EDUC404: Professional Classroom Practice

Professional Experience Activities
EDUC404:
Professional Classroom Practice
(10 day block)
Primary Setting
Professional Experience Activities
EDUC404: Professional Classroom Practice
This first primary school professional experience placement is a 10 day block placement. During this two week placement you are expected to immerse yourself in the life of the school and develop your understanding not only of teaching and learning in a classroom context, but also of the wider context of the school. As this is your first professional experience placement, this fortnight is seen as a very important component of your journey towards becoming a teacher and an opportunity for you, your supervising teacher and your unit lecturers to determine your suitability for and commitment to teaching. This first placement is assessed against modified focus areas of teaching standards 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 (see pages 10 - 12).
Upon successful completion of this professional experience, you should:
show a capacity to be thoughtful and questioning with respect to observations and experiences within a school environment;
demonstrate an understanding of the attributes and responsibilities of effective learners and teachers;
demonstrate critical reflection about curriculum and pedagogy as relevant to the teaching and learning of students through observation of and interaction with teachers and students and through appropriate recording and reflecting;
demonstrate an awareness of the skills of critical reflection as a feature of professional learning;
through observation, demonstrate critical reflection about effective levels of classroom management and responsiveness to individual students including appropriate teaching strategies; and
Communicate with teachers, students and all other school personnel in an effective and professional manner.
During the 10 day placement, while you will be assigned to a supervising teacher and his/her class, you are also expected to seek opportunities to visit other classes, with the agreement of both your supervising teacher and the other classroom teacher(s) in order to observe a range of stages and types of lessons.
During the first week the focus is on watching and interacting with students in order to build relationships. This extended period of observation is necessary for you to observe modelling of activities, interactions and teacher responses prior to commencing any teaching of your own. In this first placement you are NOT expected to teach a whole class, but you should be ready, with your supervising teacher’s guidance, to take small group activities in the second week.
The specific activities for this placement are outlined in the next section. Please note: these activities assist with assignment 3 and external students are encouraged to complete their placement between 6th to 24th May (Trimester 1) or 5th to 30th August (Trimester 2) to benefit from this experience. No student may COMMENCE a placement prior to 6th May (Trimester 1) or 5th August (Trimester 2).
Professional Experience Activities – Week 1
(AITSL Domain - Professional Knowledge)
During Week 1 you are required to observe as many different teaching situations as you can. This is to include your own classroom, but should also include library lessons, computer lessons and other activities that your class is involved in. It should also include you visiting other classrooms to observe classes in different stages.
You will need to negotiate with your supervising teacher in order to complete all of your tasks.
A: Situation Analysis
This range of professional experience activities orients you to the nature of schools and the role of a teacher. Reflections should be discussed with your supervising teacher.

During this first week, you are required to closely observe certain features of the school in which you are placed. These observations will form the basis of your developing conceptualisation of a school and the ‘home’ classroom. You will be particularly considering the roles and responsibilities of a teacher.
Mapping the School
Create an annotated map of the overall school that includes:
The physical layout (label each space in detail)
Annotate the map with the people who work in each space and their various roles in the school.
Reflect on the importance of inter-relationships within a school context (approximately 100 words). NB. These reflections are not assessed but can assist with your last assignment!


Learning environments are very sensitive to the kind of relationships that exist between the parties that are involved. In the case of a primary school context, this calls for a cordial relationship between the teachers and the students. It is crucial that the teachers develop these relationships through participating in professional conversations that are built around sharing their professional experiences in their career. Such are the forums that the teachers can use to share their observations that are documented, expertise, strategies as well help each other with difficult situations regarding teaching practice. On the other hand the relationship between the teachers and their students is fundamental to any learning environment. The student-teacher relationship is one of the factors that affects the ability of the students and the teachers to reach their full potential. It is also crucial that the teachers have healthy relationships with the non-teaching staff as they are part of the social setup (EMSTAC, 2013).
Ask for a copy of the school mission statement and reflect on what this means in terms of the school’s ethos for teaching and learning (approximately 100 words).


