MSS FINAL YEAR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REPORT 2020

Student ID
Pre-service Teacher Hannah Fox 2166872

School Glenunga International High School

Learning Area & Year
Mentor Teacher(s) Jane Sawrey 8 English

Learning Area & Year

Richard Waugh 10 English

Learning Area & Year

Damon Smith 9 History

School Co-ordinator Natasa Penna

Coordinator
University Liaison Ken Watson Lou Pike Pyman

Placement Dates 27/4/20 – 10/7/20

Number of Days 10 introductory days + 11 week block 65 days

Completed

CONTEXT Please add brief context statements about the school and class:
School sector; size and composition of campus (R-12, Area, Primary); particular
features or unique characteristics; index of disadvantage.
School

Glenunga International High School is set in a beautiful suburb only 10 minutes from the city of
Adelaide and is well serviced by public transport. The school is internationally accredited by the
Council of International Schools (CIS) and has a worldwide reputation for excellence, catering to the
needs of each individual student. The curriculum offered at Glenunga International High School
includes the International Baccalaureate Diploma and IGNITE Program for students with high
intellectual potential. The ethos and programs support a belief in human equality, a love of learning,
a drive for personal fulfilment and a global sense of social and environmental responsibility.

Class (including children with special needs)

10ELP
10 English Language Plus is an interpretation of Year 10 Australian Curriculum: English designed to rapidly increase
student English language and literacy skills. The teaching and learning methodologies and strategies used are
based in systemic functional grammar, and student progress is measured and reported on using DECD’s Language
and Literacy Levels across the Australian Curriculum. Levels range from 1-14, and the expected Level of English-
speaking background students at the end of Year 10 is 14.
Formative assessment of student progress is very important in the process of raising English language and literacy
Levels, and therefore features in this assessment schedule more prominently than summative assessment.

9 History
Hannah was allocated two year 9 History classes for her practical experience with us at Glenunga. The first
was an academic mainstream class. The students in this group exhibit a wide range of academic abilities and
levels of engagement. Several students have specific learning needs while others require wellbeing issues to
be considered in classroom practice and management.
Hannah also taught a year 9 “IGNITE” class. Here, the students are of exceptional academic calibre who
readily engage with their learning and actively seek new knowledge and skills. They create an academically
demanding environment for any teacher.

8 English
The 8.03 Ignite English class is comprised of 25 students with an above average level of academic competency.
They are active and engaged learners who readily seek and require dynamic and challenging learning experiences.
There are two students in the class with ASD, as well as a student with significant health challenges which often
results in extended absences.
ASSESSMENT AGAINST THE AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS
Please place an ‘X’ at the point along each continuum that best represents the development of the pre-service
teacher towards each of the standards at this time.

PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Standard 1 Know students and how they learn

I I IX I__
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 2 Know the content and how to teach it

I I IX I__
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning

I I IX I__
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

I I IX I__
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 5 Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning

I I IX I__
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Standard 6 Engage in professional learning

I I IX I__
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient

Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community

I I I X I__
Complete Novice Emerging Graduate Proficient
SUMMARY STATEMENTS (You may choose to comment on both personal and professional characteristics)

School Coordinator/Principal
Hannah’s positive approach to her placement experience has impressed the Glenunga team.
Colleagues who have had the opportunity to engage with Hannah in class observations, during
professional learning sessions and workshops have all provided feedback of Hannah’s
enthusiasm and willingness to learn. We are excited to see where Hannah’s project takes both
her and the learning of the Glenunga team with whom she will collaborate. Congratulations
Hannah!

Name: Natasa Penna Date: 13/7/20

University Liaison
Hannah has approached her professional experience program with enthusiasm and energy. She
impressed with her honest self appraisal along with her responsiveness to feedback, which
enabled her to maintain impetus along a continuous improvement pathway. Given her solid
progress across all aspects of the teaching role Hannah has established an excellent foundation
for a teaching career.

