Teachers Supporting Teachers SERIES 2 Episode 17 - 6 teachers, 1 purpose: Embarking on a pioneering journey of online simulated teaching
Teachers Supporting Teachers SERIES 2 Episode 17
6 teachers, 1 purpose: Embarking on a pioneering journey of online simulated teaching
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Welcome to this episode were we hear from 6 pre-service teachers about their experience of working together over 5 days for an online simulation professional experience. Say hello to Ashley Toth, Kayla Fioritti, Lauren Hevey, Manami Menich, Natasha Rahilly, and Nina Mossop who are primary and secondary education students at Swinburne University of Technology. In this episode we discuss the impact from planning curriculum together, working as a collaboration, and teaching in the online space. As a celebration of this time together, and as a contribution back to the sector, a series of tips have been generated on the themes of engagement, supporting inclusion, wellbeing, supporting culture and indigenous perspectives, collaboration, and possibilities. Enjoy these unique insights as these PSTs adapt and embrace the continual changes as a result of Covid.
Top Tip Summaries
Engagement:
Tip 1: Make it fun! Have a range of activities, be positive and enthusiastic, and embrace the themes of the content. For example you can change your Zoom background to match the topic.
Tip 2: If you are uncomfortable using online resources to engage with students, you can improve on a pre-existing resource such as PowerPoint and make it interactive. Using PowerPoint to emulate a Game Show or a choose your own topic type of adventure works to give students that sense of choice and ensures that they are actively engaging with the topic.
Supporting Inclusion:
Tip 1: Every student matters, every day! So we need to facilitate the most supportive and inclusive environment possible to allow all students to have meaningful interactions with their learning.
Tip 2: When you are creating resources, it is important to cater it to students strengths while also acknowledging their weaknesses. If you are unable to cater to every student's strengths, don’t try to overcomplicate it to get there.
Wellbeing:
Tip 1: Students want to be recognised, acknowledged and heard. There will be times where you need to push the curriculum aside and really focus on recharging and practicing mindfulness and modelling this as teachers.
Tip 2: It can help to have a safe space where a student can approach you outside of the class or activities. It's important to let young men know that it's ok to be vulnerable and to ask for help.
Supporting culture and indigenous perspectives:
Tip 1: Start the conversation to instigate change. By encouraging awareness and modelling and fostering cultural sensitivity in our current and future society we can make a real difference. Be brave and don’t be afraid to approach it.
Tip 2: Involving families in the planning and preparation to create the most respectful and authentic learning experience.
Collaboration with peers and colleagues:
Tip 1: Embrace working as a team! Every person you work with in the teaching field has an abundance of knowledge, experiences and teaching practices/strategies that can impact you as a future teacher.
Tip 2: Request as much feedback as you can and put forward your feedback to others. Even if you have no constructive feedback to give it is nice to acknowledge things the teacher did well as they might not have been confident with it.
Possibilities:
Tip 1: Utilise simulated placement experiences as a pre-placement activity to prepare student teachers for their teaching round and give a safe place to trial new techniques and technologies.
Tip 2: A great way to experience AITSL standards in a safe and experimental environment. Embrace the opportunity to try new resources and explore different approaches to problems.
Explore some of the resources that were mentioned in this podcast: