Entry 3: Professional Practice- Standard 4

Standard 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments.

4.1 Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities.

One thing I was very adamant about during the course of my professional internship was the need for all students to feel like they were involved in their learning and in the classroom. There were a number of ways in which this was achieved.

A small way in which students all got the change to feel involved and responsible in classroom activities, was a classroom roster duty. Each week, different students would get the opportunity to be responsible for different aspects of maintaining the classroom. Duties included looking after the bag rack, making sure the computers and smartboard were turned on and off at different points in the day, monitors had the responsibility of handing out sheets and returning work, and floor monitors had the responsibility of making sure students tidied the floor and classroom before they left at the end of the day. This is just one way that students were constantly involved in classroom activities.

Being a very visual, and hands on person myself, I found great enjoyment in creating interactive, hands on learning experiences for my students. There are a few examples I will discuss to demonstrate this. As mentioned previously, my students learnt about electrical circuits for their science. There were a number of inclusive and hands on activities during this program, which included the students replicating an electrical circuit, by walking along ‘wire’ as electrons, constantly taking ‘energy’ (which in this case were small plastic tokens) from a battery (a student holding a container), and dispensing it into the ‘light bulb’ (a student holding a decorated container, as seen in the evidence from standard 1). During this program, students also got create their own electrical circuits, and test materials in the classroom to determine whether they were insulators or conductors.

My health program for the professional internship was focused on the circulatory system, in particular the heart. For the introductory lessons, students recreated the circulatory system, demonstrating how de-oxygenated blood moves through the heart, receives oxygen from the lungs, and is pumped to the rest of the body, before the cycle begins again. I found this was a much more effective way to engage the students in the topic, rather than telling them the process, or showing them a video. By being involved in the process, they were able to increase their level of recall, as well as engagement.

 Later on in the program, students also got the chance to dissect hearts. This was naturally a very hands on activity, and the students were very engaged. This was a highly positive, and inclusive activity as students were able to physically see and touch the aspects of the heart they had been learning about.

Evidence I have included to demonstrate my achievement of this standard, are various photographs I took throughout these learning activities mentioned, as they show students being actively involved in their learning, and having a positive experience. I would like to continue my development in this area, and perhaps identify other strategies to support inclusive student participation, in a long term setting, where I would be able to see the long term benefits that this kind of education could have on students who have less inclination to participate.