Chantelle White s3382680

Connected Classrooms TCHE2437

Assessment Task Two: Professional Portfolio: ICT Lesson Sequence
Overview
In this paper I am going to discuss my experience planning and implementing a series of three
lessons that integrate ICT in a grade 3/4 classroom, on my most recent pre-service teacher
placement. I will detail the planning process and the factors that informed my decisions
throughout the planning and implementing stages of teaching. I aim to give a comprehensive
justification of my decisions for this lesson sequence, as well as a reflection on my own
learning and implications for my future practice.

Introduction: My Placement and Learner Needs

I completed my four-week teaching placement at Broadmeadows Valley Primary School
BVPS in Melbourne s Northwestern suburbs. The medium-sized school is highly multicultural, and has a high percentage of disadvantaged/ underprivileged students and families.
The school, opened in 2009, adopts an Open-Learning structure, with three Neighborhoods
(N1: Preps, Ones and Twos, N2: Threes and Fours, and N3: Fives and Sixes), that are large,
collaborative spaces, with no dividing structures or individual classrooms. Each
Neighborhood comprises small-sized Home-Groups, but most of the learning separates
students (often by ability level), for team-taught Numeracy, Literacy and Enrichment
Programs. As such, ) didn t get to know one class exclusively; rather I got to know
approximately 80 students in Neighborhood 2 (Grade 3/4s), and I worked with individuals,
small groups and whole-classes where needed.
There school also has a lot of students with additional needs, learning and cognitive
disabilities, and behavioral issues that I had to take into consideration for my lessons. I got to
know that the school had a significant number of students who had individual learning plans
due to their needs, and these students assessments didn t have to be reported to ACARA. I
was told from the outset that this was going to be a difficult placement due to the high number
of additional needs and behavioral problems among the student cohort. ) didn t mid at all and
in fact thrived in this environment because I have had a lot of experience being part-carer for
my four younger siblings, three of whom have intellectual (cognitive and learning), physical
and medical, and behavioral disabilities, and felt very equipped and in my element
throughout my placement, but that discussion is for another essay.
My lesson sequence was to be completed as Home Group Numeracy lessons. This is not
normally how maths is taught in Neighborhood 2, but my mentor decided it was the most
appropriate strand for me to teach without too much disruption to the rest of the
neighborhood because it would be in the middle of units. Unfortunately, because I had been
placed with a small group of low students who were struggling with make to ten , in most of
the other numeracy lessons, I never got to observe the group of students I would be teaching
during a maths lesson. And so, other than some general conversation with my mentor about
the class s abilities, ) was planning without actually having seen these kids mathematical
capabilities before. All ) knew ) thought ) knew , was that ) didn t have any of the low
students in my grade, because ) was already teaching them and they weren t on my class list,
and that my (ome Group would be at a similar academic level. )t wasn t until my second
lesson that I realized I had two students with extremely low cognitive ability in my class. As
you will see in my lessons (located in the appendix), I made amendments within each lesson
to cater for these students, and planned for future lessons with them.

The Planning Process

I faced limited flexibility with the design of my series of 3 assessed lessons. My mentor
decided what I was to teach (How to make digital Bar, Line and Pie graphs), as the students
had been learning how to tally and create Bar Graphs the week before I arrived. I was also
unable to change the Fluency activities (introductions) to the lessons. It was also important to
make sure my lessons reflected the pedagogy and learning-style that is uniform throughout
the school (predominantly collaborative and investigative approach, will address later).
Though the structure was strict, and limited my ability for creativity and uniqueness, it
equipped me with clear guidelines for my lesson planning.

Informed Practice
My lessons were informed by not only the learner needs, as discussed earlier, and the
curriculum
standards, but also by the pedagogy, and learning and teaching philosophy that BVPS
embodies.
Policy
In the initial stages of my planning, I consulted both ACARA and AusVELS to identify what
descriptors I should be meeting, so that I could plan my learning intentions, lesson sequence,
activities and assessment in accordance. I identified my Strand (Discipline-Based Learning),
Domain (Mathematics), Dimension (Statistics and Probability: Data Representation and
Interpretation) and Levels (3 and 4) to navigate my way through the Scope and Sequence
document and the content descriptors. These are the ones I identified for the focus of my
lessons:
Level 3

Level 4

ACARA (2013)

These descriptions gave me a clear outline of what learning my students had to do and
therefore, what I needed to do as a teacher to meet those needs.

BVPS Pedagogy
My mentor shared with me the BVPS 2015 Strategic Plan, which outlined the teaching and
learning philosophy prioritized by the school.

BVPS (2105)
As you can see from the school policy document excerpt above, the school prioritizes a varied
range of learning. )t is also worthwhile noting, that each of these is listed in the school s Values
as well.
In addition, BVPS is part of the Achievement Improvement Zones network (Northern
Metropolitan Region/ NMR), a government initiative to improve literacy and numeracy levels
within the region. In 2009 NMR published their Region School Improvement Strategy: Powerful
Learning, which assists the school in the network with their teaching practice. The
overwhelming pedagogy expressed in this reference is Curiosity and Enquiry Learning.
Curiosity drives the impulse to learn. It thrives in the presence of high expectations and
authentic relationships. Curiosity is an achievable goal for our students if we make it tangible. If
we make it something they can focus on. So let s be clear. Curiosity is represented by the learning
skills and the spirit of enquiry we want all our students to acquire. Curiosity is explicit in the
classroom strategies we use to develop, refine and inspire our students learning skills If
enquiry is a defining characteristic of a school's culture, then the level of student achievement
and curiosity will increase. We believe enquiry focused instruction is the foundation for high
quality teaching. An emphasis on enquiry leads to improved achievement and enhanced
curiosity. NMR (2015)
This philosophy was highly evident throughout my placement, and was prioritized in the
classroom to students and in planning with teachers.
The teachers consistently asked students to work like mathematicians , which was a concept
that was commonly understood throughout the neighborhood. Working like a mathematician
was addressed throughout numeracy lessons either as positive reinforcement or as a
reminder to get students to try and find out answers and patterns for themselves in maths.
The teachers would rarely give students an answer, but would guide learning, investigation

