Element 1

I have familiarised myself with the syllabuses and have created and demonstrated effective teaching practices for ways to enrich students with the knowledge and experiences. I have taught differentiated lessons demonstrating my knowledge of the content which students are required to learn. I have also critically engaged with the Quality Teaching document, allowing me to carefully consider how students of different ages and stages learn. My first piece of evidence- a lesson plan for year six students, in which I taught them how to write narratives, demonstrates my knowledge of the syllabus content. The focus is on the structure of narratives, developing the use of different word groups and creating texts for different purposes. Students were on task and engaged in the task. This was evident due to the amount and quality of work which students produced. Students had many fresh, new ideas that were stimulated by the discussion and creative tasks that preceded the writing session.

I have also utilised my skills in ICT to teach computer-based lessons to students as these skills are becoming increasingly recognised in the NSW syllabi as crucial skills for students to develop. In my second piece of evidence- a lesson plan in which I taught year six students how to use graphs on the computer. In this lesson, I combined my ICT skills with my classroom management and organisational skills to teach students how to develop graphs on a computer. The computer room was very small and ft twenty computers in it. I used small grouping strategies and gave each student a role, in order for me to effectively teach the content.

I will continue to engage with the syllabi and quality teaching document, and think of new and interesting ways to teach subject content to students. I will undertake professional development courses to become more familiar with the use of technology, in particular, the use of Smart Boards.

I need to consult the stage 2 syllabus and develop ideas and strategies for was to introduce Stage 2 concepts to my students in an interesting and relevant ways. I also need more experience with students of all age levels to trial and implement new teaching strategies.

I believe that  teachers needs to be familiar with the syllabus documents, the quality teaching document and implement their knowledge of these documents to make learning relevant to students.

I believe that I am beginning to develop skills that demonstrate my achievement of the graduate teacher standards in relation to element 1, as I continue to know my subject content and extend my skills and capabilities to teach this to my students.