In the implementation of the geography unit and between week 4 and week 8 of my placement

there were several modifications and changes. In teaching lesson 6 I found that students had
difficulties with the task of finding 2 animals to compare. As such I modified this lesson and the
human adaption lesson. The modification that I made was for students to choose an animal from the
Alice Springs desert park website
(http://www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au/kids/plants/index.shtml). Students then had to find size,
food, habitat and adaption information for their chosen information. I found that as this website was
interactive students were consistently engaged. There were students were sharing and assisting
others throughout the lesson. For the following lesson on human adaptions I modified it to students
identify, discuss and justify human adaptions for their groups climate zones. As such there were
modifications made to the final assessment. Students used the information they found from the
above website and from their discussions on human adaptions.

A change that happened during the last four weeks was that the focus student that I had selected for
the below strand (Nathan) has left. As such for components three and four I will be looking at
someone who is of a similar level to Nathan. This student, Melissa, is someone who makes an
attempt at her work, though requires support from fellow students, teachers or support staff to
understand the task and/or get her ideas onto paper. This support may look like scribing, prompting
or rephrasing the question or task.

The assessment for this unit was to create a factsheet using the information students had gathered
throughout the term. Students had been working in groups throughout, as such this assessment had
an element of sharing information between students through verbal and written communication.
The fact sheets were fairly scaffolded due to our work on each section throughout the term.
Students simple had to go back through their notes and their groups notes to select the appropriate
information. The implementation of this assessment was both collaborative and individual. Students
worked in their mixed ability groups to identify and collect information and complete the
assessment. There were students who required support with parts or all of their assessment. This
support was either scribing, reading out and rephrasing information and help with ICT
(iPads/computers). The support for technology was often help with typing or searching for
information.

(Please note most students were able to achieve an at/above for this assessment)

Melissa - appendix one

Melissa worked with others from her group to complete her fact sheet. While this is her own work
she was also supported in finding and selecting her information. This student is at a low at for her
work due to this support. The areas in which she has been more supported are clear in the wording
and the amount of her information. Through observing Mellissa working throughout the term, both
in geography and in other lessons she tries her work, though if she needs help is not afraid to ask.
Through observing I noticed that the wording of the task and information needs to be simpler then
for those at an average or above level. Her comprehension skills are lower. Melissa showed that she
has group and team skills, meaning she works well with others, and works with those that she is
comfortable with and those who could help with her work.

Thomas appendix two

Thomas has shown an understanding of the climate zones we have been looking at in class. In his
fact sheet he use simpler language and reworded the climate descriptor. He also showed his
understanding through choosing a relevant adaption for the climate zone that his group chose.
Thomas worked well throughout this unit and showed leadership and modelled engaged behaviours
in his group. The next step for Thomas is working on justifications and understanding higher level,
content specific language and using this language to describe aspects of the topic.

Michael appendix three

Michaels work surprised me as he usually shows answers in sentences and detail. In his fact sheet
there were several areas where short answers were given and in simple though still content related
language. Michaels climate descriptor was limited to one word and he could identify a human
adaption, though a general adaption not one for the climate zone his group chose. I observed that
the closer that we got to the end of term the more tired that this student appeared. On the day that
we did this fact sheet assessment this could have been playing a part. The student may also have
been having a bad day.

Assessments are a way for teachers to see what knowledge students have gained and to see where
to support students. Colin Marsh in Becoming An Efective teacher (page 312) says learners should
be the main audience of assessment. The assessments are for students and should be beneficial for
them. Using success criteria and learning intentions which are visible for the students may help with
this. Students are also rarely involved in the planning of assessment. At this stage in my teaching
journey I am unsure how to incorporate students into the planning of assessment and units and
lesson. I look forward to exploring this in the furture. These three focus students and across the class
have engaged with the lessons throughout the term. The assessment has been a culmination of the
information that the students found throughout this research. This class has worked well overall in
their small groups to obtain and share information. Students were verbally using content related
language and showing others through example how to use it. A skill across these three focus
students and the class that needs further support and teaching is justification. Justifying why
something is the way it is or how something works or how we know a piece of information. In the
program/timetable for the class that I am teaching in there is 2 afternoons a week put aside for
writing and punctuation. During this time, I would plan to do some quiet individual justification
activities.

Feedback provided for lesson work is something I tried to be conscience of while at Millner Primary
School, using constructive feedback in the form of positive, needs work, positive.

For these students feedback was given throughout the unit in the form of verbal feedback.
Sometimes the feedback was related to a question they had asked. For example, the Michael had
found out about an animals adaptions and was having difficulty comprehending the information. So,
we sat down with his group and talked about what that animal was, what the difficult words might
mean and what the overall meaning of the information was. I asked questions to gain a sense of
their understanding. Through having this conversation about adaptions and what the adaption was
for their chosen animal the feedback that I then provided was:

I liked the way you used clarifying questions to gain a deeper understanding of the topic.
Next time you come across something you dont understand identify the parts you dont
know and question and search to find the meaning.
You worked well as a group to work out the adaption.
Feedback during lesson time is something that I will continue to work on and use the constructive
feedback form. Feedback for an assessment I found more challenging. During the implementation I
provided verbal feedback to check in with students. I found that most students I spoke to where I
provided some feedback worked to improve this. Feedback on an assessment after the marking has
been completed is something that I need to work on. Part of assessments is to provide feedback
early and often (Reynolds, 2012, pg. 288). Providing students with timely feedback is important so
that students know what level they are at. Providing this timely feedback is something that I did not
achieve for this assessment. This is something that I endeavour to work on. In the future when
planning for the week I would endeavour to plan sometime to conference with students after the
implementation of the assessment.

References
Marsh, c. (2010). Becoming a Teacher. Frenchs Forest: Pearson.

Reynolds, R. (2012). Teaching HIstory, Geography and Sose in the Primary School. Melbourne: Oxford
University Press.
Appendix one - Melissa
Appendix two
Appendix three