and discussion, so that students can work it out for themselves. I knew that this would have to
be evident in my maths lessons and that I should adopt this communal discourse in order to
reflect and compliment the current classroom philosophy.
Working like a mathematician involves curiosity, which in turn involves discussion and
collaboration. These characteristics are celebrated at BVPS and so I made every effort to
achieve them in my lessons. I guided student learning so that they could build their own ideas
to the discussion questions I would ask at the end of class. I encouraged collaboration and
thoughtful discussion. Our share-time was very collaborative and participative and I
maintained a positive environment so the students could express their thoughts without
judgment. Every contribution was celebrated and discussed and ideas bounced off each other.
The benefits of this collaborative approach were proved to me during each and every lesson
as I witnessed light-bulb moments in students, and students teaching each other.
There are multitudes of academic articles supporting inquiry-based learning and countless
studies and research that can validate its effectiveness in the classroom. Merrilyn Goos, of the
University of Queensland, wrote in the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, about
the connection between mathematical inquiry and Russian psychologist Vygotsky s Zone of
Proximal Development. Goos claims that the collaborative approach of mathematical
investigation in inquiry-based settings, indeed helps students to create a common ZDP, and to
exceed to higher levels (Goos, 2004). This article is based on extensive field research and
offers guidance for mathematics teachers to incorporate this teaching philosophy in their
classrooms.
Most of the instruction in this article is followed by BVPS and it is a highly regarded piece of
literature to the school. It was something I kept in mind while planning my lessons,
particularly in terms of the sorts of questions I asked, which were predominantly open-ended,
in order to promote deep-thinking, rather than surface-level ROTE learning. The following
comes from the article and steered the construction of my lessons both in the planning and
implementing stages (can be observed on my lesson plans in the appendix):

Goos (2004)
ICT Integration, Ethics and Authenticity
My mentor decided that the activity in my lessons would be getting students to create digital
Bar, Line and Pie graphs (respectively, based on the fact that they had previously done a little
bit of work on tallying and bar graphs, and this sequence of introduction seems most logical). I
had to research and sandpit play to find appropriate platforms to facilitate this activity. I was
restricted by the fact that I had to find an app/ website, or way of integrating an authentic ICT
experience to facilitate the production of these types of graphs, suitable for children of the 3/4
year level, with slightly limited ICT capabilities. The cost constraint restricted my options
quite significantly, as I found a few apps that seemed to be really user-friendly, attractive to
kids, with lots of other features such as tutorials and could promote more independent

learning. However, I narrowed my search down to an app called iGraph it Lite and a website
called Create a Graph.
In consultation with my mentor, we decided the website was a better option for several
reasons. Not only did the website present as more user-friendly and easier to navigate, but the
app, being free, frequently displayed advertisements for other apps and games which I
thought could present many complications in the lessons. From working with the students in
other lessons, I knew that the majority of the class had limited technology skills and would get
frustrated with things like pop-ups for software updates, or become quite anxious if their
page was minimized, thinking they had lost their work. If their quick fingers accidentally
tapped on the app s pop-up ads, and redirected them to other pages they would need
assistance to find their way back. These disruptions could then cause students to get
frustrated with the task.
Just as importantly, ethical and responsible use of technology, and the Internet, had to be
considered during the planning and implementing stages of my lessons. There is no way to tell
if an ad pop-up is appropriate (e.g. could be a pretend-gambling app) or triggering (e.g. some
students have triggers such as traditional happy-family structures, etc.) and managing what
18 students are doing on individual devises at the same time is near impossible. I knew that
BVPS is in the middle of becoming an eSmart school , and has focused a lot on safe use of the
internet, both at home and school, and so my mentor said ) didn t need to give safety
instructions at the beginning of my lesson. Obviously, I walked around the classroom,
conferenced with individuals and small groups and monitored the use of the ICT and Internet
throughout the lesson, I also constantly assured the students that there were adults in the
room to help them, should they need it.
Since the use of )CT was limited; the (ow and Why of the technology use was already
decided, the financial restriction, the limited resources of the school they hadn t had any
suitable apps already downloaded , and the students limited )CT ability, ) didn t get a chance
to utilize the ICT to the potential I was hoping to when I was given this assignment. I believe
the use of ICT was still authentic and meaningful, and was more than a simple substitutionlevel (SAMAR model) activity, because although the students were using ICT to create graphs
digitally instead of manually, the learning was more than this. I believe we reached the level of
Augmentation. Through our discussions, the students decided that using computer programs
to create graphs is more efficient for several reasons. I recorded some of the ideas they came
up with at the end of the lessons that show the higher-order thinking, and conceptual
understanding that was taking place:
Using the computer is better because it is quicker - Student
)f you had
Beep Test results it would take too long to draw, the computer can do lots at
once - Student
The digital graphs are more accurate on the lines than the ones we drew Student
)t is neater Student

)t looks more professional - Student

We also started a discussion (as a result of the professional comment) about how
professionals use technology to create graphs and present their data for these reasons, which
promoted a discussion about how lots of things are done with computers instead of by hand.

Obviously this was only a grade 3/4-level discussion, but it is nonetheless important deep
thinking related to the knowledge economy and digital society that we exist in.
I believe in a student-centered, constructivist approach when it comes to learning with ICT.
Digital literacy is essential for participation in the 21st Century economy and society that our
generation of students will enter. But, it is important that as teachers we don t just integrate
technology on a superficial level that only substitutes the activities we are giving our class, for
example, simply to present work digitally, rather than hand-written, for instance a shortstory. We have shifted from an industrial age to a knowledge economy, where ideas and
opinions are commodities in themselves and take place on a global scale. Teachers need to
learn how to teach using ICT as a facilitator of knowledge construction, innovation and
creativity and to promote discourse and collaboration. Technology has the capacity to
facilitate these ideas, as explained by David Janassen, who says ICT should function as
educational toolkits Janassen et. Al 008 .

The government spends a lot of money to put technology into classrooms, but this does not
guarantee improved student learning. With the introduction of ICT in the classroom, we have
the ability to teach in a multi-modal fashion that supports a vast array of learning styles.
Technology can amplify great teaching, but great technology cannot replace poor teaching
(OECD 2015). The quality of teaching is still of the utmost importance. As found by PISA,
building deep, conceptual understanding, higher order thinking, problem solving skills and so
on, requires intensive teacher-student interactions. I believe a constructivist pedagogy, as
described by Seymore Pappert, that moves away from a teacher-centered transmissive
approach, to one that is student-centered and promotes the qualities I described above as
essential to success in 21st Century society, will be most beneficial to today s generation of
students (Pappert 1993). As teachers we need to prepare students for jobs that didn t exist
when we were growing up. When you can get an answer to any question within three seconds
using a search-engine, it is pointless to be teaching traditional ROTE style and memorization
of facts. Now, we need to invest in teaching how to create and share ideas, for now opinions
and ideas are the commodities of our economy. Technology needs to be taught in an authentic
and meaningful way that promotes thinking, in order to prepare students for the economic
climate they will be in when they leave school.
Unfortunately, due to my restraints as a pre-service teacher, I did not get to incorporate this
constructivist pedagogy into my sequenced lesson plans. I thought my lessons could have
been extended to benefit student s digital literacy by, rather than printing and sticking their
graphs in their workbooks, storing them on a digital platform. If the school/ Neighborhood
utilized a shared online platform, students could have saved their graphs there, and
experienced the features this sort of platform offers for collaborative and progressive work.
For example, students could share their graphs with their parents, and revisited their graphs
every week, adding their next Beep Test results, owning their own progressive database
where they can record and track their results. I do realize that possibly due to the
demography of the area of the school, comprising many low learners because English is a
second language, and digital technologies aren t a common possession for many of the
students as home, this sort of function would be better suited to a more technologically-fluent
class, and perhaps older learners within the school. Although ) didn t get to incorporate these
ideas into my lessons, they are the sort of ideas I will take with me for my future practice, and
I think it was an important lesson on implications for teaching and learning ICT, that although
we are teaching the digital generation, not all students, or classes, are at the same level of
capability when it comes to ICT.

