Engagement Theory Plan of Action

Examines students motivations and interests to suggest ways to nurture student engagement. Students who are engaged are intrinsically motivated and have higher achievement (Tompkins, 2010).

VIT Standard to investigate: Specific attribute to work on:

Standard 1 - Graduating teachers know how students learn and how to teach them effectively. Gain an understanding of individual students abilities over all KLAs, as well as students interests to assist in gaining complete and ongoing engagement in all lessons and activities by all students. Standard 3 - Graduating teachers know their students; Standard 4 - Graduating teachers plan and assess for effective learning; Standard 6 - Graduating Teachers use a range of teaching practices and resources to engage students in effective learning. I specifically chose this attribute for implementation in the lower levels (1 and 2) as I dont feel my ability to continuously engage lower primary students is as strong as my rapport with upper primary. I intend on implementing the following five (5) stages throughout my time in a year 2 (level 2) classroom and building upon my ability to actively engage all students over all primary year levels.

Links to other standards:

Why I chose this attribute/What will be the outcome of this plan:

STAGES
Initial recognition of individual students ability and understanding of students interests

WHEN?
EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

WHY?
Imperative to understand how students operate and comprehend different areas of work; Student interests assist planning and teaching by relating topics back to students own interests.

HOW?
Discussions with classroom teacher and past teacher/s regarding student abilities and areas of need; Evidence from work books, reflective journal, assessment and questioning; Brainstorming activities; Discussions with students regarding personal and class interests.

EVIDENCE?
Notes from discussions; Teacher records and collected student data; Reflections of activities.

Responsive planning in reply to student ability and interests

EEP401 Primary School Experience 5 EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

Integration of student interests into lessons assists students in better comprehending content; Planning for a range of ability groups ensures students work at appropriate levels with appropriate content. Enthusiasm contributes to motivation and higher levels of interest of students.

Integration of student interests into lessons and activities; Adapting to students ability/interests during a lesson or activity if presented; Lesson and activities which reflect an understanding of students abilities and interests. Entail to keep enthusiasm high at all times to assist in keeping students motivated and interested in content being taught; Use different voice tones during lessons and activities to keep students involved; Exhibit eye contact, facial expressions, vocalization, gesture and movement throughout lessons and activities. Research professional theories on student engagement online and in texts; View a range of lesson plans online that focus student engagement.

Lesson plans; Self-reflection; Supervising teachers reflections.

Enthusiastic teaching to assist in student motivation and interest

Record mock teaching scenarios at home, focusing on keeping enthusiasm high at all times; Have supervising teacher reflect on enthusiasm throughout lessons and activities. Collect notes from research and collate to build a resource folder.

Research of professional and educative papers on student engagement combined with viewing lesson plans with a main focus on student engagement Integration of ICT within lessons to break up direct teaching and put an emphasis on hands on learning

EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

Understanding methods of attaining student engagement and recognising how these methods can be implemented within lessons.

EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

Emphasis on inquiry rather than direct teaching allows students to fully engage in a lesson by becoming the centre of the learning process.

Utilise computers, laptops, notebooks, iPads, IWBs etc. to emphasise inquiry in lessons and activities; Use Smartboard manipulatives rather than worksheets to allow students complete interaction with the content.

Observe and reflect upon student engagement during integrated ICT activities; Lesson plans with an ICT integration.

Inquiry Approach Plan of Action

Learning approach which makes the student take responsibility of their own learning, as well as focusing on the development of skills and students own conceptions (Wilson & Murdoch, 2004).

