#standard4

Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities

Visual Arts is a very practical subject; therefore, engaging and encouraging student participation is vital in ensuring successful student outcomes. It is important to create a classroom environment that is inclusive and safe. This supports students to feel relaxed and supported in the classroom, and confident to share their thoughts and opinions.  

I aim to establish and implement inclusive and positive interactions in my classes by regularly involving students in class discussions and group activities. Visual arts is a subject that benefits from interacting with others. Students can discuss and challenge each others’ ideas. An example of a group activity that I used during my practicum to support student participation was the Exquisite Corpse. This is a fun, simple art activity that encourages creativity and plenty of interaction between the students. A sheet of paper is folded into thirds, which each part dedicated to a part of the body. Students will begin by drawing the head then folding the paper, so it is hidden and pass it along for another person. The process is repeated for the body and legs. At the end of the task the class will come together and unfold the artwork, resulting in a lively conversation of the humorous results. I have included the visual results of the exquisite corpse as my evidence, it is easy to imagine the fun and interaction that students had in viewing the results.

Evidence:

Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear directions

A classroom with effective implementation of classroom management strategies positively impacts on the academic outcomes of students (Bellezza 2015, p.15). During my practicum it was an aim of mine to improve my classroom management skills. Visual arts is a subject that is regularly open to individual interpretation; therefore, if I want students to demonstrate learning criteria in a specific way, I need to ensure that my activities, instructions and demonstrations are presented in a logical manner, with clear and detailed instructions. When designing unit plans/lesson plans I have found that identifying the learning goals that I want to achieve and recognising how each of the learning goals relate to each other allows me to effectively manage classroom activities. This means that I can be prepared with a logical and sequential unit plan, teaching strategies, resources, and ready for any difficulties that students may face. When I am adequately prepared, I feel more confident in my lesson delivery and my instructional quality is enhanced. The evidence that I have provided is my report from my university supervisor which describes my management of the class which he observed and a lesson plan with outline of the classroom acitivies.

References:

Bellezza, S 2015, ‘Teacher Efficacy for Behaviour Management: An Examination of the Construct and its Predictors’, PhD thesis, North Carolina State University, North Carolina, < https://search-proquest-com.access.library.unisa.edu.au/docview/1703715581?pq-origsite=primo >

Evidence:

Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour

I find that building positive relationships with students is a proactive form of behaviour management. When I have developed mutually respected relationships with students, responding to misbehaviour is less conflicting. I can speak to students in a calm, friendly manner and address the issue directly and resolve any problems together. Additionally, an even-tempered manner conveys my authority in the classroom. I believe non-verbal forms of communication to manage challenging behaviour are more effective with the foundation of positive relationship. For example, keeping close proximity to students displaying off-task behaviours, maintaining eye contact, or signalling small gestures (such as a head shake) are all better received.

Establishing behavioural expectations and classroom procedures also helps to manage challenging behaviour. When I first begin teaching a class, I will establish rules for phone usage, noise level, packing up/cleaning, seating arrangements and laptop use. Maintaining my expectations and being consistent with the consequences for misbehaviour helps to support desired behaviours (Bellezza 2015, p.74).  I also believe that it is important for each day to be a clean slate. If a student has misbehaved it is of no benefit to let it influence my opinion or treatment to them.  

For my evidence I have included an introductory lesson in which I have listed my behavioural expectations and classroom procedures.

References:

Bellezza, S 2015, ‘Teacher Efficacy for Behaviour Management: An Examination of the Construct and its Predictors’, PhD thesis, North Carolina State University, North Carolina, <https://search-proquest-com.access.library.unisa.edu.au/docview/1703715581?pq-origsite=primo>

Evidence:

Describe strategies that support students’ wellbeing and safety working within school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements

Maintaining student safely is of upmost importance to my role as a teacher. In South Australia, teachers adhere to the Teacher Registration Board Code of Ethics which provides a framework to assist teachers in reflection of their decision making and ethical issues (Teacher Registration Board, n.d.). It is vital that we identify strategies that provide high-quality teaching a care that are in the best interest of our learners and uphold the professional standards (Teacher Registration Board, n.d.). My placement school had a dedicated student wellbeing centre and a wellbeing team who provided support for students who were experiencing difficulties and frequently interacted with teachers to disclose how students were going and strategies to help them in class. I had to utilise the wellbeing team when one of the students in my class who had a disability became distressed and unresponsive. I updated the incident on Day Map as a case management note which provides a digital record for the school to refer to when helping the student or to accurately inform parents/carers about their child’s wellbeing. My response to this incident demonstrates my ability to maintain student safety because while my attention continued to focused on the student, supervision of the rest of the class was reduced; therefore, involving the wellbeing team resulted in the best outcome for all parties. Additionally, my documentation of the event indicates my ability to adhere to the school’s expectations regarding student wellbeing.

References:

Teacher Registration Board n.d., Code of Ethics: For the teaching profession in South Australia, Teacher Registration Board of South Australia, viewed 7 October 2020, <https://www.trb.sa.edu.au/sites/default/files/Code-of-Ethics.pdf>

Evidence:

Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and the strategies available to support the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching

Information and communication technologies are becoming increasingly integrated into the classroom. Therefore, is of upmost importance to ensure that ICT is being used safely, responsibly, and ethically. My placement school had a laptop program to ensure that all students had access to the appropriate technology to support their learning therefore, all students would bring a laptop to each class. Misuse of their laptops would result in a warning or loss of laptop privilege for that lesson. Additionally, it is also important to establish with students the guidelines regarding plagiarism, referencing and academic honestly. In I have provided evidence of the guidelines provided to my year ten class regarding referencing. This was included on their assessment task sheet and verbally emphasis during lesson time.

Evidence: