My practical experience journal
30/4/12 – Monday
Today I had a year 10 maths class in lesson 2, where I worked with a group of 7 girls from the remedial class. Around half did not seem at all motivated to work, so I focused firstly on working with the students that were working. I started with one girl who showed some good progress in her learning and while she was working 3 or 4 of the others also began doing some work. One girl refused to do anything and simply stayed on her laptop but I didn’t really bother trying to get her to work. I was surprised how much self-learning the girls were if they just put their mind to their work, but getting them motivated to work was the real problem. I should have been a bit more firm with them in terms of behaviour, doing work, etc. but they did not seem to have much respect for me. Maths was a particularly hard subject to make interesting, as there were no practical examples of how it could be used that the students could see as being relevant.
In lesson 5 I had the year 12’s for biology and they had a test the next day. Most were doing revision and I tried to pass on some useful information and answered some questions. Most were quite focused on the test and this is clearly a good motivator for learning. After the year 9 and 10’s the year 12’s seem very mature and easy to talk to. Next I had science with the year 9’s. These students were very restless and poorly behaved and we spent only 5 minutes or so in the classroom. Dr. Gatford explained the leaf venation difference between ‘grasses’ and ‘broadleafed plants’, then we went to the garden. We spent the rest of the lesson there, which I think was a tactic to keep them from misbehaving so much in the classroom. On returning, I talked to Keith and he said the students’ attention span would only allow for 5 to 10 minutes of useful teaching, given that this was the last lesson of the day.
1/5/12 – Tuesday
In the first lesson today I supervised a year 11 maths test. I found the students were very quiet and focused, though one student was a little disruptive with his actions and mannerisms. He finished first, so I sent him to the next door class to remove him as a potential source of distraction to the others. After they had all finished the students went next door, only to return to work on their assignment. As I was not really teaching the class I didn’t bother too much with telling them to work, etc. and in the last 10 minutes I had a good talk to some of the students about what they think of their subjects, school, etc.
I then had double biology between recess and lunch, where the year 12’s had a test. I watched over the test for some time, then went to supervise the year 11’s for the rest of the time. I was trying to keep them quiet because of the test next door and very few of them were on task. In their defence, they did not have much of a task to go on with, only a fairly broad assignment. I managed to keep them reasonably quiet and pulled some students up who were clearly doing the wrong things. The year 11’s are also quite mature and were fairly easy to get along with.
After lunch I went with Mr. Brokenshire for year 8 tech studies. These students were extremely excited about doing some practical work and it was hard, if not impossible to keep them under control. I showed some students how to braze weld and tried to make sure the rest were doing the right thing. Most were so excited that it was very difficult to hold their attention for any length of time.
2/5/12 - Wednesday
I wasn’t looking forward to double science with the year 9’s this morning but I found they were like a different class when they were not in the final lesson of the day. They were much more settled and focused and I ended up enjoying the lesson. They were reminded of monocots vs. dicots and asked to go outside to find a sample of each. When they returned, Dr. Gatford showed them how to cut a leaf section and look at it under the microscope. Most students got this far and some were genuinely interested. I worked with some of the better students and helped them use the microscope and cut their samples. Today was the first day where I was firm with some students and they obeyed me when they were misbehaving. It was interesting to see some of the poorer students working and seemingly interested in what they were doing in the practical task when they were separated from their friends. This was a heartening observation for me and I tried to keep some of these students on track. By the end of the lesson the students’ attention was beginning to waver but they had accomplished quite a lot compared to any of the other lessons I have been to. I can see that these younger students tend to obey orders as long as you are firm and consistent, while the older students are more likely to question you.
7/5/12 – Monday
Today I had maths in the morning with the year 10’s and once again helped with the girls in the remedial class. I found that most were willing to work and I decided to put ‘scaffolding’ to the test. I worked with one girl (Komeko) and found that she responded quite well to my help and I was able to use scaffolding by reminding her of what she had already done in previous questions, as well as reminding her of where her new knowledge would be useful in the real world. Once she was on track I left her to work and helped some of the other girls who were less receptive to this method. This and other lessons have showed me that most students can achieve success if they just put their mind to the task at hand.
I also worked with the year 11’s today and found they were a bit restless. The task they had been given was very broad, with no real end date, so I couldn’t really blame them for being this way. Clearly, given them a clear outline of what is required is the first step to a successful research lesson. The last lesson was the year 9 science class and they were quite distracted as usual. We went straight to the garden and planted some seeds, then marked out the garden beds. Most of the students seemed to enjoy this and we got a reasonable amount of seeds in the ground.
8/5/12 – Tuesday
Today the year 12’s had a re-test, as all bar 2 had failed the previous test. Mr. Mabarrack seemed to think that the problem with the last test was the lack of revision done by the students and that they could do much better. I was very disappointed with the students, as most of them seem to be quite bright and especially disappointed given that the test questions were similar, if not identical to the practice test they had been given. Joe and I had both told them that this would be the case. In the lesson the results seemed better from first appearances, so that was good. I stayed with the year 11’s for this lesson and I was proud that I managed to get all of them to do at least some work. I talked to many of them for most of the lesson about biology and other things and I felt like most of them gained some respect for me after this. There were 2 students that were particularly difficult, so I tried talking to them about things that interested them, then relating this to the assignment they were doing to highlight what they already knew. This was moderately successful. I also found out that one of the star students from this class has dyslexia, which was surprising.
