Month: January 2017
Professional Networking
Connecting with other education professionals is extremely valuable to ensure I continue to learn, be kept up to date, consider new research or as a means to bring fresh ideas to my classroom. With this in mind I have a range of networks to draw upon. A list of my current networks are
- Twitter – I have followed over 200 educators, and organisations and Tweet to my followers interesting blog posts and ideas related to education.
- Facebook – I participate and engage with other teachers on several Facebook groups including
- Year 3/4 Australian Teaching Ideas
- Australian Year 3 Teachers
- Toowoomba Autism Noticeboard
- Junior Primary/Primary Teachers of Adelaide
- Surviving Casual Teaching
- Education Queensland Discussion Groups including
- Curriculum into the Classroom
- Grade 3-4 Teachers
- Learning Difficulties
- OneSchool Community
- Flinders University Alumni
These connections contribute towards achievement of focus area 7.4.
Special Education and Inclusion: The Opportunities and the Challenges
To address my knowledge and skill in teaching students with special needs I started a post-graduate topic. For the first assignment we were required to research inclusive practices and the opportunities they present as well as the challenges in the classroom. This assignment and associated research is evidence towards focus area 6.4.
[embeddoc url=”https://teresaswensen.edublogs.org/files/2017/01/Assignment-1-174ualq.pdf” viewer=”google”]
Indigenous Artwork by Students
Students were provided opportunity to suggest and draw Australian animals to include on an Indigenous school mural that was being created by a joint project between the school and an Indigenous artist. This provides evidence towards achieiving focus area 2.4. Continue reading Indigenous Artwork by Students
Protected: C.A.F.E. Reading Goals
Quiet Space
This quiet space was set up in the back corner of the classroom to provide a space for a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder and provides evidence towards focus area 1.6.
The space was set up with a dark tent to block out the bright flurescent lights in the classroom and a basket of interest items to suit the student with ASD. The student could use the tent upon reasonable request and was allowed to use it when it was determined the student required time to regulate. Additionally, the use of the tent and other activities, such as the class iPad, were offered as reward activities for work completed.
Protected: Class Novel
Protected: Reflection Journal
Using Concrete Materials in Maths
This gallery of photographs provides evidence towards focus area 1.1, focus area 1.2, and focus area 2.1. The use of concrete materials in the classroom is supported by Piaget’s learning theories but using materials also increases students’ engagement in the learning process. The students in these lessons were aged between 8 and 10 years old which according to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development would place these students in the concrete operations stage. A main characteristic of this stage is that students are unable to think in abstractions so one of their learning needs is that they need to experiment with materials (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Krause, 2013). More recent research does suggest some students can think abstractly, however the use of concrete materials remains engaging for students and provides them opportunity to apply concepts to real life situations (Siemon, Beswick, Brady, Clark, Faragher, & Warren, 2011) Continue reading Using Concrete Materials in Maths