Reflection and Assessment

I reflect on the efficiency of my assessment strategies and whether or not the class was able to
meet the learning intentions in the reflection section of my lesson plans. For lack of wordcount, ) won t go into too much detail here, but ) would like to justify why ) chose to combine
formative and summative assessment in my sequence of lessons, and why my assessment
strategies were non-formal, discussion and reflection based.
In creating my assessment for my lessons, I made sure to keep in mind the learner needs,
including the fact that we had a variety of ability, both in general academic and in
technological terms, and that anxiety levels of these students can escalate quickly if not
constantly stimulated by activity. My discussion times, both before each lesson and after,
formed my non-formal, formative and summative assessment. The questions in my lesson
plans were directed at all students and I aimed for and luckily achieved wide-spread
contribution to these discussions and was able to qualify individual and group learning.
In order to get some explicit individual evidence of summative assessment, in the last lesson
the students were asked to answer a series of questions in their workbooks independently. I
requested full sentences that showed their thinking and to always give a reason. I got all the
students to show me their workbooks when they had finished (before the whole group
discussion) so I could monitor who needed extra help during our final discussion. A similar
process was conducted at the end of the prior two lessons, where I would verbally ask some
questions to individual students as I walked around and conferenced. This strategy allowed
me to monitor learning progression and identify anyone who was off-track.
Informed Future Practice
This placement experience, and in particular the planning and implementing of three lessons
that I could conduct on my own, helped me to achieve the AITSL standards for Graduating
Teachers that I had set out to achieve by the end of this placement. Again for lack of wordlimit I can t go into each goal/ standard in detail, but ) would like to highlight the standards
that I have met, which can be observed through the discussion in this paper, through the
lesson plans in my appendix, and from my own and my mentor s reflection of my progress.

2.2 Content selection and organisation: Organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence.
2.6 Information and Communications Technologies: Implement teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum-learning
opportunities for students.
3.1 Establish challenging learning goals: Set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of varying abilities
and characteristics (learning intentions)
3.2 Plan, structure and sequence learning programs: plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content, and
effective teaching strategies (sequencing)
3.3 Use teaching strategies: Include a range of teaching strategies (draw from all of your courses and your first placement)
3.4 Select and use resources: Demonstrate knowledge of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage students in their
learning.
4.2 Manage classroom activities: Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear direction
4.3 Manage challenging behaviour: Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to managing challenging behaviour
4.4 Maintain student safety: Describe strategies that support students' wellbeing and safety working within school and/or
system, curriculum and legislative requirements
4.5: Use ICT safely, responsibly and ethically: Demonstrate an understanding of the relevant issues and the strategies available
to support the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching.
5.1 Assess student learning: Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic,
formative and summative approaches, to assess student learning
5.2 Provide feedback to students on their learning: Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and
appropriate feedback to students about their learning
5.4 Interpret student data: Demonstrate the capacity to interpret student assessment data to evaluate students' learning and
modify teaching practice

AITSL 2014

I have also addressed in my lesson reflections how my learning would implicate my future
practice- both in the short-term (stemming to the next lesson in the sequence, and any other
lessons I undertake on placement) and in my future career. But a couple of things that stood
out to me as important take-away lessons were:
- That technology is not always reliable (printing issues, computers deciding that it is a good
time to do an update in the middle of a lesson etc.)
- That technology shouldn t just be used in a superficial way to give students an electronic way
to present their work. ICT integration in the classroom should harness and facilitate deep
thinking, ideas and creativity. We need to help students develop these skills for the knowledge
economy we live in.
- That not all students are as capable technologically due to disadvantages such as socioeconomic considerations and minimal school resources.
- That students are great peer-teachers, and can often explain something to a classmate better
than their teacher can.
These are definitely the key considerations I am taking from this placement and aim to learn
from, for future practice. I thought they are also useful for future placements and if I ever had
any CRT work because being a placement student, like being a relief teacher, you are
unfamiliar with the student s capabilities and resources not just technologically and
shouldn t assume that all eight and nine year olds spend all their time at home playing on
their devices. Even though it is the generation of digital natives , just like academic levels,
there will be some who are more capable than others.
Conclusion
My lesson sequence aimed to integrate purposeful and theorized technology use among a
class of 3/4 students. I aimed to make educated decisions informed by literature and theory
for pedagogy and teaching and learning philosophy to construct focused and meaningful
lessons. Although I faced some limitations, I believe I achieved this goal satisfactorily. I think
my justification shows my informed process and the depth of what I did, and what I would
have liked to achieve. I have completed this assignment with invaluable conclusions for my
future practice.

References
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, (2014), Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers: Professional Knowledge, accessed via:
http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list, on
21 Spetember 2015
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, (2013), The Australian
Curriculum: Mathematics, accessed via:
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/mathematics/curriculum/f-10?layout=1 on 21
September 2015.
Broadmeadows Valley Primary School, (2015), School Strategic Plan for Broadmeadows
Valley Primary School 2015-2018, Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development, VIC.
Goos, M (2004), Learning Mathematics in a Classroom Community of Inquiry, in the Journal for
Research in Mathematics Education, Vol 35, No 4, pp 258-291, National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, accessed via: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30034810, on 21 September 2015.
Janassen, D (et. Al.), (2008), Meaningful Learning with Technology, pp v-12, 3rd ed., Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2008.
Northern Metropolitan Region, (2015), Curiosity and Powerful Learning: School Improvement
Strategy, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, VIC.
OECD (2015) Students, computers and learning: Making the difference, PISA, OECD Publishing.
Papert, S. (1993a), Mindstorms: Children, computers and powerful ideas, New York: Basic
Books.

