The day

Videos for exploring grammar and punctuation

Phonetic Pronounciation- Celebrating Victor Borge's Birthday! 

It is 104 years since the birth of comedian Victor Borge. His well known 'Phonetic Pronunciation' sketch is a classic. This video is perfect for exploring how we use grammar and punctuation.

More Recent Humorous Punctuation Videos

Commas are a Matter of Life and Death- 

A fantastic short video based on the Panda who 'Eats Shoots and Leaves.'

Some Parodies relating to 'bad grammar' and punctuation

EDF4314 Jack Lawicki Multimodal Autobiography

Five things I took out of placement!

Five things I took out of during placement.

1. Cooperative learning: 

It is not only Hattie who realises the benefit of cooperative learning but the students do too! When students were provided the opportunity to reflect and give feedback on their learning and teaching they continuously highlighted that 'working in pairs or groups' was the 'best' part of the lesson because they felt they could teach others and get others to teach them. Based on this I will endeavour to continuously provide opportunities for cooperative learning next year.

2. Improved 'Learning intentions and success criteria': 

Not only making the learning intention explicit but also measurably achievable has a significant impact on students attitudes and motivation to learn. For example a learning intention such as, 'To build upon your understanding of multiplication by using different strategies to problem solve multiplication sums.' and an appropriate success criteria like, 'I can use three different strategies to solve multiplication sums and explain how i have used them.' Plus explanation of why the intention is purposeful and how you have high expectations that all students will improve at multiplication if they master three strategies gets students focused, motivated and appropriately challenged. I was flabbergasted when one child who is often disengaged and not interested started really applying himself at learning multiplication strategies during one maths lesson. A following discussion with him revealed that his motivation was that he understood if her mastered the three strategies he would improve on his multiplication thus wanted to master them.

3. Supportive relationships with colleagues are so important in teaching: 

I don't think I'd survive a week in a school without supportive colleagues around me. When things go wrong it is always good to have people to talk it over with and help you reflect on what you would do next time.

4. People love to share their interests with your class and the kids love hearing from people about their passions: 

I organised for a Monash Professor of Geo-science to talk to my grade over Skype about their Inquiry unit on The Earth. Not only did the kids love his visual and interesting explanations but he really enjoyed speaking to them and sharing his passion. I will definitely attempt to make contact and connections with such passionate experts and my classes.

Some thank you notes to the Professor who Skyped with us.

5. Don't forget your mates outside of work!

I feel like I didn't see anyone outside of placement over the last month. I really don't think that is sustainable into the future for my mental, emotional and social health. I will endeavour to have regular catch up with mates.

Mapping Lesson using Explain Everything

Reflection on my first full week of teaching: Hattie and my students needs

My aims for the week inspired by Hattie

I survived my first full week of teaching! I still had the training wheels on knowing that my mentor was always their for support if everything went really pear shaped. Overall I think I went pretty well! 

Based on Hattie's Visible Learning for Teachers I aimed to focus on two important things:

• making the learning intentions explicit.
• providing a number of opportunities for cooperative learning.

Making the learning intentions explicit! 

I went in with the intention of making each lessons learning intentions and success criteria explicit to the students (See photo). I wrote intentions on a  laminated poster template (until I realised it was becoming hard to clear the whiteboard maker off so I started using a space on the board with movable magnetic headings). I also discussed the importance of the intention and the success criteria used to gauge if we were successful at achieving the intention. This strategy was really effective. 

Generally students became focused on the important aspects of the lesson and those that got off task were easily bought back on the right path by simply asking them to look at our intention. For example in one lesson we focused on pronoun use. Some students got caught up planning their characters in detail when we began planning for our writing. A simple, 'While character development is important when we write remember this session is a short writing session with a focus on the specific skill of using pronouns. Have a look at the intentions and success criteria.' 

The general reply was, 'Oh yeah true!I need to concentrate on that' and students re-focused their work in relation to the intended learning.

Provide cooperative learning opportunities

I also intended to provided plenty of cooperative learning opportunities. Group problem solving activities, peer tutors, sharing of strategies and constructive feedback on peers work. 

I admit to being drawn back to the importance of cooperative learning recently when reading parts of Hattie's work and seeing the high effect cooperative learning had on student achievement. I have become aware, and been a part, of some twitter debate surrounding the usefulness of research like Hattie's work in the real classroom and for all students. Inspired by such debate and my intention to meet the needs of all my students I asked.

What helped my students learn this week in maths!

I asked the students who were in my maths group this week, 'What parts of the lessons  helped you learn the most about decimals?'

As expected the maths games on the computer were a popular answer. 

However,  the students generally agreed that the thing that helped them the most was being able to work with their peers during the activities. 

I asked one student to write her answer down.

 'Working with a partner because they can teach you how they work it out and you can learn from them. You can also teach them your way. If your way doesn't work out you can try using your partners way. It is good working with groups.'

Hattie and my students needs

While I feel that I am not well read or experienced enough to provide a quality contribution to the Hattie discussion I do feel that his work is helping me as a student-teacher to decide what I should include in my classroom. There is a lot of theories, strategies, suggestions and goobly gook to get our head around as student teachers. It is easy to miss the important things like making sure we provide opportunities for cooperative learning.

Hattie' work has given me a little guidance about what to include in my lessons and it turns out cooperative learning assists the students I am currently working with learn.

A changing understanding of teachers work: 2009-2012

I started my Education degree thinking that teachers came to school ten minutes before class and spontaneously thought up a fun activity related to the topic of their choice. I thought those really well prepared experienced teachers might have made notes about what they came up with this time last year and rehashed what worked. I thought that when the bell rang the teacher would jump in their Camry and return home.

I understood that teachers needed to know their students and the content they teach and that was about it.

I was in for a shock over the course of my education degree but one I have come to be really impressed by.

The existence of a curriculum was the first big one, 'So there is actually a document we need to look at?

And there are strategies to teach this content! 

How do we plan to fit it all in?

Is there enough hours in the year? 

Oh integrating topics! That is smart! But wait what about...' 

Assessment was the next, 'So we have to actually base our judgment of students understanding of this content on evidence?' 

And then it got really crazy. 

'This assessment doesn't necessarily have to be tests! 

Photos, work samples, film, interviews and so on! We can use this data to inform our planning! 

We can pinpoint students needs and even differentiate groups based on it! 

We can benefit enormously by considering all this in collaboration with our peers!

All that is going to take time!'

The value of Professional Development came a little later. Then the realisation of the importance of connecting to the wider community. 

I went from thinking I'd be rocking up at eight fifty winging the day full of lessons and doing the same thing year after year to realising the career path I had chosen requires a whole lot more. The hours planning, collaborating, considering assessment evidence, re-planning, continually perfecting your practice through professional development and the list goes on. The holidays are not even worth all of that!..... but knowing that you are becoming the best professional teacher you can be and knowing that putting in all those hours will ultimately impact on your students lives, even if it is in a minuscule way, is totally worth it!