Key Selection Criteria Addressed:

1. Demonstrated knowledge of initiatives in student learning including the

Standards, the Principles of Learning and Teaching P-12 and Assessment
and Reporting Advice and the ability to design curriculum programs consistent
with their intent.
I strive to promote learning excellence through a curriculum which includes the Victorian
Essential Learning Standards and Principles of teaching and learning. I aim to cater for a
broad range of individual learning needs and abilities by encompassing a range of efficient
and effective teaching strategies.
The principles of learning and teaching (POLT) outline that students will learn best when:
The teacher understands the learning modalities of her students
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As a pre-service teacher I always made an effort to get to know my students.

Building a rapport with students and developing a positive student teacher
relationship is extremely important to me. Prompting discussion around students
interests, hobbies, favourite apps, subjects and curiosities enables me to use
effective teaching strategies to target individual student needs. As my mentor
Emilia Tessaro states in her report Kacey gets to know her students and adapts
her teaching methods to suit their learning needs. She demonstrates patience,
understanding and commitment to learning and implementing strategies that best
cater to the learning level and demeanour of the students.

The teacher and students listen to and respect everyone

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Maintaining a classroom environment with the core principles of respect and

individuality allows students to explore higher order questions, thinking and
application without fear of being judged or excluded by their peers. An inclusive
classroom allows everyone to complete level appropriate work and receive praise
and recognition for their efforts.

The learning environment promotes independence and self-motivation

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During my teaching rounds at Warringa Park School I aimed to provide students

with an environment that promoted independence and self-motivation, by
planning and executing special needs education lessons for students with various
ages and abilities I was able to motivate students and maintain a supportive
environment that fostered independent self-motivated learning I also noticed
classrooms and the hall had WONDER WALLS that showcase student
achievements and pertain to the Terms Inquiry unit. Showcasing student work as
well as fostering curiosity in the curriculum focus is a great way to promote a
motivating learning environment.

We use technology in interesting and engaging ways

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During my teaching rounds at Warringa Park Special School I employed the use of
technology into my classes. Providing students with a visual schedule is important
when attempting to engage students who best learn with the use of visual prompts
and familiar routines. For book week we used technology to read an interactive ebook Hairy Maclarys Bones then conducted a scavenger hunt to find Hairy
Maclarys Bones around the school. This allowed students to consolidate the
information presented in an interactive and engaging way. We also utilized the
Apple TV in order for students to follow rhythmical moves to JUST DANCE
videos and utilized the App Visual Relax during relaxation.

The teacher modifies and differentiates her lessons using student feedback. She
adapts her teaching methods if the content is too difficult or easy
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In each of my classes I explained things in different ways to increase students

understanding. I use a range of visual, auditory and kinaesthetic examples to allow
students to understand. I am able to plan engaging activities for students and
utilise the resources available to support my lessons.

The teacher provides feedback and that help improve student learning
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As a pre-service teacher I made a conscious effort to provide all my students with

written and verbal feedback to help with their learning. My mentor Emilia Tessaro
states in my end of year report that Kacey is able to individualise student
feedback and scaffold skills in order for each student to improve.

Throughout my placement I was able to differentiate students from AusVels level A to

AusVels level 5 in P.E. and ensured that each student was provided with the tools, resources
and support needed to participate in all activities.
I firmly believe and practice the idea that learning is a lifelong process. Therefore it is
important to encourage students to have high expectations of themselves and take
responsibility for their own learning. As an educator it is my job and pleasure to help students
understand how they learn and provide them with opportunities to explore topics that reflect
their strengths in accordance to the curriculum.

1 Demonstrate an understanding of how students learn and effective classroom

teaching strategies and the capacity to work with colleagues to continually
improve teaching and learning.
As an educator it is my responsibility to provide an environment that caters for all students
needs and to provide a wide variety of learning styles into my planning and teaching to
achieve student learning.
It is important to give students tasks that are both challenging yet still being achievable. My
skills as a classroom teacher have been enhanced through opportunities to observe many
teaching styles and strategies that I carry with me into the classroom. Teaching requires an
ongoing willingness to learn. Through my placements and practical experiences, I have been
able to gain a deeper understanding of student learning for example:

As a student teacher at Warringa Park School, I was exposed to a wide variety of

ability levels. Teaching students with such diverse needs required lesson plans that
were designed to cater for an extremely broad spectrum. Being adaptive as well as
flexible proved to be important in meeting student needs. While teaching a complex
needs special education class I found that planning lessons which focused on
exploration, engagement and movement as well utilised the available equipment and
resources was the best way to achieve student goals. My lesson plans consisted of
visual schedules, music, coloured equipment and using the PMP zone. This allowed
for all students to participate and learn in the lessons.

