In preparing for my Internship I undertook a unit in July, which took me through a range of content and skills that would prepare me for my Internship and a career beyond. While each lecture and discussion varied in value I found the content covering homeroom teaching, professional presentation and classroom management to be particularly worthwhile.

I felt that the concept of homeroom teaching had previously been overlooked in my studies. I then realised that teaching my area of discipline also encompassed pastoral responsibilities. I felt grateful that these were discussed because it provided insight into the various homeroom setups and roles that I was unaware of. For instance, a homeroom teacher was expected to record absences and was also responsible for each student’s behavioural and emotional progress, uniform, punctuality, excursion notes and ensuring students were aware of school changes. Essentially, homeroom teachers undertake a very demanding role on a daily basis.

Professional presentation was another area of exploration. Although I had never experienced issues with delivering a professional appearance it made me reflect on how critical it was to present a professional attitude around students. With teaching being such an interpersonal experience I was forced to evaluate and establish my student-teacher boundaries in order to achieve a balance of authority and care in my presentation. This would hopefully allow me to effectively manage a classroom whilst building a good rapport with students.

I also found that the lecture on classroom management was especially helpful in preparing me for the classroom. With a belief that classroom management and content delivery must work symbiotically, I noted the tips that I thought were clever, practical and visual in gaining attention. Burke (1992) stated that “the most effective way to handle discipline problems is to prevent them” and this is much so in a technology workshop where discipline problems jeopardise safety and immediate student attention was vital.

With the conclusion of the July seminars I have developed three goals based on the NSW IoT Elements that I hope to achieve over the ten-week period:

3.1.7 Give helpful and timely oral and written feedback to students

Goal: To provide students with personal, constructive and practical feedback during lessons which will lead to improvement in the quality of work produced

4.1.5 Use a range of teaching strategies and resources including ICT and other technologies to foster interest and support learning

Goal: To research, implement and experiment with various online resources to support student learning

5.1.5 Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to managing student behaviour and their applications in the classroom

Goal: To successfully implement a strategy for quickly gaining attention in the technology workshop and maintaining a safe and effective workshop