SC1 Demonstrated understanding of initiatives in student learning including

the Standards, the Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and Assessment and
Reporting Advice and the capacity to implement curriculum programs consistent
with their intent.

The standards currently implemented within our current educational system, AusVELS, have
been based on the concept of fairness. I believe this concept is what drives our teaching to
various students at varying levels of ability and understanding as it is by being fair that we
are able to impart our knowledge effectively. As such the AusVELS standards give all
students nationally the same equal access to education, knowledge and skills in all subjects
areas. It is through this I am able to utilise the Principle of Learning and Teaching P-12
(PoLT) to create an effective teaching environment in which all students can learn to and
meet these standards. Therefore, in order to create an effective learning environment our
classroom needs to be safe, supportive and productive. It is by creating this support base
within the classroom that I am able to encourage the development of the individuals'
independence, interdependence and self-motivation.

In order to achieve this I need to tailor my teaching methods to reflect the needs,
capabilities, backgrounds, perspectives and interests of the students' in our classroom. I
believe that by tailoring my teaching methods suit the individual student, not just the
collective, we are able to encourage their development not only within a specific subject
matter but also outside of the classroom environment. Moreover, this can be linked to the
development of curriculum programs and assessments for that curriculum that are able to
reflect student ability.

I have been able to demonstrate an understanding of the AusVELS standards throughout

my placement at Gilmore College for Girls (2015) in the development of a curriculum
program or unit of work that is supplemented by my individual lessons. I developed a
Romeo and Juliet unit for Year 10 English which was delivered over a 6 week period which I
adapted as the unit progressed in order to suit the students' progress. In this unit I
developed a range of materials and activities to supplement its implementation in the year
10 curriculum. Moreover, I implemented the unit by utilising PoLT to create an effective
student learning environment that was, fundamentally, safe and supportive of my students
opinions, ideas and interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. It is by creating this environment I
was able to encourage my students to understand and apply their knowledge of the
historical and social context throughout class discussions. Hence, it is my intention to
develop and implement curriculum programs that encourages deeper critical thinking.

Assessment is an important aspect of the implementation of curriculum as it involves the

analysis of student learning to make an informed judgement to further improve learning. A
1
Loanna Finch

key aspect of this is the creation of assessment that reflects the needs and capabilities of
the students through differentiation. It is important to differentiate in assessment,
especially in English, as each student is at a different level with their written and verbal
language skills. This difference in ability was most noticeable in my year 8 English class in
which a group of students had written language skills that were at a grade 4 - 6 primary
school level. As such these students struggled with writing an essay for the year 8 English
unit, Crow Country assessment. Therefore, I developed an alternative assessment that
broke down the writing of an essay into smaller/manageable components that focused on
the analysis of the question; stating the contention in a single sentence; writing three main
arguments using a topic sentence for each; and three examples that supported those
arguments. As a result of developing this alternate assessment I was able to still assess the
students' understanding/interpretation of Crow Country, their ability to develop arguments
and using examples as support.

Hence, this allowed me to utilise a scaffolding process to build on the skills of my students,
rather than standardising my teaching and their learning.

2
Loanna Finch

SC2 Demonstrated high level classroom teaching skills and the capacity to
work with colleagues to continually improve teaching and learning.

Students are individuals, and as individuals, they differ in learning and in the pace that they
learn at. As such I believe it is my role as a teacher to respond to the needs and abilities of
my students. In order to do so effectively I know that I need to adapt my teaching style in a
way that allows for the incorporation of different learning styles in the classroom. I strongly
believe that all students are capable of learning and have a desire to learn, if given the
opportunity to do so by their teacher.

I believe that in order for students to learn effectively they need to interact with knowledge
by constructing it themselves and connecting their learning to the world around them. A
way this can be done is by developing engaging curriculum and activities inspired by
Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI). This theory was developed in order to
understand the way an individual is able to learn more effectively. As part of my teaching I
attempt to incorporate activities that utilises a variety of intelligences.

In year 10 English students were required to respond to their reading of the play Romeo
and Juliet, a text many students in the class disliked. So to engage my students with the
text I used a variety of activities including: the creation of a class timeline of events
focusing on the historical context of the play; discussions/debates; quizzes and performing
their interpretation of the play. In fact, I utilised a significant number of intelligences in
order to give my students the best possible learning experience that encourages further
learning (linguistic; logical; kinaesthetic; visual and interpersonal). In humanities I was able
to utilise hands-on/kinaesthetic learning through the $20 Boss Project that required the
students to learn and use business knowledge/skills in order to begin operating a business.
In using activities like those I have implemented in my practicum I need to ensure that my
students are challenged by a task or activity. It is through the challenging nature of tasks or
activities that effective in depth learning occurs.

