journal entries

This assessment task requires you to write one 400-word journal entry each week on the concepts explored in the first four weeks of the unit. In total you will submit, in a Word document, 4x400- word journal entries. The purpose of this assessment task is to reflect on the knowledge and understandings you acquire from the weekly online activities (specified below). You are expected to draw on the prescribed weekly readings and resources to help support your reflections, as well as independently sourced scholarly literature.

For each journal entry, you must include evidence of the completed weekly activity (clearly indicated in your submission). Please note that your response to the weekly activity itself will not be assessed, however, it must be submitted in order for you to at least pass the assessment task.

Responses to the weekly activities will not be included in the word count. Each journal entry will follow the Connect-Extend-Challenge thinking strategy:

Connect – how are the ideas and information you’ve explored this week connected to what you already know? Firstly, you need to consider how all of the information and new concepts you have read and thought about connects to your pre-existing knowledge and experience. Provide an example (1-2) here demonstrating this connection with theory to support.

Extend – in what ways has your thinking been extended by these ideas and this information? Then you need to consider how the new material and discussions on Bb with your fellow students has extended your thinking. What is something new you have learnt? How have your ideas been developed? Have we discussed something that you had not previously considered? Use examples and theory to support.

Challenge – what challenges do you think you will face in applying this knowledge/understanding to your classroom practice? Finally, you need to highlight the challenges you may face in applying the concepts and new knowledge from Week 1 into practice during your practicum and as a teacher into the future. Again include examples and theory support.

1. Understanding of concepts

The key concepts that underpin each of the activities have been accurately identified and critically reflected upon. A comprehensive and succinct knowledge of the concepts being explored has been demonstrated and well-supported with relevant and meaningful academic literature.

2. Link between theory and activity

The entries demonstrates a deep, insightful and sophisticated understanding of connections between prior and new knowledge. The ways knowledge has been extended are thoughtfully articulated.

3. Transfer of knowledge into practice

Insightful and succinct entries demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of the challenges in applying new knowledge to practice. The entries are fully supported with meaningful and relevant examples and sophisticated integration of ideas from relevant, current and diverse bodies of scholarly literature.

4. Academic writing.

The journal entries are professionally presented, well-structured and logically ordered. The writing has no grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. APA referencing is correct.

Focus: Teaching strategies to engage students in learning, both in groups and individual tuition

Last week our focus was on introducing you to the primary learning environment. We began by unpacking some of the key principles required to create a safe and effective learning environment and then refined our exploration to focus on its various components, including the physical, social and emotional environments. We concluded the week by focusing on a range of strategies to manage the learning environment and exploring the multiple dimensions of classroom management.

This week our focus will be on introducing you to a range of teaching strategies that can be used within your practice to engage students in learning. We will begin this week by broadly introducing you to what teaching strategies are and the importance of carefully and deliberately making your selection. We will then critically evaluate a selection of teaching strategies based on the work of Roy Killen in his text ‘Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from Research and Practice’ (Killen, 2013).  We will explore the key features of each strategy, various ways that they can be implemented, as well as, how you might determine their effectiveness. The strategies that we will primarily be focusing on are as follows:

1. Discussion

2. Small-group work

3. Cooperative learning

4. Problem solving

5. Inquiry

6. Case study

7. Role-play

8. Direct instruction.

Please note: The activity for this week is a group ‘jigsaw’ activity, meaning that everyone will be placed into a small group and each group will be allocated a different teaching strategy to focus on. Each group will be required to analyse and evaluate their strategy and present their findings to the rest of the group (in a format of their choice). Therefore, although you are more than welcome to read the readings for each strategy, you will hopefully gain great insight into each strategy through the sharing of each group’s presentations.

Introduction to teaching strategies

Teaching strategies are different ways of helping students to learn - that is, different ways of helping them to achieve the learning outcomes that you have decided are important.

Killen, 2013, p. 94

When we plan, we draw upon the curriculum to specify the content that we want students to learn, however, it is through the activities that we create and the teaching strategies that we draw upon to achieve these learning goals that enable us to create effective and meaningful learning experiences for our students. As we have come to realise and acknowledge over time, the general perception of the teacher’s role has shifted significantly, from being a transmitter of knowledge to that of a facilitator, encouraging students to construct knowledge in meaningful ways (Killen, 2013). Throughout our exploration this week, we will be introducing you to a selection of teaching strategies that have the potential to encourage the effective facilitation of quality learning.

Before exploring each individual strategy, it is important to first note that there are a number of key factors that need to be carefully considered when selecting a teaching strategy. Killen (2013) highlights that in order to create the most effective learning experiences for our students, we must provide them with opportunities to think, reason and challenge their understanding. Therefore, paramount to this, are the decisions that we make about which teaching strategies to employ to deliberately create these opportunities. Although there are many things to consider when making these decisions, we have highlighted some of the key considerations, as a sound starting point:

· Making your selection based on what you want the students to be able to do as a result of your teaching and carefully considering the learning outcomes, students’ characteristics, the learning context and the content itself (Killen, 2013, p 94 - 95).

· Keeping in mind that no one strategy is better than others in all situations. Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to use a variety of strategies, based on a rational decision being made about which ones you believe will be most effective for the context in which you are planning to use them (Killen, 2013, p 94 - 95).

As you begin planning your lessons during your placement, take some time to reflect back on these points while making your selection, as well as, when evaluating the teaching strategies that you have selected and implemented. The following chart has also been provided to help guide you when making a decision about which teaching strategies to select for a particular lesson or unit of work.

1. Do the students have the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to use the strategies I am considering?

2. How can I take advantage of learners’ prior knowledge?

3. How much time, space and other resources do I have and how will they restrict my choice of teaching strategy?

4. How can I engage the students in real-life experiences as they learn?

5. How will my own knowledge, skills and attitudes influence my teaching?

6. How can I make it easy for learners to learn?

7. Do I have the knowledge and skills to use the strategies I am considering?

8. What motivational strategies can I use to foster self-confidence in my learners?

9. How will I know that I am teaching as well as I possibly can?

(Killen, 2013, p. 97)

Let us now begin critically evaluating a variety of key teaching strategies. For each strategy, we will provide you with a brief overview of its key features and provide you with an essential reading to unpack the strategy, evaluate how it can be implemented effectively and analyse its benefits and limitations. As you make your way through each strategy, carefully consider the various techniques and tools that could be used in conjunction with each one.

Click on each of the teaching strategies below for an overview and essential reading on that strategy.