Personal Development Plan

Surname Given Names Student GDip or DD

Number

Turnbull Nicholas 41770726 GrDip

Teaching 1 Music
Areas
2 Music Choral

Subject areas 1 Year 8A Creative Arts

and year
2 Year 8M Creative Arts
levels taught.
3 Year 10 Music

Focus Area 2.3

I use curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to design learning

sequences and lesson plans.

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing
feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for improvement will be:

I need to refer to the QCAA much more often, I find the QCAA to be a
grey area in my teaching education and need to dedicate more time into
understanding how it applies to learning sequences and lesson plans.
I have limited experience in reporting knowledge, so will be looking to
improve this are in my next practical experience.
I have had some assessment experience, but will need to further develop
this area, especially creating my own assessment items.
Focus Area 2.2

I organise content into an effective learning and teaching sequence

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing
feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

Dedicate more time into what students will be learning rather than on my
own planning.
My organisation skill are sound but I need to better organise my sequence
of teaching.
My lesson plan timing is also something I need to work on in my next
practical experience.

Focus Area 3.1

I set learning goals that provide achievable challenges for students of

varying abilities and characteristics

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

To notice that all classes have students of varying abilities and
characteristics.
Student need to be catered for by setting my learning achievements as
doable and accessible for all.
Focus area 3.2

I plan lesson sequences using knowledge of student learning, content and

effective teaching strategies.

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

My teaching strategies need some improvement, as I become more familiar
with how students learn.
I am slowly learning by emulating techniques by my supervising teachers.
I plan on furthering my own musical education in order to aid my content
knowledge and to provide me with effective teaching methods.

Focus area 1.5

I use a range of strategies to meet the specific learning needs of students

across the full range of abilities

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing
feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

I need to improve my teaching scope of strategies for students that have
learning difficulties.
I need to be more prepared in noticing students who do have learning
disabilities.
I also need to provide higher learning students with extra work and
prepare for that factor.
Focus area 1.3

I am developing teaching strategies that are responsive to the learning

strengths and needs of students from diverse linguistic, cultural, religious
and socioeconomic backgrounds

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

Improve my own knowledge of cultures and diverse linguistic and
religious backgrounds
I am conscious of these students, but whether I effectively cater to their
needs, I am unsure.
Ask these students if they are having trouble with the work or if they need
further scaffolding

Focus area 2.5

I understand and use relevant literacy and numeracy teaching strategies in

learning activities in my teaching areas.

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

I need to find more strategies for providing literacy and numeracy skills to
students.
I am still not entirely sure as to why we have to provide these learning
skills through music to students - so I will research more on why this is
general practice for teachers
Focus area 4.2

I organise a range of classroom activities to cater for the specific learning needs
of my students. I make sure that my directions are clear and given in language
appropriate to their learning level so that all students know what is expected of
them in the activity.

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for improvement will be:

To continue my learning experience in this area through on going practicum
To seek out assistance, especially from those teacher aids and learning support
departments.
To continue my own development, especially in the area of aural presentation - to
cater for those students.

Focus areas 3.5 & 4.1

I use a range of strategies, verbal and nonverbal, to ensure effective classroom

communication and to support inclusive student participation and engagement
in classroom activities

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for improvement will be:

To continue developing my classroom communication skills by observing more
lessons from different teachers
To learn students names more effectively, so as to make the classroom more
inclusive
Work more on my nonverbal communication, especially whiteboard work.
Focus area 4.4

I understand and use appropriate strategies to support students wellbeing and

safety and always work within school and/or system, curriculum and legislative
requirements

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

To seek out more experience by engaging in school workshops.
To talk to staff from student support centres about better strategies for
supporting students.
To talk to school CLT and make sure that I have a clear idea of the school system.

Focus area 5.2

I provide timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

To seek out more opportunities to provide students with feedback
To create worksheets that students hand in at the end of the lesson
To give students ongoing feedback verbally and nonverbally
Focus area 3.4

I select and use resources of a range of resources, including ICT, that engage
students in their learning

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

To continue finding different programs that will engage students in the learning
process.
To create resource folders for myself in which I can store valuable teaching
sources

Focus area 2.6

I implement appropriate teaching strategies for using ICT to expand curriculum

learning opportunities for students.

