Standard 2: Know the content and how to teach it
Summary of Standard
The second standard of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is about understanding the content required for teaching and then knowing how to teach it. As a teacher, you need to know the content you are teaching otherwise students won’t be able to develop as learners. Once the content is understood, this content then needs to be put into and effective learning sequence that will benefit students learning. This will include assessing and reporting. The content being taught should always be aligned with The Australian Curriculum. It is also very important to have an understanding of the strategies required for all teachers in their teaching profession.
Situation Action Outcome
Focus Area
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching areas
2.2 Content selection and organisation
Situation
Prior to commencing my final internship, I needed to create a rough draft programme that I could use throughout the term. I knew I needed to create a term planner that was thoroughly detailed and informative. I only started with a rough draft copy as I knew that this planner would be altered as I went.
Action
I created a 10 week long learning sequence program for each learning area. This was then inputted into a term planner, weekly planner and daily planner. In order to create this programme, I needed to thoroughly revise the Australian Curriculum so that I was extremely familiar with it when creating my programme.
Outcome
Through having such an in depth programme, I was able to always know exactly what I was teaching, how I was teaching it and how it was linked to the curriculum. My programme allowed me to teach efficiently and effectively throughout the term, while also making alterations as I went.
Focus Area
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
Situation
During an early Literacy lesson, I was introducing the students to verbs. I thought of a teaching strategy to use that was going to be beneficial to their learning. Role-play is such an important part of early childhood education, therefore I wanted to include role-play when explaining verbs to the students.
Action
I had all students sitting in front of me on the mat when I explained what a verb was. I stood up and showed them the different verb actions that I could do. I then went on to explain to them that a verb is something you can physically do. I chose different students to stand up and “do” something and then to tell the class what verb they were doing. During the next lesson, I read out sentences and for each sentence, I gave a student a character. Each character had a different action that they needed to perform. Students would then come up and act out the action that their character was doing in the sentence. Students then needed to guess what the “doing word” was in each sentence. After performing role-play, as a class, students made a verb poster together. Students needed to think up a verb on their own. It could have been a verb from the role play or they could have thought of one on their own. They would then draw and write that verb onto a small piece of paper. I then put all their verbs together and made a verb poster which was then put up on the classroom wall.
Outcome
Students were able to remember what a verb was and were also able to provide a verb. This was because the strategy I used to teach the verbs were play-based, hands-on, fun and interactive. Students weren’t just sitting down and listening, they were actually physically involved in their learning. When students are physically involved in their learning, it is always much more meaningful.
Focus Area
2.6 Information and communication technology
Situation
The school I was at for my professional internship had limited ICT opportunities and experiences available for the pre-primary students. I knew I had to use ICT somehow to expand their curriculum learning opportunities, so I discussed it with my mentor teacher. She then informed me that one of the children’s parents had three iPads available that we could use. So I talked with this parent and she was more than happy to bring them into the classroom every morning.
Action
Each morning, one mother brought in three iPads for the class to use. I made up a chart with all the students names on it so that I could record who had already had a turn and for how long they were on the iPad. I would then choose people to have a go on the iPads throughout each week. I had specific learning numeracy and literacy applications downloaded onto the iPad and placed into a specific folder. These were the applications that the students had the opportunity to play on.
Outcome
Each of the numeracy and literacy applications available enhanced children’s learning outcomes. Students really enjoyed going on the iPads and learning in an authentic and hands-on way that was both enjoyable and educational.
The second standard of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is about understanding the content required for teaching and then knowing how to teach it. As a teacher, you need to know the content you are teaching otherwise students won’t be able to develop as learners. Once the content is understood, this content then needs to be put into and effective learning sequence that will benefit students learning. This will include assessing and reporting. The content being taught should always be aligned with The Australian Curriculum. It is also very important to have an understanding of the strategies required for all teachers in their teaching profession.
Situation Action Outcome
Focus Area
2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching areas
2.2 Content selection and organisation
Situation
Prior to commencing my final internship, I needed to create a rough draft programme that I could use throughout the term. I knew I needed to create a term planner that was thoroughly detailed and informative. I only started with a rough draft copy as I knew that this planner would be altered as I went.
