At the time of this interview Emma was a grade two teacher at Scottsdale Primary School. She has taught a variety of Primary and early childhood classes furing her four years of teaching. Her insights are particularly useful to teachers who are meeting the challenge of catering for classes of early childhood and middle primary students. A feature of Emma’s program is her emphasis on catering for the needs of all students through attention to different learning styles, provision of alternative tasks, and close monitoring of students at work. When first interviewed in 1998, Emma was in her first year of teaching. She has since updated her interview to include developments in her classroom practice.

In my classroom I try to put the desks in groups of between four and six students. I’ve organised the students in mixed gender groups because I believe they should be able to interact and work together regardless of whether they are females or males. Within my whole physical layout I’m trying to emphasise my belief that the students’ work is important and to show them that I value the effort they’re putting into their work.

One thing I always have in my room is a writing learning centre, in which I try to incorporate ideas for students’ writing. I include dictionaries and thesauruses. I also try to have a collection of students’ writing so they can read each other’s writing during quiet reading. Around the room I have posters that give reminders of particular routines and things like punctuation rules and the publishing code that we use in our writing.

In the reading corner I have a display of story books and children’s books and also books that the students have made and other material that the students have chosen to read. I have free choice books that are actually chosen by the students, usually from the school library. I also have a display of books relevant to the integrated unit that we’re doing at the time. I have baskets of reading recovery leveled books, and broad banded books that are used within the school. These are situated away from library books, making it easier for students to return them to the correct areas.

I provide students with a computer learning centre, which I try to use for individual, and small group work and the students have access to CD-ROMs — some are more game-based and others are more skill-based. I use the computer for publishing.

Classroom routines - reading

I have a reading hour each day in my classroom, which is based on the Victorian early years model. I have used it in both early childhood and primary classrooms. It involves students working in ability based groups. Each day we begin as a whole class on the mat and share a text, generally a big book. We look specifically at the text structures of the text and decoding the text. In an early childhood classroom, it can also provide the opportunity to look at decoding strategies of individual words.

After this time I explain, referring to a task board, what the students' tasks are for the remaining forty minutes. Students then move to their jobs. I work with a group, specifically using Guided Reading and reciprocal reading strategies. This year I have worked with eight reading groups to cater for the specific needs of the class. This means I work with two reading groups each day.

After the students have completed the two jobs, we meet back on the mat, and I provide an opportunity for a group to share what they have worked on.

In the afternoon I have 'quiet reading'. Students are given free choice in choosing a book to read, while during this time I listen to students read their choice, and/or do running record conferences with students.

Students are involved in 'home reading' of books which allows for practice of their reading skills. Students chose from the reading recovery leveled books, and broad banded books, while I monitor that they are providing independent reading practice for the student. This is separate from students lending from the school library. The purpose of this is to provide students with the opportunity to read independently to parents.

Classroom routines - writing

It’s a bit hard to talk about my writing because there’s so much of it and it’s in such a variety of places. I have been looking at writing genres specifically so students have been able to learn about a variety of formats for their writing. Examples of genres are recounts, recipes, letter writing, but I also provide opportunities for free choice writing which allows for creativity. I also try to encourage students who don’t particularly want to be that creative or find it a bit frightening to go back to specific genre writing that they do feel confident with.

This year I have trialed a writing hour, which is based on the Victorian early years program. This involves a similar structure to the reading hour I described earlier, except I work with only five groups. The most beneficial aspect of this process is the modelling of text construction that I do each morning. I have noticed the improvement in students' writing, and their identification of text types.

There is a lot of writing within my integrated units. For example, during my unit "In Madeline" the students had to write a new ending to the story. I believe in providing students with opportunities to learn skills in my reading and writing programs to support the integrated time. For example I am completing a pet unit at the moment where each student is completing an information text about a pet of their choice. In my writing and reading hours we have looked at the structure of an information text, and Ibelieve this has assisted students in their own writing.

I try to alternate between the students editing and publishing their own work independently and those times where I sit down with them and assist them in their editing and then encourage them to do the publishing in a different way. I like to have opportunities for them to do their own editing so that I can see what they are picking up and then also there are times that I think it’s valuable for me to sit down with them and really go through it specifically as well.

The publishing of their writing has taken on lots of different forms this year. They are doing things in the writing book, their maths, on the computer by themselves and also on particular publishing sheets or in different formats such as on a pro forma that I might have photocopied. Different forms of writing that I’ve been looking at this year support those that aren’t very confident in writing their ideas down, things like mind maps and time lines. I’ve also been trying to encourage students to list their ideas perhaps in diagrams and also in actual pictures if they are unsure so that they can still record what they were meaning at the time.

Classroom routines - spelling

My spelling routine is based on a look-see-cover-write-check version of spelling. I split my class into four ability groups by using standardised testing to group them and then I’m using a five-day cycle of a variety of spelling jobs, which this year I’ve based around different learning styles. For example, my day one is a kinaesthetic job. I’ve got a variety but two are sewing their words and using plasticine to form their letters. Day two is the visual day and an example of that is using rainbow words where students use different varieties of colouring pencils and make their word and then go over it with the next colour and I also do this on the chalk board using different coloured chalks. I try to use individual spelling lists and I get these from students’ own writing. As they’re writing I’m always looking for words that they need to learn and I supplement these words from standardised lists and tests if necessary. After day five they have a partner test with me and receive their new words. This specific routine I have used in each class I have taught, including Grade 5's, with little modification.

