Students engaging with their learning

Each week I undertake classroom walkthroughs in different parts of the school – K-6 one week and 7-10 the next week. I have been doing this since I returned from my course in School Improvement at Harvard University in 2014.

In the walkthroughs I am observing student engagement, the types of learning tasks students are involved with and their sense of consciousness of the purpose of the work. These are interconnected factors in student achievement through the learning process. It is incredible sometimes to see students so engaged with the learning task that they have little awareness of my presence in and out of their learning space.

As teachers, the level of the task we choose determines the outcome for students - if it is too low or too simple for students, learning is minimised and there is little, if any growth. Teacher planning for, and reflection on, learning tasks and their differentiation is some of the most important work teachers undertake in their class preparation.
Ms Beth Gilligan - Dominic College Principal