Nancy Brisbane Australia 2018

Queensland University: Professor of Education:  Dr. Jill Willis Visit: Below is a section of the  biography for Dr. Jill Willis straight from the QUT website . "Background  Jill Willis is a senior lecturer in Education. She has always been interested in the transformative power of learning, and how social collaboration and innovative structures can support learner agency. She is the Master of Education course coordinator and teaches in the Leadership and Management study area.  She also supports pre-service teachers in developing skills in pedagogy, assessment and curriculum planning." Jeff and I had the pleasure of visiting with Dr. Willis.  We had sent her a copy of our course objectives for the EDGR 635 Assessment and Evaluation Course prior to our meeting to give her a vision and purpose of our travels and visits.  She was thankful for that information prior to our visit.  She found it interesting to see what our objectives were at the Ma...

Brain Learning: In my current SNHU Learning and Development class, we are learning about zones (comfort zones and zones for learning).  I saw this picture in one of the classrooms at Indooroopilly State School and I thought it was kind of cool that they connected the zones to the school codes/expectations to help students with their positive behaviors in the classroom. I just wanted to show the connect between learning that is occurring with more classes than just the SNHU Assessment and Evaluation course that this travel opportunity is exploring.  So many connections with so many of my SNHU courses have been occurring during this trip, and that is a really cool experience to see it all being applied in Australian schools too.  The connections are amazing to see in action.  The way that information can be interpreted and then applied in the classroom setting in a variety of ways is inspiring.  This trip is inspiring and reinvigorates me.  It make...

Indooroopilly State School: Classroom Observations: I observed in both year 2 and year 6 classrooms and the following are some things I observed: Tic and X mark system: Tic or check mark systems.  During Prep physical education class, the teacher was showing students a "tic" or check mark with his hands or an "X" mark with his hands saying to remember that we are looking for "tick behaviors", not "cross behaviors".  Then I saw in one classroom (I wish now I had taken a picture, but I did not think it important at the time), a tic and x mark sheet on the wall identifying expected and unexpected behaviors for students and they could get their name on the charts in the tic column for expected behaviors.  Then when I went into a public "toilet" later that day, I saw this picture of a "tic" and "x" chart for expected and unexpected behavior for use of the toilet.  I thought it was interesting that the school was u...

Indooroopilly State School: HPE:  Health and Physical Education: There are three physical education teachers and all of them are new to Indooroopilly State School.  Their longtime physical education teacher retired. PE with Leonard: I observed Leonard for several Prep (Kindergarten) classes.  It is his first time teaching at the primary level - he has only taught high school physical education before and wanted a change.  He teaches Prep and Year 5 and 6 students only.  What a contrast.  I did not get to speak too much with Leonard, as we only had time between class transitions to chat.  He said that the program before was very skill and assessment driven, and the new team of physical education teachers are trying to move it in the direction of skills within games with less emphasis on the assessment even though students will still be assessed on skills.  The purpose is to make it more play oriented at the younger levels and more fun at t...

Indooroopilly State School:   Indooroopilly State School is a Prep - year 6 school with almost 1,200 students.  It has grown at a rate of 36% over the past two years and is busting at the seems.  The school campus is of a series of buildings and athletic venues that is surround by streets on two side of the building and State park lands on the the other two side of the building and can not expand out.  Construction will start shortly on two buildings to raise them up two stories so their solution is to build up, not out. It is an affluent community with many international students of varying languages and cultures.  Many families are here from other countries because of employment and various business relations.  There are kids who only speak English at school.  I witnessed this language barrier in a Prep (Kindergarten) class where two boys who are not fluent in English, were speaking Chinese to one another during class and both boys were lost w...

Brain Learning: I was mentally prepared for the fact that the driving was opposite in Australia from the United States of America.  However, I was not prepared that walking and moving around in public would be opposite as well.  You walk on the left hand side of the side walk.  You enter restrooms and buildings on the left (I don't know how many people I have almost bumped into going in or out of the "toilet".  Opposite Escalators: There were two opposing escalators side by side and I stood in front of the one on my right for the longest time trying to figure out what was wrong.  It was coming down at me, not going up.  I was trying to get onto the down escalator, but I wanted to go up.  The up escalator was on my left, not my right.  My brain is adjusting to this new way of moving and making those new pathways in my brain to help get me around the city safely.  It is such a thought process though.  I am appreciating the cognit...

Chapel Hill State School: Head of Curriculum Meeting: I had the opportunity to meet with the Head of Curriculum to talk about assessment and evaluation.  She introduced me, in more depth, the to Australian Curriculum and how it impacts learning, instruction and assessment at Chapel Hill State School.  Australian Curriculum Highlights: All schools in Australia are required to fully implement this curriculum by the year 2020.   Achievement standards for grade level.  The standards tell teachers what students need to know and do by the end of each year of learning.  Like our common core or the national health and physical education standards. Outlines what content must be taught and identifies descriptors to show what needs to be learned.  There is some room for elaboration on how you can teach the content descriptors. Assessments by content and grade level.   Like our common core or the national health and physical education stan...

Chapel Hill School: Classroom Observations or Teacher Interactions: Year 6 Classroom Observations:   I love that they can store their backpacks on shelves outside the classroom all year long.  What a space saver. I observed in two year 6 classrooms.  One was a math class and one was a writing class.  I was actually a little disappointed in my observations of these two particular classes.  Both classrooms were set up with desks in rows and no space for students to work anywhere else besides their desk.  Both teachers were giving strictly whole class instruction followed up by students independent work in a note book.  Because my two children are on a multi-age grade 5/6 team at CBMS, I know that the topic, content and skills being taught were what my children have been learning at this grade level, but it was very dry and seemed a little "old fashioned" in the way it was being taught. Things I did see the teacher's do during their instr...

Chapel Hill School: PBL (Positive Behavior Leadership) and Profiling: PBL :  I had the opportunity to meet with the music teacher, who is part of the schools Positive Behavior Leadership Team (which is like our PBiS in Vermont).  The school is in the first year of their school wide positive behavior system and they are celebrating "crazy hair" day this week on Friday because they have meet a positive behavior goal.  I saw signs of this system in all the classroom areas I visited (general classroom, physical education classroom and the support services small group classroom).  They have a stair step system which goes like this: Step 1:  Verbal reminder Step 2:  Name on the board Step 3:  Peg on blue and five minute time out Step 4:  Peg on pink and go to another classroom for time out Step 5:  Peg on purple and go to the office The peg and color system was a little confusing and has just been established, but not really taught to st...