Reader submission

As a teacher or school leader, what are the mental health needs of your students? How do you promote mental health and wellbeing? What would a whole-school approach look like in your own context? Educational and Developmental Psychologist Dr Jane Kirkham shares details of an organisational tool called the ‘Wellbeing Tree’.

In yesterday’s reader submission, Dr Sunaina Sharma and Wendy Lang discussed their high school students’ anxiety over oral presentations. In this second article, the Ontario teachers share 4 strategies they’ve implemented to build the same speaking and listening skills while reducing the stress level.

After noticing their secondary English students were stressed by oral presentations (and coming up with ways to avoid them all together), Ontario educators Dr Sunaina Sharma and Wendy Lang gathered their feedback to find out more, then set about adjusting their teaching, based on a trauma-informed approach.

Teachers at Queensland’s Balmoral State High School have been working with academics to carry out action research into student use of AI tools and their motivation for doing so. In today’s reader submission, Georgia Wignall and Emma Hart share findings from a literature review and student survey.

Steven Kolber is an experienced teacher and has been reflecting on his own practice in relation to the widespread usage of AI. In this reader submission, he explores the importance of human knowledge in the face of generative AI and shares some reflection techniques and tools he has to be found useful not only in this area, but also throughout his 12-year teaching career more broadly.

The study of classic novels is a staple in many secondary English classrooms across the country. In this reader submission, English and History teacher Alec Santucci shares how he has approached including discussion throughout the learning of the classic novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, with his year 11 students – sharing strategies that have proved effective in his own classroom for enhancing student engagement.

As education departments begin to integrate generative artificial intelligence into teaching and learning in schools, Rebecca Collie and Andrew Martin share findings from their research into how teachers value and integrate generative AI in their practice, and the role of school leaders in supporting or thwarting this.

‘As schools implement the next iteration of the Australian Curriculum, the concept of historical significance is consistently alluded to within syllabus documentation.’ In this reader submission, English and History teacher, Alec Santucci, defines ‘historical significance’ and shares some practical methods for promoting historical skills in the classroom.

In today’s reader submission, Anam Javed – Master Teacher in Residence for Technologies at the Victorian Academy of Teacher and Leadership – provides an overview of design thinking, including 2 illustrative examples, and shares some misconceptions of the approach.

At St Joseph’s Primary School, teachers have had time to better understand how to effectively support each student to be intellectually, behaviourally, emotionally and socially engaged as learners. In last week's article, 3 teachers shared more about this opportunity and in today’s article 2 foundation teachers explain how they’ve benefited from examining their own practice.