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

To make sure that my use of ICT is always effective
To cut down the words on my PPT and just use dots points
To use more youtube clips as learning resources

Focus area 4.5

I understand the relevant issues and the need to use ICT safely, responsibly and
ethically. I am developing my understanding of the strategies available to
support the safe, responsible and ethical use of ICT in learning and teaching.

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback
Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box
problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

To ensure that only education appropriate sites are accessed on my computer
whilst plugged into the OHP
To ensure I am up to date on all policies and procedures that the school I am
working at has.

Focus area 3.6

I am developing a range of strategies to evaluate my teaching programs to

improve student learning

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

By reviewing good and bad lessons weekly
To ensure that my supervising teachers observations are taken on board
To seek out feedback from other teachers
Focus area 6.5

I engage with colleagues and seek and apply constructive feedback from
supervisors and teachers to improve my teaching practices

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

To make myself more available to other teachers and teaching opportunities
To be available at all staff meetings.
To seek out feedback from other teachers

Focus area 7.1

I understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and
conduct for the teaching profession

I need help here I know the way ahead Ill seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

I need to seek out more opportunities within my practicum to put all of the key
principles into practice

Focus area 7.2

I understand and comply with relevant legislative, administrative and

organisational policies and processes required for teachers

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

I need to ensure that I fully understand the legislative, administrative and
organisational policies and processes required for teachers.
I need to ensure that I know how to put the legislative, administrative and
organisational policies and processes required for teachers into practice

Focus area 7.3

I understand strategies for working effectively, sensitively and confidentially

with parents/carers

I need help here I know the way ahead seek ongoing feedback

Major Needs Sound Good My Priority (Tick one box)

problem Attention
High Medium Low

My strategy for ongoing improvement will be:

I need to seek out more opportunities to gain experience in this area
I am aware that confidentiality is of top priority within schools
I need to gain more experience in teacher/parents interaction
Personal Reflection:

The professional experience has been extremely beneficial to me as teacher. Though the
process of the past practical experience I have overcome my biggest fear of teaching and that
is not knowing content in front of students and public speaking. Although they were initially
my greatest fears going into practical experience they were also the least difficult and the
quickest to overcome. Practical experience did present with other challenges that I did not
foresee, it was these problems that I wish to focus on in this reflection as these are the areas
in which I would like to focus my energy into fixing.

My professional experience was supervised by Lisa McDuff who is head of senior music at
Cleveland State High School. Lisa could not have been a better mentor to me throughout the
experience and provided me with invaluable knowledge that I intend to use throughout my
career as a teacher. Her kind nature and musical abilities were well suited to my own and
therefore provided me with common ground in which to work upon. The classes that I taught
during my time at Cleveland State High School were Grade 8, 10 and some 12 classes. As
apposed to some of my colleagues who had just been given Grade 7s and 8s, I definitely
was very privileged to get such an array of class experience.

My professional experience began with one week of observations in which I became familiar
with Lisas teaching style and her classes she taught. It was obvious how Lisa treated her
classes especially the bond she had between the students and herself as well as the general
camaraderie that students had to her and each other. Students were quick to welcome myself
and were very friendly to me. From week two I began to teach grade 8s, which consisted of
two classes; an extension class and a low class. On a side note I was disappointed to see that
students who achieved low results were lumped together in a class. The low class, 8M, would
become my first real problem in teaching. I found this class to be extremely hard to control
and hard to feel like I was respected by students.

Through observation notes from Lisa, I was slowly able to overcome these problems,
however all the way up to my last class with them I was unable to let my guard down. It was
interesting to note that some students although low achievers, were actually very interested in
the class and were quiet achievers. These students were unfairly disadvantaged by the
interrupting students who had no regard for anyone but themselves.

The other class I predominantly taught was Grade 10 Music. This was a very small and quiet
class of about 12 students. The problem that I found with this class was quite the opposite to
what I was dealing with in 8M and that was that the class was very unresponsive to anything
I had to say. Students were either nervous or disengaged with what was being taught making
my job extremely hard. The class was an absolute gem to teach on the whole though, full of
very nice students who were more than capable and talented. As well as the general
unresponsiveness by students, I also faced my initial fear of content knowledge. I was able to
overcome this by over-planning lessons and putting in good amounts of time for the class
preparation.