Thursday week 1 + School information

I was feeling a bit stressed and tired this week. So many expectations and I don't know if I am meeting them all. I am overwhelmed with the amount of lesson plans I need to write and the time it takes to do this. I feel like I can present a lesson well in my head but writing it down adds new meaning to it. So far this week I have successfully pre-assessed students on prior knowledge on the discovery of Australia and I have differentiated this students into appropriate learning groups. Whether or not my groups are actually hitting the correct ZPD, I don't know yet. Bonus- I have figured out how to play capture the flag and have put the students in charge to set it up.
 Doing less work is good when the outcome is the same.

Lessons taught today: Fitness, Oral language, Maths, History, and Non-fiction Big day.  


School information:
Below is some information about the school from their website: http://www.heathfieldps.sa.edu.au/.
We are pleased you have taken time to visit our website. We are proud of our school and its long tradition of educational excellence.
Our school motto of Harmony, Progress, Success reflects the friendly, supportive and challenging learning environment of our workplace where children to develop skills, capabilities, understandings and dispositions to be effective citizens and responsible decision makers in a changing global society.
Our school values of Respect, Optimism, Dynamic Learning and Community are reflected in our learning programs and daily practice.

Our Site Learning Plan targets resources to: "enable learners to productively engage with changing times".
Our objectives are:

• the development of learners as powerful users of literacy, numeracy and information and communication technologies
• to develop students as socially responsible, empathetic and active decision makers.

Priority areas for this year include

• Literacy and Numeracy
• ICT new Technologies
• Science
• Student Leadership and Wellbeing
• Inclusive Practice
• Environmental Sustainability
• Global Perspectives

Features of Educational Program

• Indonesian as a second language
• Strong focus in Early Intervention, Assessment/Reporting and Literacy inclusive practice
• Strong focus on information and communication technology being integrated into all learning areas
• A focus on the outdoor learning environment including involvement in the development and maintenance of classroom gardens, maintenance and care of chooks and chook house. Green thumbs gardening group
• Continued focus and priority placed on the development of social skills
• Strong student voice structures
• Very effective and consistent behaviour management practices supported by a cross age buddy system
• Learning Assistance Program (LAP) and quality Special Education Support
• Clear and effective transition processes for preschool to reception students and Yr7 to Yr8
• A preferred policy of beginning of term enrolment for Reception children. This is negotiated with the parents and school staff
• A well equipped Resource Centre
• Private instrumental music program offering tuition in piano, guitar, trombone and flute
• School choir participation in the Festival of Music
• Extensive utilisation of the expertise of local community members to enrich the learning programs
• Strong links with Heathfield High, our local secondary school

• Co-Curricula Opportunities

  Heathfield Primary School has a reputation for providing a rich plethora of extra curricula opportunities for the students. This is possible due to the dedicated staff and the supportive parent body.
  Heathfield Primary School operates as an enthusiastic, cohesive community working together to produce an excellent learning environment for children
• 
  Sourced from  http://www.heathfieldps.sa.edu.au/. retrieved on the 05/02/2014.
   

During my first week at school (the planning week) there were many discussions that reflected these schools policies and ideas. It was evident from the start that the principal was highly involved in improving student literacy and mathematics ability while also maintaining classroom focus on students well being. This was through the play is the way program. It was also evident that the principal was highly focused on those students who need extra help and attention in class. He wished to review and update all IEP's for these students with the aim to reflect on what was going well and what needed to be improved on. 

My overall first opinion of this school was that it is a very friendly, warm and welcoming school that aims to create a learning environment to help all students achieve their best.

Day one and more school profile

Today I taught three lessons; Fitness (20mins), Maths (50mins) and Non-Fiction genre (50mins). The fitness lesson was a running game involving pegs and strategies. The maths unit was decided by the classroom teacher and we are focusing on decimals and Fractions. In the afternoon I had NIT. I felt that I had prepared very well for this day in particular in the holidays. I did however feel extremely nervous and felt I mumbled through my words. Good day Lesson plans Below: 

I put aims at the beginning of my lesson plans so I can say this to the students. This way they 100% understand what the learning intention is for the lesson.

 My grouping chart that I am going to be using throughout the 6 weeks. I took this idea from a Tomlinson video from a tutorial. It is the most effective and easiest way to put children into groups!I change it for each class and the students quickly go up to the chart to check what group they are in and then make their groups. I had to practice with the students for the first lesson to get into the groups as quickly as they could, but since then it has been smooth sailing. I LOVE THIS CHART!


 SCHOOL PROFILE:

Today I had a discussion with the school principal and the year 6/7 teacher. We talked about the school policies and lunch time enrichment programs. HPS has a large school grounds and students are encouraged to explore the grounds during play time. There are a lot of natural play equipment including a "pines' area where children are allowed to build cubbys using found materials. Students also have gardening programs, chicken programs, sustainability programs and team building programs during lunch time. The school also has active after school programs to encourage participation in sport.

The year 6/7 teacher informed me of the ways she plans in the classroom. She has 3 students with disabilities and has to differentiate the class to aid in their learning. These students have problems with literacy and some mathematics. The teacher actively plans around readiness and also inclusion which is important in a composite class. She has stated that she is finding the history curriculum difficult when the year 6 students are doing Australian History and the year 7 students are doing ancient Greece.  For this class, she has to separate the two year levels and then group the classes again depending on readiness. She allows for all students to access the content from the curriculum but at their own level.