As a student at Victoria University I have undertaken units of study extending my

understanding of how students learn in individual modes. I have studied theories such
as Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligence Theory, Flemings VAK model- learning
styles, GANAG, Game sense model, fitness model and lifelong physical activity
model all of which I implement into my classroom teaching and learning.

Throughout my profession placement I demonstrated a capacity to work with colleagues in

team teaching. I believe sharing ideas, collaborating with staff, and providing information and
resources to help develop and create lessons is an approach that aims to continually improve
teaching and learning. As a graduate teacher in your school I would strive to further develop
my skills and understandings of catering for individual learning styles. I will be comfortable
to seek advice and work collaboratively with my colleagues and would encourage their
feedback about my practices and strategies implementing feedback and ideas shared during
PLT meetings and instructional rounds.

2 Capacity to monitor and assess student learning data and to use this data to
inform teaching for improved student learning.
Effective formal and informal assessment are essential to a comprehensive education as it
allows students learning to be continually improved. Using both formative and summative
forms of assessment are crucial in monitoring students progress and ensuring a range of
learning styles are catered for within assessment. Assessment allows for an informed teaching
practice and continual growth of teaching skills. It is an important skills as a teacher to have
the ability to design and implement a range of assessments. Assessment is a tool that can be
used effectively to help each student improve, grow and succeed in their academic life.
Good assessment requires a variety of measures as a single assessment tool will not suffice to
improve student achievement. Therefore, my assessment practices reflect assessment for
leaning, assessment of learning and assessment as learning. The variety of assessment
methods I implement is constantly varying in accordance to the information I need. Good
assessment requires clarity of purpose, goals, standards and criteria and assessment criteria
need to be understandable and explicit so students know what is expected of them from each
assessment they encounter. This can be achieved by explicitly displaying the learning
intention and success criteria in conjunction with modelling the task so students know the
purpose of what they are learning. I also believe that the assessment tool should be properly
suited to the task being assessed. The data I gain from these assessment methods would

enable me to credibly report to parents on their childs progress as well as what the student,
the parent and the teacher can do to improve the students learning. Assessment of student
learning is an essential element of quality and effective education, especially when catering
for diverse learning strategies.
My experiences have enabled me to apply my understanding of assessment. I achieved this
by:

Aiding students to create and maintain a portfolio of their work so they can see what
they have achieved at any given time.

Creating rubrics as a form of assessment.

Creating SAC questions and marking students work.

Creating daily class goals with students and providing them with strategies to assist in
achieving those goals

Using AUSVELS standards as a method of assessment.

Using the POLT student perception surveys

Using NAPLAN to establish students reading and comprehension levels.

Providing opportunities for different forms of assessment including self-assessment,

peer, teacher and parent.

Managing the results of assessment through the use of Information Technology.

Creating mini tasks throughout a topic to identify weak/strong points of

understanding.

Using quizzes at the start of a topic to identify prior knowledge

Continuously observing my mentor teacher implementing formal and informal

assessment with all the students.

Throughout practical placement I have implemented lessons which have allocated

reflection time for the students to brainstorm what they have learnt from the lesson
and to discuss the learning intention and success criteria.

Undertaking and analysing practical assessments in physical education classes.

As a graduate in your school I will endeavour to apply my experiences with assessment and
learning and ensure a variety of ongoing assessment practices are implemented within my
classroom. By maintaining comprehensive documentation of formal and informal assessment
to inform not only student learning but further develop my own teaching and learning. With

support from my experienced colleagues, I believe I will be able to develop and refine
comprehensive assessment methods to effectively assess for quality learning.

3 Demonstrated high level written and verbal communication skills and high
level interpersonal skills including a capacity to develop constructive
relationships with students, parents and other staff.
Effective communication skills are essential in the teaching profession since our practice is
dependent on effective communication. Communication is necessary in order to connect with
the students, staff, parents, and school community. Open lines of communication are essential
in building positive working relationships within the school community.
My communication and written skills are highly accomplished and have been excelled as a
result of my university studies and through my professional placement experiences. I have
completed a Bachelor of Applied Science (Physical Education) at Victoria University and I
am currently completing a Masters of Teaching in Secondary Education at Victoria
University. During my tertiary studies I have been required to submit diverse essays and
complete many oral presentations. I currently hold a high distinction average which without
exceptional high written and verbal communication skills would be impossible.
As a pre-service teacher, I needed to conduct myself in a professional manner and clearly and
concisely explain and demonstrate activities to my students. During my work placement I
was required to conduct a warm up session with the VCE Lakeview Senior Football team.
The warm up session was conducted on the oval which made it difficult for students to hear
instructions. When conducting my lesson I ensured that my verbal instructions where clear,
concise and in a loud voice. As well as making eye contact when addressing the students to
ensure they were listening I also provided visual demonstration to further the students
understanding of the activity. As a result, the students had a good understanding of what was
expected, allowing them to effectively complete the warm up.
It is essential for positive relationships to be constructed between teachers, students, parents
and fellow colleagues to assist with creating successful learning communities within the
classroom. As a naturally social and enthusiastic person I am a skilled communicator and I
endeavour to build and maintain positive relationships in all aspects of my life. I have built
positive student relationships using the following strategies:

Making an effort by spending time getting to know students and staff members as
individuals on my placement

Becoming aware of their personalities, culture and experiences they bring to the
classroom and to the school.

