CQUniversity Graduate Skills

Communication

Graduate Level: Formulate and communicate views to develop an academic argument in a specific discipline.

To be an effective teacher, communication skills play an incredibly important role within this profession. To be able to effectively communicate with students, parents and colleagues is essential.

The Department for Education and child development (2009), defines communication as the capacity to communicate effectively with others using a whole range of spoken, written, graphic and other non-verbal means of expression.

There is more to communication than just the words you use. The body language, facial expressions and hand gestures should also be used effectively and professionally. However, not only is verbal communication and body language important, written communication also plays a large role in teaching. Whether it’s wording task sheets, responding via writing or email, each form is an extension of written communication.

According to the Department of Education, Training and Employment (2009): Good teachers know that by listening to and working with colleagues, parents, other professionals and community members that they can inspire students and improve their learning.

According to the Professional Standards for Queensland teachers, within Standard Two - Teachers are committed to: modelling effective language, literacy and numeracy skills and developing their personal language, literacy and numeracy skills and teaching strategies.

I am confident that I use all the above forms of communication effectively. Through both my life and university experiences I have had many opportunities to show my communication skills.While speaking clearly and directly is an obvious communication skill, listening and understanding is an equally central skill that I believe I possess.

Throughout University, my communication skills are also evident through writing and presenting written and verbal reports with high levels of achievement given for these reports. Whilst working on groups my communication skills have been further defined through speaking clearly and directly and sharing information.  My communication skills can also be seen within my presentations and class discussions in which I have achieved distinctions.

Team Work

Graduate Level: Evaluate own strengths and weaknesses as a leader/team member and / or autonomously working in a team context.

The capacity to interact effectively with other people both on a one to one basis and as part of a group is an important aspect of teaching. Understanding and responding to the needs  of others during group planning and discussions is an integral part of team work.

According to the Department of Education, Training and Employment (2009) being a people person and enjoy working with a wide range of people is one of the requirements to work in the teaching profession. It also states that having the ability to work in a team as well as using your own initiative is also a highly regarded requirement of teaching.

Within the Professional Standards for teachers- Standard Nine: Contribute effectively to professional teams: Teachers actively contribute to a range of school-based and other professional teams to enhance student learning, achieve school objectives and improve the teaching and learning process. Teachers know and understand communication, negotiation, time management, conflict resolution and problem solving techniques.

I believe that I am a people person and that I get along with other people from all walks of life. Having acceptance of others and being respectful of others also helps to form professional relationships with both the students in the class and other teaching colleagues.

Throughout the duration of my degree, there have been multiple group assignments that required working together as a team. There were many aspects that needed to be considered throughout this time including splitting the workload evenly, listening to others and each contributing to the final product. I feel that I work very effectively in a team and participate as an active, responsible member of a professional team.

Team work in the classroom can be easily seen in the interactions throughout the team teaching throughout my internship with both my mentor teacher and substitute teachers. I have worked with many other teachers during my internship and feel that I both contribute to the running of the classroom while also observing other teaching styles and practices.

As well as working at Kmart throughout my studies which involved many teamwork experiences,  (particularly at Christmas time, without strong team work it would just not happen!), I have been part of a women’s soccer team for the past two years. This is a different yet similar type of teamwork, which requires commitment and understanding of others abilities and weaknesses.

Being a part of the soccer community in both Rockhampton and the Sunshine Coast has allowed me to build and maintain a good network of positive relationships. Dennis, the soccer coach, mentioned that he appointed me as captain due to my personal communication, stating that ' you are a supportive and reliable player and your ability to listen to others will make you an effective captain'. (McMahon personal communication, July 2011).

I enjoy being part of a team both within and outside a classroom setting and feel that I have the personal traits and skills that make participating in and contributing to a team both enjoyable and rewarding.

Information Technology Competence

Graduate Level: Apply appropriate discipline-specific software to provide solutions to questions.

As the use of technology is ever increasing in our daily lives we need to learn to critically evaluate the digital learning tools around us. As future teachers, I believe that it is important that not only are we ourselves confident in using and utilising ICT but that we also ensure we are passing these skills onto our learners as well. By ensuring students develop their digital technology knowledge; they will be given every chance of succeeding in today’s technological future.  

According to the Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers, Standard One: Use teaching, learning and assessment strategies and resources in which ICT is embedded.

I am very confident when using ICT’s whether in the classroom or in my daily life. They play a large role not only in my planning, but also within the presentation of my lessons and university assignments. I have had experience in developing and using the following ICT tools. I have included two samples of my previous work below:

·         Designing weebly’s, web pages, wikispaces, blogs and pod casts.

·         Designing interactive voki’s and creating movies using movie maker

·         Using PowerPoint, word, excel and other Microsoft/Adobe programs

·         Using Google search, maps and images and utilising interactive programs by including them in my lessons.

·         Searching teacher websites such as study ladder and the general Internet for  resources and teaching ideas.

·         Uploading and using technological tools on the projector

My current placement classroom uses ICT’s very effectively. The computer is connected to a projector which is displayed onto the whiteboard. When in the classroom the computer is used very frequently to facilitate and enhance my lessons. Whether displaying groups, watching information clips on the Internet or using interactive learning tools my competence with using information technologies within the classroom is of a high standard.