9/5/12 – Wednesday
This morning was double science with the year 9’s and I was secretly glad that all of the most difficult students were absent at football. The difference was instantly noticeable, with all of the students being more attentive, less disruptive, less competitive and did not show off nearly as much. Dr. Gatford asked the students to do an experiment that demonstrated photosynthesis and all of the students seemed to find the task fairly easy. When some students had finished and had nothing to do, they were not nearly as badly behaved as usual and were fairly pleasant to be around. As we finished early we then went to the garden, then went to see the calves and got an apple each. I think today I saw the students more like the people they really are and not the show-offs they normally are. I don’t think there would be a way of making the students like this normally, short of separating each of them.
14/5/12 – Monday
Today there was an assembly in lesson 1 and the maths class in lesson 2 were particularly disruptive. The girls I was working with had extreme difficulty staying on task and I could not manage to get some of them to even work at all. I can’t see any way of motivating students when they are like this. Unfortunately I am finding that most students take the easy way out when they are in these situations.
Next I had biology with the year 11’s where they were working on making a poster on the Murray River for an assignment. As usual, the good students did their work and seemed fairly immune to distractions, though the poorer students were easily distracted by the computers in the room. Now that I know some of these students better I am finding that more of them are doing what they should. The final lesson of the day was science with the year 9’s. This lesson was different from the others at the end of the day, as Dr. Gatford had asked them all to write some questions in the previous lesson and then gave them a quiz using these questions in this lesson. Most seemed fairly outraged at the prospect of this, though I thought it was a very good idea. After the test we then went to the garden. On looking at the tests after it seemed most students had attempted most questions and it was clear that most had understood or remembered some aspects better than others. This seems like an excellent formative assessment that could be used to go over topics that were universally misunderstood.
15/5/12 – Tuesday
Today I had a double lesson with the year 11’s in biology. Their posters are due on Friday and I told them that they should not waste the double lesson. This seemed to have some effect and almost all were working on their assignments. I discussed with them what a ‘good’ poster looked like to them and encouraged them all to include these things in their own posters. This was the best lesson I have had so far and I feel much more comfortable and respected now that I know the students better.
I also gave Kimberly the booklet on ‘maths in aged care’ that I had created and she seemed to see this as being relevant.
16/5/12 – Wednesday
Today I had double science with the year 9’s. We started by getting the students to put some mince meat in hydrochloric acid to observe what happened. While this was going on, they wrote a report on the photosynthesis practical they had done in the previous lesson. Most students managed to produce a graph her but few really seemed to understand what was happening in the experiment. I then stayed with 2 students to do the quiz that the others had done on Monday while the rest of the class went to the garden. Afterwards everyone came back to observe what had happened to the meat and wrote down what had happened. In this lesson I began calling the students by their first names and once again felt more comfortable in the classroom. I realised today that you need to be able to control students of this age with your voice alone to effectively run the classroom.
17/5/12 – Thursday
Today I had my first lesson with the year 11/12 chemistry class and it was clear that most students really wanted to be there. I already knew many of the students and this definitely helped me fit into the class much better. I worked with the year 11’s doing a booklet on the structure of hydrocarbons while the year 12’s did a titration practical. As the year 11’s were using molecular models to make the molecules they were drawing, it was easy for me to step in and show them what to do. This class is the best I have been in so far. The students seem to have more of a desire to learn than the students in most other classes.
18/5/12 – Friday
Today I had chemistry again and it was the first ‘true’ lesson I had been to so far. Dr. Gatford was teaching the year 11’s about hydrocarbons and clearly using scaffolding to get them to remember what they had learned in previous years. I didn’t get to have much input in this lesson but it was good to see a lesson being taught like I remember from school. In biology, the year 11’s had to finish their posters by the end of the lesson and most of them were well on track. One student did not want to put much effort in, so I told him what he needed to do to at least submit something. Most students saw the assignment as a good motivator for them to do work and without knowing, most students did learn something about the Murray River.
Science was my final lesson for the day and we went straight to the garden to water the plants, then went and picked apples that were to be sold. Most students were happy to be outside but struggled with the task of picking the apples. I talked to Dr. Gatford afterwards and he said all the time spent outdoors did require the curriculum to be taught more quickly but that it was difficult to avoid, given that 2 of 4 classes each week are at the end of the day.
21/5/12 – Monday
In chemistry today Dr. Gatford asked the students to design an experiment to test the different reaction rates of yeast. They had all of the necessary knowledge to do this and eventually the students came up with a successful design. I found it interesting to see that the students responded well when given a chance to hypothesise and create things. This was exactly as stated in Pigaet’s developmental stages, so it was good to see this theory in action. In science today we first went to the garden but then came back to look at a power point presentation about digestion. Some students were quite engaged with this, particularly when it come to things that they were familiar with. I am finding this to be a common thread; making things relevant to student’s own experiences or things they are familiar with to give them some interest in learning.
