TEACHERS ARE LEARNERS TOO
A key component of being a committed educator is the need to continually reflect on our practice, seek feedback from our colleagues and students and engage in professional learning opportunities to develop our skills and knowledge. Teachers at Annesley view themselves as learners and are always looking at the best ways to support students to develop their skills, strengths and passions to create belonging and impact.
On Monday 24th April, before students returned to school, our ELC and Primary Teaching Teams were learners! It was my privilege to co-facilitate a professional learning day with Steph Bates, our Base 4 Mentor and Coordinator of Year 3-6. Our focus for the day was on strategies to build confident learners by cultivating healthy, emotional self -awareness and management, strong positive relationships and our personal intentions and skills to self-manage. Teachers, as learners practiced self-awareness by reflecting on their practice using the Australian Teacher Standards, a set of guidelines that help teachers improve their practice and ensure that they are meeting the needs of their students. We made connections with the standards to evaluate our practices to elevate the social and emotional learning of our students to build their self-confidence, enjoyment of learning and minimise the fears around taking a risk to learn.
Teachers learnt about the power of circles as an instructional model to connect students with each other and their environment. Circle routines are nurturing classroom practices that support student engagement, build wellbeing and create positive classroom communities. The use of Welcome Circles as a part of the morning meeting has now become a common practice amongst classrooms. The Welcome Circle is used to prepare students to be ready to learn by using intentional strategies to evoke positive emotions which prime students for open, flexible and engaged thinking so that they can be ready to learn.
Annesley teachers are not only committed educators but great people who acknowledge that the foundation for learning stems from strong and positive relationships. They are open to self-reflection and improvement to ensure that our learners can flourish in the world. I am so proud to be a part of a true learning community.
Sharyn Darrell
Director of Primary
