Standard Two:
Know The Content and How To Teach It
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2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area
Apply knowledge of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area to develop engaging teaching activities.
This standard addresses the way that specific subject areas (for me English and History) need to be taught in specific ways. This is reflected in the Australian Curriculum with the requirements for different subjects set out differently. At a high school level, history is taught with an overview and three depth studies with the curriculum guiding what content will be covered (for example World War II, Rights and Freedoms and the Globalising World at Year 10 level). English however does not mandate particular content but focuses on three strands of skills - language, literature and literacy.
History (and Australian history in particular) seems to be a subject that students do not engage with well and while content is broadly mandated teachers are free to use their own pedagogical strategies to engage and inform their students. This can be done by using discovery or inquiry based approaches to learning (to get students to take ownership of the topic) and by making use of available technology.
For example, the ACARA history curriculum requires Year Nine History students to learn about places where Australia fought during World War One. Rather than just giving students information to read and learn about Gallipoli, I chose to use could have them use ABC's Gallipoli: The First Day (http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/) a beautifully made interactive website which students can explore to discover information. To give the activity more structure, I incorporated this tool into a larger task that asked students to act as journalists, reporting on the Gallipoli campaign. This allows students to be more invested in the learning because they are responsible for making their own discoveries, but also contains students to the topic because you a providing a specific space within which they can explore.
Of course to teach subject specific content effectively the teacher must have a firm grasp on it herself. I have performed well in my Bachelor of Arts degree (receiving five Dean's Commendations) during which time I studied a range of History and English courses giving me a thorough ground on both subject matter and skills. Below is an excerpt from my practicum report commenting on my content knowledge.
Apply knowledge of the content and teaching strategies of the teaching area to develop engaging teaching activities.
This standard addresses the way that specific subject areas (for me English and History) need to be taught in specific ways. This is reflected in the Australian Curriculum with the requirements for different subjects set out differently. At a high school level, history is taught with an overview and three depth studies with the curriculum guiding what content will be covered (for example World War II, Rights and Freedoms and the Globalising World at Year 10 level). English however does not mandate particular content but focuses on three strands of skills - language, literature and literacy.
History (and Australian history in particular) seems to be a subject that students do not engage with well and while content is broadly mandated teachers are free to use their own pedagogical strategies to engage and inform their students. This can be done by using discovery or inquiry based approaches to learning (to get students to take ownership of the topic) and by making use of available technology.
For example, the ACARA history curriculum requires Year Nine History students to learn about places where Australia fought during World War One. Rather than just giving students information to read and learn about Gallipoli, I chose to use could have them use ABC's Gallipoli: The First Day (http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/) a beautifully made interactive website which students can explore to discover information. To give the activity more structure, I incorporated this tool into a larger task that asked students to act as journalists, reporting on the Gallipoli campaign. This allows students to be more invested in the learning because they are responsible for making their own discoveries, but also contains students to the topic because you a providing a specific space within which they can explore.
Of course to teach subject specific content effectively the teacher must have a firm grasp on it herself. I have performed well in my Bachelor of Arts degree (receiving five Dean's Commendations) during which time I studied a range of History and English courses giving me a thorough ground on both subject matter and skills. Below is an excerpt from my practicum report commenting on my content knowledge.
In addition, this graph shows the responses my Year 10 English class of 2014 gave when asked to rate the way "Miss Reid understands the subject she is teaching and can help me access the information I need".
Professional Learning relating to this standard:
SAETA Stage 1 and Two Refresher Course (7 February 2015)
IB Training: South Australian Middle Years Program Coordinators' Group ( 19 February 2015)
SAETA Stage 1 and Two Refresher Course (7 February 2015)
IB Training: South Australian Middle Years Program Coordinators' Group ( 19 February 2015)
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2.2 Content selection and organisation
Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence.
This standard addresses the need for teachers to organise learning activities in logical sequences that flow thematically and allow students to continually build on and develop existing knowledge and skills.
It is important to map out content before commencing a unit to ensure that all curriculum requirements are being met and that appropriate time has been allowed for students to complete assessment to the best of their ability. However this plan will remain a working document throughout the teaching of a particular unit and teachers must be flexible and willing to alter and rearrange activities and timing to suit the needs of their students and of the school calendar. Displayed is one draft of the unit overview I created for a Year Nine English unit. Due to excursions, public holidays, student extra-curricular activities and activities just taking different amounts of time than anticipated, this overview was altered four or five times before completion.
