In-school activityIn the lead up to my final professional placement in term 3, I had discussions with my mentor about trying to organise an in-school activity or excursion that related to their work I was beginning to program. We decided that it had to be a free activity as students had been on lots of excursions already this year.
While researching, I came across the Constitutional Centre of Western Australia, which promotes awareness of our system of government in Australia. I filled out one of their application forms and sent it off via email, as well as filling out the required school forms and got approval from the Deputy Principal. I nominated that the focus for the in-school visit would be 'making laws' which aligned perfectly with the year six 'Civics and Citizenship' descriptor ACHASSK146. In order for the times and dates available from the Centre to work, I had to organise to swap some classes around with both the Music teacher and another class teacher, as timetables clashed. Both teachers were wonderfully flexible and I booked the date. As a great addition, the Constitutional Centre also organised for a representative from the Electoral Education Centre to come and visit too. This was a wonderful addition that coincided with my program of election campaigns perfectly. In week 6 both representatives came for the visit. One took students to do activities about the levels of government in Australia and held a moc parliamentary debate. The other discussed the process of elections with students and held a mini election to explain how preferential voting worked. Both activities provided both revision of previous content and introductions to new content to be covered in coming weeks. Students loved the interactive activities and gained a lot of knowledge from these experts of their field. |
Involvement in wider communityThroughout this professional experience in term 3, I have had the opportunity to be involved in a variety of extra-curricular events and activities.
Students from year five and six formed a choir and had begun practising two songs to perform at the WAGSM concert held at Burswood. I assisted in practices and organising costumes. Part of the costume was a battery powered light up chest plate in various shapes, that students would wear and would light up when they sung. Two girls were going to do flips across the stage during the song and I had the duty creating a way for their chest plates to remain in place. I succeeded and the girls were very pleased. I attended Burswood for the performance as a staff member and helped supervise, and prepare costumes. Students performed the National Anthem as well as their two prepared songs, and the night was a great success. In August, the inter-school cross country carnival was held and seven schools from the area participated. I was one of four staff from South Primary School to attend with approximately 50 students. My role for the day was to assist my mentor teacher with the scoring. Using a spreadsheet, we recorded the placings of all of the runners, inputting them to calculate scores. The day ran smoothly and scores were calculated instantaneously enabling presentations to occur within minutes of finishing. Taking part in events such as these has made my love for the profession grow even greater. I was so proud standing back-stage at the WAGSM concert as the students sung beautifully, knowing that I had played a part in their success. And it also made me appreciate the work that teachers put in to organise events, always with the students well-being and happiness at the forefront of their mind. |
Writing in student's is the main method of communication with parents regarding academic performance.
I utilised this tool by writing comments in student's diaries for both positive and negative academic results. I wrote positive comments not only for 'A' results, but also for students who showed hard work and improvement. Negative comments were communicated to make parents aware of their student's performance, and it was required to be signed by the parent. I always spoke with students before writing negative comments in particular, so my disappointment was clear and why I thought it was important their parents knew of it. Students were always proud to have positive comments written in their diary, which motivated them to keep working hard. Negative comments also had a positive impact on students future performance, and repeat negative comments were very rare. |
I had the chance to sit in and contribute to a few parent-teacher interviews throughout the term. Meetings were for both academic and behaviour purposes. In academic discussions I informed parents of their child's performance by showing them work samples and results. In behaviour discussions I provided any examples that were applicable to the discussion. I was really impressed with how professionally my mentor teachers conducted these sessions, and intend on adopting their style in the future.
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In week 7, South Primary School held a Science Day for Science Week.
There was a lot of preparation done for the day. This included organising all of the materials required, and demonstrating to staff how to run activities. I assisted my mentor teacher in all aspects of the planning process. I also helped run the activities in my classroom on the day. Students especially enjoyed learning how to make a circuit using led pencils, a battery and a light globe. |