected of young children as they progress through school and also the level children are expected to achieve at the end of the year. A qualified teacher knows various ways to deliver knowledge to students and understand children have different learning levels.
In my third placement, I ran a maths class focus on addition within 20 using split strategy. Before I ran the lesson, I looked at relevant activities other professonal teacher did in their class, and picked up substantial ideas about how to make this new concept more easier for the students. I seek to engage students and provide them with hands-on activities and concrete materials. Therefore, I began the maths lesson by gathering students as a whole group, introduce the concept 'split strategy, demonstrate and clearly show working process on the whiteboard. I wrote problems on the whiteboard and invited children to come to the front and explain their working process. I said to students that do not be afraid of making mistakes, all I want to see is how much you can learn from it. I prepared a set of problems for students and
2.2 Content selection and organisation
Graduate-level: Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence.
During my third placement, my supervising teacher gave me a list called the 'Year 1 Learning Overview Term 3 2020' which included all the curriculum areas need to be covered and taught throughout the term. I chose to teach health, and the learning objectives are to let children explore feelings and emotions and read body language and respond to situations appropriately and ask for help when required.
The weekly planner shows my knowledge of the content and how I sequence lessons in a logical way. This evidence demonstrates how I introduced the topic of emotions and feelings by reading the picture book 'The Colour Monster'. I taught five common emotions (scared, sad, happy, loved, and clam) people have in their life and invited students to share their prior knowledge of these emotions in groups. Then I progressively build on students' understandings of each feeling throughout the weeks by preparing rich learning experiences. For example, students engaged in the book-making activities which they had opportunities to recount, draw and share their prior experience of dealing with a positive or negative feeling in table groups. Students were first provided with opportunities to access prior knowledge and explore the topic through engaging activities before building on their understanding of emotional management gradually through a series of guided activities (Taylor et al., 2012).
Lessons were planned using a lesson plan template that includes a topic, year level, strand, achievement standards, lesson context, the structure of a lesson (introduction, body and conclusion) and summary of the lesson. In the summary part, I usually write down the differentiation, learning intentions and objectives of the lesson and make sure students were able to reach their achievable potentials. The lesson plan template also allowed me to design a lesson that strictly follows the curriculum. I have attached a copy of the lesson plan template that demonstrate components of one of my lessons.
Evidence 2.6: Interactive quiz about 3D shapes
2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
Graduate-level: Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages.
The Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2018) highlights and acknowledges the gap in learning outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Islander students and non-Aboriginal peers. As an early childhood educator, it is of our responsibility to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures into our class and encourage all children to engage in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures (Harrison & Greenfield 2011). However, it is considered ineffective for young children to learn Aboriginal history and culture without linking to their prior experience, and most children could not understand the underlying meaning behind the learning experience. Teachers cannot deliver a learning experience just because they want to. For example, when a teacher prepared a provocation table about the dot painting, the teacher would need to consider the reason why I think dot painting is a proper provocation for children (e.g. whether it is based on children’s interests, your observation). Then the teacher would also need to decide whether the resource use is appropriate. This means whether the resources you choose must be highly pertinent to the resources Aboriginals people use in their real life. In the case above, the use cotton tips for a dot painting is not a good choice as this is not the way aboriginal people draw, even though it is a convenient tool for young children to use in order to get excellent dot paintings (Fasoli & Ford 2001). As an early childhood educator, we teach young children Aboriginal histories and culture, not just because we have to. It is the matter of teaching children how to respect the Aboriginal culture and offer authentic experience through various forms. The evidence below strongly demonstrates my knowledge and understanding of respect for Aboriginal and Torrens Strait histories, cultures and languages.
Statistics demonstrate that Aboriginal people are at higher risk of poverty, lower education levels and illnesses. When I undertook the course ‘Foundations of Learning and Development: A Child-Centred approach’, I created a web page shows that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are in disproportionately influenced by poverty and their literacy and numeracy levels are far behind local students. Click on the web page to find more information. https://sherryyliu0613.wixsite.com/living-in-poverty
My last placement in a preschool incorporates Kaurna cultures and histories into learning and student interactions on a daily basis. I wrote an observation of the kindy regarding my findings of Aboriginal cultures (as attached). During the group times in the morning, I prepared and sang Kaurna songs with kids. Once I finished the songs, I always do the acknowledgement of Country and greet teachers and kids in Kaurna language (e.g. Niina Marni, Marni Naa Pudni). I translated these Kaurna words in English to ensure children could understand the meaning. I also read and played Aboriginal dreaming stories in group times and relaxation time. I also took the benefit of the excursion and connected to it as part of children’s learning. I set up a provocation table (sand drawing) for children to explore, which is based on their experience on the excursion. The evidence shows that I have chosen content and learning activities that demonstrate board knowledge, understanding, and respect for Aboriginal people. I’ve attached a web planning which shows all the learning experiences I implemented during my last placement.
Reference
Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority [ACARA] 2018, Australian Curriculum F-10, Australian Government, viewed 16 November 2020, <https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/>.
Fasoli, L & Ford, M 2001, ‘Indigenous early childhood educators' narratives: relationships, not activities’, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 18–22.
Harrison, N & Greenfield, M 2011, ‘Relationship to place: positioning aboriginal knowledge and perspectives in classroom pedagogies’, Critical Studies in Education, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 65–76.
Evidence 2.6: Interactive quiz about 3D shapes
2.6 Information and Communication Technology
Graduate-level: Implement teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum learning opportunities for students.
ICTS are everywhere in the classroom. The use of ICTs by early childhood educators is mainly for presenting purposes such as projection technologies, images, graphics, videos and animations. These are the technologies that used most by the teachers (Uluyol and Sahin 2016). Study indicates that benefits of using technologies in the classroom increase children’s motivation, communication, decision-making, self-confidence, comprehension and expression (Uluyol and Sahin 2016, p. 71). All of these are highly desirable outcomes in educational settings. The evidence below demonstrates my ability to incorporated various forms of technology into my teaching practice and feedback wrote by my mentor teacher.
During my second placement, I showed students a video clip that explained the use of adjectives with vivid animation and dialogues as an introduction to the topic. I discovered that students engaged in and enjoyed watching the video and more importantly, children can pick up key points they learned from the video.
During my second junior primary placement, I used presentation slides to help me structure my lessons. Children were very engaged and showed interests in the content. When I was planning a maths lesson about the recognition of 3D shapes, I prepared an interactive quiz that showed pictures of real-life objects. I could see students' enthusiasm in answering the questions, and they were competing with each other to get the correct answers. I have attached the PowerPoint Slides of the interactive quiz I downloaded from Twinkl. Another maths lesson I prepared was to invite children to come to the front and use the smartboard tools (pens) to answer questions shown on the smartboard. They were asked to draw dots needed to make a ten.
Reference
Uluyol, Ç & Şahin, S 2016, ‘Elementary school teachers' ICT use in the classroom and their motivators for using ICT’, British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 65–75.