22/5/12 – Tuesday
In the double lesson for biology today I taught the year 11 class by myself. I planned the lesson beforehand and started by asking the students why food spoils. We had a brief discussion about this and I then told them about Louis Pasteur and the action of microbes. I then discussed the different ways of keeping food from spoiling and set them some questions about this from the textbook. Most students listened quite well and seemed engaged, especially when I used examples they were familiar with. My explanation took less time than I thought it would, but it took the students much longer than I thought to do the questions. I gave them a break about halfway through the double and then began discussing some questions slightly further in the topic towards the end of the lesson. Some students finished fairly early and I didn’t really have much else for them to do.
Looking back, I thought I went a bit fast with my explanations and I should have involved the students a bit more. I thought I gave good examples of where this knowledge is useful to them and kept them fairly well engaged. I found that by talking loud and clear I could drown out any other talking and grab the students’ attention. I found that scaffolding definitely worked and that they would keep trying to answer questions if they did not get the right answer in the first place. I found the challenge was getting the students to think and apply the knowledge or to think abstractedly. When I asked them a question at the end of the lesson to see what they had learned I was impressed that they had indeed acquired plenty of new knowledge. I think if I remind them of this in the next lesson then it will cement it in their minds. Overall, I was happy with how things went.
23/5/12 – Wednesday
This morning was double science with the year 9’s. They were as well behaved and attentive as I have seen them so far. They first prepared a practical on digestion with egg-whites, then we went to the garden to water the plants. When we came back they watched the rest of the power point presentation about the ruminant digestive system. After this they began work on a poster about the ruminant digestive system. Changing the tasks often seemed to keep them interested, while keeping the tasks themselves interesting seemed a good way to keep them focused. Given their short attention span, this is not surprising, I guess.
At then end of the day I went to study time, where the year 11’s were working on their research project. I worked with one girl, Chelsea, who is dyslexic for much of the time. I know many of these students now, so it is much easier to talk to them and have a joke. The research project is a year-long project and most students were finding it difficult to know where to start.
24/5/12 – Thursday
Today was double chemistry where the year 11’s set up the practical they had designed to test the activity of yeast. I helped them to set this up and they then began an experimental report on this. The year 12’s did their titration practical but it again failed.
25/5/12 – Friday
This morning I had chemistry with the year 11/12’s and the year 11’s checked their yeast experiment. Unfortunately, all bar one of the setups had leaked, though we still asked the students to write a results and conclusion for their write-up. After this, Dr. Gatford and I took a ‘transition class’ of year 7 students from other schools, where we showed them some of the ‘fun stuff’ they may be doing in chemistry in the future. We made hydrogen, then ignited it, the students made sherbet and we ignited a jelly baby. It was interesting to see the younger students, as they were all very attentive and seemingly ‘innocent’ compared to the high school students. Dr. Gatford also showed me a book that contained all of the SACE guidelines, which seemed very useful for deciding what to actually teach the students. I could see that these guidelines are essential when there are external assessments and exams involves, as they would ensure you are teaching the right things.
28/5/12 – Monday
Today the year 12’s finally completed their titration practical and Dr. Gatford and I did a standardisation to save the students’ time. Doing the titration and helping with this was good, as it reminded me of my own school days. In the biology lesson I was not too sure what to teach, so I carried on explaining how antibacterial agents work and how bacteria can become resistant to these. I tried to keep things relevant to the practical coming up on Tuesday, though I didn’t have too much idea what the practical would be about, either. I made a fairly good discussion but I think the students could tell that there was not as much focus as the last lesson. I didn’t bother setting any work and I let the last 10 minutes of the lesson go. Without a plan of what I was teaching it was very hard to keep the students engaged.
In the science lesson, Dr. Gatford got the students to look up an on-line video of the digestive system. This kept the students engaged for 20 minutes or so and definitely re-enforced some of their learning without them perhaps realising it. After this they worked on their posters, where I noticed the better students making an effort and the poorer students using the time as an excuse to avoid working. I have found that some students see tasks that are fairly long in duration as an excuse to avoid working, as there is no pressure to get things done, while others put in a good effort from the start. On talking to Dr. Gatford afterwards, he said that setting a due date in the near future is a good motivator for some students, while others see the task as being impossible in that time frame and don’t even begin. He said that it is hard, if not impossible to cater to all of the student’s needs, which is something I have definitely found to be true.
29/5/12 – Tuesday
Today was double biology with the year 11’s. In this lesson the year 11’s set up their food preservation practical, which involved getting a piece of processed cheese and subjecting it to various treatments. They tried leaving one piece exposed to the air, leaving one covered, handling the cheese, washing their hands and handling the cheese and various others. We did some extra tests, where they licked, breathed on, dropped and dipped the cheese in disinfectant. All of the students seemed to enjoy this activity and it definitely required them to think about what they had learned previously. Giving them a chance to hypothesise was another way of getting them to think about what they were doing and using their knowledge. When some students suggested that we should do some extra activities I was particularly pleased, as it showed they understood what we were testing and what was happening in the experiment. I found the practical quite easy to teach, as the students did not require any extra motivation to get the task done.
30/5/12 – Wednesday
This morning was double science with the year 9’s and we looked at a real sheep’s digestive system. The other science class and the year 12 agriculture studies students came to watch also as Dr. Gatford dissected the digestive tract to show all the different parts that the students have been learning about. Most students were either quite interested or very squeamish and unable to watch. Many students were making connections between what they were seeing and what they had learned, which was again great to see. This was definitely the best practical I had been to, as it was so out of the ordinary that all of the students gained something from it. I was also very interested, as I had never seen a digestive system like this. Engaging the students by using something out of the ordinary was extremely successful and they all paid attention to what was happening. Making this ‘real-world’ connection between the theory seemed like the pinnacle of student engagement, especially for this year level.
31/5/12 – Thursday
Today I went on an excursion to the CSIRO in town with the year 12 chemistry class. I had heard that some students can be very different when on excursions, so I was interested to see how this class behaved. There was a room with practical activities set up at CSIRO and the students all seemed to cope quite well with the new equipment and new environment. I could see that they were a bit confused with the array of equipment at first but they soon began making connections between all of this and what they had learned. I thought it was a good idea to take the students on this trip, as it showed them different ways of doing practical tasks that they had done and showed them expensive equipment that had been discussed in class. I think this will serve to re-enforce what they have learned about spectroscopy and titration in a ‘real-world’ context.
1/6/12 – Friday
Today in biology I asked the students to do a ‘peer assessment’ on the posters that they had completed. I pinned the posters up around the room and gave them the marking rubric. After they had marked these I collected the results and then marked the posters myself. I found that the students’ marks were very close, if not identical to those given by myself and Mr. Mabarrack, which, I think, showed that they knew how much effort was given to each poster. I also found that almost all students gave themselves a lower mark than was actually given, which may show that they knew they could have put some more effort in. I am hoping this type of assessment will serve as a good motivator for the students, as it is coming from the students themselves and not the teachers.
In science today, Dr. Gatford asked the students to do a reaction-time test (catching a ruler) and then selected 5 students to drink some coke and complete the test again 10 minutes later. All of the students liked this activity and I thought it was a good one for the last lesson, as it did not require them to follow strict rules or sit still for too long. Dr. Gatford was also quite firm with some students; giving detentions to those who were late. I could see the immediate effect of this on the students by their behaviour and it was clear that this is an effective tool for behaviour management for students of this age.
4/6/12 – Monday
In chemistry today the year 12 students had a test, so I stayed with the year 11’s. Dr. Gatford outlined some issues associated with organic chemistry and hydrocarbons and the students all seemed very attentive. They were clearly using their knowledge to help them understand these issues, which was again very encouraging.
In biology I discussed the results of the peer assessment with the students along with Mr. Mabarrack and the students seemed quite motivated by this discussion. I intoned that the results seemed to show that the students believed they all could have put some more effort in, to which they all agreed. I explained to them how they could use this sort of reflection in the future and most of them responded quite well to this. When it was time to observe the experiment I asked the students plenty of questions about what they had observed and many students showed that they were using their theoretical knowledge to explain what they could see happening.
5/6/12 – Tuesday
Today I went to a tech. studies lesson with the year 10’s, where the students had to continue working on a coffee table they were making. Like in other lessons, I found that the lack of a deadline in the near future resulted in many students not completing work and claiming they would do it later. It was good to see that some students were very conscientious and dedicated to their work, though, and I could see these students definitely had an interest in what they were doing.
In biology today I didn’t have much planned to teach the students, as I found out that we will not be moving on to a new topic. I got them to observe their practical once more but found there was still a long way to the end of the double. As the practical was the only thing relevant to them at the time, I discussed with them the reasons why there was no mould on the cheese yet and then got them to look up the salt and preservative content of different types of cheese. Like at other times, I found it hard to keep the students on track without much to teach them, or without a clear plan. I think this is a clear sign that it is best to be organised from the beginning and have a clear plan of lessons and their sequence.
6/6/12 – Wednesday
In science today Dr. Gatford told the students about the transit of Venus and showed them a simulation of this, as it was cloudy outside. After this he gave out a worksheet on the nervous system and asked the students to complete a diagram in this, then we went to the garden. Next, he asked them to make a poster to represent the human nervous system. Once again, I found that by keeping the occupied with different things we were able to keep them engaged and interested in what they were doing. I can see that this probably takes more effort and organisation before lessons but it is very rewarding to see the students enjoying what they are doing and learning as a result.
12/6/12 – Tuesday
Today the year 11 biology students made their final observation of their food preservation practical, though there was no real change in the cheese from the start of the experiment. I then had to talk to the students about what they could write for a discussion, given the results, then asked them to make a start on this. Some students used the time very effectively and I was impressed, however others did very little. I kept them on task for most of the lesson but their attention began to wander towards the end, as it usually does. I should have given them a break in the middle of the lesson but unfortunately I forgot this time. After the lesson I kept one student back and explained to him that he had already failed to hand up any work for the entire semester and that he would get a dismal report if he did not hand up his practical write-up. He seemed to see the sense in doing something for the assignment, as this would show he had made at least some effort, though it is extremely hard to motivate him. I tried to relate this chat to his future employment, as he had told me he wanted to be in the army.
13/6/12 – Wednesday
Today in science we got the year 9’s to finish their poster on the nervous system, which most of them did fairly well. We then went to the garden and, on returning, explained to the students how the eye functions. We then showed them a series of optical illusions on the projector, which proved to be a huge success and all of the students enjoyed watching these. Once again, mixing things up in terms of different activities for the lesson proved to be very successful.
Today I had a year 10 maths class in lesson 2, where I worked with a group of 7 girls from the remedial class. Around half did not seem at all motivated to work, so I focused firstly on working with the students that were working. I started with one girl who showed some good progress in her learning and while she was working 3 or 4 of the others also began doing some work. One girl refused to do anything and simply stayed on her laptop but I didn’t really bother trying to get her to work. I was surprised how much self-learning the girls were if they just put their mind to their work, but getting them motivated to work was the real problem. I should have been a bit more firm with them in terms of behaviour, doing work, etc. but they did not seem to have much respect for me. Maths was a particularly hard subject to make interesting, as there were no practical examples of how it could be used that the students could see as being relevant.
In lesson 5 I had the year 12’s for biology and they had a test the next day. Most were doing revision and I tried to pass on some useful information and answered some questions. Most were quite focused on the test and this is clearly a good motivator for learning. After the year 9 and 10’s the year 12’s seem very mature and easy to talk to. Next I had science with the year 9’s. These students were very restless and poorly behaved and we spent only 5 minutes or so in the classroom. Dr. Gatford explained the leaf venation difference between ‘grasses’ and ‘broadleafed plants’, then we went to the garden. We spent the rest of the lesson there, which I think was a tactic to keep them from misbehaving so much in the classroom. On returning, I talked to Keith and he said the students’ attention span would only allow for 5 to 10 minutes of useful teaching, given that this was the last lesson of the day.
1/5/12 – Tuesday
In the first lesson today I supervised a year 11 maths test. I found the students were very quiet and focused, though one student was a little disruptive with his actions and mannerisms. He finished first, so I sent him to the next door class to remove him as a potential source of distraction to the others. After they had all finished the students went next door, only to return to work on their assignment. As I was not really teaching the class I didn’t bother too much with telling them to work, etc. and in the last 10 minutes I had a good talk to some of the students about what they think of their subjects, school, etc.
I then had double biology between recess and lunch, where the year 12’s had a test. I watched over the test for some time, then went to supervise the year 11’s for the rest of the time. I was trying to keep them quiet because of the test next door and very few of them were on task. In their defence, they did not have much of a task to go on with, only a fairly broad assignment. I managed to keep them reasonably quiet and pulled some students up who were clearly doing the wrong things. The year 11’s are also quite mature and were fairly easy to get along with.
After lunch I went with Mr. Brokenshire for year 8 tech studies. These students were extremely excited about doing some practical work and it was hard, if not impossible to keep them under control. I showed some students how to braze weld and tried to make sure the rest were doing the right thing. Most were so excited that it was very difficult to hold their attention for any length of time.
2/5/12 - Wednesday
I wasn’t looking forward to double science with the year 9’s this morning but I found they were like a different class when they were not in the final lesson of the day. They were much more settled and focused and I ended up enjoying the lesson. They were reminded of monocots vs. dicots and asked to go outside to find a sample of each. When they returned, Dr. Gatford showed them how to cut a leaf section and look at it under the microscope. Most students got this far and some were genuinely interested. I worked with some of the better students and helped them use the microscope and cut their samples. Today was the first day where I was firm with some students and they obeyed me when they were misbehaving. It was interesting to see some of the poorer students working and seemingly interested in what they were doing in the practical task when they were separated from their friends. This was a heartening observation for me and I tried to keep some of these students on track. By the end of the lesson the students’ attention was beginning to waver but they had accomplished quite a lot compared to any of the other lessons I have been to. I can see that these younger students tend to obey orders as long as you are firm and consistent, while the older students are more likely to question you.
7/5/12 – Monday
Today I had maths in the morning with the year 10’s and once again helped with the girls in the remedial class. I found that most were willing to work and I decided to put ‘scaffolding’ to the test. I worked with one girl (Komeko) and found that she responded quite well to my help and I was able to use scaffolding by reminding her of what she had already done in previous questions, as well as reminding her of where her new knowledge would be useful in the real world. Once she was on track I left her to work and helped some of the other girls who were less receptive to this method. This and other lessons have showed me that most students can achieve success if they just put their mind to the task at hand.
I also worked with the year 11’s today and found they were a bit restless. The task they had been given was very broad, with no real end date, so I couldn’t really blame them for being this way. Clearly, given them a clear outline of what is required is the first step to a successful research lesson. The last lesson was the year 9 science class and they were quite distracted as usual. We went straight to the garden and planted some seeds, then marked out the garden beds. Most of the students seemed to enjoy this and we got a reasonable amount of seeds in the ground.
8/5/12 – Tuesday
Today the year 12’s had a re-test, as all bar 2 had failed the previous test. Mr. Mabarrack seemed to think that the problem with the last test was the lack of revision done by the students and that they could do much better. I was very disappointed with the students, as most of them seem to be quite bright and especially disappointed given that the test questions were similar, if not identical to the practice test they had been given. Joe and I had both told them that this would be the case. In the lesson the results seemed better from first appearances, so that was good. I stayed with the year 11’s for this lesson and I was proud that I managed to get all of them to do at least some work. I talked to many of them for most of the lesson about biology and other things and I felt like most of them gained some respect for me after this. There were 2 students that were particularly difficult, so I tried talking to them about things that interested them, then relating this to the assignment they were doing to highlight what they already knew. This was moderately successful. I also found out that one of the star students from this class has dyslexia, which was surprising.
