“As a teacher I must inspire an interest in learning, ensure my students succeed and promote the potential of the children I teach.”

Lara Ronalds A snapshot at work in Education

October 2009 Volume 1, Issue 1

I am a highly knowledgeable and creative teacher with 15 years of experience in a variety of educational settings. (Urban and rural schools, state and private education, single-sex and co-ed settings, traditional and contemporary approaches to teaching and learning). Throughout this time I have held positions of responsibility. I am committed to helping children learn at their optimum and have a thorough understanding of the different ways children learn and develop. My creative, professional and organized approach to teaching, and my commitment to student achievement both academically and emotionally, have contributed to my success as a teacher. I have a working understanding of the Victorian Education Learning Standards. I am committed to utilizing the information gained from reporting and assessment to develop programs that will truly assist a student’s progress. My rich experience in a variety of schools means that I understand and value a differentiated curriculum and I have the ability to teach children to value themselves and to have a true love of learning. I believe highly in childhood and the need for all children to relate to learning individually and to experience intrinsic success. This allows them to truly value their

My Belief in Education

strengths whilst improving their weaknesses. Thus contributing to a greater sense of personal wellbeing for my students. I have high-level communication skills both orally and written and I am experienced in public speaking to the school community and to fellow teachers. I believe that a school is a community and the need to be a team player is vital. I am pro-active and I respect highly the need to work consultatively with others in developing programs, curriculum documents and policy documents. Working together helps to ensure that students receive the best opportunity to learn and succeed

Meeting the Individual needs of Students

My first teaching job at Preshil- The Margaret Lyttle Memorial School launched me into learning to deal with and enhance the needs of students learning individually. There is always a student with special needs in an average class and I have experience dealing with students, in wheelchairs, with severe emotional needs, students on the Autism spectrum and diagnosed cases of ADHD or physical needs such as Diabetes and Epilepsy. Consequently I have learned that I must accommodate their needs into every aspect of classroom practise. I accept that I must learn about their individual needs and that it is my role as a teacher to make my classroom, supportive and accepting of difference, I take pride in nurturing an environment that allows all students freedom and support.

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Lara Ronalds Page 2 of 2

After teaching for 16 years and experiencing a variety of teaching environments I would have to say the proudest moments in my career have been based on seeing students succeed. In 1999 I worked in NSW at a small country school with students from very low socio economic backgrounds. I had 32 Preps and I had children in my class whose families were

My Proud Moment as a Teacher

During my time at Spensley Street Primary School and learning about and implementing the Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum I planned and delivered two interactive units that incorporated all aspects of the curriculum. I was teaching a multi-age group of children Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 and within this class I had several children with, learning difficulties, ranging from delayed physical skills, Aspergers Syndrome, ADHD and delayed acquisition of literacy skills. Due to the need to plan a program that was play-based and individual I allowed the children to plan their own town in the classroom. We began by establishing town planners and this led to planning roads, structures, businesses and a governing system. The children chose their own role and then began to create and develop their own place in Kid’s Town. My role was to incorporate all literacy, integrated studies and numeracy into their experience. For example, one child wanted to govern the road system, so I made sure he read information about roads, asked him to write a driver’s test, score the tests and set up a driver’s license for each child. To further utilise the opportunity to

KID’S TOWN and KIDS AIRLINE

under investigation by the Department of Human Services. Having so many little people in my care with such diverse needs made this year a true challenge in ensuring social/emotional welfare and academic improvement. It was the most challenging year as I was committed to ensuring that each child should succeed despite difficulties outside of school. The sense of satisfaction at completing the year and seeing that my students and their families had benefited from my effort made it all worthwhile.

incorporate Maths I asked him to collect data and graph his results and helped him to set up a simple spreadsheet of results. This unit became a whole term of work and allowed us to authentically explore many aspects of the curriculum and our local community. The following year we spent a term on a structured unit learning about countries around the world and our family heritage. The following term we made a plane and set up Kid’s Airline. Once again students found their choice of role; pilot, travel agent, customs officer and one child chose to be a taxi driver. All of the students needed to research their role and incorporate their knowledge into what they made and did as a part of Kid’s Airline. Our travels on Kid’s Airline allowed us to further explore and consolidate the previous terms work about other countries and cultures. This unit allowed me to plan an excursion to Tullamarine Airport and invite members of the community to speak and share their industry with the student’s. Most importantly WE all had so much fun learning and exploring the world of knowledge whilst practising skills with an intrinsic and creative passion.