Know Your Students
It is important to recognise that each and every student is an individual and therefore will have differing requirements and experiences. As an educator, it is important to be acutely aware of these differences between the students in order to properly inform your planning and classroom instruction.
It’s important to assess student’s prior knowledge as it provides critical insights into the individual student and their existing knowledge and understandings of a new topic which can guide and inform future teacher planning.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences - Students associate themselves with one or more of the intelligences (outlined in Gardner’s Theory) more readily than others. By being aware of which learning styles best suit students individually, you can create classroom activities which allow them to build on their strengths, develop areas in which they require improvement and challenge students by getting them to move out of their comfort zone by trying something new.
Bloom’s Taxonomy – Bloom’s taxonomy can be used by educators to structure their learning programs and teaching practices. By starting at the bottom and working their way up the Taxonomy, teachers can plan to assess student prior knowledge, demonstrate their comprehension of learned knowledge in new ways, and find ways to apply this knowledge in ways to analyse information and evaluate future outcomes. This allows the students to move from lower levels of thinking through to those at a higher level.
I feel that observation has been essential in the early days of my placements and through monitoring student’s attitude and work ethic I was able to identify many students strengths and also areas that need assistance (I don’t believe in labelling anything a “weakness) in order to tailor the learning experiences I was able to offer them to optimise their learning and help them to reach their learning potential.
Building positive relationships with each individual student, on a previous placement my mentor teacher stressed the importance of knowing every student, their habits, their behaviour, their personality in order to identify inconsistencies when evident- usually caused by an exterior and extraneous variable (home life etc). I've found that informal discussions with students often reveal more about themselves than any test you can set them. When entering a placement class I find it helpful to look back on student’s past work. Looking at a child’s workbook can offer valuable insights into their attitude to learning, and also their development throughout the year. Displays of classroom work often indicate the differences in student’s work ethic and aptitude for learning- one piece of work can in no way summarise a single child, but it can be handy in identifying student’s who struggle with skills like writing, reading and communication.
During my AP at the start of the year I was in a prep class and one of the jobs of my mentor teacher was to attempt to identify students that may be harbouring unidentified learning difficulties that may be starting to develop. By identifying students who differed from the “standard” student, my mentor teacher (and eventually me) was able to tailor her lessons so that all students could complete them.
Throughout a previous placement, I have catered lessons for ESL students. In 2010, I was in a grade 5/6 class with a boy who spoke very little English and therefore had to use lots of hand signals to ensure understanding and set tasks that were very visual. He also had an aptitude for mathematics so I was sure to include mathematic elements in my lessons in order to appeal to Tom’s strengths.
My bachelor degree has placed a large emphasis on the education of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students and I have been informed of a variety of different teaching strategies in order to effectively engage indigenous students. I have created a unit-plan on “Indigenous Dreamtime” for grade 6 students which can be altered to many year levels, which included strategies to engage indigenous students, while also engaging non-indigenous students and offering them an insight into the culture and history of Indigenous Australia.
It’s important to assess student’s prior knowledge as it provides critical insights into the individual student and their existing knowledge and understandings of a new topic which can guide and inform future teacher planning.
Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences - Students associate themselves with one or more of the intelligences (outlined in Gardner’s Theory) more readily than others. By being aware of which learning styles best suit students individually, you can create classroom activities which allow them to build on their strengths, develop areas in which they require improvement and challenge students by getting them to move out of their comfort zone by trying something new.
Bloom’s Taxonomy – Bloom’s taxonomy can be used by educators to structure their learning programs and teaching practices. By starting at the bottom and working their way up the Taxonomy, teachers can plan to assess student prior knowledge, demonstrate their comprehension of learned knowledge in new ways, and find ways to apply this knowledge in ways to analyse information and evaluate future outcomes. This allows the students to move from lower levels of thinking through to those at a higher level.
I feel that observation has been essential in the early days of my placements and through monitoring student’s attitude and work ethic I was able to identify many students strengths and also areas that need assistance (I don’t believe in labelling anything a “weakness) in order to tailor the learning experiences I was able to offer them to optimise their learning and help them to reach their learning potential.
Building positive relationships with each individual student, on a previous placement my mentor teacher stressed the importance of knowing every student, their habits, their behaviour, their personality in order to identify inconsistencies when evident- usually caused by an exterior and extraneous variable (home life etc). I've found that informal discussions with students often reveal more about themselves than any test you can set them. When entering a placement class I find it helpful to look back on student’s past work. Looking at a child’s workbook can offer valuable insights into their attitude to learning, and also their development throughout the year. Displays of classroom work often indicate the differences in student’s work ethic and aptitude for learning- one piece of work can in no way summarise a single child, but it can be handy in identifying student’s who struggle with skills like writing, reading and communication.
During my AP at the start of the year I was in a prep class and one of the jobs of my mentor teacher was to attempt to identify students that may be harbouring unidentified learning difficulties that may be starting to develop. By identifying students who differed from the “standard” student, my mentor teacher (and eventually me) was able to tailor her lessons so that all students could complete them.
Throughout a previous placement, I have catered lessons for ESL students. In 2010, I was in a grade 5/6 class with a boy who spoke very little English and therefore had to use lots of hand signals to ensure understanding and set tasks that were very visual. He also had an aptitude for mathematics so I was sure to include mathematic elements in my lessons in order to appeal to Tom’s strengths.
My bachelor degree has placed a large emphasis on the education of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students and I have been informed of a variety of different teaching strategies in order to effectively engage indigenous students. I have created a unit-plan on “Indigenous Dreamtime” for grade 6 students which can be altered to many year levels, which included strategies to engage indigenous students, while also engaging non-indigenous students and offering them an insight into the culture and history of Indigenous Australia.