Name: Ken Watson Date: 14/7/20

SUMMARY STATEMENT (May be used as a referee statement)

Classroom Teacher/Mentor
Student Name: Hannah Fox Learning Area: English – 8 Ignite

Professional Knowledge

Hannah worked hard to develop her content knowledge for the 8 Ignite Film Analysis Unit. Using resources
provided by me, as well as through her own research, she put in a solid effort of informing herself in order to
impart the knowledge onto the students in varying ways. This included providing students with PowerPoint
presentations and google documents through the class’s Google Classroom platform which outlined key
concepts as well as other methods including hard copy materials, Kahoot quizzes, and interactive group-based
activities. Hannah created her own resources, or modified those provided, in order to teach the content, but
also appreciated the power of student-created content and her role as facilitator in this process. For example
Hannah organised a collaborative Student Workshop activity where each group was assigned a film technique
and it was their job to become the expert on the particular technique and teach it to the class in an engaging
way. The students embraced the opportunity to become the teacher and engaged actively in the workshops.

Hannah has quickly learnt the importance of knowing students well, for it underpins everything in terms of
content delivery, understanding where students are at and knowing how to target the teaching to move them
forward. As Hannah’s relationships with the students developed, so too did her understanding of their learning
needs as individuals and as a group. Hannah used this understanding to tailor her teaching accordingly in order
to help to move students forward in their learning. These strategies included providing students with a mixture
of hard copy and digital resources, including interactive google documents via Google Classroom that students
could complete at their own pace. Asking students to work predominantly in Google docs enabled Hannah to
provide feedback throughout the course of the unit. In doing so, she was able to determine what was working
and what needed refining, which informed her planning for future lessons.

In order to plan an effective learning and teaching sequence, Hannah readily took on board feedback regarding
the timing of formative learning activities in order to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to
successfully approach the summative task. It is clear that Hannah is committed to the development of her
content knowledge, understanding of the Australian curriculum and assessment and reporting strategies and
shows a genuine eagerness to continually improve her practice. This reflects a graduate teacher who is well on
her way to a successful teaching career.

Professional Practice

Hannah’s practice improved more and more each day, proving how diligently she took on board the feedback
from our reflection sessions but also from her own reflections regarding her strengths and areas for
improvement. Her classroom management continued to develop as her confidence built – she was able to
widen her focus from the more regimented execution of her lesson plans, to interacting and moving with the
students. Hannah’s ability to ‘read the room’ is developing well and will continue to do so with further
experience in the classroom.

Hannah trialled a number of ICT tools with the view to engage the students in various learning activities.
These included Padlet, Jamboard, Edji, as well as those across the Google Suite: Google Form, Documents and
Slides. When lessons deviated from Hannah’s desired intentions, she actively reflected on the reasons for this
and made a concerted effort to change her practice in order to improve outcomes. She was also very
receptive to feedback and advice for planning and executing learning activities to meet the desired outcomes.

As Hannah’s confidence developed, so too did her instructions, and relationships with students. She has a very
calm and laidback demeanour when in the class which students respond positively to. Her expectations of
student behaviour were consistent with the site’s behaviour management practices and her strategies to
identify and intervene with low-level behavioural issues will continue to improve with experience.

Hannah assessed the TEEL Paragraph assessment task using a rubric to mark against the relevant criteria in line
with the performance standards appropriate to Year 8. She demonstrated competence in her judgement of
 student work overall, and conscientiously participated in moderation with me in order to make any necessary
adjustments, of which there were only few. As well as a grade, Hannah also provided students with written
feedback on their work which was greatly beneficial to their own reflections on areas to work on.

Professional Engagement

Hannah is really receptive to feedback for the ongoing improvement of her teaching practice – it is not always
easy to receive constructive criticism but she fully appreciated its benefits. She has been actively engaged and
eager to attend a range of activities including student free day sessions and faculty meetings. She
demonstrated a genuine desire to learn as much as possible about the teaching profession and all it entails,
evident by the interest she showed when taking part in professional conversations with me and other
teachers.