Appendix:
Lesson Plans, My Reflections and progressive amendments to lesson plans,
Mentor Reflections

Lesson 1/3

Title

Bar Graphs

Duration of lesson

50min

Topic and
Focus

Statistics and Probability (Data Representation

and Interpretation)

Year Level

3/4

Topic and Focus: Statistics and Probability: Data

Representation and Interpretation
Strand: Discipline-based Learning
Domain: Mathematics
Dimension: Statistics and Probability: Data
Representation and Interpretation

Class
Size

18

Learning Intentions/ Objectives

Students will be able to:
- Represent data in the form of a bar graph
- Be able to analsye and interpret a bar graph
- Compare data in bar graphs

AusVELS
(ACMSP068) Collect data, organise into categories, and create displays using lists, tables, picture graphs, and simple column
graphs, with and without the use of digital technologies
(ACMSP070) Interpret and compare data displays
(ACMSP096) Construct suitable data displays, with and without the use of digital technologies, from given or collected data.
Include tables, picture graphs and column graphs, where one picture can represent many different values.
(ACMSP097) Evaluate the effectiveness of different displays in illustrating data including variability
Key Vocabulary List: Bar Graph, Tally, Data, Results, Axis, Label, Value, Represent
Assessment Strategies
Informal, formative assessment via group discussion and teacher questions at the end of the lesson
Teacher to make mental notes (and written notes where possible) to monitor students levels, capabilities, challenges etc.

Resources and Materials

- Laptops/ iPads for students (ideally one each, but one between two is ok- dependent on number of classroom resources)
- Students (ome Group Maths Books and Pencils
- Students Beep Test Results obtained from PE teacher)
- Teacher TV and laptop (connected to display the navigation of the website)
- Whiteboard and whiteboard markers
- Dice
Set up before class
- Log into all the computers/ laptops for the students, and open website http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph
- Connect teacher device to TV and log into the website
- Teacher device should also have a page with the learning intentions for students to read out, can make this interesting on a
PowerPoint page/ Padlet spread etc.
Digital Technology Integration
Students will be creating digital bar graphs by inputting data into a graph-generating website. This will give students the
opportunity to experiment with digital technologies for data representation. The discussion at the end of this lesson will
promote students to think about the benefits of using technologies for data representation (accuracy, efficiency, easier to deal
with larger quantities of data etc.) and introduce them to one of the mathematical aspects of the digital era that we occupy.

Stage of
lesson

Student
Time
Action /Tasks

Differentiated
Learning
Considerations

Teacher Action

Introduction

Whole Class
10 mins
Fluency Game:
Greedy Pig

- Have classroom aid

work with the low
students (2) if they are
present in class. They
will be able to complete
this activity with some
assistance and one-onone attention.

- Ask the students to set up their maths journals for 5 rounds of Greedy Pig.
- Choose the magic number and write it on the whiteboard for student s
reference.
- Ask students to think about how they could come up with an efficient
strategy to help increase their chances of winning. Examples: Sit down after 4
rolls/ after a 2 is rolled, after the sum is 20 etc. Don t give too many hints this
time because this fluency task will be completed by students for a few weeks
and it is part of an investigative learning approach whereby the students begin
to think and learn for themselves about what is working well/ what isn t .
- Play 5 rounds. (Roll the big dice, call out the number, students write it down.
They decide when they want to stop by marking a line after the last number
they want to include and then add up their total. If you roll the magic number ,
all the students who haven t stopped are out and get a score of zero. The
student/s who have the highest sum are the winners. Students know this game
well.)
- At the end of 5 rounds, ask a couple of students who won, what their
strategy was.
- Ask students to write a note to themselves in their maths journal for next
time, reminding them what strategy they think is working/ would like to use
next time.

I would have preferred to do a fluency game that was more related to the
topic of graphs such as a quick whole-class survey such as What is your
favourite fruit? , rather than using the students Beep Test results,.
However, the Fluency activity for all lessons were decided by my
mentor and I had no flexibility to change the structure. I feel the Beep Test
Results don t best represent how a Bar Graph, or Pie Chart (for lesson 3),
would be typically used. But my mentor insisted on using the Beep Test
results for all 3 lessons. I think for Bar Graphs and Pie Charts especially,
that progressive data such as the Beep Test results give students a
misleading idea of what this sort of data representation tool is used for. As
such, I made sure to incorporate discussion into all three lessons about
what sort of graph would be most suitable for what sort of data, which
actually promoted really thoughtful and informed thinking, which was
great.

Body of
Lesson

Whole Class
Discussion:
What are Bar
Graphs? AND
How to make
our Own
Digital Bar
Graphs

10 mins

- Have classroom aid

work with the low
students (2) if they are
present in class. They
will be able to complete
this activity with some
assistance and one-onone attention. These

- Ask students to join me on the floor for our maths lesson. (Make this
transition fun and interesting to captivate attention and increase motivation.
Example: sing (eads, shoulders, knees and toes , and shake their sillies out
before asking for full body listening . Give lots of praise to students who
demonstrate this and to those who are ready for learning .
- Ask for a volunteer to read the learning intentions (displayed on TV via
teacher s laptop), and get a few ideas from students about what they think

students will still benefit

from this lesson and will
enjoy creating a graph
that shows their own
personal achievement in
PE

this will involve.

- Start an organized discussion about bar graphs.
Some questions to include could be:
- Who remembers what a bar graph is?
- What is it used for?
- What sort of things do you need to include when you make a bar graph?
- Draw a diagram of a bar graph, ask some students to volunteer to label its
features including: Title, Axis, Values
(Make sure not to restrict to these questions. Bounce of student s ideas).
Talk about how sometimes we can see this information presented digitally.
- Explain today s activity
We are going to have a go at making our own professional, digital bar graphs
of our beep test results, that we can print and refer back to when we do the
beep test again
Project the website and begin navigation of how to complete the activity:
1. http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/
2. Graph > Bar
3. Direction = Vertical
4. Shape = Student s choice
5. Style= Leave colours the same, Grid lines = 6, Appearance 2D, legend =
Student s choice
6. Tab down (Data)
7. Graph Title = My/ Chantelle s Beep Test Results
8. X axis label = Week
9. Y axis label = Score
10. Source = Physical Education
11. Data Set = 7 items, 1 group
12. Item label = week number, Value = results
13. Min value 0, Max value 4
14. Labels = don t change anything
15. Preview

16. Save and print

When you have finished, please stick your graph in your workbook, and then
you can help someone else .
Explain that we will be working in pairs, the idea is to help each other. One
person does their graph first, then the next person has their go.
- Ask students if they understand/ if they have any questions.
- Select pairs/ let students who have been listening really well select a
partner and go and get started.
Activity
Completion

Creating
Digital Bar
Graphs

20 mins

As Above

- Walk around the room monitoring participation and use of ICT. Conference
with students who need help, and those who don t to see how they are doing;
complete some informal assessment by asking questions such as, What was
your score in week x? to see if they can interpret their results.
- Remind early finishers of the instructions to stick the graph in their
workbook and encourage them to help others, and to help pack up the
computers that are finished with.

Closure

Whole Class
Discussion

10 mins

Low students can

either continue working
on their graphs with aid,
or join in class
discussion. Teacher to
make decision
depending on how the
child is going.

