Workable routines

The teacher describes the benefits for her teaching, and for her students' learning, of the time spent in developing systematic approaches to lesson planning and delivery. While her approach is teacher-centred, it is highly structured and has created a positive learning environment where students can achieve success. The teaching and learning strategies that she uses enable her to use her own time more efficiently, make her feel more confidently in control of the learning taking place, and provide her students with predictable routines that they can work and succeed within.

Gordonvale State High School is a rural secondary school located in the southern part of the Cairns district in Queensland. The school has approximately 700 students in years 8 to 12. The teacher of year 9 mathematics inherited a class where a majority of students were convinced of their inability to understand or succeed in this learning area. By adopting a range of teaching and learning strategies, she has significantly increased their engagement and their achievement of learning goals.