Written by: JANE SAWREY Date: 3/7/2020

SUMMARY STATEMENT (May be used as a referee statement)

Classroom Teacher/Mentor
Student Name: Hannah Fox Learning Area: English – 10 English
Language Plus
Professional Knowledge

Pre-service teachers rarely have any training in classroom use of Systemic Functional Grammar
(SFG). Hannah, however, was quick to learn and apply some key concepts around the Appraisal
System; a key driver in improving student written analysis and evaluative skills. Hannah was able to
enrich student learning by effectively synthesising other analysis tools into her newly acquired SFG
approach; for example the STEAL method of analysing characterisation engaged students and
helped them understand and appraise the creative intentions of professional writers.

Professional Practice
Hannah has excellent interpersonal skills and relates to students quickly and empathetically as a
mentor. Every student actively sought her feedback both in class and via virtual platforms. The
learning environments Hannah creates are well-planned, enable safe risk-taking and inclusive of all
student perspectives. Hannah excelled at assessing student learning formatively through Google
Classroom, providing timely and encouraging advice that was effective in moving student learning
along to the summative stage. Hannah’s summative feedback was thoughtful, accurate and
qualitatively informed by the Department’s Language and Literacy Levels across the Australian
Curriculum (recently redeveloped as LEAP).

Professional Engagement

Hannah demonstrated strong interest in professional learning, participating in at least two intensive
Student Free Days with a focus on task-design and assessment. Hannah also participated in weekly
technology/pedagogy development sessions, regular Learning Area meetings, as well as twice-
termly IB and SACE curriculum meetings. Commendably, Hannah also demonstrated a strong
commitment to independent learning in relation to SFG classroom applications and virtual platforms
such as the Google suite of applications used extensively at GIHS.

Written by: Richard Waugh Date: 3/7/2020

SUMMARY STATEMENT (May be used as a referee statement)

Classroom Teacher/Mentor
Student Name: Hannah Fox Learning Area: History

Professional Knowledge

Hannah delivered the “Rights and Freedoms” unit as part of the National Curriculum to the IGNITE year
9 class along with a unit on World War One for the year 9 mainstream class. Hannah was able to
locate, evaluate and synthesise resources and deliver her lessons at an appropriate level for the
different groups. Her knowledge of the course content grew as the placement progressed enabling her
to identify interesting and engaging aspects of the past to enrich her student’s experience of History.
Her teaching indicated a strong knowledge of sequencing information in a logical and structured
manner allowing students to build on previous instruction. Hannah’s teaching reflected a clear
understanding of contemporary pedagogical theory. She incorporated the concept of “21c learning” into
her instruction developing activities which fostered key themes of collaboration along with critical and
creative thinking.

In the classroom Hannah actively explored the possibilities offered by the school’s Google based
Virtual Learning Environment. Here student learning largely occurs via a range of online platforms and
educational apps. Hannah quickly mastered Google Classroom and effectively used it to support her
teaching. She developed her own quality digital resources both static and interactive.

Hannah understood the different demands placed on her practice by the nature of the 9 IGNITE class
and actively deepened her historical understanding to challenge and develop their interest. She
challenged their knowledge and skills and stretched them intellectually through a range of historical
concepts.

Professional Practice

Hannah followed a consistent format for each lesson. An overview of the lesson was provided
beginning with a brief recap, then the key learning focus of the lesson and finally where to find
resources on Google Classroom. Over time, students settled into this routine and knew the focus and
expectations of each lesson. Hannah gave clear instructions to the class. Her ability to deliver effective
lessons was enhanced by her management of the classroom dynamic. From minor infractions to
bringing a robust group discussion to order, Hannah responded with a mixture of humour and firmness
appropriate to the situation. She quickly learnt the names of students and the importance of building a
rapport with a class as a key element in developing an effective learning environment based on mutual
respect.

