WEEK+4

Week 4 - 23/3/09  Key Words: Piaget, Vygotsky,Bruner, etc.:Multiple Intelligences ** Readings: N.Postman&C.Weingartner(1972)  ** __**What's Worth Knowin**g__ What are the questions we are worth knowing? That is the topic discussed in the reading. Whatever questions we may have in our classroom, it is worth seeking answers not only from our point of views, but also from the students’ point of views. The reading includes a long list of possible questions that may be worth answering. The author mentions that in evaluating these questions or even a set of our own questions, there are certain standards that must be used. The author has stated these standards in the form of questions which have inspired me a lot about how they are relevant to students’ learning. These standards are not about high or low, it is about whether they are appropriate to our goals-how we can help students’ in learning.  The reading mentions that students often generate their own set of questions, and I totally agree with it. Students’ questions and answers and the way they are answering will vary depending on the experiences and backgrounds. Therefore, when talking about curriculum, we will need to care more about the structure of the learning and less about the structure of the subject. In the curriculum structure, it is important that the major content of what is to be learnt by the students results from inquiries structure by the questions that are raised.

(Christy, Man Man Hung)MARCH 2009 **Week 4 Lecture summary**

This week lecture mainly focused on the lesson planning. Since I am from Hong Kong and I only started entering the Australian school system in Year 11, I was amazed with all the VELS standards and progression points, and how they are different from the education curriculum in Hong Kong. We explored in VELS, that it is a minimum standard, intended to stretch students into that a particular level learning. Each level includes a learning focus and the learning focus is so important in schools. Lesson plan is used for teachers to write down the purpose, learning and the outcome of the lesson. They are to be written in a brief explaination format so that students know what they are expected to learn in that particular lesson. We should write the lesson plan for every lessons and we should not spend more time planning a lesson then i'd teaching it. (Christy, Man Man Hung)MARCH 2009

 Week 4 Lecture Summary

This week the lecture focused on the VELS and lesson plans. Many of us are still becoming familiar with the structure of the Learning standards. Today’s lecture helped to clarify some of the confusion. VELS are the essential standards defined for P-10 students to achieve. These are set at a challenging level, intended to stretch the students learning. They are organised into strands, domains and dimensions. Where there are no defined standards for a level, we refer to the Learning focus statement for that level to learning requirements. The strands are broken up into domains, which are further divided into dimensions. These are organised into levels 1-6. Each level covers a 2 year span, with the exception of level 1, pertaining only to the Prep year. Progression points refer to the specific areas of learning for each level.

Lesson plans The La Trobe lesson plan was also discussed in today’s lecture and tutorial. Sonia McAlary 2/4/09

WEEK4 It is so important to have the theory on what forms the basis of a lesson plan. I have started fieldwork at the local primary school in Mitcham, so it has been useful to make a connection between the set up of the day and the structure of a lesson plan. I've been in a 5/6 class and they each have their own personal ultra-mobile mini- computer (UMPC's). The teacher acts as a facilitator and has scaffolded back their level of direct teaching to a minimum. The majority of the work is based on self directed researching with a class discussion at the end of an activity. The teacher guiding it to find out what they have discovered. The access to information is so instant. They are constantly using aspects if ICT for every aspect of their day. Eg. Excel for graphs of types of fingeprints in the class (a science based learning task), Web for information on 3 levels of government, and even the web for playing a linked maths game where they can compete with their teacher and class mates. They e-mailed their work directly to their teacher! I was surprised with the lack of direct teaching of a subject! (Anita Dinon 28/3/09)

Week 4 reflection. The workshop this week focused on constructing a lesson plan. The section I was contributing to was inclusive strategies. Understandably, most of these tend to focus on those students needing additional support; those whom face challenges with learning. There has not been as much focus on the needs of talented learners and the challenges they face in a classroom. The readings this week have been helped to balance my knowledge in this area. (Teacher tools, questioning launch pad 2000) Talented students can quickly become disengaged when they are not challenged to think deeper. They need to have the opportunity to explore their ideas and feel valued and safe enough to be wrong and to have their ideas discussed critically.

Another point that is frequently discussed in the lectures and readings is the importance of giving students time to reflect and consider before answering questions. (Poatman and Weingartner 1972), ([|www.teachingtools.londongt.org] ), (Teacher tools, questioning launch pad 2000) This is something I need to remind myself to do frequently. Deeper thinking and understandings can take time to develop. Children (and adults) need time to process information, explore and reflect on implications and applications of learning.

There is a focus in this week’s readings on the importance of asking questions, how we ask, what we ask and fostering an environment where lessons often lead to more questions, not necessarily to definitive answers. How we learn is as vital as what we learn. For us as teachers, this means planning for a range of questions in the lesson, allowing time to reflect individually and in groups. Incorporating open ended questions or statements that encourage collaborative learning will allow deeper application of learning for students. Sonia McAlary 4/4/2009