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| Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org http://tpack.org |
Content Knowledge:
What are your strengths and challenges in terms of subject-area knowledge?
As a primary teacher I am responsible for delivering most of
the curriculum at my year level (with the exception of Music and P.E.). Teaching a variety of subject areas is not
conducive to becoming an expert in each. Whichever subject I am teaching, I am
aware of the opportunities for developing literacy and numeracy skills and this
is often the focus along with developing content knowledge of the subject. At
this stage I have had little experience with teaching History and Geography as
separate subjects (although many aspects of the content covered were previously
included in the SOSE curriculum).
On an organisational level Curriculum into the Classroom
(C2C) has provided both opportunities for and barriers to understanding the
content of the Australian Curriculum. While C2C provides valuable insight into
possible approaches to teaching the Australian Curriculum, I sometimes need to
remind myself that it is only one interpretation. In order to alter, adapt and
prioritise the content of units of work to meet the needs of my students I need
to refer to the Australian Curriculum as a point of truth.
Pedagogy:
What are you strengths and challenges in terms of teaching knowledge?
My pedagogical strengths closely match areas in which I have
received coaching, mentoring or have worked closely with others. The most recent example is in direct
instruction (cognitivist approach). I particularly improved my strategies for
gauging student’s understandings during lessons and altering lesson
pace/direction accordingly.
Backward mapping – analysing the end product & students
current understanding and using this to inform planning of a unit – is another
pedagogical practice that is embedded in my teaching.
My greatest challenge is differentiation – providing tasks
that are challenging, individually motivating and that each student is capable
of engaging in successfully.
Technology:
What are you strengths and challenges in terms of learning and adapting to
digital technologies?
I am fairly competent in using technology myself and am
generally able to figure out how to use a new technology to do/ create what I
need to do. I learn what I need to get by but often don’t have an in-depth
understanding of the capabilities or hidden functions available. I do have good
knowledge of the workings of PowerPoint, Elluminate, stop animation using
Windows Movie maker, Paint.Net and whiteboard tools.
Guiding students to create/ collaborate using technological
tools is a very different process – requiring a comprehensive understanding of its
functions and capabilities – that can be informed by the use of TPCK. Providing
students with more opportunities to create with technology is an aspect of my
practice I would like to improve. This challenge is also complicated by access
to hardware and organisational factors.
Web 2.0 tools - I find the privacy and linking/following
aspects of social media and Web 2.0 tools particularly problematic as the
systems or guidelines that govern what others see are not transparent and seem
to subject to arbitrary changes. Because of this I wouldn’t feel comfortable
using this type of technology with students outside the EQ environment at this
stage and sometimes feel uncomfortable using them myself!
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