Strategies to encourage parents/caregivers to become more involved

- Send out a letter asking parents if they have any spare time and would like to volunteer in the
classroom, to nominate it on a form what time suits them and contact them
- Invite parents in regularly to see unit work that students produce or to just come in for a chat
- If parents have a skill (dancing, pottery, drawing, etc) or have some life experience (through
career, travel, etc) ask them to share it with the class for a session
- As a way to begin this effort, Learning Experience 16 is focused on bringing the families in to
explore the unit
Parents and community members are encouraged to play an active role in the education of their
children. Queensland state schools value the partnership of parents in helping to enrich learning
opportunities for students. (Queensland Government Department of Education, Training and
Employment, 2014)

Some strategies for including ADHD Students
- No posters or pictures around board/where you want the student to be looking. Easy to get
distracted. Instead leave blank or display information posters.
- Have regular intervals for students to move around the classroom or, particularly this student if
he/she is getting restless
- Have an open style of classroom where students can discuss topics, ask questions and interact
freely with others.
- Include different modes of teaching in the lesson such as video, inclusion of other ICT, class
discussion, group presentations, etc

Students with behavioural issues (such as ADHD) are less likely to respond well to a stricter style of
teaching, preferring an open classroom where they feel they can discuss topics, ask questions and
interact freely with others (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2010). Therefore, while planning this and other
lessons, it is important to keep this in mind so that you can cater towards including all students in the
classroom learning activity.
Making a Collaborative Classroom
A majority of the learning experiences in this unit include collaborative group work, pairs or whole class
work. Due to the significant proportion of Indigenous students and ESL students in the classroom, the
choice was made to have a lot of the learning experiences be focused around collaborative group work.
As stated by Harrison (2011), Research has found that Aboriginal children usually work better in
groups. The choice for group work is also significant in relation to students with diverse learning needs
and students from non-English speaking back grounds as it allows students in the group to support their
peers learning (Cahill, 1999).
Students from non-English speaking backgrounds are also more likely to have problems, not just in
relation to school work, but also socially and emotionally (Harrison, 2011). It is important to include
these students in classroom life and make their school-life and learning as positive an experience as
possible. For ESL students, most of the time the real objective is to have this student engaged in the
learning, working well and collaboratively with other students in their group (Marsh, 2010) This will be
achieved as there is plenty of opportunity for pair and small group work throughout this unit.
One of the strategies includes catering to different types of learners in accordance with Gardeners
Multiple Intelligence Theory and also through including and engaging learners that have diverse learning
needs or disabilities or are from non-English speaking backgrounds. This is done through the different
modes of teaching during the lesson such as a video, class discussion, reading through texts as a class,
having students work in groups/pairs, and presenting their findings to the class and teacher.
Students who experience developmental delays in English will be provided with assistance when needed
throughout the unit by the classroom teacher, Literacy Support Assistant who comes in regularly and
also by volunteer parents and their peers. The focus throughout the unit will be to scaffold their learning
in accordance with Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development theory. As stated in Woolfolk & Margetts
(2010), zone of proximal development is the area where the child cannot solve a problem alone, but
can be successful under adult guidance or in collaboration with a more advanced peer. This is the area
where instruction can succeed, because real learning is possible. According to this theory, with
appropriate scaffolding, the student will be able to meet learning objectives when extra assistance is
provided.

There are many adjustments to planning, teaching and assessment that a teacher must make when a
student with a hearing impairment is in the class. It is important plan for major considerations such as
desk location, using many visual aids in your classroom and also the inclusion of an IEP. But there are
also many little strategies a teacher can do to help the student keep up with the class and work, such as
keeping hands away from mouth when speaking, face the class not the board when speaking and
repeating tasks or focus questions. An excellent guide to follow is the Department of Education, Training
and Employments Adjustments for Students with a Hearing Impairment which can be found in the
references section.
The gifted student in the class that is participating in the G.A.T.E. Ways program will be given learning
extender work if they finish early. This is not going to be more work load as this will be
counterproductive, but differentiation of the curriculum. This could be follow on activities that the
students in a higher year level would attempt and should provide advanced conceptual opportunities
and stimulates higher-order thinking skills (including making comparisons, value judgments, synthesis,
evaluation and opportunities for reflection and critical analysis) (New South Wales Department of
Education and Training, 2004).

A strategy that is significant to the classroom context is having the students present their group work in
front of their peers, teacher and families. This allows the students to build the confidence in their public
speaking, demonstrate their knowledge and understanding, and shine before their peers, teacher and
families, while also informing and teaching (Marsh, 2010).
Another teaching strategy that is significant to the classrooms learning is the direct questioning that
takes places through the discussion in the classroom. This is effective as it allows the teacher to assess
knowledge and check understanding of the topics covered so far in the lesson, it encourages creative
thinking and creates discussion, and it also can be used at the end of the lesson to evaluate whether or
not the lesson was successful in achieving its objectives and reaching outcomes (Marsh, 2010).