Contribution to Portfolio Building

5. OBSERVATION OF
GPS ACTIVITY
During my practicum I saw a teacher take students out on a field activity in the park adjacent to
the school. Groups shared GPS devices to track objects
which they hid around the park.
This was for a Geography Lesson. Students were monitoring and measuring on charts designed by the teacher. All students were engaged and learning.
It evoked further reflection as I could see that the outdoor activity was effective in
generating learning and meeting outcomes effectively.
I followed up my observation with research into the benefits of outdoor learning
and started to gather ideas for approaching outdoor learning in other KLAs.
See related BLOG post here:
http://albikaadi.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/more-on-professional-teaching-standards/

6. OBSERVATION OF
GPS ACTIVITY
During a recent Conference I attended on Environmental Sustainability in Education as a representative of the University of Technology Sydney, I noticed a workshop on using GPS devices. Due to my observation on prac, I decided that it was a great opportunity to participate in learning about this
technology from a student perspective.
The workshop imparted the following skills and applications:
•
•
•
•
Tracking peoples’ movements
Locating places and objects
Calculating distances
Recording incident/event locations
Although I do not have the finance right now to purchase an iPhone or some
other device with GPS applications, as soon as I am in a position I will make
sure that is a priority.

9. EXTRACT OF TEXT
NON-ENGLISH
During my practicum I also had the fortunate
opportunity to observe and assist with LOTE: Arabic
lessons. In combination with this insight, I noted the challenges being faced by other students with reading comprehension challenges (ESL or impairment related).
I chose this artefact to demonstrate what it might feel like to these students
as they attempt to make sense of the texts we place before them. It is a
stimulus for the development of my own skills of empathy and ability to
transform that empathy into practical solutions.
Again, I followed-up this line of inquiry with further research as presented and
explicated on my BLOG post.

10. EXTRACT OF TEXT
NON-ENGLISH
In our lectures on teaching students with
Special Needs, we were equipped with a number of
strategies for scaffolding and creating support materials
that assist with developing comprehension skills for learners who
find reading a challenge. These include but are by no means limited to :
•
•
•
•
•
•
Creating close passages with dashes to show number of letters per word
Breaking texts up into jigsaws
Teaching the skills of highlighting, underlining, or noting new vocabulary and concepts
Scaffolding generic components of a text (ie. Introduction, body, conclusion)
Pairing up struggling students with a study buddy
Conveying concepts graphically through images or diagrams
I will utilise both the resources provided us in this course, as well as those I
have collected over the years when teaching TESOL courses here and
abroad, to help in this area as required.

13. SAMPLE OF
STUDENT’S
REMIX
It was important that during this course I engaged students with ICT. I struggled due to the poormaintenance of the equipment at the school; a result of lack
of funding. I noted other teachers had the same struggles and
helped each other to overcome related challenges as best they could.
In an effort to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone of PowerPoint, QR
codes, and Digital Stories, I experimented in having students create remixes.
The aim was to summarise their understanding of the impact—both short and
long term—of colonialism on indigenous peoples, as seen through the lens of
Aztec/Mexican society.
To be honest, I was surprised how effective the task was in evincing learning
outcomes. For an example of the multimodal dynamism of the remixes view
my own sample (created using the same imagechef.com tool) here:

14. SAMPLE OF
STUDENT’S
REMIX
I was unable to embed audio into the students’
remixes this time round. I know it can be done, but I
have yet to find the best way. As such, I will keep searching
for alternative providers of remix construction tools and keep experimenting to extend my skills and my ability to pass those skills onto
my students, who—as research suggests—will require multimodal literacy in
their futures.

17. MAPS OF
DEMOUNTABLE
In order to “organise class activities” and give
clear instructions, one should know what kind of room
they will be teaching in, how it is arranged, how it could be
Potentially arranged, where it is located, and how to get to it.
Schools can have complex pathways and sometimes classes are taught in unusual rooms like Business Studies in an Art room or History in a Science lab.
My experience on a particular day during prac highlighted the multitude of
things that can go wrong when you do not know the above information ahead
of time.
I made a number of mistakes that impacted on my ability to create and
maintain a supporting and safe learning environment for a year 10 History
lesson.

18. MAPS OF
DEMOUNTABLE
Firstly, I left it till the last minute to ask someone
where the room 64 was as it did not appear on the
map of the school. The teacher pointed out the window to
two demountables down a stairwell and said, “its one of those,
not sure which one.”
I had seen a teacher head down that stairwell so I confidently stormed down
the spiral stair case toward my destination, equipment in hand. When I got
down to the bottom a senior teacher reprimanded me for using the fire exit and
firmly pointed out that I needed to use the exit near the library. I apologised
and proceeded to the demountable that logically should have been 64 but was
not. The students told me to go to the next one across.
When I got there, students had already been seated by my supervising
teacher for the lesson. And then I noticed, the IWB and regular white board
were at opposite ends of the room to each other. I had planned my lesson
around using the whiteboard in conjunction with a PowerPoint. Needles to say
the lesson did not go very well.

19. MAPS OF
DEMOUNTABLE
In future, I know that it will not always be easy to
find and enter a room before I teach in it—especially
if doing relief teaching. However I will make sure to either
make the time to get in there and survey it early, or enquire if
there is anything I should know about the room well in advance.
I have discovered how much the physical learning environment determines
what can and cannot be done in terms of teaching pedagogy and learning
tasks. One must work with the available space and supports to create effective
lessons that enable the students to meet achievable goals and successfully
acquire the set learning outcomes.

22. EXCEROT FROM
CONTRACT
In the excerpt presented here, mention is made
hours of work on a daily basis. I believe this relates
both mandatory and voluntary professional develop as part
of ongoing professional learning formally during inservices and
staff training, and informally on the job such as staying back to discuss
how to help a particular student or how to develop a better marking criteria
outline for an assessment task.
As teaching is a very responsible job, there will be times when responding to
daily demands cannot be put-off for another day but have to be dealt with
immediately. I remember being kept back very late to correct comments on my
student reports in my early years of teaching. I recall having to accompany a
student to hospital after an incident during a soccer game.
If I were wanting a 9-5 job where I could work blindfold and then clock-off and
go my marry way to a separate homelife, then teaching would not be the right
career path. We need to prioritise time to model life-long learning to others.

23. EXCEROT FROM
CONTRACT
From my own experience it is important
to plan well and plan EARLY. Many anecdotes tell
how vital this is—a stitch in time saves 9; make time
your friend; when you fail to plan you plan to fail, etc.
Teachers do not get wonderful, long, carefree holidays. Before and after
term many hours are spent culling, organising, creating, corresponding,
modifying, filing and so on ad infinitum to ensure successful and rewarding
learning experiences all year long.
I remember that even while on holiday I often had my eye out for useful
teaching resources and learning opportunities. I would bring home bags of tiny
Balinese trinkets to use as lucky dips for LOTE Indonesian lessons.
Time management skills “in and out of season” are essential for the successful
development of all aspects of this profession.