In week 2 of term 1 I also drew a outline of my 3/4/5 class. It shows the 4 tables for grouping. Each table has a year 3 student on it and a year 4. Students have been placed in certain areas of the classroom to accommodate any special needs. She has placed the hearing impaired student near the speaker system, the student with anxiety near the front of the class and one student with dyslexia near the front of the class.

diversity and inclusion profile

I have a few days till my teaching placement which starts on Monday. My stress levels have gone down as I think I have prepared enough for the first week. I am still unwell but I have all of tomorrow to do more organizing and to finish my History assignment. I have prepared a menu sheet for the first week of school about the Peramangk people of the Adelaide hills. I am organizing the groups from a pre-assessment I am giving on Monday.

PROFILE OF THE SCHOOL:

This is a reflection on HPS from my initial observations in term 1.
 HPS is a level 7 primary school in the Adelaide Hills. The school has 59 students with 3 classes; R-2, 3-5 and 6-7. The school also takes students from the Inverbrackie detention centre. They take 20 R-2 detention centre students who are accommodated into two classes with two TESOL teachers as well as 4-6 SSO at all times.The Inverbrackie program is included into all extra activities at the school and their students participate with the other classes as much as possible. Students in the Inverbrackie program often host and present at whole school assemblies. HPS also has one student in the main stream class with English as a Second language. This student spends time with the Inverbrackie SSO's to aid her in her English studies.
The school also has a specialist teacher in Science and Art as well as other extra-curriculum programs such as music classes, choir, gardening, sustainability and Volleyball.
HPS has 10 students with identified disabilities ranging from ASD, Dyslexia, to hearing impairments. There are no students in the school with physical disabilities that require assistance in mobility.
No students in the school are receiving finacial assistance due to economical circumstances and only one student in year 5 is identified as above average (not gifted) in maths.

Within my 3/4/5 class the teacher had to commonly address students will dyslexia, hearing impairments, behaviour management problems as well as other undiagnosed learning disabilities. Within this composite class, students were often grouped depending on which class was being taught. I found that the teacher did not group by year level and often had year threes with year fives depending on their readiness.
The teacher also used school SSO's to aid in spelling and any other work that needed aid at the time. The SSO's and volunteers were there to help the three students in the class with dyslexia during spelling classes but they were only there for 1/3 of the day.
The school also has a Quicksmart Maths program for those students identified at needing help in maths. Students from all year levels would go to an SSO twice a week in pairs to work on different math strategies. This program is run by a permanent SSO who also runs other extra-curriculum programs at the school. Students found Quicksmart to help them in the classroom math lessons and they also enjoyed attending Quicksmart. Students felt they became more confident in them self during these sessions and felt they were better prepared to learn with the other students in their class.

During the first few days at the school I noticed that Staff were constantly encouraged to attend PD days to help with special needs children at the school. My classroom teacher has informed me that the school is planning on hiring a dyslexia specialist to come into to school to train teachers and support students. In comparison to my last placement, this school is proactively attending to students needs through staff learning and providing support to students.

My mentor teacher also informed me of the number students on IEplans. Teachers and parents would often have discussions about the students progress and learning in class. Meetings with parents would be twice every term to inform of their child's progress. My mentor teacher had 4 students on an IEP and the Principal informed that 10 students in total were on IEP in the school.

The school followed the Play is the Way philosophy. Each classroom had a wall chart of the practices follow to aid in their personal, social and educational well-being. Teachers at the school actively used Play is the Way language in class and also used activities from Play is the Way in the classroom. Students were also given certificates supported by Play is the Way key philosophies during assemblies. These certificates focused on the "golden rule", "being brave", "doing your best", "saying the things you mean to say".

About to start placement

This blog will be used to help with my reflection on my up and coming teaching placement. This blog will also be used for me 4720 assignment upon differentiation and inclusion. I have currently finished lessons for my differentiation class and with the knowledge I have gained from this semester so far, I am planning my teaching around these new ideas. This week I am putting together lesson plans that I will hopefully differentiate for my 3,4,5 class. I am struggling today to get through the amount of work I have due to a head cold. I am persevering. Lessons that are ready to be differentiated so far for week 1 will be; Maths, I am taking the year 4,5's (these kids may need more grouping then just year levels though), Spelling (co-ordinated by the teacher) and possibly guided reading. We will see.


Throughout this placement I am to reflect on classroom differentiation and inclusion. When practicing differentiation and inclusion I first have to understand fully what it is. 

Differentiation describes the approach to teaching and learning that revolve around the students knowledge, skills and abilities rather than from per-determined study.
Tomlinson has said, differentiation means giving students multiple options for taking in information (2003). Differentiating instruction means that you observe and understand the differences and similarities among students and use this information to plan instruction. This means that classes, groups and learning can change over time. 
Inclusion goes in hand with differentiation. It shifts from the focus of the content to the learning context for the students. This also means a change for the learning environment. Inclusive teaching allows students to be apart of classroom as well as being exposed to the learning content (Jarvis, 2004). Being inclusive in teaching may be seen as a way for 'disabled' students to access areas of the curriculum that would be difficult for them physically and mentally, but inclusive teaching is for all students and means that the teacher has the responsibility to observe and reflect on the students and the needs they need to achieve their learning bests. Inclusive education focuses on the environment too and how matching the environment to the student helps their learning.

I need to reflect on these practices when I go into my placement for the next 6 weeks.

Sousa, David A 2011, 'Mindset, learning environment, and differentiation', in Sousa, David A & Tomlinson, Carol A, Differentiation and the brain: how neuroscience supports the learner-friendly classroom, Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Ind, pp. 17-43.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann 2003, 'Deciding to teach them all', Educational Leadership, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 6-11.

 

Jarvis, Jane M 2014, 'Supporting diverse gifted students', in Hyde, Merv, Carpenter, Lorelei Rita & Conway, Robert NF (eds.), Diversity, inclusion and engagement, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Vic., pp. 297-315.