week+7

__**Week 7** __

Author: Jessica Barbanti

Date: 30/03/09 Today’s lecture was about teachers’ being role models, and the critical questions and strategies us as prospective teachers should know for giving agency to the students. Reflecting on this lecture, I realized that when I am practicing as a professional teacher I will be a public person. I need to remember that students will see me more than I will see them. Therefore, I am modeling social behaviour and expectations for my students in and out of the classroom. One of the take home messages that affected me greatly in terms of my educational pedagogy was, “not leaving children behind means starting where they are.” For me, this statement meant that I should not make assumptions of my students. Of course, intuition is a vital skill to have, in order to be switched on with the happenings of the classroom. However, I discovered that in order to not make assumptions, I need to ask the students themselves about their expectations of what a good teacher is and how they like to learn. In regards to starting where the children are I aim to implement some of the strategies that we were provided to make connections between the students.
 * __Lecture Summary__**

Moreover, a brilliant example was given by Tanya Fitzgerald about a student who lasted 6 days in his first school, then another 5 in his second school due to lack of motivation and negative behaviour. The principle at his current school engaged with the student and asked him what reward he wanted if he attended school everyday for that year. That student asked for a mark of attendance and a school assembly that his mother and nana could attend. He is now a doctor. For me, this reinforces the notion that I need to tolerate ambiguity and use the curriculum to my advantage. I need to research my students’ personal profiles in order to engage with them and tap into their learning strengths and interests.

__**Reading and reflection**:__ (Department of education) Inclusive schools are effective schools: developing inclusive environments for students with additional learning needs__.__ This article was a good read in that it provided an overview of the importance of being inclusive of diversity, differing learning abilities and possessing a teaching practice which celebrates diversity and complexity in your learning community. I realized that I need to have a collaborative approach when it comes to understanding my students’ developmental needs. My educational values must come to the forefront when providing the best teaching practice I can for my students academic, social and personal learning needs. I reflected upon these values and how they will dictate my future practice. In relation to: the type of learning environment I want to provide, that being ones that’s inclusive and allows students to celebrate themselves, and finally my teaching arrangements. I am not going to group students according to their gender, culture or ethnicity because this will only contribute to disrupted schooling.