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Hannah Alyce Weiss - Personal Statement

My passion and inspiration for teaching was first recognised whilst volunteering as a teaching aid in a
third world country when I was 21. This remarkable experience helped me realise and understand the
importance of versatility in education and fostered my passion for quality education, reinforcing my
choice of education as a career.

Experiencing a country and people, such as Cambodia, who live on simple essentials and to whom
education was so highly valued was a fulfilling life experience. Seeing the difference I, as a teacher,
could make was so rewarding and satisfying, realising the power, value and meaning of education. It
was this experience that provided me with the passion, the need and the want to be a teacher.

One of my main strengths making me a quality teacher, is my ability to build positive, trusting and
respectful relationships with students, colleagues and parents. I find being approachable, friendly and
treating all students equally, allows me to establish a positive rapport with all students, additionally
getting to know students and taking an interest in their individual learning. I have a firm belief in
fostering and maintaining strong home-school links with parents/guardians, as I believe parental
involvement is a key element in students learning and teacher understanding. Additionally,
establishing and maintaining professional and collegial relationships is essential to developing a
sound school community, providing opportunities for collegial learning, which as a graduate teacher
is fundamental to the development and progression of my teaching abilities.

My ethos for the classroom strongly encourages students to express their ideas and suggestions, as I
believe it is extremely important for them to have control of their own learning. I also believe that it is
important to create a learning environment fostering enquiry based learning; I consider this to be a
vital part in developing the individuals potential and in preparing students for life and work within a
global society.

Furthermore, my responsibility as a teacher spreads further than the classroom and it is important to
become involved within the whole school community, especially through extra-curricular activities. I
believe that extra-curricular activities are very important in student development. I am flexible to meet
the schools needs and would relish the opportunity to continue working with students in extra-
curricular activities.

I understand that students are individuals and arrive at school with their own virtual schoolbag, as a
teacher it is important to acknowledge and incorporate these differences into my teaching, through a
variety of teaching styles, methodologies and models. I place huge importance in providing learning
experiences to students that build upon their knowledge and understanding. I integrate ICT within my
classrooms to support and enhance student learning, through the use of interactive white boards, the
internet, digital presentations, digital cameras, IPads/IPods, applications, and voice and video
recorders. I am constantly looking for ways to improve upon my teaching through the usage of a wide
range of innovative and valuable learning tools, as I understand that what works for one individual
may not work for another and professional development enables me to educate effectively to all
students.

Best practice, to me, is having a passion for quality education and inspiring passion to students. I have
discovered through my own teaching that if students are inspired to learn, they are more likely to
retain content as they are motivated and interested in what they are learning. I have high and realistic
expectations of every student, to enable them to reach their full potential and to behave in a suitable
manner. This can be achieved by providing students with quality learning experiences, which are both
stimulating and interesting. To achieve this all my units, lessons and assessments were planned in
accordance with the Australian Curriculum, along with the Teaching for Effective Learning (TfEL)
Framework. As a reflective practitioner, I regularly evaluate lessons to analyse improvements,
progress and achievement. I have found that reflecting on my lesson plans and class observations has
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helped me to identify misconceptions and allowed me to adapt my teaching strategies and plans for
future lessons.

Having completed a Mandatory Reporting course and in attaining a certificate in Child Safe
Environments I have a commitment to making my classroom environment a safe place, which exhibits
safe work practices and policies to ensure the safety and comfort of my students. Developing an
environment in the classroom where the students feel safe, supported and challenged is what I aim to
achieve in all of my classes. I believe this environment fosters students learning, helps students to
develop and grow as individuals, develops students character, resilience and personal integrity. I
have developed effective behaviour management strategies, which have a fair and positive approach. I
have a sound understanding of school safe work practices including OHS&W including policies
specific to my teaching areas, such as Outdoor Education Safety procedures and policies.

I would be an asset to your school, contributing greatly to its caring and community-spirited ethos. As
a highly motivated, skilled and enthusiastic individual, I feel that I would integrate well into your
establishment and bring with me a positive attitude, new ideas, down to earth nature and the
enthusiasm to benefit students, staff and the wider community.