MY PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
About Me
My journey to teaching is one that is different to most. After completing numerous traineeships and working in various full time roles, I decided I wanted to find a more fulfilling role where I felt that I could make a difference. Growing up nurturing my younger brothers, the decision to choose Primary Education was an easy one.
I sing and play guitar and have performed regularly in various bands and as a solo artist. I have also played cricket for many years, and have experience coaching junior teams through my younger brothers.
Practicums
Macarthur Adventist College, Macquarie Fields – Year 1
St Clares Catholic Primary School, Narellan Vale - Year 3
St Justin’s Catholic Primary, Oran Park – Year 1 (Handwriting Intervention Program)
St Mary's Star of The Sea Catholic Primary School, Hurstville - Kindergarten
St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, Campbelltown - Year 6
My Teaching Philosophy
The backbone of my teaching pedagogy is creating a safe and supportive learning environment, where all students individual learner needs are respected and catered for. As evidenced by Bingham & Sidorkin (2004), safe and supportive classroom environments result in students feeling that they are valued and respected by both their teacher and peers. Furthermore, positive learning environments can be described as ones, which maximise learning for every student and nurture their development as human beings (Harris & Moran, 2012).
Another major component of my teaching pedagogy is building strong relationships with students. By gaining a rapport with students, teachers are able to cater for their students individual learner needs (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). Evidence is continually growing to suggest the strong link between school achievement and teacher-student relationships. Numerous studies have suggested that students who are faced with significant behavioural problems in the early years of their schooling are less prone to face problems later on in their schooling lives, provided that teachers are sensitive to their needs and give them regular and consistent feedback (Pianta, Belsky, Vandergrift, Houts & Morrison, 2008).
My teaching style incorporates the use of SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). During my practicums I have found that setting SMART goals for students have had a positive effect on students progress. Students understand what their end goal is and what they need to do to achieve the set goal, they are realistic and agreed upon when set and most importantly, they are measurable. Ballestros Muñoz & Tutistar Jojoa (2014) state that the setting of SMART goals can have a progressive effect on student's self-efficacy beliefs which ultimately affects positively on their overall performance in learning tasks.
(383 words)