The mission statement of the school sets the school on a path to achieving quality education within the social structure of today’s ever changing environment. It provides the students with the right thrust in the professional and personal lives, by providing the students with the highest standards of learning within the Muslim environment. This therefore requires the teachers to sculpture their lessons and other learning activities, in line with the Islamic social code. As such the students are able to learn all the fundamental elements of being a Muslim and at the same time enjoy their curriculum activities in the formal learning (EDUTOPIA, 2011). This brings about a positive ethos in the school community, which in turn yields a respected social environment, fostering an overall suitable environment for learning both to the students and the teachers alike.
Briefly describe the neighbourhood and community setting of the school. For example: number of buses/how children arrives at school, type of accommodation, activities students are involved in outside of school, etc. How might this affect teaching and learning in the school? (approximately 150 words).

The school provides the student and the teachers alike with a serine environment that motivates learning. The school having been started off as one of the projects of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, it receives overwhelming support from the neighboring communities (Islamic College of Brisbane, 2013). Children are picked by the buses designated for the various sections of the area, specifically from strategic pickup and drop off points. Other than the academic activities, the college has a philosophy of involving the students in sports together with the Islamic education. Their sports programs are divided into two categories, that is the primary and secondary categories. The primary category is inclusive of swimming, basketball, soccer, cross country among other all of which are part of the intra school sports. The secondary sporting activities are inclusive of the primary sports set up into competitions within the school (Intra School) or with other schools as tournaments. These sports activities highly influence the learning and teaching activities. For one, they provide the students with the chance to interact with students in the school as well as from other schools. They are also a great platform for the teachers to interact with the students and build healthy and trustworthy relationships. These relationships that are built out there in the fields of play are extended to class creating a very conducive learning atmosphere (Islamic College of Brisbane, 2013).
The Classroom
Physical Environment:
Note the approximate size of the room and the number of children.
Draw an annotated plan of the classroom, showing the arrangement and size of furniture and its uses. Indicate storage facilities, display space, chalkboard/whiteboard space and any other special features. Include the desk arrangement, indicating student names (this helps you to remember names), room displays and computer faculties
Reflection: Note what makes this classroom unique – how is it a reflection of your supervising teacher’s teaching identity? (approximately 150 words)

The class is made up of thirty students, all of whom are seated in the class within very neat columns. This class is very unique as the sitting arrangement makes it very easy for any teacher to move around to any position in the classroom. There are five columns and six rows in total, with relatively fair gender distribution. While supervising it is easy to see and assess all the students’ attention and the way the y relate with the teacher and the content of the subject. The class arrangement is very crucial when it comes to the way the teacher is able to pass on the content, such that some of the students are not left behind as they are either too far from the teacher and therefore easily distracted. This arrangement therefore makes this class very unique to teaching and supervising experience. The students also have an easier time listening to the teachers as they do not have to spend a lot of energy straining their hearing.

Classroom Management
Make a copy of the teacher’s timetable.
List any daily routines.
List additional staff/volunteers in the classroom and the roles they undertake.
Make note of how computer use is supervised and managed and the ways computers are used to enhance learning outcomes. Note also other uses of technology in the classroom
Reflection: How can technology enhance the quality of learning? (approximately 100 words).

The old teaching methods were okay for the teaching practise, but, now with the technology in the classrooms, it brings a whole new world of information that would take a lot of time and effort to come by. The internet foe example is a world of knowledge database, which the teachers and the students can rely on. Where the teachers have information gaps, it is much easier to go to the internet and browse for more. As for the students it becomes much easier for them to reinforce what the teachers have given them in class with more information from the internet. In class projectors are also a good tool to use with the students in class. It is much easier for the teachers to bring the visuals aspects of the subject material, which leaves a lasting memory in the students where pictures are involved. With the world trends using the technology platforms now more than ever, the students that are used to the technology uses in class and out of class, have the ability to appreciate the potential that lies ahead and are therefore more open minded to technology advancements rather than shy away from global development trends (K12Reader, 2012).
Teacher strategies
Note the way the teacher:
Attracts and maintains students’ attention.
Begins and closes the day.
Manages interruptions to teaching and distractions in lessons.
Maintains tidiness of room and equipment.
Moves students between lessons
Enters/re-enters the classroom after breaks.
Reflection: What is the value of these strategies in quality teaching? (approximately 150 words)