- Ask students to bring their graphs to the floor for share time.
- Ask a couple of students if they would know how to explain that graph to
someone. Ask questions such as:
- What would you say to someone who didn t know how to read this graph?
(Summative assessment and identification if learning intention was met).
- Why do you think it is more efficient to make graphs digitally? (Neater,
more accurate)
- Tell students that they have done a great job and have learnt to present data
in a formal and professional way. Explain that in the next lesson we will be
looking at how to present data in another professional, digital way.
- Thank them for listening and contributing to the maths lesson.

Post Lesson Reflection:

This lesson panned out quite a lot differently to what I was expecting. I thought the content of my lesson wasn t substantial enough to fill the 50
minutes allocated, but the time-management component worked out really well. I also thought the activity might have been a bit too easy for the
students I was teaching and that they would get bored with this lesson and not be looking forward to my next two which are variations of this one.
However, I was again proved wrong because it seemed to be the ideal level of difficulty, with a good balance of affirming prior knowledge and
challenging new thinking. There were several students in the class who were quite capable at both mathematics and their ICT use, who were able to
help out their classmates who were not so confident, and this was fantastic because it opened up a lot of peer discourse and the students seemed to
really be able to communicate the instructions to each other in a much better way than I could have.
) m really happy that the majority of students achieved the learning intentions not only because it means I did something right in my teaching, but
also because perfecting my learning intentions, and not making them too complex, was one of the goals I made in my Connected Classrooms course.
During the discussion at the end of my lesson, students were able to recall information I had given them about why we use digital bar graphs, as
well as coming up with well-informed and thoughtful answers of their own to my questions including why is it a good idea to represent data in an
electronic bar graph? . The students discussed this and came up with answers such as )t is neater , )t is more accurate , )t is quicker- especially if
you had lots of data to show etc. I was so proud of the class at this point. Then I wanted to see if the students could read and interpret graphs, not
just their own, but their peers, and make comparisons. Here we struck a little bit of turmoil because some students could do this easily, and some
others were really struggling to see what the others could see. I thought that instead of me trying to explain it again, maybe I could try what had
worked so well during the lesson, and ask one of the confident students to explain it to the one that was struggling. After she said she understood, I
didn t want to embarrass her by checking in front of the whole class, so I have made a note to conference with her during the next lesson, to
consolidate this understanding. I didn t expect students to be experts at comparing the graphs yet, as this is something that I want to progressively
work on to achieve closer to the last lesson.
One challenge that came up for me was the language barriers with the website my mentor and I had selected. The students weren t so familiar with
the words axis, and minimum and maximum, and weren t going to understand their meaning simple from my explanation of the instructions to fill
in the blanks on the website. Unfortunately I didn t find out this was a barrier until I received questions from almost every student in the class, Miss
White, what does this mean again? , and had to employ the peer helping method again just to help me out from answering the same questions over
and over again. Unfortunately I couldn t have really known this, my mentor was the main influence in choosing this website and the students had
studied graphs previously and she didn t mention that the terminology she taught was different, or maybe it wasn t and they had just forgotten. But
this sort of barrier will be present when using any resource that isn t created by the normal classroom teacher. I have decided that next lesson, I will
write the key words/ instructions on the board with what information is to be put in that blank, so the students can figure out what they mean, and
reference this while they are completing the activity, instead of asking me.
Overall, ) m pretty satisfied with my first lesson. I have a lot to reflect on now that will help me make changes to my second and third lesson plans.

Mentor Feedback:
Pre-lesson: The laptops were set up prior to the lesson ensures there is less wasted time in the actual lesson as students are able to begin task
straight away.
Fluency: Students were listening and focused as a group. You explained the possibilities of their choices in the game, however you could have
modelled on the board (how to draw line when want to stop). Other options were to play against the students, and record numbers/points on
board.
Transition: The students transitioned quickly between fluency and mini lesson. They joined in the game. Well done on ensuring the students were
all in the learning zone before you began mini lesson.
Mini Lesson: Your questioning was aimed correctly at the students levels. You were very clear when explaining the labelling of the graph and
describing the parts of a graph. You were very explicit when explaining why the students were doing the graph always vital for the students to
have an understanding of why doing a task. Whilst explaining the task through the website you were very clear and explained each step.
Independent: The students worked independently and were engaged throughout the learning experience. Students were willing to assist others
when they had finished and were able to overcome technical issues with the laptops to complete the task. You worked individually with those
students who needed assistance.
Reflection/Share Time: You summed up the lesson using the vocabulary and were able to make connections to real life.
ICT: The students were engaged throughout the lesson when using the laptops. They were able to navigate their way around the site with and
without additional assistance. You constantly referred to the advantages of using computer to generate graph rather than drawing own
and students were able to respond to this discussion point.
Things to consider: Use the board if required to help explain activities or examples.

Lesson 2/3
Title

Bar Graphs

Duration of lesson

50min

Topic and
Focus

Statistics and Probability (Data Representation

and Interpretation)

Year Level

3/4

Topic and Focus: Statistics and Probability: Data Representation

and Interpretation
Strand: Discipline-based Learning
Domain: Mathematics
Dimension: Statistics and Probability: Data Representation and
Interpretation

Class
Size

18

Learning Intentions/ Objectives

Students will be able to:
- Represent data in the form of a line graph
- Be able to analsye and interpret a line graph
- Compare data in line graphs

AusVELS
(ACMSP068) Collect data, organise into categories, and create displays using lists, tables, picture graphs, and simple column
graphs, with and without the use of digital technologies
(ACMSP070) Interpret and compare data displays
(ACMSP096) Construct suitable data displays, with and without the use of digital technologies, from given or collected data.
Include tables, picture graphs and column graphs, where one picture can represent many different values.
(ACMSP097) Evaluate the effectiveness of different displays in illustrating data including variability
Key Vocabulary List: Line Graph, Tally, Data, Results, Axis, Label, Value, Represent
Assessment Strategies
Informal formative assessment via group discussion and teacher questions at the end of the lesson

Resources and Materials

- Laptops/ iPads for students (ideally one each, but one between two is ok- dependent on number of classroom resources)
- Students (ome Group Maths Books and Pencils
- Students Beep Test Results obtained from PE teacher)
- Teacher TV and laptop (connected to display the navigation of the website)
- Whiteboard and whiteboard markers
- Dice
Set up before class
- Log into all the computers/ laptops for the students, and open website http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph
- Connect teacher device to TV and log into the website
- Write instructions for website on the whiteboard. E.g. Min Value= 0

Digital Technology Integration

Students will be creating digital bar graphs by inputting data into a graph-generating website. This will give students the
opportunity to experiment with digital technologies for data representation. The discussion at the end of this lesson will
promote students to think about the benefits of using technologies for data representation (accuracy, efficiency, easier to deal
with larger quantities of data etc.) and introduce them to one of the mathematical aspects of the digital era that we occupy.

