Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

From Theory to Practice: A Critical Reflection on my Middle Years Teaching

Practicum

By Lisa Johnson

Submitted as EDU5LDP Task 2B

Due Date: 26th August 2016
Instructor: Rochelle Fogelgarn

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

This paper will set out some of the things that I learnt in experiential
practice within the context of theoretical learning gained through my Masters
course to date. In particular, I will be focusing on differentiating curriculum, the
relationship between planning and the evaluation process and meeting diverse
learner needs in the classroom.
A Note About Context
At Aspendale Primary School, there are two Grade 6 classes totally 53
students altogether. They are both taught in the one open-plan classroom and
each class has one teacher (Ms. Phillips was my mentor teacher and Mr. Bird
was the second Grade 6 instructor). The two classes are team-taught 100% of
the time in the classroom, and attend specialist classes separately. This means
that one teacher was always teaching the full Grade 6 class, while the other
teacher was making notes on student engagement and feedback for the lesson
overall. Therefore, when referring to my class throughout this paper, I am
referring to the full cohort of 53 Grade 6 students who I taught throughout my
placement.
Differentiating Curriculum
A particular focus of this Trimester has been the importance of using
differentiation in the classroom in order to allow every student to reach their full
potential, regardless of their baseline level of ability. Effective differentiation has
been positively linked to student motivation and engagement (Beecher &
Sweeny, 2008), greater academic achievement (Gentry, 2014) and higher
quality teaching (VanTassel-Baska, et al., 2008). Prior to beginning my
placement, I had a meeting with my mentor teacher in order to ascertain the
different ability levels of students in what was to be my Grade 6 class for the

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

period of my placement. I was informed that five of the Grade 6 students

suffered with dyslexia of various degrees of severity and a further seven
students were considered significantly below standard. That said, Ms. Phillips
informed me that the biggest concern she had was not the below standard
students, but rather the high number of students in the class who require
extension. Ms. Phillips and Mr. Bird were in recent contact with a Year 7 teacher
from a local high school, who was helping them develop extension programs
from the 15 or so high-achieving students in the Grade 6 cohort. Therefore, in
differentiating my lesson plans, I had to account for students across the full
achievement level spectrum.
One of the lesson sequences I planned and implemented during my
placement was a visual text/screenwriting unit. In planning a differentiated
curriculum for this topic, I utilised the framework of the four foundational
principles of effective differentiation (Tomlinson, 2014), as discussed in the
graphic below:

Differentiation begins with a growth mindset,

moves to student-teacher connections, and
evolves to community.

Differentiation is rooted in meaningful

curriculum

Differentiation has been shown to be most

In every one of my lessons, I encouraged
effective when it is not simply applied to
students to question the information I was
standards, but rather the standards themselves
presenting to them. I had a number of students
are interpreted by teachers and presented in a
in the class who I noticed werent comfortable
way that is meaningful, relevant and interesting
asking questions in front of their peers in this
to students (Tomlinson & Allan, 2000). I tried to
manner. In order to ensure my classes were
keep this in mind when developing my visual
inclusive even for these quieter students, I came texts/screenwriting unit by selecting relevant
up with a jotter pad system. I left jotter pads
AusVELs standards (in line with the schools
on my desk and students could anonymously
curriculum design) and then creating an
write any question or comment that they didnt interesting and applicable unit around them. For
feel comfortable asking in front of the class.
example, standard (ACELT1614) states that
This was the starting point of encouraging a
students should be able to analyse and evaluate
growth mindset in my class.
similarities and differences in texts on similar
topics, themes or plots (Victorian Curriculum
In order to encourage student-teacher
and Assessment Authority [VCAA], 2016). In

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

connections, I would begin each lesson with a

warm-up game. All of my games were of the
ice-breaker, team-building variety so
students could get to know each other better
even as I was getting to know them. These
games served to remind the class that even
though they had been together for 6 years in
primary school, there was still a lot they didnt
know about each other. I tried to instil in them
the idea that the class was stronger as a unit
then they were as individuals, and that a unit is
only as strong as its weakest member. This
philosophy helps to create a sense of
community responsibility in the class through
the warm-up games we played together.

order to meet this standard in a meaningful way,

we watched our visual text (Paper Planes) as a
class, and then I had the students discuss
differences and similarities of their own
favourite movies. This anchored the standard in
a framework that was accessible to every
student, and therefore made the curriculum
more meaningful to them.

Differentiation is guided by ongoing

assessment.

