PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Know students and how they learn
- 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students
- 1.2 Understand how students learn
- 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
- 1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
- 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities
- 1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with disability
I also ask my students to answer some questions to determine their learning style and their interests (see learner questionnaire), which help me to plan my lessons more effectively. I ascertain my students' individual strengths and weaknesses and identify their prior knowledge with little diagnostic activities (e.g. mini whiteboards, short quizzes, language games, brain teasers).
In addition, I make sure I alter my way of giving instructions, integrating verbal and visual instructions, and sometimes using the more confident students as examples, calling them to the whiteboard. I want to make sure I equip all students with the tools to attain success, therefore I scaffold and model the skills they need to master. In a Language classroom, students might be challenged by the idea of learning a new and unfamiliar language, they might have limited experience and a different perspective. My objective is not to take things for granted, and explicitly teach the target language and the cognitive strategies used to learn it, alongside culture, history and geography elements .
I realise my cultural heritage might be a disadvantage when it comes to understanding and knowledge of the Indigenous cultures and histories; however, my aim is to work in the Cairns region, where the presence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is well above the national average. As a consequence, one of my objectives is to fill the gap in my knowledge, to assist in developing inclusive and effective teaching strategies. I undertook further studies to fill the gap in my professional knowledge. I studied elements of anthropology and ethnology in Australia across time and space, and I also attended Professional Development (PD) sessions provided by the School of Education on embedding Indigenous perspectives in the curriculum. In my first semester as pre-service teacher I read the chapters “Aboriginal Ways of Learning” (Harrison, 2011) and “Rethinking literacy in a culturally diverse classroom” (Rennie, 2010), and these readings informed me on the dangers of putting all Indigenous students under the umbrella of visual and collaborative learners. There are, indeed, many different learning styles amongst Indigenous students, and many strategies to cater for them. For example, it is possible to identify a number of teaching approaches successfully implemented in remote communities; however, it may be argued that these strategies are equally effective with all learners, simply because they represent best practice.
I find that the 'I do, we do, you do' model works very well in the language classroom. I tend to use the 'you do' session to differentiate, assist and/or extend, using often online resources (e.g. Language Perfect). The 'you do' session also offers the opportunity for informal assessment, which then guides my planning for the following lesson. I try and make opportunities to work in small groups, using little crafts, kinaesthetic activities and games, to give students some extra time to consolidate their learning.
I organise lunchtime tutorials for small groups, and some students really welcome the opportunity to work in a less formal environment, where overstimulation is less likely. They can ask questions to clarify their understanding without having to speak in front of a large group, and we work to build their confidence. During tutorials, students can also work on their homework in a supervised environment, and they get that support they might not have home.
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This downloadable document is an example of
the learner questionnaire my students fill in when I meet them for the first time. |
Language Perfect allows me to differentiate,
assist and/or extend through strategic repetition of the key language. It is a great tool for informal assessment and data analysis. |
Know the content and how to teach it
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
2.2 Content selection and organisation
2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting
2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
To meet Standard 2, teachers need to develop a strong pedagogical content knowledge. I borrow strategies from different learning areas to make language lessons more engaging. I integrate the four skills (listening, speaking,reading and writing) in all my lessons, especially with the older students, using authentic resources such as music, literature, original textbooks, magazines, TV programs and much more. I use physical resources for the students to manipulate and simple 'dance routines' so the students can associate movements and words. I am fully aware of the cognitive demands of learning a new language, because I was a EAL/D student.
When planning units of work, I adopt a macro-skills/micro-skills approach. I therefore start from the National Curriculum to identify the content descriptors and the elaborations I want to focus on, and then I design the assessment tasks and criteria sheet. Once my objectives are clear, I can start working on the teaching sequence, to make sure the students can successfully complete the required tasks.
I share annotated teaching PPTs, links and other resources on the school drive, so the students can have access to the material 24/7. For IB students, I upload classwork, assessment tasks and feedback on the IB website Managebac. I also use Language Perfect (see above) to guide my planning. I can create content or 'lists' for the students to work on, and this program sends me reports of completion, with data of student achievement and a list of words they found difficult to memorise. These lists are directly related to the language we use in class, so they are a great consolidation activity. Through Language Perfect, students have immediate feedback and can check their progress themselves.
I explicitly teach grammar to my students, therefore our lessons have a strong literacy component. Learning an additional language helps the students to reflect on their main language, and to understand some its structure. Also, students develop their critical thinking skills, because they are required to make meaning from the different clues of a text, not just words. I often incorporate numeracy in my lesson too, and encourage my students to solve simple equations in the target language.
I try to promote reconciliation in the language classroom comparing timelines of Italian and Indigenous history, comparing art, housing, clothing, medicine, ceremonies and religious beliefs. With the senior classes, we discuss the arrival of the Italian migrants in the Cairns area, and their impact on the Indigenous communities.
2.2 Content selection and organisation
2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting
2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
To meet Standard 2, teachers need to develop a strong pedagogical content knowledge. I borrow strategies from different learning areas to make language lessons more engaging. I integrate the four skills (listening, speaking,reading and writing) in all my lessons, especially with the older students, using authentic resources such as music, literature, original textbooks, magazines, TV programs and much more. I use physical resources for the students to manipulate and simple 'dance routines' so the students can associate movements and words. I am fully aware of the cognitive demands of learning a new language, because I was a EAL/D student.
When planning units of work, I adopt a macro-skills/micro-skills approach. I therefore start from the National Curriculum to identify the content descriptors and the elaborations I want to focus on, and then I design the assessment tasks and criteria sheet. Once my objectives are clear, I can start working on the teaching sequence, to make sure the students can successfully complete the required tasks.
I share annotated teaching PPTs, links and other resources on the school drive, so the students can have access to the material 24/7. For IB students, I upload classwork, assessment tasks and feedback on the IB website Managebac. I also use Language Perfect (see above) to guide my planning. I can create content or 'lists' for the students to work on, and this program sends me reports of completion, with data of student achievement and a list of words they found difficult to memorise. These lists are directly related to the language we use in class, so they are a great consolidation activity. Through Language Perfect, students have immediate feedback and can check their progress themselves.
I explicitly teach grammar to my students, therefore our lessons have a strong literacy component. Learning an additional language helps the students to reflect on their main language, and to understand some its structure. Also, students develop their critical thinking skills, because they are required to make meaning from the different clues of a text, not just words. I often incorporate numeracy in my lesson too, and encourage my students to solve simple equations in the target language.
I try to promote reconciliation in the language classroom comparing timelines of Italian and Indigenous history, comparing art, housing, clothing, medicine, ceremonies and religious beliefs. With the senior classes, we discuss the arrival of the Italian migrants in the Cairns area, and their impact on the Indigenous communities.