Rationale

Introduction
Professional knowledge is important in the profession of teachers as it allows teachers to utilize skills to address student learning needs. In this ePortfolio I believe I have demonstrated my own professional learning with links to the Australian Professional Standards.

Australian Professional Standards The professional demands of a teacher are numerous, however I will be demonstrating descriptors from four of the Australian Professional Standards. For example, I believe that I have selected and used a range of resources to engage my students in their learning (Standard 3). Furthermore, I have created my lesson activities so that it encourages the participation of students which I believe fosters a supportive and safe learning environment (Standard 4).  In Standard 5 I demonstrated my ability to interpret student learning to modify my teaching as a way of reporting on student learning. Finally I sought constructive feedback from my mentor teacher and colleagues to improve my own teaching practice and demonstrate my engagement in professional learning (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2015).

Parents                      
In my classroom I would encourage parents/carers to volunteer in the classroom. This could be volunteering to do activities such as reading with students and watching how restorative circles works in the classroom. When we are contacting parents about how their children are doing at school in terms of behaviour or academics, I find that it is important to keep the information confidential and to give warm and cool feedback about the child. My modes of contact with parents can be done through phone calls, emails, diary entries and having meetings with parents (Department of Education and Training, 2017).

Key gaps
An aspect that I could address in my teaching practice when I become a teacher is contributing more of my ideas in PLT meetings. I have learned a lot about lesson planning and school event plans by sitting in on these PLT meetings weekly with the classroom teachers. In future PLT meetings I hope to bring forth my good ideas to help my colleagues and vice versa. I also need to improve my engagement with parents/carers. I can start by chatting with parents before and after school times in order to build rapport. I believe that by forming positive relationships with parents, I can improve the learning in my students.

Sources of learning

·         Whole school meetings: Whole-school meetings are helpful in professional learning as I had found that schools normally organise the learning material to be specific to the school’s current needs. For example, the school may organise a week to analyse their school’s NAPLAN results. By attending this meeting I may learn about how to improve student learning and better their preparation for NAPLAN.

·         Updated research: My sources of professional learning include reading articles, PD opportunities and teaching conferences about a specific learning area. For example, in an article about teaching numeracy, I learned that Cuisenaire rods, even though they were a good model in fractions, they were reportedly underused in the classroom (Steencken & Maher, 2003). By keeping up to date with research, I can learn about how to improve my own teaching practice such as incorporating rods into more of my fractions lessons.

·         Learning journals: I would like to keep a learning journal specifically for my teaching practice. In this learning journal I could write down what I have done well and the things that did not work out. I think that keeping a learning journal can be therapeutic but also help me improve my teaching practice as I can focus on what the areas I remember to improve in.

Collaborations
When I am struggling with tackling a certain issue in my classroom such as behaviour management, I could ask my colleagues about how they would deal with the same situation. Another approach may be to sit in on one of my colleague’s lessons. I find that doing this may benefit me a lot as I can learn about one area I need to address while learn about an unrelated area that I may find helpful in my teaching practice.
 By collaborating with parents, I can develop partnerships. Other than communicating with parents through emails and newsletters, I can create an online blog for students which is accessible to parents as well. Through this blog, parents can understand what the students are learning and be up to date with the lesson material, so that parents can help their own children.

Conclusion
In this rationale I have demonstrated my beliefs about professional learning. Continuing my own professional learning can help me find new ways to address student learning needs, ways to collaborate with others and addressing the key gaps in my current professional knowledge.

References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2015). Australian professional standards for teachers. Retrieved from: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/.../australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf

Department of Education and Training. (2017). Engagement strategies for teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/documents/about/programs/health/strategiesforteachers.docx.

Steencken, E. P., & Maher, C. A. (2003). Tracing fourth graders’ learning of fractions: Early episodes from a year-long teaching experiment. The Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 22(2), 113-132. doi:10.1016/s0732-3123(03)00017- 8