9/5/12 – Wednesday
This morning was double science with the year 9’s and I was secretly glad that all of the most difficult students were absent at football. The difference was instantly noticeable, with all of the students being more attentive, less disruptive, less competitive and did not show off nearly as much. Dr. Gatford asked the students to do an experiment that demonstrated photosynthesis and all of the students seemed to find the task fairly easy. When some students had finished and had nothing to do, they were not nearly as badly behaved as usual and were fairly pleasant to be around. As we finished early we then went to the garden, then went to see the calves and got an apple each. I think today I saw the students more like the people they really are and not the show-offs they normally are. I don’t think there would be a way of making the students like this normally, short of separating each of them.
14/5/12 – Monday
Today there was an assembly in lesson 1 and the maths class in lesson 2 were particularly disruptive. The girls I was working with had extreme difficulty staying on task and I could not manage to get some of them to even work at all. I can’t see any way of motivating students when they are like this. Unfortunately I am finding that most students take the easy way out when they are in these situations.
Next I had biology with the year 11’s where they were working on making a poster on the Murray River for an assignment. As usual, the good students did their work and seemed fairly immune to distractions, though the poorer students were easily distracted by the computers in the room. Now that I know some of these students better I am finding that more of them are doing what they should. The final lesson of the day was science with the year 9’s. This lesson was different from the others at the end of the day, as Dr. Gatford had asked them all to write some questions in the previous lesson and then gave them a quiz using these questions in this lesson. Most seemed fairly outraged at the prospect of this, though I thought it was a very good idea. After the test we then went to the garden. On looking at the tests after it seemed most students had attempted most questions and it was clear that most had understood or remembered some aspects better than others. This seems like an excellent formative assessment that could be used to go over topics that were universally misunderstood.
15/5/12 – Tuesday
Today I had a double lesson with the year 11’s in biology. Their posters are due on Friday and I told them that they should not waste the double lesson. This seemed to have some effect and almost all were working on their assignments. I discussed with them what a ‘good’ poster looked like to them and encouraged them all to include these things in their own posters. This was the best lesson I have had so far and I feel much more comfortable and respected now that I know the students better.
I also gave Kimberly the booklet on ‘maths in aged care’ that I had created and she seemed to see this as being relevant.
16/5/12 – Wednesday
Today I had double science with the year 9’s. We started by getting the students to put some mince meat in hydrochloric acid to observe what happened. While this was going on, they wrote a report on the photosynthesis practical they had done in the previous lesson. Most students managed to produce a graph her but few really seemed to understand what was happening in the experiment. I then stayed with 2 students to do the quiz that the others had done on Monday while the rest of the class went to the garden. Afterwards everyone came back to observe what had happened to the meat and wrote down what had happened. In this lesson I began calling the students by their first names and once again felt more comfortable in the classroom. I realised today that you need to be able to control students of this age with your voice alone to effectively run the classroom.
17/5/12 – Thursday
Today I had my first lesson with the year 11/12 chemistry class and it was clear that most students really wanted to be there. I already knew many of the students and this definitely helped me fit into the class much better. I worked with the year 11’s doing a booklet on the structure of hydrocarbons while the year 12’s did a titration practical. As the year 11’s were using molecular models to make the molecules they were drawing, it was easy for me to step in and show them what to do. This class is the best I have been in so far. The students seem to have more of a desire to learn than the students in most other classes.
18/5/12 – Friday
Today I had chemistry again and it was the first ‘true’ lesson I had been to so far. Dr. Gatford was teaching the year 11’s about hydrocarbons and clearly using scaffolding to get them to remember what they had learned in previous years. I didn’t get to have much input in this lesson but it was good to see a lesson being taught like I remember from school. In biology, the year 11’s had to finish their posters by the end of the lesson and most of them were well on track. One student did not want to put much effort in, so I told him what he needed to do to at least submit something. Most students saw the assignment as a good motivator for them to do work and without knowing, most students did learn something about the Murray River.
Science was my final lesson for the day and we went straight to the garden to water the plants, then went and picked apples that were to be sold. Most students were happy to be outside but struggled with the task of picking the apples. I talked to Dr. Gatford afterwards and he said all the time spent outdoors did require the curriculum to be taught more quickly but that it was difficult to avoid, given that 2 of 4 classes each week are at the end of the day.
21/5/12 – Monday
In chemistry today Dr. Gatford asked the students to design an experiment to test the different reaction rates of yeast. They had all of the necessary knowledge to do this and eventually the students came up with a successful design. I found it interesting to see that the students responded well when given a chance to hypothesise and create things. This was exactly as stated in Pigaet’s developmental stages, so it was good to see this theory in action. In science today we first went to the garden but then came back to look at a power point presentation about digestion. Some students were quite engaged with this, particularly when it come to things that they were familiar with. I am finding this to be a common thread; making things relevant to student’s own experiences or things they are familiar with to give them some interest in learning.