As Hannah became more comfortable and confident with her classes, she trialled a number of learning
activities specifically tailored to the individual learning needs of the class. Of note was the successful
“Socratic Seminar” conducted with the year 9 IGNITE class. Although a little apprehensive about this
activity it proved to be very successful. Much of this came from Hannah’s exhaustive planning. This
activity worked well through Hannah’s “flipping” of the class, her clear expectations, guidance and
oversight of the activity. Similarly, Hannah trialled a range of “Gamification” activities in the class
including Kahoots, Quizizz and an engaging student led game creation workshop based on World War
One. Hannah was able to adapt her teaching style and content to the needs of the class and move
quickly to a different task if interest appeared to be waning. Her ability to “read the mood” of the class
and respond appropriately developed significantly during her teaching practice. Hannah was able to
keep students alert and engaged using a variety of teaching strategies and activities during the course
of extended 80 minute lessons. She effectively managed collaborative and group activities moving
between groups offering ideas and suggestions while discreetly monitoring engagement. Through
effective questioning techniques, Hannah placed accountability for learning back onto the students. As
her teaching practice progressed She developed a comfortable yet commanding presence in the
classroom creating a relaxed and pleasant learning environment.

Hannah designed and delivered key summative assessment activities for both classes. These tasks
were designed to allow students to enter and exit based on their abilities. By differentiating the
assessment all students were given the opportunity to achieve their personal best for the task. The
format of the IGNITE task asked students to assess the historical accuracy of the recent film Green
Book which focused on the experiences of African Americans in the USA during the 1960’s. Hannah
conducted a series of lessons placing the era in context, providing students with sufficient historical
background to effectively assess the film. Students felt well prepared as they approached their essay.
After a brief session of collaborative moderation, Hannah felt confident enough to independently
assess student work against the achievement standards. Hannah provided insightful feedback on
student responses and afterwards conducted a session addressing common weaknesses in student
papers.

Professional Engagement

Hannah demonstrated a high level of commitment to her teaching practice, actively engaging in both
personal and collegial learning within the Humanities faculty and Glenunga professional community. She
took an active part in the school’s weekly teacher professional workshops (LT4) focusing on curriculum
development, IT and aspects of high quality teaching. During this time Hannah presented to the faculty
an activity she had used in class using Google forms to ascertain student pre-knowledge. This provided
clear student data allowing personalisation of their learning along with relevant and focused content.

Hannah attended to routine class matters such as taking the roll, class exit passes and setting homework
via the school’s learner management platform “Daymap”. She monitored student work deadlines and
followed up late submissions in line with Glenunga’s middle school work completion policy Contact with
parents was made through regular updates and messages home via Daymap and school email.

Hannah actively sought my advice and feedback on her classroom practice. She readily acted on my
suggestions for improvement and was keen to trial new ideas in class. She approached staff in the
Humanities faculty sharing her resources and seeking advice and guidance from a range of practitioners.
Hannah reflected upon and discussed in a constructive and professional manner suggestions and
observations from a range of teachers. She trialled the school’s 360 camera as part of her reflective
practice and sought feedback from the students in her class at the conclusion of units of study.

It should be noted that Hannah joined us at a very challenging time with the disruptions to school life
arising from Covid-19 creating an environment of uncertainty for both students and educators. To her
credit Hannah worked professionally and calmly through this extraordinary time, well done!

Written by: Damon Smith Date: 3/7/2020

SUMMARY ASSESSMENT (To be agreed by the School Coordinator and the University Liaison)

In our opinion Hannah Fox

has demonstrated the following overall level of performance in this final professional experience:
(Please click on appropriate box below)

☐ Unsatisfactory

☐ Satisfactory

☒ Accomplished

☐ Outstanding

NOTES FOR COMPLETING THIS REPORT

The pre-service teacher may wish to submit this report with an application for employment. Please avoid the use of
acronyms as student reports are often viewed by interstate and international employers who are not always familiar
with South Australian nomenclature.

Please keep an electronic copy of this report and submit the report to the University Liaison for
completion.

If this is not possible then please email it directly to: mssprofexp@flinders.edu.au