Collaborative groups as the basis for classroom management

Due to the work I have done with cooperative, collaborative, approaches to students’ behaviour, planned at the beginning of the year, they are able to work within the routines that I’ve set up. In the end it’s sort of reflected in the students’ ability to have responsibility to each other and I’ve tried to instil in them a responsibility to enable other people to learn so that they respect each other’s ability and need to learn in different ways.

I’m able to work with groups because they understand that they have the time with me they need and respect that and give other people the opportunity of that as well. An example of when I might work with a group would be as they are doing their spelling routine. I would collect a group to come down to the mat and they work with me on the mat while the others are working independently at their desk and finishing the routine that they know.

Obviously many aspects of my routines would not be possible without students working in small groups successfully. Again, it is necessary to provide students with the skills to do this successfully, both socially (working with their group members), and academically (providing independent tasks).

Catering for speaking and listening

It’s such a big thing - a lot of speaking and listening especially is coincidental within the classroom. When I first started thinking about it I saw all the different times that the students were speaking and listening and then I began to think of the specific things that I plan. This year, for example, students have really enjoyed sharing their own work and reading things out to the class, others feel more confident in just sharing it with us in a group and I have also been encouraging them to share with a partner, sometimes more as an editing process to make sure that things make sense, but also just to share their work and to see how others tackle different things.

This has been structured in different ways. My current integrated unit has speaking as part of the unit where they actually have to give a report back to the class but other times it is more coincidental and we might have published something and as we are finishing them off we share them as a class. I’ve also been encouraging brainstorming as a group and discussing things in small groups.

Viewing and visual texts

I have a special interest in visual texts so I’ve tried to include lots of visual texts such as videos and posters throughout my classroom set-up. Through integrated units on visual texts this year, students have had the opportunity to view CD-ROMs of stories; they’ve also looked at videos of stories like Babe. I’ve been integrating that with reading a book as well, getting them to analyse the difference between a visual text and a written text and so therefore picking up the different parts of a visual text. Throughout a lot of my classroom discussion and also presentation of each student’s work, there is a lot of viewing because I want to try and pick up the students who need that visual stimulation. The kinaesthetic learners are able to have a look at it and often even on my displays viewing also relates to being able to see the real object so I try to make those links all the time.

Getting new ideas

To collect new ideas I do lots of different things, especially interacting with different colleagues and sharing with them.

In my beginning year of teaching I went on school visits, which was really valuable, and I’ve also found that you need to be able to adapt different things. People might say that they’ve done such and such but in the end you’ve got to adapt it to suit yourself and sometimes it may be that what they’ve done doesn’t really suit your teaching but some aspect of that might so that you can change it.

I make time to read reference books and they are really valuable. They often come up with good ideas or support what you’re thinking and how you’ve been doing things. Also when I read children’s books, just flicking through the library or going out and looking for the new ones, I often think of new ideas along the way and have to go off and do something about it.

I’ve been involved in professional development and that’s been really valuable as well. I have been fortunate enough to have visited Victoria to see classrooms using the reading and writing hour. Again, adaptability seems to be the key to most of the ideas that you hear.

And most importantly I get lots of ideas from myself, from all these things but often I’m just sitting there and I’ll just think of a new idea and it’s usually something around my surroundings so it might be what the students are doing or what I’m looking at or just what I’m doing at the time. My problem seems to be forgetting to write it down.

Reflection and evaluation

Do I believe that my program is successful? I do, because I can see progress in students. More importantly I can see that my students are interested in learning and they are really enthusiastic about learning. I know that some of that can be attributed to the age group of some of the students but the older ones are enthusiastic too. I think that that must be related to what I am actually doing within the classroom.

If something isn’t working or hasn’t gone the way that I’ve planned, I’ll notice that students are off task or seem uninterested in what they’re doing. If students come out with something that is completely unrelated to what I’ve intended and it hasn’t been a positive thing, I often know that an activity hasn’t worked and I look back to see why that is the case. The reasons might be that when I explained the task that it just didn’t come across the right way or it might have been the actual nature of the task, what the task was asking or the process that they needed to go through. So to change this I would try an alternative method of presentation. I might go back and reword what I’ve said or provide another different type of scaffold for the students. Often I just simply stop the students and sit them down and ask why this isn’t working and what would we do if we were able to do it again or if we were to keep going what would we have to change? They are often the best judge and they know exactly what isn’t working for them and they are able to come out and explain it.

I try to look at whether or not I can add further scaffolds to support students because sometimes it might only not be working for a number of students and I have to look back and say well, why isn’t it working for him and him and her, when it is working for the other person. So I often will think about what I need to add to assist students to go over that next hurdle.

I’ve really enjoyed seeing the kids’ interest in the different activities and saying "I really like this job, but I don’t like this job so much". I’ve been able to see what they’ve enjoyed and to realise that it’s activities drawing on different learning styles that have been able to reflect their preferences. I’ve really enjoyed working with the students and because of their interest, you’re always on the go. We’ve just worked non-stop for the whole school year and it’s been really exciting to do that.

(Interestingly this next paragraph is from the end of my first year as a teacher, and I believe that I have achieved many of these things. However I still want to better my knowledge of the reading and writing process, and teaching strategies to help students.)

What I’m most interested in looking at towards next year is trying to better my knowledge about the different reading and spelling strategies that I can give students to assist them in learning, specifically with those students that have trouble in those things. Being a beginning teacher, I find that we haven’t really learnt a lot of that and I’ve had to go out and find a lot this year. But there’s still a lot more that I need to do because I would like to integrate this more naturally into my literacy program, to support the students along the way. I’d like to know better ways to give them instruction. Also I would really like to better my skills in taking running records and guided reading within my classroom and creating opportunities to do those more regularly.