School ofPractice

Professional Education
3

102095 Secondary PP3 Self Reflection Form

Pre-service Teacher Details

Pre-service Teacher Name: Pre-service Teacher ID:

Jasmine Fisher 17666448
Pre-service Teacher Phone Number: Pre-service Teacher Email Address:
0435 808 677 17666448@student.westernsydney.edu.au

Placement Details: If you haven’t complete 60 hours face to face you must provide a detailed statement of
how your experience meets the outcomes for Professional Practice 3. Attach evidence.

Placement Name: Placement Phone Number:

Model Farms High School – mentoring program 96243133
Placement Address: Placement Email Address:
Gooden Drive, Baulkham Hills Modelfarms-h-school@det.nsw.edu.au
Contact Person:
Narelle Wawrzyniak

AITSL Standards

The criteria for pre-service teacher reflection focus, the first, second, third and sixth standards.
 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of
abilities
 2.2 Content selection and organisation
 3.1 Establish challenging learning goals
 6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice

Within this placement, I participated in multiple interactions with several students with different learning
disabilities. This placement was both with students within a support unit facility within the school and with
students in mainstream classes. I was particularly working with year 8 students within the school. Some
tasks included supporting teachings and SLSOs, student support within classroom settings, mentoring
students outside of class time and engaging in school/community activities.

Within this placement I participated in mainstream classes working with the students and teachers. This
task allowed me to engage in multiple learning activities of various subjects and therefore could
experience how different teachers teach in different subjects. This placement also allowed me to realise
the wide range of students’ abilities within one classroom and year group. For example, the school I was at
conducted a talent show. The support unit class put together a dance performance which was performed
in front of students and the school community. It was delightful to see the large range of abilities of
students, but also see all students come together to express themselves. I learnt from this opportunity
that there are many ways to engage and teach students with different learning needs. These skills I will
take into my future teaching career, to ensure all students learning needs are heard and met.

Within this placement I experienced things that I was not expecting to experience. One example of this
was when the support unit class went outside to complete an activity. One student within the support unit
was looking around on the ground as the rest of the class went to sit down. The student then went and
picked up a lizard and ate the live lizard. I could see the student eating the lizard and watched it wiggle
around in its mouth. The teacher then told the student to spit it out and put it in the bin. This was an
experience which I was not expecting to see on my placement. This allowed me to realise to always be
prepared for the unexpected and to be sure to react in an appropriate way, considering both the students
and myself.

During the placement, I shared my experiences with another pre-service teacher each day. This was
helpful as it enabled both of us, being in similar situations, to freely share experiences and concerns that
may happen. We discussed what teaching strategies worked well, and other ones which did not work too
well when interacting with students. We also shared our thoughts and suggestions on strategies to
improve the outcomes the next lesson. Additionally, we told each other some of the strategies we saw
other teachers using while we were supervising students. Doing this together made the placement a
positive and effective learning experience as it allowed me to think over the teaching practices I chose and
then analyse the effects of them, to continue to grow as a teacher, thus learning to be a reflective teacher.
Learning from other teachers is something that will become critically important as a beginning teacher

I realised the importance of being open minded and patience with students is a valuable skill to possess.
Students, regardless of skill level, can be challenging and need constant consideration. As a teacher, this
can become very draining and exhausting when teachers aren’t open minded and patient with all
students. For example, on placement the support unit teachers and SLSO teachers interacted with
students with a disability with genuine care and support. Teachers were careful listeners and allowed all
students to contribute to class activities. This however required the teachers to be very versatile in the
way they taught students in their classes. On this placement, one thing I have discovered is the care I have
for students with disabilities. I can see how rewarding it can be and the impact a teacher can make on a
student’s life. I have realised that this may be a potential direction I may take in my career after finishing
university.