Stage of
lesson

Student
Time
Action /Tasks

Differentiated
Learning
Considerations

Teacher Action

Introduction Whole Class

10 mins
Fluency Game:
Greedy Pig

- Have classroom aid

work with the low
students (2) if they are
present in class. They
will be able to complete
this activity with some
assistance and one-onone attention.

- Ask the students to set up their maths journals for 5 rounds of Greedy Pig.
- Choose the magic number and write it on the whiteboard for student s
reference.
- Ask students to think about how they could come up with an efficient strategy
to help increase their chances of winning. Examples: Sit down after 4 rolls/
after a 2 is rolled, after the sum is 20 etc. Don t give too many hints this time
because this fluency task will be completed by students for a few weeks and it is
part of an investigative learning approach whereby the students begin to think
and learn for themselves about what is working well/ what isn t .
- Play 5 rounds. (Roll the big dice, call out the number, students write it down.
They decide when they want to stop by marking a line after the last number
they want to include and then add up their total. If you roll the magic number ,
all the students who haven t stopped are out and get a score of zero. The
student/s who have the highest sum are the winners. Students know this game
well.)
- At the end of 5 rounds, ask a couple of students who won, what their strategy
was.
- Ask students to write a note to themselves in their maths journal for next
time, reminding them what strategy they think is working/ would like to use
next time.

Body of
Lesson

- Have classroom aid

work with the low
students (2) if they are
present in class. They
will be able to complete
this activity with some
assistance and one-onone attention. These

- Ask students to join me on the floor for our maths lesson. (Make this transition
fun and interesting to captivate attention and increase motivation. Example: sing
(eads, shoulders, knees and toes , and shake their sillies out before asking for
full body listening . Give lots of praise to students who demonstrate this and to
those who are ready for learning .

Whole Class
Discussion

10 mins

- Ask for a volunteer to read the learning intentions (displayed on TV via

teacher s laptop), and get a few ideas from students about what they think this

students will still benefit

from this lesson and will
enjoy creating a graph
that shows their own
personal achievement in
PE

will involve.
- Start an organized discussion about line graphs. Include consolidation of
previous lesson (Bar Graphs) and assessment strategies:
Some questions to include could be:
- Who remembers what a line graph is?
- What is it used for?
- What sort of things do you need to include when you make a line graph?
- Draw a diagram of a bar graph, ask some students to volunteer to label its
features including: Title, Axis, Values
(Make sure not to restrict to these questions. Bounce of student s ideas).
Talk about how sometimes we can see this information presented digitally.
- Explain today s activity
We are going to have a go at making our own professional, digital line graphs
of our beep test results, that we can print and refer back to when we do the
beep test again
Ask recall questions such as:
- Who remembers some benefits to making graphs digitally rather than
drawing them?
Project the website and begin navigation of how to complete the activity:
1. http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/
2. Graph > Line
3. Tab Down (Data)
4. Graph Title = My/ Chantelle s Beep Test Results
5. X axis label = Week
6. Y axis label = Score
7. Source = Physical Education
8. Data Set = 7 items, 1 group
9. Item label = week number, Value = results
10. Min value 0, Max value 4
11. Labels = don t change anything

12. Preview
13. Save and print
When you have finished, please stick your graph in your workbook, and then
you can help someone else .
Explain that we will be working in pairs, the idea is to help each other. One
person does their graph first, then the next person has their go.
- Ask students if they understand/ if they have any questions.
- Select pairs/ let students who have been listening really well select a partner
and go and get started.
Activity
Completion

Creating
Digital Bar
Graphs

20 mins

As Above

- Walk around the room monitoring participation and use of ICT. Conference
with students who need help, and those who don t to see how they are doing;
complete some informal assessment by asking questions such as, What was
your score in week x? to see if they can interpret their results.

- Remind early finishers of the instructions to stick the graph in their workbook
and encourage them to help others, and to help pack up the computers that are
finished with.

Closure

Whole Class
Discussion

10 mins

Low students can

either continue working
on their graphs with aid,
or join in class
discussion. Teacher to
make decision
depending on how the
child is going.

- Ask students to bring both their Line Graphs and their Bar Graphs from last
lesson to the floor for share time.
- Ask a couple of students if they would know how to explain the Line graph to
someone. Ask questions such as:
- What would you say to someone who didn t know how to read this graph?
(Summative assessment and identification if learning intention was met).
- Who can tell me about some of the differences between the Bar Graphs and
the Line Graphs?
- Which one do you think is best for our Beep Test Results? (Looking for Line
Graph, the wave effectively shows if your performance went up or down/ got
better or worse)
- What sort of data might be best for a Bar Graph? (If not offered, suggest things
like a survey where there were a few different options to choose from? E.g. What

is your favourite fruit?

- Tell students that they have done a great job and have learnt to present data
in a formal and professional way. Explain that in the next lesson we will be
looking at how to present data in another professional, digital way.
- Thank them for listening and contributing to the maths lesson.

Post Lesson Reflection:

I felt a lot more confident going into this lesson. Having the instructions displayed on the whiteboard really helped students to be able to get on with
their work without stopping to ask me or someone else questions, and ensured a more smooth-flowing lesson. It was really great to hear when
students did have a question, they would remind each other to ask a friend before asking the teacher. I think this is because I stressed the idea of
working collaboratively when they got stuck, at the start of the lesson. The students also really seemed to enjoy helping out their classmates and
walking around the classroom, there was such a positive vibe. Again, the early finishers helped the kids that struggled a bit more with the ICT,
instead of having nothing to do, and you could see how proud they felt when they helped their friends finish their work before time was up.
The whole class discussion went extremely well today, both before and after the activity. I was shocked with how much information they had
retained from the previous lesson, which was a Friday middle lesson and this was now Monday. Students even remembered which was the x and y
axis when we were labeling the line graph at the start of the session, even though they had never dealt with axis before. Again we had great
responses, contributed by all students to my questions during discussion time.
Because the students were doing so well, I decided at time to take my discussion and teaching further and explore things like why their Beep Test
results were progressive data , which I hope we can utilize in our next lesson and discussion of which sort of graph is best for this type of data and
why. I will be now looking for whether students can remember what progressive data is. I will have to amend my reflection questions for my final
lesson to incorporate this new learning.
We had some trouble printing with the laptops today, so my mentor and I have decided to make iPads the only option to complete the activity on for
the next lesson, because we are wasting too much time changing the printing location on each device, whereas the iPads are already set up to the
classroom printer.
I was so happy with this lesson and so proud of the kids. I am a bit worried going into the next lesson as it is straight after lunch and I have now
observed these kids attention spans in the afternoons and understand why literacy and numeracy is reserved for morning sessions. The kids seem
really engaged in these lessons and love using the ICT and making a product that is personal to them so hopefully we can maintain this motivation.