22/5/12 – Tuesday
In the double lesson for biology today I taught the year 11 class by myself. I planned the lesson beforehand and started by asking the students why food spoils. We had a brief discussion about this and I then told them about Louis Pasteur and the action of microbes. I then discussed the different ways of keeping food from spoiling and set them some questions about this from the textbook. Most students listened quite well and seemed engaged, especially when I used examples they were familiar with. My explanation took less time than I thought it would, but it took the students much longer than I thought to do the questions. I gave them a break about halfway through the double and then began discussing some questions slightly further in the topic towards the end of the lesson. Some students finished fairly early and I didn’t really have much else for them to do.
Looking back, I thought I went a bit fast with my explanations and I should have involved the students a bit more. I thought I gave good examples of where this knowledge is useful to them and kept them fairly well engaged. I found that by talking loud and clear I could drown out any other talking and grab the students’ attention. I found that scaffolding definitely worked and that they would keep trying to answer questions if they did not get the right answer in the first place. I found the challenge was getting the students to think and apply the knowledge or to think abstractedly. When I asked them a question at the end of the lesson to see what they had learned I was impressed that they had indeed acquired plenty of new knowledge. I think if I remind them of this in the next lesson then it will cement it in their minds. Overall, I was happy with how things went.
23/5/12 – Wednesday
This morning was double science with the year 9’s. They were as well behaved and attentive as I have seen them so far. They first prepared a practical on digestion with egg-whites, then we went to the garden to water the plants. When we came back they watched the rest of the power point presentation about the ruminant digestive system. After this they began work on a poster about the ruminant digestive system. Changing the tasks often seemed to keep them interested, while keeping the tasks themselves interesting seemed a good way to keep them focused. Given their short attention span, this is not surprising, I guess.
At then end of the day I went to study time, where the year 11’s were working on their research project. I worked with one girl, Chelsea, who is dyslexic for much of the time. I know many of these students now, so it is much easier to talk to them and have a joke. The research project is a year-long project and most students were finding it difficult to know where to start.
24/5/12 – Thursday
Today was double chemistry where the year 11’s set up the practical they had designed to test the activity of yeast. I helped them to set this up and they then began an experimental report on this. The year 12’s did their titration practical but it again failed.
25/5/12 – Friday
This morning I had chemistry with the year 11/12’s and the year 11’s checked their yeast experiment. Unfortunately, all bar one of the setups had leaked, though we still asked the students to write a results and conclusion for their write-up. After this, Dr. Gatford and I took a ‘transition class’ of year 7 students from other schools, where we showed them some of the ‘fun stuff’ they may be doing in chemistry in the future. We made hydrogen, then ignited it, the students made sherbet and we ignited a jelly baby. It was interesting to see the younger students, as they were all very attentive and seemingly ‘innocent’ compared to the high school students. Dr. Gatford also showed me a book that contained all of the SACE guidelines, which seemed very useful for deciding what to actually teach the students. I could see that these guidelines are essential when there are external assessments and exams involves, as they would ensure you are teaching the right things.
28/5/12 – Monday
Today the year 12’s finally completed their titration practical and Dr. Gatford and I did a standardisation to save the students’ time. Doing the titration and helping with this was good, as it reminded me of my own school days. In the biology lesson I was not too sure what to teach, so I carried on explaining how antibacterial agents work and how bacteria can become resistant to these. I tried to keep things relevant to the practical coming up on Tuesday, though I didn’t have too much idea what the practical would be about, either. I made a fairly good discussion but I think the students could tell that there was not as much focus as the last lesson. I didn’t bother setting any work and I let the last 10 minutes of the lesson go. Without a plan of what I was teaching it was very hard to keep the students engaged.
In the science lesson, Dr. Gatford got the students to look up an on-line video of the digestive system. This kept the students engaged for 20 minutes or so and definitely re-enforced some of their learning without them perhaps realising it. After this they worked on their posters, where I noticed the better students making an effort and the poorer students using the time as an excuse to avoid working. I have found that some students see tasks that are fairly long in duration as an excuse to avoid working, as there is no pressure to get things done, while others put in a good effort from the start. On talking to Dr. Gatford afterwards, he said that setting a due date in the near future is a good motivator for some students, while others see the task as being impossible in that time frame and don’t even begin. He said that it is hard, if not impossible to cater to all of the student’s needs, which is something I have definitely found to be true.
29/5/12 – Tuesday
Today was double biology with the year 11’s. In this lesson the year 11’s set up their food preservation practical, which involved getting a piece of processed cheese and subjecting it to various treatments. They tried leaving one piece exposed to the air, leaving one covered, handling the cheese, washing their hands and handling the cheese and various others. We did some extra tests, where they licked, breathed on, dropped and dipped the cheese in disinfectant. All of the students seemed to enjoy this activity and it definitely required them to think about what they had learned previously. Giving them a chance to hypothesise was another way of getting them to think about what they were doing and using their knowledge. When some students suggested that we should do some extra activities I was particularly pleased, as it showed they understood what we were testing and what was happening in the experiment. I found the practical quite easy to teach, as the students did not require any extra motivation to get the task done.
