Blog

On 27 July 2016, I took my first learning power profile, and the results were rather curious. Curiosity and Sense Making where the areas of strength for me, Hope and Optimism, Collaboration and Belonging not far behind. The areas that needed greatest improvement were Mindful Agency and Creativity. On 19 October 2016, I took a second learning power profile and found results that were even more curious. Collaboration and Belonging had improved the most. This was not at all surprising because I fe...
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After 5 weeks of sheer madness, and 2 weeks of catching up on the gazillion things I put off because of what will henceforth be known as the 'block', I've finally found a moment to share my thoughts on how the block went. It seems natural to start with what I wanted to achieve in the block, and whether I achieved those aims. My first aim was to be able to have at least great lesson with each class. With the Year 7 class, that moment came when I taught them the difference between sexual and ase...
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I had an interesting experience in teaching in forming a number of groups in a class. My experience is that you need to really understand the class and individuals prior to allocating groups. I noticed some of the students did not want to be in particular groups as there appeared to be some issues in doing so. This was confirmed when I continued to organise the groups under protest from the students in some areas. I believe it is absolutely necessary to understand the students and to ensure y...
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inSITE Update 13.10.2016 This week marks the last week of my 5 week professional placement at Turramurra High School. It can be said that those 5 weeks have been interesting but also a rewarding experience. I will admit the first few weeks were hard on me as I tried to adapt to the eclectic classroom environments and build rapport with students. I found that I struggled with time-management over the course of those 5 weeks as I had to deal with the 2 hour commute each way from Penrith to Turramu...
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When I first heard of the inSITE program, I was extremely excited about the different opportunities that this program would provide me in my journey to become a teacher. I expected the journey to be an easy one as I had some experience teaching and I was sure that I would not have much difficulty with the subject content. So I thought the main focus would be building relationships with students and creating a positive environment for learning. Over the course of the practicum, I have had to trav...
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My first practicum in Turramurra High School is nearly ended. It is a wonderful time to teach in the classroom, communicate with students, learn from experienced teachers, and share experience with other student teachers. Skills from teaching content to interacting with students have been improved from both success and failure. This prac has given me a great chance to understand the real life of a teacher.
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Hello world! It's been about a month and a half since my last post. Since then I have been working with a new supervisor and have been teaching year 7s, 8s and 10s. It's safe to say that my experience is increasingly growing in a positive manner. My new supervisor is an experienced teacher and has been very supportive of me during this learning journey. I've learnt many things from her, many of which I have adopted into my own teaching style. I'm constantly receiving advice on how I can improv...
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I have been extremely pleased with the InSite programme to date especially in terms of providing me with the ability to integrate with the school from an early stage.  Especially for a student such a smyself from a slightly mature background, more practical experience gained would provide a greater learning. Having a mentor and supervising teachers have allowed me to work closely with the students and experience practising teaching. I think it is invaluable in terms of the experience gained on...
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My professional colleague Mr. Blackburn and I are writing our first blogs today. I feel like as a blogger I should be writing down recipes I have stolen from out of date food magazines that still use empirical measurements or a new fitness regime that has absolutely no scientific support but claims of incredible weight loss while making you almost insufferable to all your friends. I guess what I should be talking about is my roller-coaster journey of becoming teaching with all its ups and dow...
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I've been back in Sydney for three weeks and with the benefit of distance and an English summer, I've been reflecting on how important it is that we learn how to innovate and make step changes in how we do things. Like most people on InSITE I think it's been a challenge from day one, but a challenge that most of the time we are up for. For me, when I have colleagues with whom I can be completely authentic and with whom I can problem solve and celebrate successes, then I find courage and a willin...
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