Mentor Feedback:
Pre-lesson: The laptops were set up prior to the lesson. Having the information on the board to assist students when entering data onto the graph
was a great idea. Will give students more independence to complete the task, and allow you to conference with specific students.
Fluency: You explained the fluency activity and set the tone for the lesson. You ensured the students were calm from the previous PE lesson. The
students were focused with their partner whilst playing the game. Next time, ensure you have the equipment out ready for students to use. (Dice)
Mini Lesson: You tuned the students in with actions. References to previous session were very evident throughout the lesson. Parts of the graph
were explained and you constantly referred to previous learning. It was good that you asked for students to explain their thinking and answers. You
had high expectations for the students in regards to their listening and brought them back to the task, if required. However, the students were
totally focused and listening to your explanations, showing whole body listening. I took photo to show you that the students were engaged, and
responding to your lesson.
Independent: The students worked independently and were engaged throughout the learning experience. Students were willing to assist others
when they had finished and were able to overcome technical issues with the laptops to complete the task. You worked individually with
those students who needed assistance and referred to the WILF when students were finished or needed to continue with the task.
Reflection/Share Time: You tuned in the students, and always set expectations with the students. The use of the word reasoning was good, asked
students to explain their thinking about comparing graphs. Again, you had clear expectations and used vocabulary specific to data and graphs. At the
end of the session you asked a question about the next task, and gave option for the students to say no, they would not do it. Try to avoid questions
like that as you will not always get the answer you need and could allow opportunity to opt out. Was good that you did let them know what they
could expect in the next lesson though.
ICT: The students were engaged throughout the lesson when using the laptops and iPads. They were able to navigate their way around the site with
and without additional assistance. The notes on the board assisted with independence. You constantly referred to the advantages of using computer
to generate graph rather than drawing own and students were able to respond to this discussion point.
Things to consider: Use iPads in next session as still having technical issues with the laptops. Remember to focus on interpreting graphs and
comparing graphs.

Lesson 3/3
Title

Pie Charts

Duration of lesson

50min

Topic and
Focus

Statistics and Probability (Data Representation

and Interpretation)

Year Level

3/4

Topic and Focus: Statistics and Probability: Data

Representation and Interpretation
Strand: Discipline-based Learning
Domain: Mathematics
Dimension: Statistics and Probability: Data
Representation and Interpretation

Class
Size

18

Learning Intentions/ Objectives

Students will be able to:
- Represent data in the form of a Pie chart
- Be able to analsye and interpret a Pie chart
- Compare data in Pie charts
- Compare and evaluate the effectiveness of Bar Graphs, Line Graphs and
Pie Charts for different types of data representation

AusVELS
(ACMSP068) Collect data, organise into categories, and create displays using lists, tables, picture graphs, and simple column
graphs, with and without the use of digital technologies
(ACMSP070) Interpret and compare data displays
(ACMSP096) Construct suitable data displays, with and without the use of digital technologies, from given or collected data.
Include tables, picture graphs and column graphs, where one picture can represent many different values.
(ACMSP097) Evaluate the effectiveness of different displays in illustrating data including variability
Key Vocabulary List: Pie Chart, Line Graph, Bar Graph, Results, Value, Data, Progressive Data
Assessment Strategies
Informal formative assessment via group discussion and teacher questions at the end of the lesson, and formal summative
assessment via student s written answers to reflection questions

Resources and Materials

- iPads for students (ideally one each, but one between two is ok- dependent on number of classroom resources)
- Students (ome Group Maths Books with their Bar Graphs and Line Graphs from the previous lessons and Pencils
- Students Beep Test Results obtained from PE teacher)
- Teacher TV and laptop (connected to display the navigation of the website)
- Whiteboard and whiteboard markers
- Meditation music and CD Player
Set up before class
- Log into all the computers/ laptops for the students, and open website http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph
- Connect teacher device to TV and log into the website
- Write instructions for website on the whiteboard, e.g. Min Value= 0
- Write reflection questions on the whiteboard:
1. Write one fact about your graphs (e.g. I did the best on the Beep Test in week 2)
2. Which sort of graph is best for the Beep Test results, or other sorts of progressive data ?
3. What sort of data is best for pie charts?
Digital Technology Integration
Students will be creating digital line graphs by inputting data into a graph-generating website. This will give students the
opportunity to experiment with digital technologies for data representation. The discussion at the end of this lesson will
promote students to think about the benefits of using technologies for data representation (accuracy, efficiency, easier to deal
with larger quantities of data etc.) and introduce them to one of the mathematical aspects of the digital era that we occupy.

Stage of
lesson

Student
Action
/Tasks

Time

Differentiated
Learning
Considerations

Teacher Action

Introduction

Meditation

10 mins

- Have classroom aid

work with the low
students (2) if they are
present in class. They
will be able to complete
this activity with some
assistance and one-onone attention.

- Ask students to find a good space on the floor where they can participate in
meditation without being distracted.
- Play Smiling mind meditation CD
- Walk around making sure all students are participating properly and not
distracting others.

Body of
Lesson

Whole Class
Discussion

7 mins

- Have classroom aid

work with the low
students (2) if they are
present in class. They
will be able to complete
this activity with some
assistance and one-onone attention. These
students will still benefit
from this lesson and will
enjoy creating a graph
that shows their own
personal achievement in
PE

- Ask students to join me on the floor for our maths lesson. (Make this transition
fun and interesting to captivate attention and increase motivation. Example: sing
(eads, shoulders, knees and toes , and shake their sillies out before asking for
full body listening . Give lots of praise to students who demonstrate this and to
those who are ready for learning .
- Ask for a volunteer to read the learning intentions (displayed on TV via
teacher s laptop), and get a few ideas from students about what they think this
will involve.
- Start an organized discussion about pie charts. Some questions might include:
- Who remembers what a Pie Chart is?
- What is it used for?
- What sort of things do you need to include when you make a Pie Chart?
(Draw a diagram of a Pie Chart, ask some students to volunteer to label its
features including: Title, Values).
(Make sure not to restrict to these questions. Bounce of student s ideas).
- Explain today s activity
We are going to have a go at making our own professional, digital pie charts of
our beep test results, that we can print and refer back to when we do the beep

test again
Ask recall questions such as:
- Who remembers some benefits to making graphs digitally rather than drawing
them?
Project the website and begin navigation of how to complete the activity:
1. http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/
2. Graph > Pie Chart
3. Shading: Students choice
4. Tab down (Data)
5. Graph Title = My/ Chantelle s Beep Test Results
6. Source = Physical Education
7. Data Set = 7 pie slices
8. Item label = week number, Value = results
9. Labels = don t change anything
10. Preview
11. Save and print
- Explain that there are 3 reflection questions to complete when they finish their
Pie Chart, and BEFORE they start to help somebody else finish theirs. Explain
that these questions are to be completed individually, in their maths
workbooks, and in full sentences and reasons for your answer . Read and
explain the questions:
1. Write one fact about your graphs (e.g. I did the best on the Beep Test in week
2)
2. Which sort of graph is best for the Beep Test results, or other sorts of
progressive data ?
3. What sort of data is best for pie charts?
- Ask students if they understand/ if they have any questions.
- Select pairs/ let students who have been listening really well select a partner
and go and get started.

