A welcome for two student teachers

Do you have anything in common with the student teachers?

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

What is your favourite animal?

I also have dogs as a favourite but I love finding native animals to photograph.

What’s your favourite colour?

Blue just like Miss Hannan.

Is this the only time you have been a student teacher?

When I was a student teacher (wow, was it 35 years ago?) at this time of the year I had only visited two schools but this time of year I had my first longer session on a class. It was a Year 6. Those children would now be about 46 or 47 and many would be grandparents. My second and last session before qualifying as a teacher was in Year 4.

What’s your favourite CAFE strategy?

I’m different here because I like expanding vocabulary. Expanded vocabulary gives our writing greater word power although when I was a student teacher CAFÉ was only a place to go if you wanted a coffee.

What do you like about teaching?

I agree with Miss Hannan and Miss Paul's choices. Additionally, I liked having fun in class. We can learn so much when we’re happy.  When we laugh and take part in great activities, our minds are very active and take in so much.

How many years have you been at Deakin University?

There is great similarity here as I also gained a degree before taking an education course. I attended Sydney University to gain a Bachelor of Science degree before training as a primary school teacher. While I could have been a high school maths/science teacher, I preferred primary school because it allowed me to teach music, art, craft, history, social studies, maths, science, literacy and computing. Primary school was a perfect choice for someone who enjoys so many subjects.

What grade do you want to teach and what would the name be?

Wow, what a choice. Over the years I have had classes from Prep to Year 6 and, while a uni student, tutored maths for Year 11 and 12. My favourite tended to be whatever class I had at the time but my most common classes when teaching were Year 3 and 4. My classes were normally called 4M or 4R.

What are your hobbies?

Like Miss Hannan, I enjoy photography but I didn’t play netball and, even though I can walk to the beach in about 15 minutes, I haven’t gone surfing. I have helped with out local surf club’s Special Nippers as their photographer.

Like Miss Paul, I love art and walking but I don’t run. My favourite exercise is walking through one of our local national parks or our nature reserve.

What is your favourite subject?

My favourite subject was school. I liked all subjects but, if I had to choose something, I might choose serendipity (told you I liked expanding vocabulary). Serendipity is a happy accident or pleasant surprise. Some of my best teaching/learning experiences came when the class or I saw something unexpected and wanted to learn more.

If you got to go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I like both Miss Hannan and Miss Paul’s choices. I haven’t been to New York nor have I been to Western Australia. My favourite country other than Australia is New Zealand. I have been there many times and particularly like the Rotorua, Tongariro and White Island areas because I am interested in volcanoes and thermal areas. Next would be Hawaii because of its magnificent volcanoes. My favourite cities would be Paris, London and Edinburgh but, if I get to New York, this may change. 🙂

What do you like about our blog?

Miss Hannan: I like that you can communicate with other classes around the world.

Miss Paul: I like the fact that all the students are so involved.

Miss Hannan and Miss Paul are right on the mark here. Blogging is a great way to be in the global classroom and share with students you might never have met otherwise. 4KJ and 4KM know how much I like blogging and particularly commenting.  Now is your time to make sure Miss Hannan and Miss Paul become blogging converts and carry the message to other schools.

@RossMannell

Teacher, NSW, Australia

2 thoughts on “A welcome for two student teachers

  1. Miss Paul

    Dear Ross Mannell,

    It was very interesting to read your post. I liked hearing about your interests in teaching and how we both share some similarities. Miss Hannan and I are really enjoying our time at Leopold Primary School, the students are so wonderful and welcoming.

    I also enjoyed your picture of the Koala you posted. Maha told me that you like photography, I can see that you are very talented!

    Thankyou for the post.

    From Miss Paul

    Reply
  2. Skye

    Dear Ross,

    What a marvellous post! I enjoyed reading it and learning a bit more about you. You have put a lot of effort into it.

    Here are some things I have in common with you:

    My favourite animal is a dog like you, Miss Hannan and MIss Paul.

    My favourite CAFE strategy is ‘Expand Vocabulary.’

    I would like to travel to New York and travel to some states in Australia, especially Northen Territory because there’s warm weather there.

    I like taking photos like you and Miss Hannan. I have a camera at home and love taking photos. My papa has a camera and takes his camera everywhere. He takes photos of animals on the tv.

    Got to go,
    Skye 😀

    Reply

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