As you have seen in this presentation, the QCT have a number of responsibilities with respect to Queensland teachers. Take some time to review the Professional Boundaries document and also take a look at the Code of Ethics for Queensland Teachers. Are there any aspects of either of these documents that you find challenging or interesting.

I would be very keen to hear your views. Also feel free to ask any questions you may have about either document or the functions of the Queensland College of Teachers.

Hi everyone and welcome to our EDM8004 blog site. As you may have seen in the Assessment area on StudyDesk, our course is going to help pilot a new ePortfolio platform (CampusPress) this semester. I am excited to be doing this as I will be learning alongside you, developing my own ePortfolio using the same platform.

As part of the trial, I thought it might be nice for us to have a place to share our thoughts about each week’s Industry Presentation. This goes beyond the assessment task, to actually talking about the implications of each presentation for you as a beginning (or soon to be beginning) teacher.

This week’s presentation was by the two education unions in Queensland. The QTU supporting governmental school teachers and the Independent Education Union, supporting those in other schools.

I was a QTU member throughout my career. For me, it was insurance against litigation. However, for me as a young teacher and someone not politically minded, I had always seen unions as a bit unsavoury and militant. Having said that, I most certainly benefited from the union’s cause and saw a raft of improvements due to their influence.

As a principal though, I was sort of caught between a rock and a hard place. When there were strikes, for example, someone had to be at school to look after the students that came in. I also had a young family and mortgage and could not afford to lose a day’s pay.

I’d love to hear your experiences and opinions. Please reply to this post if you would like to join the conversation.

OneSchool is the Department of Education’s student data management application and is used in all State School in Queensland.

David discusses a range of uses for OneSchool and highlights how it can aide teachers in fully understanding their class and the data that is collected about students.

What are your thoughts of the software and how you might use it in the future?

I can very clearly remember my first year as a teacher in Far North Queensland in the early 1990’s. As it was so very far away from my home here in Toowoomba and such a very different community to what I was accustom to, it took me a great deal of time to settle in.

Thankfully, the class I had were beautiful (if not challenging) and I was very much able to throw myself into the teaching aspect of my life. I was also lucky to have a principal who made efforts to include me in the community in a variety of ways.

But it was very isolating and very lonely. I did not cope very well with this aspect of existence and struggled at times personally. For you, what are the key things that you can do to help you support yourself as a beginning teacher? What are your concerns? Share your ideas about what you think your first year will look like.

Teacher Aides are one of the most valuable resources within schools. how they are used directly impacts on Teacher Aide effectiveness and largely, teacher are not provided with clear guidelines or training in their effective use.

As a beginning teacher, I was provided with a full-time teacher aide from day one of my career. I had absolutely no idea how to use this valuable resource and for the first few weeks, did not plan for or include her in the day to day running of my classroom. This was no reflection on her, but rather a reflection of my own insecurity as a beginning teacher and having no idea what it was a teacher aide could do.

Melissa discusses a range of issues in relation to the effective use of Teacher Aides and strategies to develop positive relationships with them. What did you take from the presentation? What are your own experiences to date with or as a teacher aide?

There is a lot to take in from this presentation! But, classroom management is one of the biggest concerns facing pre-service and beginning teachers alike.

What for you stands out about what was presented here? For you, what is the key to a successful and harmonious classroom? Share with your colleagues your approaches and philosophy in relation to this very important topic.

In this week’s presentation, my friend and colleague, Mark Butlin, discusses some of the key aspects of the law that teachers need to be aware of.

During my career, I was very lucky not to have had any legal proceedings brought against me or any of my teachers. This does not, however, mean that things did not take place that could have led to such proceedings, particularly in terms of injury to students or supervision matters.

What particularly concerns you in relation to legal matters and being a teacher? Do you have any key concerns?

For me, this is one of the most important and shocking of the presentations done during the semester. The statistics are mind boggling and it only goes to assure me that each and every one of your will be teaching children who have or are suffering from abuse.

It isn’t just about knowing your roles and responsibilities about reporting. It is about how you can build the self-esteem of your students and arm them with the skills and knowledge they need to avoid being victims of abuse or to have the courage to speak out if they are being abused.

I would love to hear your comments on this issue and what role you believe teachers have in this area.

This week, the Queensland Department of Education talk about teaching in state sector in Queensland. There are a number of opportunities discussed and many benefits or working with DET outlined.

I would like you to consider your own situation and your thoughts about where it is you would like to start teaching and what enablers and barriers exist for you in terms of the rural, regional and remote employment opportunities discussed in this session.

This week’s sessions are provided by members of the Capability and Integrity Unit (formerly Ethical Standards) of the Department of Education. In general terms, as a teacher, you do not ever want to hear from these guys. It means you are in strife.

There are two distinct topics this week. The first looks at how teachers use social media and what is and is not appropriate. Some might think these topics somewhat obvious. Data would disagree. Social Media is the leading cause of investigations in recent years.

I look back and thank my lucky starts that there was no such thing when I was a beginning teacher…Yes, I have been teaching THAT long. In fact, even now I have a very limited social media presence and post to that platform rarely. If you must have it, you need to look very carefully at what it portrays about you and how parents and students might perceive your social media presence should they find it. What did you take from this session? What are you unsure about? What steps are you going to take or have you taken?

The second part of the session is around obligations of state school teachers with respect to the Code of Conduct for Queensland Government employees, and the Standard of Practice that helps contextualise this broad document for teachers.

What areas were news to you? Which ones concern you or do you feel may impact you during your career?