Professional Learning relating to this standard:
SAETA Stage 1 and Two Refresher Course (7 February 2015)
IB Training: South Australian Middle Years Program Coordinators' Group ( 19 February 2015)
Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence.
This standard addresses the need for teachers to organise learning activities in logical sequences that flow thematically and allow students to continually build on and develop existing knowledge and skills.
It is important to map out content before commencing a unit to ensure that all curriculum requirements are being met and that appropriate time has been allowed for students to complete assessment to the best of their ability. However this plan will remain a working document throughout the teaching of a particular unit and teachers must be flexible and willing to alter and rearrange activities and timing to suit the needs of their students and of the school calendar. Displayed is one draft of the unit overview I created for a Year Nine English unit. Due to excursions, public holidays, student extra-curricular activities and activities just taking different amounts of time than anticipated, this overview was altered four or five times before completion.
Professional Learning relating to this standard:
SAETA Stage 1 and Two Refresher Course (7 February 2015)
IB Training: South Australian Middle Years Program Coordinators' Group ( 19 February 2015)
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2.3 Curriculum, assessment and reporting
Design and implement learning and teaching programs using knowledge of curriculum, assessment and reporting requirements.
Standard 2.3 refers to the ability to create unit and lessons plans that meet all the necessary requirements of the student, school and associated curriculum and accreditation bodies (ACARA, SACE, IB). Working at Pedare Christian College has allowed me to do this is a collaborative manner through utilisation of curriculum planning days and more informal meetings. Working within the IB MYP and SACE frameworks have also made the planning process more streamlined by providing unit plan and task sheet pro-formas. Evidence of various unit plans, lesson plans, assessment sheets and grade spreadsheets I have worked with can be seen below.
Professional Learning relating to this standard:
IB Training: South Australian Middle Years Program Coordinators' Group ( 19 February 2015)
Design and implement learning and teaching programs using knowledge of curriculum, assessment and reporting requirements.
Standard 2.3 refers to the ability to create unit and lessons plans that meet all the necessary requirements of the student, school and associated curriculum and accreditation bodies (ACARA, SACE, IB). Working at Pedare Christian College has allowed me to do this is a collaborative manner through utilisation of curriculum planning days and more informal meetings. Working within the IB MYP and SACE frameworks have also made the planning process more streamlined by providing unit plan and task sheet pro-formas. Evidence of various unit plans, lesson plans, assessment sheets and grade spreadsheets I have worked with can be seen below.
Professional Learning relating to this standard:
IB Training: South Australian Middle Years Program Coordinators' Group ( 19 February 2015)
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2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
Provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages
This standard refers to the need of teachers to use pedagogical strategies and teach content that fosters respect for A&TSI cultures and promotes reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This standard is in line with one of the three cross-curriculum priorities identified by ACARA.
Teaching Australian history from multiple perspectives and including Indigenous views, achievements/events and historiographical methods, discussing and utilising different ways of telling stories and using language (including oral and pictorial traditions) and acknowledging and explaining cultural and spiritual connections to the land are all important focuses that are relevant to teaching in the humanities fields of English, History and Geography.
One particular unit I feel as though I did this well was a Year Nine history unit on early Britsih settlement of Australia. Students were able to link there historical learning with their novel study unit on the text Nanberry by Jackie French from their English class to explore what this settlement meant for Indigenous Australians and supplement their learning through role-playing games such rabbits and bilbies (_http://www.myplace.edu.au/teaching_activities/1878_-_before_time/1788/1/the_encounter.html) to understand how being exposed to an unfamiliar culture and being forced to adapt may feel.
Professional Learning relating to this standard:
IEUSA Training: ATSI Histories and Cultures - English
Provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages
This standard refers to the need of teachers to use pedagogical strategies and teach content that fosters respect for A&TSI cultures and promotes reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This standard is in line with one of the three cross-curriculum priorities identified by ACARA.
Teaching Australian history from multiple perspectives and including Indigenous views, achievements/events and historiographical methods, discussing and utilising different ways of telling stories and using language (including oral and pictorial traditions) and acknowledging and explaining cultural and spiritual connections to the land are all important focuses that are relevant to teaching in the humanities fields of English, History and Geography.
