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Use the standards of professional practice to identify one of the following aspects of your practice you are seeking to develop:

• classroom time management to improve student learning
• behaviour management to improve student learning
• catering for student diversity to improve learning

In focusing on one of these, other aspects of teaching practice will also be addressed.

Teachers know how students learn and how to teach them effectively	Teachers plan and assess for learning	Teachers reflect on, evaluate and improve their professional knowledge and practice
Teachers know the content they teach	Teachers create and maintain safe and challenging learning environments	Teachers are active members of their profession
Teachers know their students	Teachers use a range of teaching practices and resources to engage students in reflective practice

Table 1: Standards of Professional Practice

When identifying your focus consult an experienced colleague, who may be your mentor. Have a clear purpose as to how the focus will impact on student learning. In your discussions take into account student, school and community factors that influence teaching and learning and how they can be used to make learning more meaningful.

Investigate your focus by documenting at least two visits to the classrooms of experienced colleagues. The purpose of visiting classrooms is to gather data specifically related to your focus that will impact on your teaching and learning. Observe the interactions between teacher, student and content as these generally determine the quality and level of student learning.

You are encouraged to teach alongside an experienced teacher as often as possible so that collectively you can identify those aspects of practice that will impact most significantly on student learning. However, at least two observations of an experienced teacher must be documented.

Your mentor could suggest teachers with particular expertise who can assist you to deepen knowledge about your professional practice. Your mentor can also be one of the colleagues you consult and whose practice you observe.

Using your focus develop a plan of action with your mentor to implement practices that support the learning of your students. This plan needs to occur over a 4 – 6 week timeframe. This will allow for new practices to be implemented, their effectiveness to be assessed and revised and for reflection on future directions that may include further professional learning opportunities.

In developing the plan draw on:

• knowledge gained from observations of other experienced teachers
• knowledge gained through discussions had with a mentor and other teachers
• the knowledge and understanding of the students where the plan will be implemented

The plan needs to be attached to a work program/unit outline that is being used over the 4 – 6 weeks. Document how the learning from classroom observations will be incorporated either in your action plan or your work program/unit outline. The success of your action plan will be measured by increased student engagement and learning. You will need to make assessments of your students.

Consider the learning of individuals, a small group of students or a whole class across two or three learning tasks. Use a selection of assessment strategies that includes formative and summative strategies. This will enable a broader and deeper understanding of student learning.

Assessment strategies may include:

• pre-tests and tasks that establish benchmarks for prior knowledge
• observations of student behaviour during classes
• peer assessment

Your plan should be implemented with the collaboration of your mentor or experienced teacher/s who should work with you and your students regularly. During the 4 - 6 week period your mentor should visit your classroom at least four times. The purpose of these visits is to share knowledge that relates to your plan and that impacts directly on the teaching and the learning of your students. As with your observations of experienced teachers, the concept of interactions between teacher, student and content still determine the quality and level of student learning.

The role of your mentor may vary on each occasion. The approach may be team teaching or your colleague can assist with the lesson and provide individual assistance for students. However to optimise these shared teaching opportunities pre-plan the roles that each teacher will fulfill.

Established learning outcomes, the effectiveness of classroom management to promote learning and the student learning evident in the selected tasks will provide a focus for discussions. Use some samples of student work to further analyse the effectiveness of your teaching.

Reflection on teaching and learning is an essential element of improving the quality of teaching. It provides a vehicle for teachers to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching for continual improvement of student learning.

Have you:

• identified a focus?
• observed the practice of at least two experienced colleagues including a reflection on the contribution of their teaching to your professional practice?
• an action plan, developed with the support of your mentor?
• included your teaching plan for the 4 – 6 week implementation phase?
• an analysis of the effectiveness of your teaching that includes discussion points arising from at least four of the mentor visits and student work samples?
• a reflection on your professional learning from collegial practice?
• a record of significant professional activities on the pro forma provided?
• a commentary on the contribution of three activities to your professional knowledge and practice?