VIT Standard to investigate: Specific attribute to work on:

Standard 1 - Graduating teachers know how students learn and how to teach them effectively. Understand the importance of inquiry in a primary classroom, and develop methods of integrating and developing throughout daily lessons and activities. Standard 4 - Graduating teachers plan and assess for effective learning; Standard 6 Graduating Teachers use a range of teaching practices and resources to engage students in effective learning. I specifically chose this attribute for implementation in the lower levels (1 and 2) as I dont feel my ability to integrate inquiry into these grades is as strong as my capacity to facilitate direct teaching. Currently my confidence lies in developing and maintaining lessons and activites for upper primary grades which maintain a focus on inquiry. I dont feel this confidence is matched when developing lessons for lower primary, where I tend to rely on direct teaching techniques. WHY?
Understand the fundamentals of inquiry learning and the importance of its implementation into classroom lessons. Understanding is imperative to be able to implement the correct concept of Inquiry. Students may become detached and disengaged if Inquiry tasks are too difficult or too simple.

Links to other standards:

Why I chose this attribute/What will be the outcome of this plan:

STAGES
Research theories on Inquiry learning to gain a fuller comprehension of implementation in lower primary Understand the Inquiry attributes already possessed by students.

WHEN?
EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

HOW?
Research theories on Inquiry learning online and in texts; View a range of lesson plans online that focus Inquiry learning in lower primary grades; Discussion with supervising teacher on their own techniques and ideas on integrating Inquiry into daily lessons. Discussions with classroom teacher regarding skill level and conceptual understanding of learners; Discussions with supervising teaching regarding learning styles of individual teachers to ensure correct models of inquiry are implemented.

EVIDENCE?
Collect notes and a range of lesson plans and ideas; Reflect upon discussions with supervising teacher.

EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

Reflect upon discussions with supervising teacher; Make notes throughout lesson plans as to where Inquiry is utilised and why specific models were used.

Design lessons with a strong focus on Inquiry

EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

Implement and practice methods of Inquiry over a number of KLAs with an understanding of Inquiry attributes possessed by students

Comprehension of content to be taught, and a range of pre-planned focus questions to promote Inquiry EEP401 Primary School Experience 5 Familiarising and comprehending content to be taught to bestow confidence of topic to students; Pre-planned focus questions allow the teacher to direct the flow of learning, yet still allow students to implement methods of Inquiry into their learning. Some low ability students may not yet have the capacity to conduct own Inquiry, therefore, learning may not be an outcome if enforced and issues may arise. Pre-service teachers may not be able to fully comprehend ability groupings and individual student comprehension of Inquiry models in such a short teaching space. By working with the supervising teacher, it ensures these aspects are covered in full, and lessons can be designed with the best interests of each student.

Understand risks involved in incorporating Inquiry with low-ability students

EEP401 Primary School Experience 5 EEP401 Primary School Experience 5

Working closely with the supervising teacher to plan lessons with a focus on Inquiry

Design Mathematics lessons e.g. focus on students individually using concrete materials to add and subtract amounts; Design Literacy lessons e.g. focus on students writing interview style questions on a topic to pose to another student and research answers in pairs; Design Science lesson e.g. students implement P.O.E (Predict, Observe, Explain) to investigate scientific concepts; Design a lesson with integrated ICT e.g. students explore methods of multiplication using an IWB or computer. Utilise textbooks and online resources to gain a clear understanding of content to be covered in the classroom; Conferences with supervising teacher to gain understanding of any unfamiliar content; Conferences with supervising teacher to plan focus questions to be used during lesson; Structured lesson plans with focus questions designed to respond to the flow of the lesson. Conferences with supervising teacher discussing Inquiry attributes possessed by different students; Research into literature outlining risks involved with incorporating Inquiry with low ability students. Planning sessions with teacher focusing primarily on: ability of each students; attributes of Inquiry possessed by each student; as well as relevant models of Inquiry that would be beneficial to the class as a whole, individual student, and ability groups.

Student workbooks/worksheets; Reflections at conclusion of lesson; Recorded observations of processes utilsed by students; Lesson plans with an Inquiry focus.

Notes taken from textbooks and online resources; Notes take from conferences with supervising teacher; Lesson plan with highlighted focus questions planned to affect the flow of the lesson. Notes from conferences conducted with the supervising teacher; Notes and reflections of literature read. Lesson plans designed with input of the supervising teacher; Notes from conferences conducted with the supervising teacher.