Action
I created a 10 week long learning sequence program for each learning area. This was then inputted into a term planner, weekly planner and daily planner. In order to create this programme, I needed to thoroughly revise the Australian Curriculum so that I was extremely familiar with it when creating my programme.
Outcome
Through having such an in depth programme, I was able to always know exactly what I was teaching, how I was teaching it and how it was linked to the curriculum. My programme allowed me to teach efficiently and effectively throughout the term, while also making alterations as I went.
Focus Area
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies
Situation
During an early Literacy lesson, I was introducing the students to verbs. I thought of a teaching strategy to use that was going to be beneficial to their learning. Role-play is such an important part of early childhood education, therefore I wanted to include role-play when explaining verbs to the students.
Action
I had all students sitting in front of me on the mat when I explained what a verb was. I stood up and showed them the different verb actions that I could do. I then went on to explain to them that a verb is something you can physically do. I chose different students to stand up and “do” something and then to tell the class what verb they were doing. During the next lesson, I read out sentences and for each sentence, I gave a student a character. Each character had a different action that they needed to perform. Students would then come up and act out the action that their character was doing in the sentence. Students then needed to guess what the “doing word” was in each sentence. After performing role-play, as a class, students made a verb poster together. Students needed to think up a verb on their own. It could have been a verb from the role play or they could have thought of one on their own. They would then draw and write that verb onto a small piece of paper. I then put all their verbs together and made a verb poster which was then put up on the classroom wall.
Outcome
Students were able to remember what a verb was and were also able to provide a verb. This was because the strategy I used to teach the verbs were play-based, hands-on, fun and interactive. Students weren’t just sitting down and listening, they were actually physically involved in their learning. When students are physically involved in their learning, it is always much more meaningful.
Focus Area
2.6 Information and communication technology
Situation
The school I was at for my professional internship had limited ICT opportunities and experiences available for the pre-primary students. I knew I had to use ICT somehow to expand their curriculum learning opportunities, so I discussed it with my mentor teacher. She then informed me that one of the children’s parents had three iPads available that we could use. So I talked with this parent and she was more than happy to bring them into the classroom every morning.
Action
Each morning, one mother brought in three iPads for the class to use. I made up a chart with all the students names on it so that I could record who had already had a turn and for how long they were on the iPad. I would then choose people to have a go on the iPads throughout each week. I had specific learning numeracy and literacy applications downloaded onto the iPad and placed into a specific folder. These were the applications that the students had the opportunity to play on.
Outcome
Each of the numeracy and literacy applications available enhanced children’s learning outcomes. Students really enjoyed going on the iPads and learning in an authentic and hands-on way that was both enjoyable and educational.
Evidence
Action Plans
In order to teach effectively, it is vital to have a vast understanding about the content you are teaching. Being familiar with the Australian Curriculum is a must for anyone in the teaching profession. Not only do you need to be familiar with the content, you must know how to teach it effectively. There is no point having the greatest knowledge of the Australian Curriculum if you don’t know how to teach it correctly.
ICT is such a great way to expand curriculum learning opportunities for all students. There are so many positive effects on children’s learning and development when ICT is used to enhance their learning. I will always continue to implement as much ICT as possible to expand and enhance all students learning outcomes. ICT is a great way to teach students for many reasons including the fact that it is hands on, engaging, fun and motivating. All students actually want to learn when ICT is involved. Also, when learning through ICT, everything can be set according to each student’s different learning styles and abilities.
In order to teach effectively, it is vital to have a vast understanding about the content you are teaching. Being familiar with the Australian Curriculum is a must for anyone in the teaching profession. Not only do you need to be familiar with the content, you must know how to teach it effectively. There is no point having the greatest knowledge of the Australian Curriculum if you don’t know how to teach it correctly.
ICT is such a great way to expand curriculum learning opportunities for all students. There are so many positive effects on children’s learning and development when ICT is used to enhance their learning. I will always continue to implement as much ICT as possible to expand and enhance all students learning outcomes. ICT is a great way to teach students for many reasons including the fact that it is hands on, engaging, fun and motivating. All students actually want to learn when ICT is involved. Also, when learning through ICT, everything can be set according to each student’s different learning styles and abilities.