Engaging Students
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Engaging Students

Monitoring Student Progress

Professional Engagement

Working in Teams		 This heading implies two things to me - the role that I as a teacher play in engaging students in a school context, and the many ways in which students have (and still do) inspire and motivate me.

In terms of my role, there are two main areas or approaches which I believe enable me to engage and motivate students, that is,

Links to the 'Real World'
I believe it is very important for learning to be connected to a context in which it is relevant, and thus connecting students to the world outside the classroom. Some of the approaches I have taken in my teaching to achieve this include:
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  • The development and implementation of a Statistics unit for Year 9 Maths at Luther College, which linked the tools and methods of Statistics to real-world data collected by students
  • The development of an investigation task to be used as part of the assessment for the above unit, which aimed to scaffold and develop students’ analysis and critical numeracy skills, through the use of student selected real-world data from the CensusAtSchool website.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
ICT is another tool which I can use to engage students in learning, and which also helps to achieve the goal above. Some of the ways I have used ICT in my teaching include:
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interactive whiteboard
  • The use of peer assessment with a Year 10 Indonesian class at Luther College, in relation to an oral presentation which was filmed and replayed to students, and used to stimulate discussion and analysis of both student performance and the assessment criteria.
  • The use of notebook computers with Maths and Indonesian classes (Years 8 to 10) at Luther College to facilitate a range of teaching activities, such as:
    • the creation of a weather map and weather forecast for Australia and Indonesia, using the stylus facility which enables students to 'write' on their screens (Year 9 Indonesian)
    • the use of a notebook with existing projection equippment to display information - such as a Statistics quiz (Year 9 Maths)
  • The use of Interactive Whiteboards with Year 8 Indonesian students at Catholic College Bendigo to reinforce and promote the use of vocabulary items through interactive games

To maintain and update my skills and knowledge in these areas, I choose to participate in a range of professional development activities. Some of the PD I have attended and found highly useful include:
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cas
psp
  • The Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship
    • I was awarded a place in the Indonesian Language and Culture Program, held at Charles Darwin University, Darwin, in 2007
  • An introduction to CAS (Computer Algebra Systems) calculators, held at Luther College, August 2008

  • Interactive Whiteboards in the Maths classroom and Interactive Whiteboards in the LOTE classroom, Sh@re Community Campus, Firbank Grammar, May 2008
  • Professional Standards Project – Languages Professional Learning Program, accessed via the Modern Language Teachers Association of Victoria, May 2008
    • This PD introduced the PSP – a set of guidelines, similar to the VIT Standards, to promote professional learning and good Ppractice among Language teachers, inlcuding the importance of linking language learning to its real and vibrant context in the country(s) where the language is spoken
Page last updated 24th September 2008