CPP1

__**TEACHING A LESSON TWICE**__

After completing five days of observations I felt prepared to take over the Year 10 level 1 English class. I spent quite a while organising their program and planning my initial lessons on poetic terms and figurative language. However, while I thought that my powerpoint presentation, which contained definitions and examples of different poetic devices was quite clear, I came across several problems throughout the lesson. The two main issues were:

After a discussion with my mentor teacher about lesson planning and reflecting, I decided to take on the Year 10 level 2 class at the same time. This would allow me to focus my reflections after each lesson, and to implement any improvements or changes to lessons plans and physically see their result rather than hypothesising. I made two main changes to this lesson plan: > The result was a more streamlined lesson, as I had to explain only once what I expected the students to write. The shorter powerpoint allowed them to complete all the definitons before they lost focus, which we followed by having a less formal revision of terms and poetic discussion. This sort of reflection has been an invaluable aid to me across all my lessons, and is something that every teacher should stay in the habit of doing, regardless of KLA.
 * The students seemed unsure of what they were to write down in their books, which led to several interruptions and need for constant clarification on each powerpoint slide
 * They worked quite well for most of the lesson, however by the last quarter, they were distracted, had lost focus and upon revision of the devices we had learnt that lesson, they seemed slightly overwhelmed at the number of terms they had been exposed to.
 * I underlined everything in the powerpoint presentation that they were to write down
 * I removed several slides that contained terms I would address with the students at a later date

1.2 Understand how students learn 3.3 Using teaching strategies 3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs
 * AITSL standards**

__**PLANNING FOR RELEVANCE**__

I decided to use a recent song, as the students' introduction to analysing poetry. I planned a combination of individual, small group and classwork, as well as using the smartboard to work on the song together, the whiteboards and playing the song over speakers. I felt it was an extremely effective lesson, which I felt came down to several things, not just one factor. Having planned several ways of conveying the lyrics of the song, both auditory and visual helped the students gain an immediate understanding about tone, rhythm etc. I also felt that introducing them to analysis and close reading through a song they all knew made them more confident in the discussion of themes, including identifying subtle metaphors and similes. As per my planning, I had a section of the lesson for class discussion, in which I implemented the 'no opt out' technique to make sure everyone contributed something to our class discussion and pointed out a poetic device used in the song. This planning helped structure a classroom discussion where previously there was just the sound of crickets and mumbled "I don't knows".

I also really enjoyed getting to make full use of different types of classroom interaction, from classic chalk and talk to small group or individual work to class discussion. I had discussed with my mentor teacher trying to approach every idea from several angles, and after a couple of lessons during which I was primarily instructing them on terminology they needed to know, it was fantastic to have time to wander the classroom and assess individual concerns and look at the work they were doing.

1.2 Understand how students learn 2.6 Information and communication technology (ICT) 3.3 Using teaching strategies 3.4 Select and use resources 4.1 Support student participation
 * AITSL standards**

After the song lyric lesson, I introduced my level 1 English class to a Robert Frost poem that I was going to have them work on for several lessons. I felt unhappy with the lesson when it was over, although I had tried to be thorough I recieved many blank looks and a lot of confused questions about the poem. When planning the subsequent lesson, I decided to slow right down. I spent the first half of the lesson:
 * __UNDERSTANDING SKILL AND KNOWLEDGE LEVEL__**


 * Reviewing poetic terms asking for definitions from the class
 * Reviewing the discussion we had about the poem
 * Did a quick review of essay structure and planning

When I then set them to work on planning the structure of their close reading I noticed that there was a much higher level of focus in the classroom. Students who I had previously had to constantly hassle to open their books had begun working straight away, and the questions I was answering were insightful ones about the poem or clarifications about what I expected from a close reading. It occured to me that it was because they all knew what they were doing. The reviewing in the first half of the lesson that I had thought was unnecessary, had put all the information they needed fresh in their minds. I felt like for the first time I was on my students wave length, and I had planned a lesson to their skill level, whilst still remaining a challenge to them, and I was rewarded for this planning with a calm quiet classroom, and a feeling that I had achieved something that lesson.

1.2 Understand how students learn 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across a wide range of abilities 3.6 Evaluate and improve teaching programs 4.1 Support student participation 4.2 Manage classroom acitivities
 * AITSL standards**