Professional+Values,+Learning+and+Development

Evidence of my professional accomplishments as they relate to:  Professional Values, Learning and Development

Intellectual curiosity is inherent in every aspect of my life. I believe I share this enthusiasm in all my classes. If I am not intrigued, curious and alive to the learning than I cannot expect my students to be. I actively work to create a buzz around learning. I am always learning and more importantly I am changed by what I have learnt and this comes through in my teaching. One strategy I use is to make sure I implement some aspect of my learning in each class.

In my teaching journey I have reflected on my experience of school as a student and how this has impacted on how I achieved at school. I was bright and as I was in a streamed school I experienced learning almost entirely surrounded by other curious and able students. When I first began teaching I have to say I was confused by some student’s lack of natural curiosity and I wondered why opportunities to learn something new were sometimes treated with disinterest. My challenge was to make relevant, engaging and accessible the knowledge and skills I wished to develop in the students that I taught.

I became curious about learning generally. I read articles on how people retain information and what effect time and movement has on learning. I put my hand up for all learning opportunities in the form of Professional Development. I am also a lifelong learner in a formal sense. I have recently completed a Certificate in Gifted Education through the University of NSW. I am applying for a Masters in Theology to begin in 2011. I also attend evening lectures such as the Gifted Education Research Resource Information Centre Summer Lecture program and the Australian Council for Educational Leaders events. I read books about learning styles; the influence of gender on learning and the role self-efficacy plays in developing the motivation of students. I am also a keen reader of influential tweeters who keep me updated with conferences, research and good ideas for teaching.

For the past two years the best resources I have had in terms of keeping up to date have been Radio National’s EdPod which deliver weekly updates on research and current issues relating to education in Australia and the Curriculum Online journal which delivers emails to my inbox allowing me to scan the list of newly published research. I have often forwarded research to members of staff and contribute regularly to the Academic Committees Professional reading.

For example, an article on EdPod, May 2010, was looking at recent research on the development of neural pathways in early life and how these impact on later learning. In the article there was reference to a particular brain hormone that is released when you move about and aids in the uptake or effectiveness of learning. I have anecdotal evidence from my classes that moving around the class lifts the energy levels and keeps students focused. In the pedagogy section of this portfolio I have outlined the role of movement in my classes.

Learning Styles

Despite recent criticism from learning specialists I believe there remains a place for the assessment of individual learning styles and the development of a meta-narrative of learning in the classroom. I began using learning styles in my first year of teaching using an online assessment tool for students called the Birmingham Grid for Learning. Each student in my class does this assessment. I emphasis the role this assessment plays in forming a sense of yourself as a learner. I challenge students to be the real authority on themselves as learners and to use the assessment as a launch pad into a broader discussion about the sort of activities they enjoy and what their learning challenges are in the typical bells and cells classroom. I also find that for many students it is a revelation to understand that that their lack of engagement with material is not because they ‘don’t get it’ but because it is delivered in a style that they find challenging. Whilst this doesn’t mean students in my classes always perform tasks based upon their understanding of themselves as learners, it does influence the sort of activities they might opt into when given a choice and also allows them to recognise when they might be frustrated by a particular form of lesson. Students are also encouraged to use learning dispositions to record notes and study. The visual learners in my classes record lesson notes in picture form or use icons or diagrams more often. I challenge kinesthetic learners to set up their study space with points around the room that they can move to, to revise their notes. The greatest value of the assessment of learning styles is the fact that it does not peg one student as more successful than the next. It celebrates diversity. It highlights strengths. It develops a love of self and recognition of the unique value of every learner in the class. In my first term working with gifted students I invited students from the local feeder schools gifted program to work with us on understanding learning styles. Students then took part in activities based firstly on working with similar learners and then in groups of learners that bring different skills. This allowed students to see the value in their particular strengths and how this contributed to the whole. I have since broadened the use of learning styles and now whole year groups are being provided with assessment and teachers learning how this might be used in their classes. (see Appendix)

