Element 2

Element 2 Aspects- Graduate Teacher

2.1.1 Demonstrate knowledge, respect and understanding of the social, ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds of students and how these factors may affect learning.
2.1.2 Demonstrate knowledge of the typical stages of students’ physical, social and intellectual development as well as an awareness of exceptions to general patterns.
2.1.3 Demonstrate knowledge of students’ different approaches to learning.
2.1.4 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of students’ skills, interests and prior achievements and their impact on learning.
2.1.5 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of specific strategies for teaching:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
• Students with Special Education Needs
• Non-English Speaking Background students
• Students with Challenging Behaviours.
 2.1.6 Demonstrate knowledge of a range of literacy strategies to the meet the needs of all students including:
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
• Students with Special Education Needs
• Non-English Speaking Background students
• Students with Challenging Behaviours.

Milestones- I have...  

I have collected information about the context of the teaching environment on each of my professional experiences. This has included examining the class in terms of grade, size, gender ratio and cultural background. By considering the environment in which my lessons are delivered I have been better able to adapt to the needs of the students in each class (Aspect 2.1.1).

Excerpt  from Lesson Plan
	Learning Experience
	Modelled reading of Franklin and the Tooth Fairy. Oral comprehension questions throughout. After reading text, brief discussion about:-          Some people believe in the tooth fairy. Other people have different ways of celebrating growing up.-          Some animals don’t have teeth-          Some animals have more teeth than humans
	Discussion about why we have teeth and the names of the two types of teeth.Explain that a survey is going to be conducted of the class to find out how many people have lost teeth, and how many teeth they have lost. -          Use pictures of a tooth to show each person Have student volunteers count the number of students for each point on the x axis (No. of Teeth Lost). Use blu-tac to stick the corresponding number of teeth in that column. Discussion and interpretation of graph results.
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I have increasingly become aware of the different learning styles that students prefer (Aspect 2.1.3). In recognising this I have endeavoured to allow students to choose their preferred style where appropriate, for example, allowing students to draw a labelled diagram or write a description. Similarly, when students were studying the lifecycle of the caterpillar/butterfly I developed a series of lessons that explored this concept in different ways; through the narrative of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, through a dramatic exploration to the changes that occur between each stage in the lifecycle, and finally by having students name and order the stages of the lifecycle in a diagrammatic form.

Excerpt from Lesson Plan for Dramatic Exploration
	Learning Experience
	Teacher reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the students to refresh their memories about the story.Establish class agreement for behaviour during drama including safe movement and signals for moving in and out of role.
	Warm Up: Moving around the room, imagining different types of movement, including:- walking along a street- trudging through mud, then crawling- floating like a leaf in the wind- carrying something really heavy.
	Guide students through the story, asking students to use their bodies and faces only to show each change Start as an egg on the leaf. Slowly release different body parts to begin moving around the room as a caterpillar. Bask in the warm sun. Feeling really hungry, eat some food. Still hungry taste a bit more. Eat lots of food and you feel sick. Eat a nice fresh green leaf. You feel better but your feeling full so you start to slow down, and gradually curl into a cocoon.
To view full lesson plan, click here.

I have, where possible, tried to gain an understanding of students’ prior knowledge and skills in order to tailor lessons that are responsive to the needs of the students in the class (Aspect 2.1.4). One such example of doing this occurred when I conducted a series of lessons on reading the time. The first lesson was designed on the basis of information that the coordinating teacher was able to provide about students’ prior knowledge. Furthermore, during and after each lesson I assessed the skills that students were able to demonstrate and adjusted subsequent lessons to suit the levels of achievement demonstrated by each student.

I have developed some understanding of strategies to meet the needs of students (Aspect 2.1.5). In particular, my observation of a student with cerebral palsy who studied in a mainstream classroom allowed me to reflect upon strategies that can be used to adapt the learning environment to suit the needs of the student. Additionally, I have observed some strategies used to address students with challenging behaviours.