Differentiation
addresses
readiness, interests and
profiles

In designing my unit, I included a

summative screenwriting assessment
that all students needed to complete
by the end of the unit. However,
leading up to this assessment, I
included a lot of formative, informal
assessments in order to differentiate
my teaching effectively. For example,
at the start of each class I would
conduct a quick language check to
ensure that the students were picking
up the vocabulary of visual texts.

student
learning

In the first week of my placement, I

accompanied my class to the
Australian Centre for the Moving
Image (ACMI) in the city. I very quickly
ascertained that they were all
interested in movies, and the movie
making process. It was this interest
that inspired my unit on visual
texts/screenwriting. From there, I tried
to create activities (such as the
character development one discussed
previously) that catered to different
When it came time to develop levels of student readiness.
characters for their screenplays, I
noticed that some students found the In order to address different learning
task
easy
while
others
were profiles, I included a variety of
struggling. In order to combat this, I different tasks over the course of the
created three groups within the class. unit. We watched and critically
For the group most struggling, I analysed an appropriate film (Paper
created an easy-to-follow character Planes), I used PowerPoint to explore
development worksheet. For the ideas of imagery in movies, I created
group most comfortable with the task, a visual display in the classroom with
I gave broad headings to fill in about anchors for visual text vocabulary, I
their characters. Finally, for the created worksheets and written tasks
extension group I created a complex based on differing ability levels.
sheet encouraging them to develop Additionally, I found that a group of

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

well-rounded characters for their

screenplays. By the end of the unit
every
student
had
characters
developed for their screenplays,
regardless of their baseline level of
ability. This is how I interpreted using
ongoing
assessment
to
guide
differentiation on my teaching rounds.

students were particularly interested

in the movie making process. For
those students, I created an extracurricular group with the aim of
entering their finished work in the
Screen It competition run by ACMI.
This helped me to encourage the
more
enthusiastic
students
in
my/their own time while also catering
to the learning profiles of students
with
a
lesser
degree
of
ability/enthusiasm in class.

Planning and the Evaluation Process

Prior to beginning this course, I always assumed that an evaluation was
something to be completed at the end of an activity, topic, subject or unit.
Through my studies thus far, I have come to understand that evaluation needs
to be a constant, ongoing process if it is to be of any meaningful use to me as a
teacher (see Shinkfield & Stufflebeam, 2012, for an interesting view of the
evolution of teacher evaluation and see Darling-Hammond, Amrein-Beardsley,
Haertel & Rothstein, 2012, for a discussion centred around the benefits of
ongoing teacher evaluation).
To illustrate this concept, I refer to a marking rubric that I created while on
my placement (Appendix A). This was the first rubric I had created myself and I
was quite pleased with how it came out. It was professional and it covered all of
the criteria that I wanted my students to address. That said, being my first
attempt at a rubric, I sent a draft to my mentor teacher for evaluation. I
received some feedback that made me realise I had made a major error in
developing my rubric: I had forgotten my target audience. It was far too
complicated for a Grade 6 class to follow. I made some adjustments and my
second rubric attempt (Appendix B) was far more appropriate for my students. If

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

I had left my self-evaluation until after the unit was complete, I would not have
been able to make improvements to my rubric (and therefore my teaching) in a
timely and ongoing manner. I believe that this is the important link between
planning and the evaluating process: ensuring that evaluation takes place in a
time and manner that allows feedback to be meaningfully implemented in order
to improve my teaching in the future.
Meeting Diverse Learner Needs in the Classroom
I like to think that I have a good grasp of the theory around meeting
diverse learner needs in the classroom. Coming from a Psychology background, I
am well-versed in the notion of teaching in different styles to account for
multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1995) or challenging students to learn within
their Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1987). I understand that
meeting diverse learning needs means avoiding the pitfalls of a one-size-fits-all
curriculum and addressing learner variance in each and every class, across each
and every learning area (Subban, 2006). I practiced differentiation in my lessons
by accounting for different levels of abilities, and I thought (for the most part)
that I did it quite well. That said, Id like to conclude this reflection with a
confession. I am still nowhere near good enough at meeting diverse learner
needs in the classroom. There is one particular instance from my placement in
which I feel that I failed spectacularly in this area that really highlights how far I
still have to go in becoming the teacher that I want to be.
For two weeks of my placement, we had a student on exchange from
China. This student (Ill call her Jenny for the sake of this paper), had very little
English and was attending the school at the behest of her parents who wanted
her to experience an Australian school while they were holidaying here. For the
first two or three days, I tried to engage Jenny in conversation and include her in
the lessons. She seemed disengaged and disinterested. She didnt attempt to