Rights and Responsibilities

A positive and caring learning environment requires students to actively buy into the responsibilities each student has to the community and the learning. In my role as Guidance Coordinator I have worked on developing a whole school approach to rights and responsibilities. I have developed a framework that links rights to responsibilities in a unique visual diagram. The diagram has four components that I developed with the Assistant Principal, which are the right to be safe, the right to learn, the right to community and the right to respect. Each of these rights brings a specific set of responsibilities. I presented this framework to the Student Representative Committee, the Technology Committee, the Pastoral Care Committee and the Assistant Principal presented it to the Parents and Friends Committee. In 2010 this was adopted as part of the schools pastoral care policy. Every learning space in the school now has a poster of these rights and responsibilities. We are currently organising some activities in Pastoral Care time to further develop students understanding.

I model learning to my students by being explicit about new teaching techniques and theories of the way we learn in class.

I take an active role in education outside of my school. I was the Secondary Representative on the Gifted Education Committee for the Inner West Region. In this capacity I contributed to the whole region’s policy and spending on gifted education. I advocated the adoption of in-school professional development grants for teachers of gifted education, allowing teachers the freedom and support to explore their interests and what their particular learning needs were.

I am also a committee member of my daughter’s Parents and Citizens group. In this capacity I share my interest in the use of ICT and have worked towards Smartboards being installed in all classrooms. I have also been an active participant in policy decisions relating to the school citizenship awards policy.

Studies of Religion Teaching Acceptance of Alternative Worldviews

In my teaching of Studies of Religion I explicitly model and teach an unconditional positive regard for all faith traditions. Students sign an agreement to work constructively in engaging in the themes of the course. They agree to abide by community standards of recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the original custodians and to be sensitive to cultural differences.

Within the course is the study of Aboriginal Spirituality and having an indigenous student within my class has enhanced the teaching of this subject. This student has been invited to share her experience of living in a rural community and the practices that took place and the significance of these for her. This was a great opportunity for this student to affirm her unique cultural heritage. Students were keen to learn more and were largely unaware of the influence of spiritual practices in modern indigenous communities. The presence of this student also gave authenticity to discussion of kinship and community.

Australian Government Quality Teaching Project (AGQTP)

In 2008 the Coordinator of English and myself applied for funding through the AGQTP. The project was in part a response to the school’s review process in addressing an SRI component about meeting the diverse needs of learners. It was also to ensure opportunities were provided to support staff in the knowledge acquisition of differentiated curriculums. Having been involved in the AGQTP project at Casimir in 2006 I saw the benefit of developing skills in small groups of teachers. I used this model in our project, which was designed to bring together teachers of the top Year 8 classes and develop their knowledge and skills in differentiation. Further, through working on the Differentiated Assessment group I had developed a professional relationship with one of the differentiation experts from the University of NSW, Ruth Targett. I was confident that Ruth would be ideal in working with our teachers as she had both the theoretical and practical knowledge combined with enthusiasm and a genuine commitment to meeting learners where they are. In short, a quality teacher.

The focus for the project was to embed an understanding of pretesting, and differentiation based upon core, modified, extension and effective post-tests. The group of teachers were chosen as a group of lifelong learners. There were two teachers from English, two from HSIE and one Math teacher. The group formed a professional learning community. The project was based upon an action model and teachers were expected to trial their new programs and present student samples. They were asked to write a reflection of their experiences. This project went over three terms in 2009 with regular professional development opportunities. I have included a summary of the evaluations from the participants (see Appendix) to demonstrate the effectiveness of the project. In Term 4, a whole staff differentiation day was planned and these four staff members led groups of teachers in developing their programs. I have included a summary of the Staff Differentiation Day. Ruth Targett was also involved in presenting and working with staff.

