Conversation and Staff meeting log:

20/4/16-
Angela (Mentor): Trouble with managing Blakes behaviour.
- Suggested noting behaviours throughout day and lunch times (monitor food consumed through
conversation). Focus on finding his passion/interest and implement that into learning (writing stimulus,
direction, and intention) to encourage motivation.

26/4/16-
Merissa (Colleague): Trouble with Blakes behaviour, from day I was absent.
- Noted and discussed that behaviour deteriorates as day goes on. Suggested to organise meeting to see how
things are at home, event or issue may be causing him to act in the way he does.
28/4/16-
Angela: Success and suggestions with maths rotations.
- Suggested indication strategy that she uses for completion of activities to ensure I can monitor how they
were completed (with support, etc). I=independent, G=group/peer, T=teacher.
- Groups worked well, ability levels were supported.
02/05/16-
Angela: Supporting and extending students needs (EXT, challenges).
- Suggested challenging maths games and activities (cracking codes, multi-step questions, open-ended tasks
using real life concepts such as shopping, budgeting).
- Implemented that day and discussed successes: Cohen, Keely and Faith responded well and could complete
independently.
18/04/16-
Back to Front Maths PD (Various staff): Discussions and Observations on journal problems.
- Donna Humphries (Maths coach): Discussed implementation to suit year level. Effective questions to get
students thinking (upper and lower level) have prepared before lesson to ensure students are continually
challenged. Journal problems inform teaching and demonstrate student understanding to show direction of
future lessons. Investigative nature: not finding the right and wrongs in student work, but where they are
and where are they going.
- Reflection from lesson observed with Miss Watchirs, Mr H and Mrs Rowe: Groups split with working at,
support or challenge needed. Questioning and pausing enables students to think. Not giving clues or
prompts, but questions to get students thinking and stretching their brains. Fast moving JP, needed to have
questions prepared prior.
01/08/16-
Angela: discussion about extension options for Cohen to support his needs.
- Busy sheets providing him with the opportunity to feel privileged, as though he has earned it.
- Open-ended questions and tasks for maths: real life application (money, budgeting, distance, fractions in
cooking)
08/08/16-

Merissa and Meg: Reflecting on practice Referred to AITSL standards (5.2 Feedback, 3.3 Use teaching
strategies, 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students).

- Discussion about ways to effectively support students with ASD. Importance of communication at their level
and value of encouraging eye contact. Meg suggested a verbal request of eye contact, Are you ready to look
at me?
- Diversity of needs and levels, suggestions of extension tasks. Approach is key, We are going to be working
together to do
Staff meeting:

Spelling (Teachers presenting spelling in their classrooms):

- THRASS G drive (spelling and tiles) Meg uses resources in her classroom during morning reading.
- Focus for week: groups present spelling rule for the week to the class.
- I learned that I noticed that To reflect on rule for the week or particular spelling words.
- Rotations: allow for all students to be seen by teacher.
- No excuse words: on G drive
- DART terminology for weekly editing Meg suggested using this as a strategy in modelled lessons.
- Goal reassessing in spelling group for Fridays.
- Sound, pattern, meaning focus.

Professional Development log:

19/4/16- Jon Kabat-Zin - Mindfulness PD

- Spread the vibe you want to feel, your mood/feeling rub off onto others.
- Attention=outcomes always (detailed attention especially).
- Morning routine: way you approach the beginning of day, sets the mood for the day.
- Meditation: watching and controlling thoughts- direct them back to where they need to be.
- Breathing exercise for classroom: square box- breath in for 4, hold, out for 4 creating a square with our
breathe.
- Brain power booster: twisting, movement and music.
- Cautious of entering new space: have new mindset. Switch on and be here.
- Attention needs time to recover: waiting during learning, not diving into different concepts but rather
completing them more efficiently.
- Teachers and students: dont fill time with more stuff but rather more productively.
- Multitasking numbs part of brain, 1.5 times slower completion rate, one thing at a time.
- More presence: playing (encourages more presence); movement (exercise, walking, music); conversation
(uplifted and sharing ideas); nature (outside/natural world- connect with world, learning and memory).

14/07/16- Harry Laing ALEA Ban the boring PD.

- Verb cline poem: action or verb (sport, dancing, cyclone, day). Perspective: (animal, insect) What happens
to them in a day. Create an atmosphere of possibility.
- Savour/Settle thoughts: after reading text/story, how is it interesting?
- Unrecognisable Objects: (op shops) discussion to begin, where did it come from, what does it do, what is it
made of?
- Moving away from telling me how you FEEL but begin describe thing: the feeling will be reflected through
the description.
- Scenario scenes: verbal prompt of an extreme situation/setting (collapsed cave, hurricane, died in battle but
part of body lived on and experienced these things)
- Shape poems: animal or object that is easy to identify that is described in detail.

27/07/16- Seven Steps to writing

- Use 7s to get attention (or count down) to wait until students are prepared.
- Prompts to engage and spark interest in writing (videos, visuals, physical objects- create bank for creative
writing).
- With prompt (verb or adjective, eg. FLY, JUMP, RUN). Idea Auction to begin lesson or thinking: 10 (solid)
ideas timed, aiming to beat personal best for time. Something to work on and develop each day. Continue
 with ideas to create brainstorm (things that do, descriptions, what is, etc). Stop when it is good, dont drag it
on.
- Sizzling starts: begin with the action, problem, issue. What was happening?
- Character care factor: Why do we want them to succeed? Why do we feel empathy for their situation?
- Show dont tell can start off- short 10-15min lesson, paint the picture for the reader, and make them feel like
they are right there. (The senses: smell, touch, taste, see, hear).

05/08/16 Misty Adoniou (Univeristy of Canberra): Spelling PD

- Etymology: origins of words; morphology: small parts of words and their meanings.
- Relating spelling to learning areas and topics (Recycle, sustainable, environment).
- Morphology, Graphemes, Phonemes: language around describing spelling.