Skills & Strengths

Socratic Pedagogy

I take pride in designing questions which catch student interest, focus inquiry, guide discussions towards fruitful areas, challenge students at the individual level and provide prompts for better metacognitive habits.
I avoid spoon-feeding information to students, but design questions which will nudge their thought process such that they enjoy the satisfaction of reasoning the way to the answers for themselves.
I encourage students to base their self-confidence on the strength of their ability to reason their way to a good answer, rather than the uncertain and sometimes embarrassing fact of whether or not they happen to already know the ‘right answer’ to a question.

Purposeful and Coherent Unit Design

I design units of learning around outcome objectives and guiding questions which inform every activity, lesson and assignment according to the principle of explicit, purposeful ‘visible learning’.
My unit plans are content-rich, adaptable and highly expandable, informed by a wide base of knowledge with many possible avenues for further exploration based on student interest.
I carefully reflect on how I can improve all the units I deliver.
I maintain high standards in both the materials which I create personally and those I curate from other sources.
An example of a novel study unit I developed, along with notes on how I developed and improved it, is available here.
Examples of resources I have personally designed are available here.

Thoughtful Use of Time

I think carefully about how I can use classtime most effectively, and am firmly committed to avoiding wasting my students’ time unnecessarily.
For this reason I make sure that every class activity is effectively aligned to the key learning outcomes that will be assessed.
I maintain consistent expectations about how students will prepare for all classes, to minimise related disruptions.
I work to anticipate and minimise interruptions such as technological glitches and smoothly transition between activities so that learning is not interrupted.

Focus on the Individual Learner

I observe students carefully to be able to identify where they are on their educational journey and how I can help them take the next step.
I look for higher order thinking skills and always seek to challenge students to take their reasoning to the next level, including taking a step back and creating extra scaffolding for anyone who has fallen behind.
I refuse to reinforce a ‘fixed mindset’ by thinking in terms of ‘A’ students, ‘C’ students, etc.; I believe that every student can improve their performance and accept responsibility for helping them to.
I am experienced in guiding independent inquiry in both the SACE Research Project and a specialised ‘Project-Based Learning’ class, and am confident in guiding any student through fruitful research tailored to their own interests.
I set every student both short-term and long-term goals when writing feedback to make sure they can track their own learning effectively.

Psychological Perspective

I incorporate insights from positive psychology into my daily practice.
I believe that whole-student wellbeing is key to academic success, and diligently raise concerns with other staff whenever appropriate.
I am guided by the three identified psychological motivators, ‘autonomy, mastery and purpose’, in working to ensure that students are driven to engage with the work I give them.
I seek to apply growing knowledge of personality types and behaviour patterns in order to understand individual students and identify the best interventions for problem behaviour and learning difficulties.

Constantly Expanding Knowledgebase

I can draw on a great breadth and depth of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences which help to inform everything that I teach.
I am constantly expanding this body of knowledge.
I am an avid collector of all kinds of informational resources.
I am especially confident in teaching English literature, writing skills and technique, grammar, text analysis, media analysis, film, ancient and modern history, source analysis, government and civics, world politics, economics, psychology and social science, critical thinking and philosophy.
I eagerly embrace the challenge of immersing myself in less familiar topics and determining how to teach them effectively.

Technological Sense

I can create, edit and manage video resources, websites and online classrooms.
I constantly grow my repertoire of ICT tools, while maintaining a respect for the times and places where physical tools are the most suitable.
I avoid gimmickry in using novel technological resources, and make sure there is real value in the approach that I choose to use.
I anticipate technological problems that I can and can quickly improvise to deal with emergent glitches.

Commitment to a Shared Vision

I am energised by sessions of professional development and peer collaboration, which I never find to be an encroachment on my time, but rather a refreshing opportunity for reflection and strategic planning that adds value to everything I do.
I appreciate being part of an educational community; as I believe that shared culture and values are paramount to the success of any social endeavour, I strive to be a constructive contributor to the shared vision of my school.
I seek effective collaborative relationships with my peers, including opportunities to learn from each other.
I especially value participating in team efforts and whole-school initiatives.