Moreover, as part of my practicum I had the opportunity to team teach with my colleagues
and was supported by experienced teachers. This collaborative teaching gave me the
opportunity to collaborate with my colleagues as well as exchange information and
resources in order to develop curriculum and lessons that engages students with learning.

As a graduate teacher, I intend to continually refine my approaches to teaching and student

learning in order to create effective learning for a diverse range of students. I am also
comfortable in seeking advice and open to listening to feedback about my practice and
3
Loanna Finch

strategies as well as utilising this feedback to improve my teaching.

4
Loanna Finch

SC3 Demonstrated ability to monitor and assess student learning data and to
use this data to inform teaching for improved student learning.

Assessment is an essential aspect of the learning process as it informs teachers of their

students' knowledge and abilities. Therefore, curriculum can be designed according to the
needs and/or abilities of the student. Through the monitoring of student learning in the
classroom and in assessment that as teachers, we are able to gather data to inform our
teaching practice regarding student learning. In order to more effectively do this, as
teachers, we need to assess student learning at various stages including diagnostic,
formative and summative assessment.

Firstly, diagnostic or "assessment for learning" allows us to gain an understanding of

students prior knowledge of a particular topic through, for example, the use of mind maps
or class notes on the whiteboard. Formative or "assessment as learning", occurs as a part of
the learning process as it assesses student learning as a particular unit progresses. This in
turn, allows us to modify our teaching styles in order to help students learn more effectively.
Lastly, summative or "assessment of learning" shows or examines the sum of the students
knowledge, understanding and skills developed in the unit.

In order for assessment to be used correctly, it needs to be developed in a way that can
effectively assist students to improve, grow and succeed in academic life. Therefore, a
'good' assessment has a clear purpose, clear instructions and criteria that is
understandable as well as straightforward so students can have an understanding of what
is expected of them. The data gathered from assessments allows me to report to parents or
carers about the students' progression throughout the year, where their abilities are
according to the national standards and the development of methods that the student or
teacher can use to improve their learning.

During my practicum at Gilmore College for Girls I utilised a variety of diagnostic, formative
and summative assessments in both humanities and English. It is through this usage of
assessment in my classes that I was able to have a better understanding of my students
knowledge, skills and capabilities. For example, in the year 10 Romeo and Juliet unit
(English) I used formative assessment in order to have an understanding the various
aspects of the play. For this formative assessment students were instructed to prepare a
script that they would use in their performance of a scene from the play by working
collaboratively in groups of four or five. By utilising this type of assessment upon the
completion of the reading of the play, I was able to have a better grasp on the individual
students' interpretation of the play. In regards to the performance aspect of this particular
assessment students were able to use a variety of props and costumes that they felt would
increase the effectiveness of their interpretation. The usage of this particular task as a
5
Loanna Finch

formative assessment allowed me to give students the opportunity to present their

knowledge of a text different from the standard formative assessment tasks traditionally
used in English classrooms (e.g. quizzes, summaries etc.).

Moreover, I also employed various strategies or techniques that I used in my classes in

order gain a better understanding of my students progress. This includes:
I collected non-assessed work to ensure student engagement with the material (e.g.
worksheets)
I consistently provided feedback to my students about their work and possibilities for
improvement.
I moved around a classroom throughout an entire lesson in ensure that students are
on task and that they understand the materials.

As a graduate teacher, should I be employed at your school, I will continually aspire to

apply my experience with assessments in my classroom. I will maintain detailed
documentation of the various formal and informal assessment tasks, which will be used as
data to inform my teaching practices. I also believe that I would be able to refine my
assessment methods to effectively assess learning.

6
Loanna Finch

SC4 Demonstrated high level written and verbal communication skills and high
level interpersonal skills including a capacity to develop constructive
relationships with students, parents and other staf.

I think that by projecting a calm, respectful and approachable persona I am able to develop
effective relationships with students, parents and colleagues. By acting in this manner I am
able to communicate effectively within/outside the classroom. Having effective
communication skills is an essential skill to have as a teacher as it allows me to listen,
evaluate and adapt my language and expression to suit the needs or abilities of the people
with whom I am communicating. Also having strong interpersonal skills is just as important
as communication skills as it is a culmination of both that assists in the ability to develop
constructive relationships with students, parents/carers and staff.

