Standard 4 – Create and maintain supportive and a safe learning environments

Evidence:

1) Final Year 12 Lesson - Snapshot

2) Mentor Teacher Comment about my Year 7 class

Reflective Commentary

As an educational assistant, I have had the opportunity to attend many classes and observe a variety of teaching styles over the years. I have thought deeply about the kind of learning culture that would best suit my personality and best engage students. If forced to classify myself, it would hopefully be that or a ‘warm demander’. The key reason for this is because I’m aware of cultural differences not only between this country and my own but also more specifically in the way I was raised. I know that I can seem at times I can appear very strict and show little emotion. However, as a ‘warm demander’ students will come to know my true intentions. Students will come to know that I have their ‘best interests at heart’ (Bondy & Ross, 2008, p.55). A good example of this occurred recently during my last Year 12 lesson. I prepared a short Powerpoint for students and showed them pictures from July when I went to Japan and made a special trip to Dazaifu Temnangu Shrine, which is a famous place to attend when praying for academic success. I had written all my students names and prayed for them at this temple. Hence I told students that they had nothing to worry about during their WACE exams ‘the gods are on your side’. Most students broke down and started crying, I think they finally saw me in a different light and realised my true intentions for pushing them so hard.

My classroom management system is centered around applying the 4Rs; rights/responsibility, rules, routines, and relationships. I have established clear classroom rules and routines in all of my classes. For example: always respect other people’s cultures and values, clarify straight away if anyone has a problem or is unclear regarding their learning etc. I have also developed relationships with students by joining in with their group tasks, informal conversations with students during break-time and through regular communication with parents. I believe that knowing students individually is an essential factor in catering my instructional practice to the specific needs of individual students. Specifically, in ensuring my expectations of students are both high as well as realistically achievable.

Situation: As previously explained the Year 7s this year are a particularly challenging cohort. In my Year 7 Japanese class this year I also had five students with a learning difficulty. I knew I needed to implement various strategies to create a safe working environment and a rigorous learning culture.

Action: There were a number of things I did this year to ensure that I had successful teaching and learning with my Year 7 students. I was only allocated one education assistant (EA) for 2 hours a week. I then ensured my allocated two hours were spent with my Year 7 class, knowing that I had multiple students who would need individual attention. After some initial observation, I created a seating plan that grouped together students of mixed ability, who worked well with each other. Due to the low attention span of many students, I made sure that I changed learning activities every 10-15 minutes and included lots of games and hands-on activities. In groups, students sometimes worked on different activities at different times according to interests and ability. Finally, I always explained to students why we would do a specific activity and used ICT to assist with visual explanations of tasks and to engage students.

Outcome: Over the year I saw a significantly increased student engagement and Japanese language proficiency. I was also able to ensure that ALL students submitted ALL assessments and did so by the due dates. I provided an opportunity for all students to demonstrate their ability and encouraged the development of a strong work ethic based upon a growth mindset approach to teaching and learning.

Future Action Plan: I really want to make sure that I am always involved in teaching both lower school and senior school Japanese. I have come to realise how important it is to develop clear expectations in the younger years and to continue working with students who have come to know that my intention is always to bring out their very best so that they are empowered to direct their lives in whatever direction they choose when they are older.

Reference:

Bondy, E., & Ross, D. D. (2008). The teacher as warm demander. Educational Leadership, 66(1), 54-58.