One particular unit I feel as though I did this well was a Year Nine history unit on early Britsih settlement of Australia. Students were able to link there historical learning with their novel study unit on the text Nanberry by Jackie French from their English class to explore what this settlement meant for Indigenous Australians and supplement their learning through role-playing games such rabbits and bilbies (_http://www.myplace.edu.au/teaching_activities/1878_-_before_time/1788/1/the_encounter.html) to understand how being exposed to an unfamiliar culture and being forced to adapt may feel.
Professional Learning relating to this standard:
IEUSA Training: ATSI Histories and Cultures - English
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2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
Apply knowledge and understanding of effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy and numeracy achievement.
As a teacher it is essential to support and develop strong literacy and numeracy skills in all students across all subject areas. As a secondary school teacher it can often be assumed that students have already acquired most of the essential literacy and numeracy skills that they will need but this is not the case as students can easily miss or forget key pieces of information.
Explicitly teaching skill that I incorporate into my units (note-taking, skimming, summarising, creating graphs and timelines, paragraph structure, sentence structure are all common skills in my teaching areas) and checking learning though exit slips has proven to be useful in my own pedagogical practice.
This means breaking down and providing step by step instructions that all students can easily follow. Below is a worksheet I developed for my students to review a few specific grammar and punctuation issues on which they needed a refresher as well as some slides for other key skills.
Apply knowledge and understanding of effective teaching strategies to support students’ literacy and numeracy achievement.
As a teacher it is essential to support and develop strong literacy and numeracy skills in all students across all subject areas. As a secondary school teacher it can often be assumed that students have already acquired most of the essential literacy and numeracy skills that they will need but this is not the case as students can easily miss or forget key pieces of information.
Explicitly teaching skill that I incorporate into my units (note-taking, skimming, summarising, creating graphs and timelines, paragraph structure, sentence structure are all common skills in my teaching areas) and checking learning though exit slips has proven to be useful in my own pedagogical practice.
This means breaking down and providing step by step instructions that all students can easily follow. Below is a worksheet I developed for my students to review a few specific grammar and punctuation issues on which they needed a refresher as well as some slides for other key skills.
![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/rtf.png)
sentence_structure.docx | |
File Size: | 13 kb |
File Type: | docx |
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2.6 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Use effective teaching strategies to integrate ICT into learning and teaching programs to make selected content relevant and meaningful.
This standard refers to the need for teachers to avail themselves of the opportunities that ICT tools and resources can offer to cater to a range of learners. The wide range of learning resources available on the internet, combined with increased computer access for students has made the task of teaching a range of learners much more simple. Students in the same classroom can be working on their computers or tablets at different paces and even completing different activities, depending on their individual needs. Scootle (http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home) is a wonderful website managed by Education Services Australia that has not only identified a range of digital resources but also linked them to particular units within the National Curriculum, making it a both user friendly and relevant website for all Australian teachers.) One such resource that I have used and found to be popular with studets is the learning object pictured above allows students to virtually interact with historical characters and concepts to learn about the issues surrounding the decision to enlist during World War One.
I have also implemented websites for each of my classes which allows me to post task sheets, resources and notices that students can access anytime, anywhere. An example can be found at http://missreidsclassroom.wix.com/year11english . I have received consistently positive feedback on this with one student noting that "having the website was really helpful to be able to access different resources" (Year 11 Student, 2015).
Use effective teaching strategies to integrate ICT into learning and teaching programs to make selected content relevant and meaningful.
This standard refers to the need for teachers to avail themselves of the opportunities that ICT tools and resources can offer to cater to a range of learners. The wide range of learning resources available on the internet, combined with increased computer access for students has made the task of teaching a range of learners much more simple. Students in the same classroom can be working on their computers or tablets at different paces and even completing different activities, depending on their individual needs. Scootle (http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home) is a wonderful website managed by Education Services Australia that has not only identified a range of digital resources but also linked them to particular units within the National Curriculum, making it a both user friendly and relevant website for all Australian teachers.) One such resource that I have used and found to be popular with studets is the learning object pictured above allows students to virtually interact with historical characters and concepts to learn about the issues surrounding the decision to enlist during World War One.
I have also implemented websites for each of my classes which allows me to post task sheets, resources and notices that students can access anytime, anywhere. An example can be found at http://missreidsclassroom.wix.com/year11english . I have received consistently positive feedback on this with one student noting that "having the website was really helpful to be able to access different resources" (Year 11 Student, 2015).