Being enthusiastic and positive.

Implementing positive behavioural interventions

Respecting students as individuals and treating all students as equals.

Being approachable and supportive, making times for any colleague, student or parent

Always helping out with whole school activities

Contributing to team planning

Consulting with and listening to others, evidence of my valuing collaborative decision

making

Leading others by example. I am dedicated to always being sincere, honest and

personable which in turn, helps me to relate well to people of all ages

I see your school staff and wider community as a dynamic, exciting and stimulating
environment to be a part of, which I would connect productively with all its members. If
employed at your school, I will continue to extend and utilise my communication skills to
develop effective working relationships. One way I would like the opportunity to
communicate with parents would be through students diaries, email, phone and face to face
meetings. I believe these forms of communication would be highly effective in building and
maintaining a positive rapport with parents as it also ensures that parents have a reliable
method of openly communicating with myself and their child.

4 Demonstrated commitment and capacity to actively contribute to a broad

range of school activities and a capacity to reflect on, evaluate and improve
professional knowledge and practice.
The capacity to be involved in all aspects of school life is an important element of working in
a school. I believe involvement in these sorts of activities strengthens a students overall
experience of school and facilitates important aspects of personal growth. Extra-curricular
programs offer students a chance to be a part of a wider community and bring together
teachers, parents and students. I would be more than happy to be involved in any sporting
teams, camps, incursions and excursions that the school has to offer.
I absolutely love being involved in all aspects of school and community life. Throughout my
placements I had the pleasure of volunteering at two camps. The first was the year 11 study
camp at Gilmore Girls College in which I was involved in running and assisting study
sessions for a number of subjects and the second was a special needs camp with Warringa
Park School which I assisted in every aspect possible. I have also planned and executed a
number of athletics carnivals including Gilmore Girls College whole school athletics
carnival, Warringa Park Schools in house athletics carnivals and a number of
Whittlesea/Woodlands district athletics carnivals.

I have also been involved in running school fitness programs in which I planned exercises
and circuits, organising the appropriate equipment prior to each session taking into account
abilities, goals and safety of each student. In addition to this whilst on placement I was
involved in lunch time interschool sports training for netball, basketball, soccer and
badminton. As part of my duties I convened both netball and basketball for the inter-school
competitions this involved demonstrating leadership by managing and delegating to a number
of teachers, providing effective communication by making announcements, scoring and any
other organisation needed on the day.
Furthermore, whilst on placement at Warringa Park School I had the pleasure of facilitating
and delivering science experiments for a whole school Science incursion at Warringa Park to
celebrate Science week. I also helped prepare and deliver a Hairy MacLary Scavenger hunt
for students to celebrate book week and as part of my applied curriculum program I aided in
managing, instructing and observing groups of students during Warringa Park Schools whole
school intensive swimming program that ran for two weeks. As a trained aquatics teacher I
was able to safely and effectively ensure the students had a fun and exciting time during their
intensive swimming program.
I also had the pleasure of being chosen to run a program called VU sport at Warringa Park
School this opportunity to teach special needs physical education provided me with
experience planning and implementing my own classes as well as experience dealing with
students with behavioural issues and complex needs. This opportunity was by far the best and
most rewarding experience I have had, working with the students at Warringa Park opened
my eyes and increased my passion for teaching.
Learning and the pursuit of knowledge is a life long journey. I believe that ongoing
professional learning is integral to my practice in remaining up to date, effective and
efficient. I value the positive impact that ongoing professional learning has on my practice
and actively seek courses, programs, literature and advice to ensure that I continue to develop
my skills as a teacher. I have completed my AUS swim, level 2 first aid training, Certificates
3 & 4 in personal training and have completed both adapted physical education and adapted
aquatics at Victoria University. I also attended a number of professional development
seminars during my studies at Victoria University such as Indigenous perspectives on
Australia Education seminar, Professional learning day on creating inclusive schools, PD in
the pub: Behavioural management, PD in the pub: Teachers tool box, and Gilmore Girls
College PD on diabetes. I can confidently say I am eager to continue to develop my
professional development in a variety of subjects. My top priority is to continue to develop
my professional practice to enhance my teaching and learning and to continue to give
students opportunities to reach their goals