Professional Engagement
Standard 6: Engage in professional learning

A summary of ideas gained through participation in a Professional Development Conference on a staff development day in my final placement, conducted by Andrell Education Victoria, on equipping teachers to teach writing effectively to primary-aged students. 

The professional development conference at the school developed by this Victorian organisation was effective to improve practice by suggesting practical ways to gradually incorporate writing skills from the foundation level on. Writing is considered to be a critical area of teaching at foundation level, hence the opportunity to engage in professional learning specifically targeting developing effective writers from Kindergarten level was valuable. 
Furthermore, the opportunity to collaborate and discuss elements of an effective writing program with colleagues and my mentor teacher clarified common problems experienced by seasoned teachers implementing writing programs.  
Collaboration in assessing sample writing using The Australian Criterion Scale by Taylor and Allder (2018), provided in the writing workshop, ensured consistency and transparency in evaluating writing tasks. The foundation checklist provided was very easily adapted to individual classroom/student requirements and was used later in the writing program. 
The key ideas derived from the workshop documented in the evidence were later incorporated into the class writing program.