Professional Practice
Standard 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

A science lesson Observation Report by the supervising teacher on Colours and Materials, implemented in a Kindergarten classroom during my final placement.

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Effective management of classroom activities and clear expectations/directions are two key preventative strategies, whose contribution to a safe and supportive classroom environment conducive to learning has been affirmed by Garette (2014), CESE (2020), and Terada (2019).

In order to manage activities effectively, I, therefore, ensured that each lesson commenced with an explicit introduction of its learning intentions and its key vocabulary to facilitate the expression of students’ thinking during the investigation phase, which is especially pertinent to a bilingual Kindergarten classroom context. Moreover, I organised activities in a gradual progression, ensuring the content was within students’ capacity to achieve, to sustain student engagement. Furthermore, the selection of age-appropriate curriculum-linked resources also contributed to preventative management of classroom activities.   

Acknowledgement of students’ positive behaviour was another effective classroom management strategy to ensure seamless classroom activities with a sustained focus only on outcomes. Students were rewarded with further exploration opportunities by mixing and forming new colours that drove their sense of accomplishment.