CREATE AND MAINTAIN SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

 

4.1 ESTABLISH AND IMPLEMENT INCLUSIVE AND POSIITIVE INTERACTIONS TO ENGAGE AND SUPPORT ALL STUDENTS IN LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Throughout my teaching experience, I have taught students across a wide range of abilities and engagement. In Drama, students are often required to present in front of their peers as part of speaking, listening, and performance assessments. Understandably, many are hesitant to commit fully to these tasks. In order to support students to feel safe and supported, I use many low-key introductory speaking and listening activities, allowing exploration of public speaking in a non-threatening, fun way. I build courteous and caring relationships with students, and support healthy peer relationships to encourage belonging and understanding of boundaries. Of the year 7 students I teach, many of them were taking drama for the first time. In the Year 7 Voice Unit (Evidence 2) I was encouraging students to find their voice through workshops, scripts and drama activities. Understanding the stress response that is triggered when presenting or performing, I allowed the students to present in a way of their choice for the Year 7 Vocal Task (Evidence 3). The enthusiastic engagement for this task was across the board, and the students felt secure in performance tasks following. 

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I model positive interactions and safe behaviours in the Drama classroom to build strong relationships with students. I check in on their wellbeing and state of mind on entry to the class, and show interest in their lives outside of my classroom. I strongly believe that building and maintaining positive relationships with all students helps them engage in activities with greater confidence and supports their development of skills. I think this is best evidenced by the notes from students and staff to the right. (Also included on an earlier Standard.)

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4.2 ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN ORDERLY AND WORKABLE ROUTINE TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE STUDENT TIME IS SPENT ON LEARNING TASKS

In a classroom, I maintain a supportive learning environment through constant use of low key preventative skills, ensuring students are aware of expectations and on task. As shown in my Year 7 Voice Unit (Evidence 2) and Year 9 Greek Theatre Program (Evidence 8), the body of my lesson is usually bracketed by a warm up activity and a reflective discussion or points for the next class. The regularity and predictability of format (not activities) helps maintain student expectations and processes in the classroom. 

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4.3 MANAGE CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR BY ESTABLISHING AND NEGOTIATING CLEAR EXPECTATIONS WITH STUDENTS AND ADDRESSING DISCIPLINE ISSUES PROMPTLY, FAIRLY AND RESPECTFULLY.

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4.4 ENSURE STUDENTS' WELLBEING AND SAFETY TAKING INTO ACCOUNT SERVICE, SCHOOL AND/ OR SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND CURRICULUM AND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS.

My time at Beachcroft Pupil Referral Unit in 2011 taught me strategies for more challenging students, putting positive relationships first, and allowing students to find the right choice for their own behaviours. Beachcroft also had a process where consequences were explicit, and through use of 'behaviour traffic lights' students were able to self-regulate and be rewarded for positive behaviours. This was helpful at Butler College in 2016 where the process was similar and, because discipline was fair, students were able to reflect on their behaviour and apply improvements, meaning they and their classmates felt more secure in the learning environment.

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Butler College also provided me with numerous Professional Learning opportunities linked to expectations, communication, negotiation and discipline, which I still use to reflect on even thought the behaviour is generally exceptional at St Hilda's. These are included in Evidence 16, Evidence 17, Evidence 18, Evidence 19 and Evidence 20. 

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4.5 INCORPORATE STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE THE SAFE, RESPONSIBLE AND ETHICAL USE OF ICT IN LEARNING AND TEACHING. 

With the School ICT team on top of controlling appropriate access, all I need to do is monitor use in the classroom and ensure I am modeling safe, responsible and ethical behaviours for ICT. An example is this website, where I am able to protect the privacy and safety of student information by limiting access to these pages. 

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