Activity
Completion

Creating
Digital Bar
Graphs

20 mins

As Above

- Walk around the room monitoring participation and use of ICT. Conference
with students who need help, and those who don t to see how they are doing;
complete some informal assessment by asking the reflection questions and
getting students to explain their reasons for their answer.
- Remind early finishers of the instructions to stick the graph in their workbook,
complete the reflection questions and then to help a friend and help pack up.

Closure

Whole Class
Discussion

13 mins

Low students can

either continue working
on their graphs with aid,
or join in class
discussion. Teacher to
make decision
depending on how the
child is going.

- Ask students to bring all three of their graphs to the floor for share time
- Ask a student to present their Pie Chart and explain it to the class (their
results, how you know which week is which result etc.)
- Who can tell me about some of the differences between all three of our
graphs?
- Which one do you think is best for our Beep Test Results? (Looking for Line
Graph, the wave effectively shows if your performance went up or down/ got
better or worse)
- What sort of data might be best for a Bar Graph? (If not offered, suggest things
like a survey where there were a few different options to choose from? E.g. What
is your favourite fruit?
- What sort of data is best for a Pie Chart (Again, If not offered, suggest things like
a survey where there were a few different options to choose from? E.g. What is
your favourite fruit?)
- Ask the reflection questions. Try to get widespread contribution from the
whole class.
- Ask recall questions about the benefits of presenting data digitally, rather than
drawing it.
- Tell students that they have done a great job and have learnt to present data in
a formal and professional way. Explain that in the next lesson we will be looking
at how to present data in another professional, digital way.
- Thank them for listening and contributing to the maths lesson.

Post Lesson Reflection:

In the mini-lesson, students were able to identify parts of a graph that were missing from a Pie Chart compared to the other graphs (Line and Bar)
that we had looked at; i.e. axis. The students were able to recall all the benefits we had discussed in previous lessons about why it is beneficial to
present data digitally.
This session was a little bit more unsettled, which I can put down to being an afternoon session when they don t usually have maths, and the fact
that it was their second block of maths for the day, when they usually only have one 50 minute session. However, I was pleased and proud that the
kids all successfully completed the activity, and had an excellent discussion at the end. There was just a bit more unrelated talking that was causing
some distraction throughout the lesson.
Again, I was surprised by how well the kids were retaining all this new information; they could even recall what progressive data was.

I was comfortable that I achieved my learning intentions in this session, but I would have chosen different data to present in a pie chart. I think how
the Beep Test results are presented in the form of a Pie Chart was quite confusing, not only for the students, but for me to explain also, and so in the
discussion I explained and modeled on the whiteboard how it would work for a survey, and they seemed to understand a lot more.
We didn t have our classroom aid to work with our high-needs student in this session, which was a surprise to me, and so I hadn t planned anything
separate for him to do. I had to think quickly and got him to play some maths games on the iPad instead because if this student becomes disengaged
he likes to distract all the other students too. He worked well on his own this session playing the maths games, but I felt bad for not having anything
more targeted for him to do. Usually he doesn t stay at school for all three sessions, he goes home early or is taken by the aid or specialist teachers
for a respite sport, art or cooking session and so I hadn t even thought to plan anything else for him.
I was really lucky over the three sessions that I had aids working in the classroom because there are a few students with very high needs, but this
session just happened to be the one that was just my mentor and myself.

Differentiation was something I discussed with my mentor, and I asked if we make different activities for these low students, but she said because
we had the aids I didn t need to, that they would work with them to aim to complete the same task as the rest of the class. However, looking
forward, ) d like to try and learn ways to differentiate a lesson for high needs learners, because sometimes I know I won t be so lucky to have that
much help in the classroom.
I also wasn t as familiar with this maths class as I would have liked to be. Because I was working in an open learning environment, where four grade
3/4 classes combined to make combined numeracy and literacy groups, I was constantly working with different students. In the week before these
lessons, I was asked to work with a small group of low students who needed help with make to ten strategies, and some who have very low
cognitive ability. None of these students were in my maths class and so I wasn t aware, (other than what my mentor had told me) about their levelsI thought I was already working with all the low students, and that there weren t any more in the cohort. When I constructed my lesson activities,

my mentor said I was on the appropriate levels, but I wish I had taken more initiative to find out if the levels in my maths class varied. I know the
maths component wasn t difficult, and these students completed the task the same as all the other students, I just feel bad that they needed so much
assistance to input data. I am so grateful for the aids.
Overall, I really enjoyed carrying out these three lessons. I am glad the students enjoyed it so much and it was great to see how proud they were of
the work they had completed. I am happy I have met my learning intention for the majority of students. I realize that it wasn t going to happen with
all of them, now that I know some of them are cognitively challenged and have an STS/ their assessment isn t reported to AusVELS etc. But I am
extremely proud of what ALL the kids completed, how well they participated and helped each other, and their amazing ability to recall and
remember and learn so quickly! I honestly didn t think it would go so well.

Mentor Feedback:

Pre-lesson: The focus questions and details to complete data were on board prior to lesson.
Fluency: Due to the session being after lunch, meditation was the initial task. Unfortunately Smiling minds was not working, but students were
sitting quietly during meditation music.
Mini Lesson: Revised the previous sessions. Used information about graphs from previous session to compare to current graph. When students lost
focus, you redirected them to the learning. Instructions were clear to complete the task on the website. Independent: Students settled in well to the
task. You roamed as students were working, and checked in on each student to ensure on task and to reiterate the focus of the lesson.
Reflection/Share Time: You stated your expectations during the time. Your questioning reflected the focus of the session and the learning you
wanted from the students. Using work samples for explanations assisted student who was a little nervous when sharing. Asking the student to stand
near you helped ease the nervousness and allowed the student to continue sharing, but knowing you were there if they needed you.
ICT: Using the iPads helped students begin the task straight away. There was little wasted time due to technical issues. The students were engaged
throughout the activity. Again, students were willing to help each other complete the task.
Overall: There was one student who opted out of the session, but two Maths sessions in one day was too much for him, as he has very low selfesteem in maths. He was engaged in his own task and was not distracting other in the class. I should have thought more about this prior to the
lesson so we could have set up something that he could have completed independently related to data and graphs. The students really enjoyed the
ICT component of the lessons and this helped with an entry point for all students, and seeing students work collaboratively. The students achieved
the focus for the sessions, and were able to distinguish between graphs and beginning to understand what information can be represented in these
forms. Continue to set high expectations with the students and