Maintenance of Accreditation

Being a NSW teacher requires one to pay their Teacher Accreditation fee (aka teaching license). My first teaching gig was given to me because another temporary teacher forgot to pay her accreditation fee. This jeopardise her capacity to teach in any school or service in NSW under the Education Standards Authority.

Tonight I decided to pay my $100 (tax deductible) Teacher Accreditation Fee before being penalised for forgetting. I also tick a few things off my To-Do list. This included evaluating all my tasks on the NESA eTAMS dashboard (a website built for teachers to record all professional learning). I decided to look into the final processes of my maintenance of accreditation since it is due on Feb 2019. The process has been simplified and one only needs to have a total of 100 hrs (50 NESA Registered and 50 TIPD), all courses evaluated, confirm employment details and press the submit maintenance button.

On the NESA e-TAMS website, it is optional for teachers to write a 1800 characters report on: 

A reflective statement that describes how you have maintained your practice against the Proficient Teacher Standards.

The team leader of the school Accreditation Team informed me that the principal will like a one page report in addition to pressing the submit button.

I decided to write a 'draft' report tonight:

Over the last five years, I have been improving on my teaching pedagogy. Being a 21^st century teacher requires the promotion of creativity and critical thinking. This means revisiting the syllabus, programs and being open to trying new platforms to teach the required content. This requires me to brush up on my Standard 1 and Standard 2 Australian Professional Standards. By knowing students and how they learn, I have been using new technology in my classroom such as Google Classroom and Remind app to appeal to the young audience.

1.     The Remind app allows teachers to communicate with students efficiently and effectively without sharing any phone numbers. There are so many options such as making a whole class announcement, planning excursions/fieldtrips and/or speaking to students one on one. Similar to Google Classroom students can only sign up to your classroom by giving them a 'code'. It has been a blessing so far with students using it professionally to gain instant feedback on homework and assessment tasks. I can also share sources of inspiration to motivate them with their practical tasks.

I enjoy creating new resources. For example:

2.     Using the hamburger analogy WITH my own marking criteria helps students to understand expectations for each grade and help them to take ownership of their own work.

I constantly reflect on Standard 3 by planning for and implementing effective teaching and learning. I want to make theory lessons fun AND to encourage class participation when it comes to discussion time. I don't want the same students to be giving me the answers. I want the whole class to contribute.

3. I often turn my theory lessons into some sort of game. I have made a few games up and the most popular one is the 'blind painter' game. This works by getting students to work in pairs. One student holds the card and needs to describe what he or she can see. The other student must draw the picture down based on the description. This helps build students' art vocabulary and help them with describing and analysing. 

Standard 4 is crucial as by creating an ideal environment, students will have increased time to be on task and thus have a higher level of engagement.

4.    As a teacher, I am always reflecting on 'What is a safe classroom and how can it help to generate risk-taking behaviours?' I want students to feel safe in the classroom so that they are more likely to participate in class discussions, ask questions etc. This can start from simply making allowing students to be involved with decision-making processes, for example, they should be allowed to have input on classroom rules that help foster a safe classroom. An undesirable school environment would lead to low student engagement and motivation, and learning may become less effective in the classroom. As a classroom teacher I want to provide 'quality learning environment' where it is free from disruption, intimidation, harassment and discrimination.

Assessing and providing formal and informal feedback is important. Examples of achieving Standard 5:

5. As a teacher I am constantly looking at ways to push my students into achieving towards a higher standard. I often incorporate informal self-assessment that students need to fill in. This may mean asking students to tick whether they have:

-Exceeding expectation

-Meet expectation

-Missing elements

-Does not meet requirement

Sometimes it is important for students to see for themselves why feedback is important. Providing artwork examples of BEFORE and AFTER feedback shows students how constructive feedback can improve on the quality of an artwork.

In addition, asking students to provide valuable feedback to classmates, forces students to carefully examine how they provide art critique. At the same time understand why it is valuable to hear the 'truth'.

Engaging in professional learning is important. Standard 6:

6. I have completed a total of 250.5 hrs of professional learning within my 5-year period. This is a sign that I love learning as a teacher. All professional learning has been evaluated via MyPL, BluSky and E-Tams.

7. I am a big believer in networking with other teachers and schools to exchange pedagogy information. This requires taking on the professional role of engaging with colleagues and the teaching community. Standard 7:

Being a teacher involves taking on roles beyond the classroom walls. Besides being a classroom teacher and a Year 8 Adviser, I am an advocator for the Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) team. 

Being a PBL Coordinator requires me to work closely with other schools and with the district’s coach mentor. I often look at ways to train and provide teachers with strategies to assist them in guiding and motivating students.