Technology as a Tool for Learning

In 2008 I applied for funding for an ilearn project to investigate how ICT might be used to create cross-campus programs. I asked the Gifted Education teacher from one of our feeder schools to be involved. The project aimed to create an online space for Year 5/6 and Year 7 students to work on a program based upon the Stage 3 and Stage 4 HSIE units. The aim of the project was to develop a collaborative workspace where gifted students could work in teams to answer a series of questions on the origins of democracy. Wiki’s were used in this project and students from our feeder school were invited to participate in a face-to-face gifted challenge day. It was at this time that I began my interest in virtual worlds as learning environments that allow for students to work together cross campuses. In 2010 I applied for and received funding for an iLearn project using Second Life and working with a Christian school in the Northern Beaches area. Interest in this project at CEO level has led to me being partnered with an academic at the Australian Catholic University and we are working together to produce a research paper on the use of virtual world as learning environments. I have presented at two CEO elearning showcases events in 2008 and 2009. My first presentation was on ICT possibilities in regard to working cross-campus. In 2009 I presented my work on using Wikis in senior classes. I have attached various comments made from teachers who attended this presentation. In 2010 I presented at a whole staff day on using ICT in the classroom and led a series of workshops for teachers. I believe I have shown initiative and a desire to continue to improve my teaching practice in each of these projects. My willingness to share the learning also demonstrates my commitment to leading others. In 2010, aside from the Second Life project I am also trailing the use of Google Docs to facilitate an online version of our peer relations survey. This survey is to be completed by every student in the school and allows the Guidance Coordinators to effectively analyse the data collected. It is proposed that this data will then be presented to staff and be used to facilitate a review of our school’s anti-bullying policy.

Domremy Effective Educators Project (DEEP)

In 2008 myself and another teacher began a teaching and learning group at my school that we called Domremy Effective Educators Project, or DEEP. This teacher and I had been involved in PEEL groups at previous schools and felt that we missed this opportunity to share teaching practice with others. We felt that we needed something unique to Domremy hence the DEEP name. We launched at a staff meeting and the group has met regularly ever since. Attendance at DEEP has been between twelve to eighteen staff members representing every faculty in the school. Topics covered have been assessment of the homework practices at the school, effective pretesting, using blogs and a variety of other topics. I have included an agenda from the meeting to demonstrate the range of topics covered and how the meeting is run. I believe my involvement in the creation and running of DEEP demonstrates my commitment to being a highly reflective teacher.

Students as reflective learners

I regularly ask students to analyse their performance and have used a variety of tools to do this. I think this is particularly important in senior classes as student have the maturity and the motivation to play to their strengths. I use the SWOT analyses tools and students reflect on their strengths, weakness, opportunities for improvement and threats. Building confidence, identifying learning opportunities and flagging where there are threats to success assist in demystifying what it takes to achieve your personal best. I have found that many students reveal through this process a lack of self-confidence or ability to name their strengths which for me provides an opportunity to intervene and develop self confidence. I have attached some student assessments as evidence.

At the beginning of this year I began a blog to record, reflect and share my experiences in my work. Kay Carroll who is a lecturer at the Australian Catholic University suggested this to me. I have really enjoyed the experience of writing about my teaching and I have a small but reflective group of teachers who read and comment on my posts. Having mastered some of this particular skill set I now hope to introduce blogging to my students. I have included some brief extracts from my blog in the Appendix.

Transition 10

Leading up to my first year as Year 7 Guidance Coordinator I became curious about the process of transition and what good schools were doing to bring about good outcomes for Year 7 students. One aspect of transition that was troubling me was the lack of information shared about students. In term 3 of 2009 I requested a list of all students expected to start at Domremy in 2010 and visited many of their schools, spoke to their teachers and generally tried to get to know as much as I could about our new students. Our school draws from up to fourteen feeder schools. I also found that regardless of the information shared students would react differently to the challenges of secondary schools. In order to solve this problem I did some research, contacted other schools and put together a draft plan for the transition of students in 2010. Transition 10 was divided up into four areas of administration, pastoral care, curriculum and teaching and learning. I then presented the plan to our Academic Curriculum Committee and the bulk of my suggestions were adopted in 2010. In particular the focus on getting to know students in their first term through assessment for learning tasks rather than high stakes formal assessments and a moratorium on content homework in the first six weeks whilst students complete organisational tasks, has been seen to be working well. This project has been highly successful in getting to know the new group of students and supporting their learning needs. I have attached the Transition 10 plan in the Appendix.