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

talk and refused to go outside with the other kids at break times. Her peers tried
their best to include her in their activities (and they did far better than I on that
account). I spoke to my mentor teacher about what we should do, and she said
that if Jenny really didnt understand what was going on, there really wasnt
anything we could do in the short amount of time we had to work with her. So I
effectively ignored her. Not actively of course, but I didnt attempt to engage her
in the lessons much and left her to her own devices during independent study.
On the second last day of her stay, my mentor teacher asked me to work
one-on-one with Jenny during the afternoon session. To my surprise, Jenny
worked very hard to communicate with me (with the help of a notebook and the
translation software on her tablet device). It was slow going, but in the space of
one lesson I learnt that Jenny did understand what was going on in class. She
was bored silly in maths (which was at least two years below what she was
doing in China) and she was completely at a loss in Reading and Writing, which
was far too advanced for her level of English. She was sad because she had just
graduated primary school in China and none of her friends were going to the
same high school as her. She had wanted to spend the holidays with her friends
but her parents brought her to Australia instead. Jenny had actually been
following my visual text classes with interest as she was a huge movie buff.
However, she couldnt follow my PowerPoint presentations or complete the
worksheets because they were too advanced for her. The following day was
Jennys last, and she asked for my e-mail address and to read a heartfelt letter
that she had written to the class. She had taken in so much from her classmates
and thanked them for specific instances of kindness by name. I said goodbye to
Jenny feeling like I had completely wasted the two weeks she was in my class,
and I have never felt such failure since beginning this Master of Teaching.

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

Knowing the theory about meeting diverse learning needs didnt help me
as much as I had hoped when I faced a real challenge in the classroom. In
hindsight, I should have created pictorial worksheets that Jenny could have
completed without the pressure of the language barrier. I should have taken the
time to speak to her one-on-one at the beginning of her stay rather than at the
end. Little things like that could have made all the difference. I already have the
details of my next placement. It is at an integrated school for the deaf. I am
determined to not make the same mistakes twice. I plan on meeting the diverse
learning needs of ALL of my students on the next placement, regardless of how
much of a challenge their learning profile may present.

References
Beecher, M., & Sweeny, S. M. (2008). Closing the achievement gap with curriculum enrichment and
differentiation: One school's story. Journal of Advanced Academics, 19(3), 502-530. doi:
10.4219/jaa-2008-815
Gardner, H. (1995). " Multiple Intelligences" as a catalyst. The English Journal, 84(8), 16-18. doi:
10.2307/821182
Vygotsky, L. (1987). Zone of proximal development. Mind in society: The development of higher
psychological processes, 5291.
Subban, P. (2006). Differentiated instruction: A research basis. International Education Journal, 7(7),
935-947. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ854351.pdf
Gentry, M. (2014). Total school cluster grouping and differentiation: A comprehensive, researchbased plan for raising student achievement and improving teacher practice. Retrieved from
https://books.google.com.au/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=aXGOAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT6&dq=differentiation+and+student+achi
evement&ots=FF6plakiO0&sig=D8En_EdfeP7j0EjhbZtybTFUR9o#v=onepage&q=differenti
ation%20and%20student%20achievement&f=false

Running Head: PLACEMENT REFLECTION

VanTassel-Baska, J., Feng, A. X., Brown, E., Bracken, B., Stambaugh, T., French, H., ... & Bai, W.
(2008). A study of differentiated instructional change over 3 years. Gifted Child
Quarterly, 52(4), 297-312. doi: 10.1177/0016986208321809
Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). Differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners.
Retrieved from https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=CLigAwAAQBAJ&o
i=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=benefits+of+differentiation+in+the+classroom&ots=AeqkrOneow&sig=
GMuS9tZNcYzDNOXFQ1VOonMxY14#v=onepage&q=benefits%20of%20differentiation
%20in%20the%20classroom&f=false
Tomlinson, C. A., & Allan, S. D. (2000). Leadership for Differentiating Schools and Classrooms.
Retrieved from https://books.google.com.au/books?id=R56hzQeSsMMC&pg=
PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=Differentiation+is+rooted+in+meaningful+curriculum&source=bl&ot
s=2DfOx_TjNa&sig=DhTOOj3hLO7xVwl8cKbGzKleTmw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj
Rk7a90dLOAhUHoJQKHeE6AUUQ6AEIIjAB#v=onepage&q=Differentiation%20is
%20rooted%20in%20meaningful%20curriculum&f=false
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2016). AusVELS English Curriculum. Retrieved
from http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/English/Curriculum/F-10#level=6
Shinkfield, A. J., & Stufflebeam, D. L. (2012). Teacher evaluation: Guide to effective practice (Vol.
41). Retrieved from https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=mCTpCAAAQBAJ
&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=the+importance+of+ongoing+evaluation+of+teachers&ots=mOAvO
Bq6SO&sig=FZ09ubbqJ7UPydN8agSnsrQ9tLg#v=onepage&q&f=false
Darling-Hammond, L., Amrein-Beardsley, A., Haertel, E., & Rothstein, J. (2012). Evaluating teacher
evaluation. The Phi Delta Kappan, 93(6), 8-15. doi: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41497541

