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Many years ago I read a parable that has resurfaced many times in different shapes and forms, both in my personal life as well as in my professional life. ‘A man walked past a branch and saw a cocoon that was expanding and contracting. It seemed as if it was struggling to get out. The man decided to ‘help’ the butterfly inside along and cut the cocoon thus freeing it from it’s struggle. The butterfly was free, but alas, it was unable to fly. The man, in trying to help the ‘trapped’ butterfly inadvertently prevented the natural process of development where oxygen would have been pumped into it’s wings, with the struggle creating a strength that was needed for survival….’

At the school where I teach, I am fortunate enough to be with one group of children for two years where we travel from Prep to Grade one together. At the beginning of their Prep year, I am always greeted by a group of fresh, eager and sometimes anxious five year olds, ready to commence their first year of school and embark on a new learning journey. For two years, I get to observe them grow and develop as a community. Within this community, the children learn how to develop trusting and respectful relationships with one another, as well as their teachers. They learn that in order for these relationships to strengthen, they require a set of values, or expectations to be followed in order for us all to work together cooperatively. Building these expectations takes time and consideration based on the needs of our community. They require purposeful modelling and support, and they take perseverance and encouragement.

As an educator, one of the best gifts we can give our students lies not just in the passing on of knowledge and information but in resourcing and combining the skills of others, which in turn enhances the talents of each individual. Our shared abilities generate a creative force stronger than the individual can produce alone. The goals of the art enrichment program are to develop these skills through consultation and collaboration. The more links we can make for students, in as many ways as possible, the richer their educational and artistic experience. Pivotal to the development of this program is the way in which it is consciously extended into other areas of the curriculum, into our school community and further into the public arena.

It starts with a blank wall in the classroom. I have a feeling of trepidation and a touch of uncertainty. For the students at this stage there is little or no awareness of what is about to happen. The students look at the wall and wonder what it is for. Others walk past without even a cursory glance. Again I think, well here goes. This will be a learning curve for the students and for me. It is now a time of sink or swim but if I’m asking my students to be risk-takers and open minded, then I too have to be a risk-taker and open-minded and try something new with a new class.

"Sometimes happiness is a blessing, but generally it is a conquest. Each day's magic moment helps" - Paolo Coelho

My head is swimming. The year is but two weeks old and I have met with, phoned or received extensive letters from no less than seven groups of parents. I’m teaching Year 6 this year, after two years with Year 1 and I naively thought that these parents would be so much less maintenance than previously; that Year 1 parents had every reason to be that way and that Year 6 would pale by comparison. How wrong am I? In addition to this, I had not realised the significant emotional needs of a Year 6 co-educational class. Previously I have taught only boys at this level and the challenge of both sexes is presenting a whole new range of issues.

Just between you and I, if you had asked me three years ago how my teaching was going I would have said it was great. I am teaching Prep (the first year of school), which I love, the children are making lots of progress and I think I know what I am talking about. But if you were to ask me now, I would say that I have learnt more in the last three years to improve my own teaching and the learning that occurs in my classroom than the previous six years combined! I am sure this is due to my participation in the Independent Schools of Victoria, Writing Stories Project.

For a rule of thumb, when learners feel that they have a choice about where they focus their attention and just how they proceed, they are more likely to show intrinsic motivation and, along with this, broader and deeper learning. Perkins, Di (2009)

The belief that choice as an intrinsic motivator for learning has been a driving factor in the way I teach and present information to students for many years. From setting up learning centres which offer choice of activities, to offering individual research projects where students choose the questions they’d like to research, to numeracy groupings where students select whether they’d like ‘help please’, are ‘ready for a challenge’ or are ‘perfecting their practice’ and group themselves accordingly. I have pushed this belief with my colleagues and have advocated that choice makes students ‘own their learning.’

Recently Evie in Year One greeted me “Womin Jeka Ms. Morgan”. I was thrilled - the use of the greeting used by the peoples of the Kulin Nation represented the establishment of a cultural link between Evie, 7, from Mornington and the Boon Wurrung People who have lived on the Peninsula for maybe 40 thousand years.

As a classroom teacher on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, in 2012, like many teachers, I am working to include Indigenous Perspectives more consistently, more purposefully and more authentically in the thinking and learning that happens in my classroom. I want to develop enduring awareness of our First People’s thinking and learning in my Year One students.

The most powerful single moderator that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be "dollops of feedback" -- providing information how and why the child understands and misunderstands, and what directions the student must take to improve (Hattie, 2008i)

Why feedback?

At the end of each lesson I look over at the pile of books that lie in the corrections box with a mixture of frustration and urgency. Immediate feedback is essential; however, I wonder if I have successfully analysed the quality of the feedback I give. Is the time spent poring over student work books the best use of my time? Are students benefiting from my feedback? How can I ensure my feedback is looked at by students and used to move their learning forward? Despite my many questions I am certain that feedback is crucial to teaching and learning. and I want to examine how the giving and receiving of feedback could be improved in my classroom.