Staff
'Shine a Light' on...
‘Shine the Light' on staff is a new addition to the newsletter, which will provide our College community a snapshot into the professional lives of our teachers and what makes them ‘tick’ on a daily basis. Whilst we know that our staff do an amazing job, it is not as often that we publicly acknowledge they work that they do and the many wonderful ways that they contribute to the learning journeys of our students.
This week we have spoken with Dr Sarah Avitabile and Sarah Chuck both members of our Science department and discussed their recent successful application to participate in the STAV Toyota Excellence in STEM Teaching Communities of Practice Project.
Tanya Kolb
Assistant Principal:
Staff
Sarah Chuck and Dr Sarah Avitabile
1 - What STEM Unit are you planning with the assistance of the STAV Toyota Excellence in STEM Teaching Communities of Practice Project?
Funded by the Toyota Foundation, the program aims to support STEM educators to strengthen their STEM teaching skills through engagement in a community or practice. The program involves a blended model of professional development with both face-to-face and online learning modules, as well as a final showcase of participant projects.
We are planning to develop a new STEM project in the Year 9 Global Systems Unit. In this unit, students explore global warming and climate change, learning about the natural processes and the effect of human activities. We will plan and develop the new STEM activity during our participation in the STAV Toyota Excellence in STEM Teaching Communities of Practice project, and our idea at this early stage is to design and build solar ovens. We hope that the students will be able to build ovens that can cook something without electricity!
2 - What originally inspired you to become a Science teacher and what motivates you now?
Sarah Avitabile - I have taken the long road to becoming a teacher. After secondary school, I became a nurse and worked in pediatric and palliative care nursing for many years. After deciding to change careers, I completed a Science degree which led to further study, and ultimately to completing a PhD in Fire Ecology. While working at La Trobe University, I found that I loved teaching and was interested in secondary teaching as it allowed me to have more continuity with students and build better relationships. Going into teaching, teaching Science to girls was always my focus. I have been inspired by people I have worked with in Science and have seen the exciting possibilities a science education can offer students. There is always something new in Science to learn about and to teach, and new students to help discover their interests and passions.
Sarah Chuck - When I completed my VCE, I was the only female student in my Physics and Specialist Mathematics classes. After getting a disappointing mark on one assessment task, my teacher asked me whether I played golf. I didn’t. Clearly, not being able to come up with a more suitable analogy, he proceeded to tell me that my mark on this assessment was like a par, when I could achieve a birdie. I didn’t know what this meant, and I still don’t!
I experienced similar feelings of isolation and disillusionment during my time working as a laboratory technician. The lack of female role models in STEM was a big reason why I left the industry and decided to pursue teaching. I hope that I can inspire my students to be curious and inquisitive participants in life and build their confidence in STEM content and skills to enable them to become the role models I never had.
3 - What is the most rewarding part of teaching Science at Kilbreda College?
Every member of the Science team at Kilbreda is willing to go above and beyond to deliver an engaging and innovative Science curriculum. We work exceptionally well as a team and derive enormous satisfaction from working together to continually improve our practice. Being able to express new ideas and suggest new ways of teaching or assessing, knowing that our colleagues will be supportive and open to trying new things, is extremely rewarding. We would simply not be able to undertake opportunities like this without the support and encouragement of our colleagues.
The students at Kilbreda are also fantastic to work with. They are willing to try new things and strive to do their best. As teachers, it is rewarding to present new activities and learning experiences to students and watch them embrace these with enthusiasm and use them to understand the concepts and applications of a variety of scientific disciplines. We also know that they will give honest and informative feedback!