Appendix A
Marking Rubric First Draft
SCREENPLAY ASSESSMENT RUBRIC
Criteria
Structure
/10

Story
/10

Techniques
/10

Formatting
/5

Exceeds

Meets

Approaches

Attempts

Not shown

Includes all of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay
(title, apparent theme,
setting,
protagonist/antagonist,
conflict, low point,
climax and resolution)
The screenplay features a
well-crafted story that
follows the three-act
conventions exceptionally
well. The screenplay is
three or more pages in
length
Screenplay contains many
effective screenwriting
techniques, which might
include: Sluglines,
montage, voiceover,
parentheticals, the use of
camera shots, dialogue,
action blocks, mood and
suspense
The formatting is correct
in virtually every detail

Includes most of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay
(title, apparent theme,
setting,
protagonist/antagonist,
conflict, low point, climax
and resolution)
The screenplay features
an adequate story that
follows the three-act
conventions. The
screenplay is two or more
pages in length.

Includes some of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay
(title, apparent theme,
setting,
protagonist/antagonist,
conflict, low point, climax
and resolution)
The screenplay features a
marginal story that only
partly follows the threeact conventions. The
screenplay is two or more
pages in length.

Includes few of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay
(title, apparent theme,
setting,
protagonist/antagonist,
conflict, low point, climax
and resolution)
The screenplay features a
weak story that does not
follow the three-act
conventions. The
screenplay is one or more
pages in length.

Screenplay contains
several screenwriting
techniques, which might
include: Sluglines,
montage, voiceover,
parentheticals, the use of
camera shots, dialogue,
action blocks, mood and
suspense
The formatting is correct
for the most part, with
very few errors to distract
the reader

Screenplay contains some

of the screenplay
techniques taught

Screenplay contains few

of the screenplay
techniques taught

Includes none of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay
(title, apparent theme,
setting,
protagonist/antagonist,
conflict, low point, climax
and resolution)
The screenplay features a
weak and rambling story
that does not follow the
three-act conventions and
does not engage the
reader. The screenplay is
incomplete
Screenplay contains none
of the screenplay
techniques taught

The formatting contains

several errors that distract
from the reading
experience

The screenplay contains

many formatting errors

There has been no attempt

to format the screenplay
as per the given templates

Spelling and grammar

/5
TOTAL MARK =

Almost no errors in
grammar or spelling

Few errors in grammar or

spelling

Some errors in grammar

or spelling

Several errors in grammar

or spelling

Numerous errors in
grammar or spelling

/40

Appendix B
Marking Rubric Final Copy
SCREENPLAY ASSESSMENT RUBRIC
NAME: ____________________________________

Criteria
Structure
/9

Story
/9

Exceeds Expectations

Meets Expectations

Approaches Expectations

Not shown

Includes 7 or more of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay:
title,
apparent theme
setting,
protagonist
antagonist,
conflict,
low point,
climax
resolution
The screenplay features a wellcrafted story that follows the
three-act conventions
exceptionally well. The
screenplay is three or more
pages in length

Includes 3 or more of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay:
title,
apparent theme
setting,
protagonist
antagonist,
conflict,
low point,
climax
resolution
The screenplay features an
adequate story that follows the
three-act conventions. The
screenplay is two or more pages
in length.

Includes 1 or more of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay:
title,
apparent theme
setting,
protagonist
antagonist,
conflict,
low point,
climax
resolution
The screenplay features a
marginal story that only partly
follows the three-act
conventions. The screenplay is
one or more pages in length.

Includes none of the key

features of a three-act
structured screenplay (title,
apparent theme, setting,
protagonist/antagonist, conflict,
low point, climax and
resolution)

The screenplay features a weak

and rambling story that does
not follow the three-act
conventions and does not
engage the reader. The
screenplay is incomplete

Techniques
/9

Formatting
/4

Includes 7 or more screenplay

techniques:
sluglines
montage
voiceover
parentheticals
camera shots
dialogue
action blocks
mood
suspense
The formatting is correct in
virtually every detail

Includes 3 or more screenplay

techniques:
sluglines
montage
voiceover
parentheticals
camera shots
dialogue
action blocks
mood
suspense
The formatting is correct for the
most part

Includes 1 or more screenplay

techniques:
sluglines
montage
voiceover
parentheticals
camera shots
dialogue
action blocks
mood
suspense
The screenplay contains many
formatting errors

Spelling and grammar

/4

Almost no errors in grammar or

spelling

Few errors in grammar or

spelling

Some errors in grammar or

spelling

TOTAL MARK =
FEEDBACK =

/35

Screenplay contains none of the

screenplay techniques taught

There has been no attempt to

format the screenplay as per the
given templates
Several errors in grammar or
spelling