Learning can be very involving and the students are young and therefore there are also prone to getting distracted. Unlike in adults learning where the adult students are distracted by the responsibilities that lie ahead of them, the younger students are distracted by rather inconsequential aspects apart from a few isolated cases. Either way there is need to provide breaks in between the lessons, such that the students have time to relax their brains as well as internalize what they have leant. These breaks therefore prepare the students for the other lessons psychologically, which in essence greatly influences the amount of attention they give to the following lessons and activities. Some of the subjects’ contents are rather involving while others are much easier to teach and learn. It is therefore important to understand this and also the kind of attitude that the class has towards the subjects, this way the teacher is able to validate the best methods to use in order to make sure that the students stay attentive and actually understand and enjoy the content.

B: Classroom Observations
Specific lesson observation
Making classroom observations is an important part of the process of learning to teach. The framework for completing observations during week 1 of this professional experience (see page 13) should be used for the observation of a minimum of three lessons. Ensure that you look at:
A lesson that incorporates creative arts strategies
A lesson with an explicit focus on reading
A lesson that develops numeracy
Issues of gender, race or class
Make observations of classroom interactions over at least two sessions. Annotate the impact of these issues on these interactions. Note also the teacher’s approach to addressing the issues. Reflect on how gender, race and/or class may impact on teaching and learning (approximately 150 words)


The way that the students interact within the class setting can be subject to a myriad of reasons, the more commons ones that are very conspicuous are race, gender and the social class. As far as gender goes, this is usually because one set of the gender is feeling rather inferior to the other and thus are more likely to shy away from being humiliated. In most of the cases it is the girls that feel inferior to the boys. As such it is likely that the girls will have a much tougher time fitting in the class activities, than the boys, considering that the boys are more confident. The girls thus end up ragging behind, not because they are less intellect than the boys, but because it is much harder for them to stay in the class leave alone ask questions if they have academic problems. Racial discrimination is one other vice that can hamper the students from leaning properly in class as students feel inferior just as students from poor social classes feel. Inferiority complex hinders the students from realizing their academic goals as well as makes it hard for the teacher to reach out to them.
Professional Experience Activities – Week 2
(AITSL Domain - Professional Practice)
A: Formal lesson observation
During Week 2 you are required to make more formal observations of at least two lessons per day and discuss your reflections with your supervising teacher. A teaching and learning cycle scaffold for this purpose is on pages 14 - 17.
B: Small group teaching
In collaboration with your supervising teacher, work at least twice with a small group of children in any curriculum area appropriate to the classroom context. You need to formally plan these activities (a proforma is included on pages 18 and 19) and you may be required to create resources depending on the activities.
It could be that you take responsibility for a reading activity, for a small group game or a focus activity in English. You MUST discuss your plan for each activity with your supervising teacher at least 24 hours before you are scheduled to teach. You need to write a record of each activity, showing the number of students, the aim(s) of activity, what actually was taught and your responses to these teaching experiences.
Professional Experience Activity – Weeks 1 and 2
Resource Collection
You are expected to develop a collection of ideas and materials that will assist in teaching practice sessions. The resource collection should be added to throughout the two weeks. It is suggested that initially material be organised under specific curriculum headings in either an expanding file or thick loose-leaf folders.
Other non-curriculum sections should also be included. e.g.:
Classroom Management
Themes
Ideas for Display
Assessment & Evaluation
Reporting procedures
Naturally, as the collection expands throughout all placements a separate file will be needed for each stage. You may find it more effective to develop separate sections for each school experience. Other resources and ideas would include:
Programming and planning proformas
Record keeping
Lesson plans
Teaching methods
Books - author, title, publisher, source, price, suitability
Assessment e.g. Checklists
recording of results, attainments, etc
Collections - songs, music, poems, stories, craft, art, special occasion
Websites.

 School of Education
Faculty of the Professions

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REPORT FORM (PrEx1 10 Days)

STUDENT’S NAME:
SCHOOL:
DATES OF PLACEMENT: fro...