Featuring the new-look myfuture, new strategy guide for inclusive STEM learning environments and much more!
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This edition of ESA News celebrates the contribution of teachers – who this year have guided, mentored and supported young people under extraordinary circumstances. Read on and discover fantastic resources, informed by the work and feedback of educators, and created to support excellence in education.
Celebrating and thanking teachers
Discover the new-look myfuture
myfuture has launched a refreshed, new-look website to offer users a better experience. The resources that users already know and value remain, while improved navigation and personalisation features have been introduced, along with a more modern design.
Changes to the site were informed by best practice research methods as part of myfuture’s commitment to a strong evidence base and continuous improvement. The myfuture team is grateful for the support of the teachers from around Australia who provided feedback to inform the recent developments.
If you or your students are registered myfuture users, all your data has been transferred and can be accessed when you log in.
Strategies for inclusive STEM learning environments
Teachers play an important role in STEM engagement, encouragement and as role models, with 24 per cent of teachers being cited by youth as the most influential people for STEM subject selection (Department of Industry, 2020).
ESA recently released ‘Classroom strategies for inclusive STEM learning environments’, a teacher guide packed full of evidence-based ideas. Aligned to The Girls in STEM Toolkit’s seven principles for gender-inclusive STEM education, the guide includes practical strategies and contemporary resources that can be used to bring these critical principles to life to create an engaging and inclusive STEM classroom.
Coming soon: Additional Literacy Hub resources
The Literacy Hub acknowledges the key role teachers play in supporting young students to develop the foundational literacy skills that will set them on a successful learning pathway. The Hub provides schools with a range of resources, including a free online Phonics Check, to support early literacy progress. Over the coming months, the Hub will be adding more resources and professional learning materials to help teachers develop the foundational literacy skills learners need for successful future learning.
Image: iStock.com/Wavebreakmedia
Teachers: a lifeline for young people and communities
2020 has highlighted the immeasurable contribution that teachers make to the lives of their students. The relationships that teachers develop with their students are the foundation upon which trust, meaningful communication and resilience are developed. It cannot be overstated that when teachers help students celebrate their successes and address their anxieties, they model and normalise help-seeking behaviour that can be critical in times like these. Students who feel supported are more able to cope with difficulty and uncertainty.
Great teachers, teaching great Digital Technologies lesson
Did you know many of the lesson ideas and examples on the Digital Technologies Hub are developed by passionate educators? The Digital Technologies Hub team thanks these educators for extending themselves and sharing their fantastic lessons with us.
Image: Regenwolke0/Pixabay
Snap block models
Jackie Tither, a teacher in Tasmania, created and implemented this lesson with her Year 2 class.
Students create a model using snap blocks 1 block high and create a code so someone else can build their model. It’s a great lesson that links the Digital Technology concepts of algorithms with mathematics concepts of 2D and 3D shapes.
Hot bots
This lesson was designed by Cindy Thornton, Flinders Island District High School, Tasmania.
Students are set a design challenge to create a program to automatically switch on an air conditioner. For this project, students are introduced to the Arduino microcontroller and Arduino integrated development environment for programming.
Creating a virtual classroom environment with ELLA
Jo Mavrigiannakis extends her use of the ELLA program to support families in practising words in another language at home.
‘They would need to hear the sounds while “reading” the words. This was very important for our children who were isolating during COVID 19 and therefore not engaging with the apps. And so YouTube came into effect, with key words and sentences highlighted in each app verbalised by me and videoed and then shared via Kinderloop. It really becomes a virtual classroom environment and can be played over and over as a form of repetition!’
Image courtesy of Joanne Mavrigiannakis
Updates and events
Student Wellbeing Hub webinar
Webinar: 'A Celebration of Culture and Respect: Young people from refugee backgrounds show leadership in preventing family violence.'
29 October 2020 — 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM AEDT
Glenn Flanagan from Companion House shares reflections, key questions and lessons learned from working with young people from diverse refugee backgrounds on preventing family violence.
Image: Polifoto/Pixabay
What’s new in Scootle?
Image: MabelAmber/Pixabay
This month Scootle includes resources that range across the curriculum including science and technologies investigation-based units on soil quality, agricultural pests and bees; videos exploring computer security; interviews with authors and publishers on the writing process; and modelling the impact of climate change.
Professional learning modules for early years educators
ESA is happy to announce that it will continue to host the popular Early Childhood Resource Hub’s professional learning modules following the closure of the main ecrh.edu.au website.
Going forward, users will be able to access and complete all of the following free courses on the professional learning page:
- Personal cultural competency
- Embedding culture in teaching practice
- Building a culturally competent and responsive service
- Initiating and managing change in early year services
- Supporting emerging leaders in education and care services.
Image: Regenwolke0/Pixabay
The ecrh.edu.au site will remain active until 16 October but users will continue to have access to a selection of the resources and materials on the ACECQA website. This move streamlines resources to one platform, making it easier for educators to access relevant support material.
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We wish to acknowledge the Kulin Nation, Traditional Custodians of the land on which ESA’s offices are located, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We also acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, their Elders, Ancestors, cultures and heritage.