I believe that my high level written and verbal communication skills have been effectively
utilised in my teaching through the use of feedback and by maintaining a dialogue with my
students. I have demonstrated my strong communication skills throughout the course of my
practicum and my studies at university by developing unit plans, materials, activities,
assessments and criteria to support student learning. For example, as part of my studies at
university I undertook research about the influence gender has on student learning, which I
then utilised to create an essay. This essay on the influence of gender in education
received a high distinction, which is only awarded to those with high written communication
skills. In regards to verbal communication skills, during my placement at Gilmore the school
was visited by representatives of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in order to be
assessed so that the school could become accredited. I became involved in interacting and
communicating with these representatives in one of my year 8 English classes. As part of
this communication I discussed the key aspects of the $20 Boss Project, which is an
integrated business and English unit; how it relates to the IB Middle Years Program (MYP) as
well as going in detail regarding students work/progress and their understanding of what IB
MYP is. My communication with the representatives of IB was effective in that I was able to
direct them to the materials developed by mentor for the English component of the unit as
well as being able to provide my own examples of students work in the humanities
component of the unit.

During my placement I had the opportunity to actively participate in parent-teacher night in

which I was required to utilise my strong communication and interpersonal skills to develop
a relationship with the parents or carers of the students in my class. As parent-teacher
night progressed I began to discuss with various parents/carers about the student's
progress, emphasising their achievements in my class, possible methods of improvement
as well as addressing any concerns about their work. I was able to support this by showing
the parents or carers a copy of their work and assessments.

7
Loanna Finch

In one parent-teacher meeting I was able to discuss with a student that struggled with
sentence structure, grammar and written expression her achievement in showing me her
understanding of business through the creation of a radio advertisement. By explaining this
students' success in this task to her parent/carer I was able to highlight or draw attention to
her learning in the unit. Hence, I believe that during parent-teacher nights that the use of
interpersonal skills should be directed at the achievements of the student and possible
methods of improvement rather than solely focusing on the negative aspects of behaviour.

Should I be employed as a teacher at your school I would like to develop effective working
relationships within the school as well as engaging with the broader community.

8
Loanna Finch

SC5 Demonstrated commitment and capacity to actively contribute to a broad

range of school activities and a commitment to ongoing professional learning to
enable further development of skills, expertise and teaching capacity.

Throughout my placement I attempted to become involved in the different aspects of

school life as I felt my teaching would be enhanced by getting to know my students and
their behaviours outside the classroom. This in turn allowed me to build a rapport with my
students, thereby, enhancing the classroom experience.

Some examples of my contribution to the school community:

I supported the Athletics Carnival run by Gilmore. I did this by helping to set up/pack
up the necessary equipment, assisted in the monitoring and scoring of triple jump.
I organised an incursion for my year 8 humanities class to support their learning and
understanding of business, particularly, the concept of workplace safety. For this
incursion I organised a current WorkSafe Inspector to come to the school in order to
talk to the girls about how they could make the operation of their business safe.
I ran study sessions during lunchtime for the year 8 students so they were able to get
extra assistance in essay writing skills.
I participated in homework club after school in which I was able to interact with
students outside of the classroom setting.
I helped organise the implementation of the $20 Boss Project at Gilmore.
Organised a drama based lesson for my year 10 English class.
I have also participated and run "circles" (or homegroup) in which I utilised activities
that encouraged student engagement in the current news.
Created an evaluation survey for year 8 students in which they needed to assess their
own learning and skills (approaches to learning survey).

As a teacher, I believe we should never stop learning as new discoveries, ideas and
concepts are developed or discovered constantly. The Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers (AITSL) supports my perspective of learning. As part of these standards teachers
are expected to continue engaging in professional learning and development to not only
improve ourselves but also student learning. I intend to continue undertaking professional
development to further my growth as a teacher.
9
Loanna Finch

Throughout the course of my placement I took part in a number of events and activities
that encouraged my growth and development as a teacher. At Gilmore there were weekly
meetings that focused on the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary in order to
develop/implement units based on the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB
MYP). I have also attended a professional development program at the Parliament of
Victoria focusing on the teaching of civics and citizenship. This particular program focused
on the methods that teachers could use in the classroom to encourage "active" citizenship
or democracy.

Hence, it is my intention as a graduate teacher to endeavour in the refinement of my

knowledge and skills through professional development. I intend to continue pursuing the
various opportunities available to improve my teaching practice.

10
Loanna Finch