Life before Girton
- Pharmacy Assistant
- Dance Instructor
- Fitness Instructor/Personal Trainer
- Human Resources and Receptionist at Horsham West Primary School
- Certificate of Teaching – Australian Academy of Dance
- BEd P-10 (Hons) at LaTrobe University
What I Love about Teaching
I love the look on a student’s face when they finally understand something that has been challenging them for a long time.
I also love providing new experiences to students, helping to broaden their understanding of how they fit into such a diverse world. This will hopefully lead them to a fulfilling and rewarding career.
The best thing about teaching at Girton is the range of experiences you can share with students. It’s not limited to teaching and learning inside the classroom, its camps, co-curricular activities, community events. Girton is not just a school it’s a community committed to nurturing great people.
What do you like best about the subject/s you teach?
Science and Maths are not just subjects and content. They are a way of thinking about the world. The wonderful thing about these subjects is that you may not remember the facts and figures but you can learn to think critically and creatively. These are two of the most employable skills in an emerging 21st century workplace.
My favourite classroom activity
One of my favourite lessons is in Year 7 Science, learning about Adaptations and Natural Selection. It starts with a Youtube Clip of a camel rapping about its adaptations, living in the harsh environment of the desert. We then move into an activity where students “become birds” that each have different beak shapes. These “beaks” are a spoon, knife, fork or a skewer. Each small group has a selection of different lollies and they must use their “beaks” to obtain the most lollies. This activity helps students see that certain adaptations are better suited to an animal’s survival and thus better understand the theory of Natural Selection. After that students play an online game called “Who wants to live a million years?” which again helps to reinforce the concept.
What difference can good teaching make?
A good teacher not only knows their subject but also has a passion for it and the craft of teaching. Good teaching opens doors for students that maybe they weren’t looking for but could lead them to a more fulfilling and rich life. Good teaching is about teaching students how to learn, how to fail and how to pick themselves back up so that as they travel through life they are not afraid to try new things. Put simply good teaching allows students to be the best version of themselves they can be.
Other Hats
- Head of Student Orientation
- Senior School Emotional Intelligence Team
- School well-being team
- Dancing
- Movies and Music
- Beekeeping
- Travelling (once upon a time)
- Mother of two gorgeous little ones, Grace (5) and Quincy (3)
- Spending time with friends
