Yr 7 Program

At present, I am volunteering at St Patricks Catholic College in Sutherland on a weekly basis currently assisting the learning support staff in a program that they undertaking with a group of Year 7 students.

I am doing this for two reasons:

1. Improve my employability - It has become quite difficult to seek a job as a teacher.
2. I want to apply what I am learning in this course within a classroom setting.

I also like helping kids that aren't doing so well in the classroom and may have a learning disability that may result in weaker academic results.

I couldn't attend their first session late last term which was a "getting to know you" session because I was called in to teacher elsewhere, but I really didn't miss anything.

Session Two was yesterday and the focus was on remembering information and identifying strategies. It had alot to do with learning styles, which is an issue that has constantly appeared in my studies, particularly ETL503 last semester.

It was obvious from my observations that many are visual learners because they needed to visualise the information. That was reflective of the research which shows that many students are actually visual learners.

There was an exercise where 20 objects were put on the table and the students were allowed to touch, stare, talk or use the items. After they were put away, they had to list as many items as possible. Also they had to explain how they build a sandcastle. They read the text and then on a blank page, presented that information. Many of them drew pictures, again another sign.

I also spoke with one student afterwards. Jasmine (not her real name) told me she also drew on her experiences of building sandcastles. I asked her "Is that how you normally build a sandcastle?" which she replied to as "yes". It pretty much affirms the need too, as a teacher and teacher librarian that we also consider the real life experiences of our students in teaching. If they can relate a concept to their own experience, they will understand, and will find their learning more engaging.

The next session will look at infering information, something that even the best students can lack strength in at the best of times.

Welcome to Semester II

Here we go again another semester!!!

With ETL503 and ETL504, the good news was that I passed both units easily. I worked hard and deserved it.

This semester I am doing:

EER500 - Introduction to Educational Research
ETL411 - ICT Experience

What I like most about this semester is that I will have alot more control particularly since we get to create our own topics form our assessment. That should motivate me to work hard and hopefully get some higher grades.

I'm buckled up and ready to go.