30/5/12 – Wednesday
This morning was double science with the year 9’s and we looked at a real sheep’s digestive system. The other science class and the year 12 agriculture studies students came to watch also as Dr. Gatford dissected the digestive tract to show all the different parts that the students have been learning about. Most students were either quite interested or very squeamish and unable to watch. Many students were making connections between what they were seeing and what they had learned, which was again great to see. This was definitely the best practical I had been to, as it was so out of the ordinary that all of the students gained something from it. I was also very interested, as I had never seen a digestive system like this. Engaging the students by using something out of the ordinary was extremely successful and they all paid attention to what was happening. Making this ‘real-world’ connection between the theory seemed like the pinnacle of student engagement, especially for this year level.
31/5/12 – Thursday
Today I went on an excursion to the CSIRO in town with the year 12 chemistry class. I had heard that some students can be very different when on excursions, so I was interested to see how this class behaved. There was a room with practical activities set up at CSIRO and the students all seemed to cope quite well with the new equipment and new environment. I could see that they were a bit confused with the array of equipment at first but they soon began making connections between all of this and what they had learned. I thought it was a good idea to take the students on this trip, as it showed them different ways of doing practical tasks that they had done and showed them expensive equipment that had been discussed in class. I think this will serve to re-enforce what they have learned about spectroscopy and titration in a ‘real-world’ context.
1/6/12 – Friday
Today in biology I asked the students to do a ‘peer assessment’ on the posters that they had completed. I pinned the posters up around the room and gave them the marking rubric. After they had marked these I collected the results and then marked the posters myself. I found that the students’ marks were very close, if not identical to those given by myself and Mr. Mabarrack, which, I think, showed that they knew how much effort was given to each poster. I also found that almost all students gave themselves a lower mark than was actually given, which may show that they knew they could have put some more effort in. I am hoping this type of assessment will serve as a good motivator for the students, as it is coming from the students themselves and not the teachers.
In science today, Dr. Gatford asked the students to do a reaction-time test (catching a ruler) and then selected 5 students to drink some coke and complete the test again 10 minutes later. All of the students liked this activity and I thought it was a good one for the last lesson, as it did not require them to follow strict rules or sit still for too long. Dr. Gatford was also quite firm with some students; giving detentions to those who were late. I could see the immediate effect of this on the students by their behaviour and it was clear that this is an effective tool for behaviour management for students of this age.
4/6/12 – Monday
In chemistry today the year 12 students had a test, so I stayed with the year 11’s. Dr. Gatford outlined some issues associated with organic chemistry and hydrocarbons and the students all seemed very attentive. They were clearly using their knowledge to help them understand these issues, which was again very encouraging.
In biology I discussed the results of the peer assessment with the students along with Mr. Mabarrack and the students seemed quite motivated by this discussion. I intoned that the results seemed to show that the students believed they all could have put some more effort in, to which they all agreed. I explained to them how they could use this sort of reflection in the future and most of them responded quite well to this. When it was time to observe the experiment I asked the students plenty of questions about what they had observed and many students showed that they were using their theoretical knowledge to explain what they could see happening.
5/6/12 – Tuesday
Today I went to a tech. studies lesson with the year 10’s, where the students had to continue working on a coffee table they were making. Like in other lessons, I found that the lack of a deadline in the near future resulted in many students not completing work and claiming they would do it later. It was good to see that some students were very conscientious and dedicated to their work, though, and I could see these students definitely had an interest in what they were doing.
In biology today I didn’t have much planned to teach the students, as I found out that we will not be moving on to a new topic. I got them to observe their practical once more but found there was still a long way to the end of the double. As the practical was the only thing relevant to them at the time, I discussed with them the reasons why there was no mould on the cheese yet and then got them to look up the salt and preservative content of different types of cheese. Like at other times, I found it hard to keep the students on track without much to teach them, or without a clear plan. I think this is a clear sign that it is best to be organised from the beginning and have a clear plan of lessons and their sequence.
6/6/12 – Wednesday
In science today Dr. Gatford told the students about the transit of Venus and showed them a simulation of this, as it was cloudy outside. After this he gave out a worksheet on the nervous system and asked the students to complete a diagram in this, then we went to the garden. Next, he asked them to make a poster to represent the human nervous system. Once again, I found that by keeping the occupied with different things we were able to keep them engaged and interested in what they were doing. I can see that this probably takes more effort and organisation before lessons but it is very rewarding to see the students enjoying what they are doing and learning as a result.
12/6/12 – Tuesday
Today the year 11 biology students made their final observation of their food preservation practical, though there was no real change in the cheese from the start of the experiment. I then had to talk to the students about what they could write for a discussion, given the results, then asked them to make a start on this. Some students used the time very effectively and I was impressed, however others did very little. I kept them on task for most of the lesson but their attention began to wander towards the end, as it usually does. I should have given them a break in the middle of the lesson but unfortunately I forgot this time. After the lesson I kept one student back and explained to him that he had already failed to hand up any work for the entire semester and that he would get a dismal report if he did not hand up his practical write-up. He seemed to see the sense in doing something for the assignment, as this would show he had made at least some effort, though it is extremely hard to motivate him. I tried to relate this chat to his future employment, as he had told me he wanted to be in the army.
13/6/12 – Wednesday
Today in science we got the year 9’s to finish their poster on the nervous system, which most of them did fairly well. We then went to the garden and, on returning, explained to the students how the eye functions. We then showed them a series of optical illusions on the projector, which proved to be a huge success and all of the students enjoyed watching these. Once again, mixing things up in terms of different activities for the lesson proved to be very successful.