Name: Amanda Barratt. 

School: Ashmont Public School. 

Grades: year three. 

1. Why did you become a teacher? 

I became a teacher because I had three very wonderful and inspiring teachers in primary school, they immersed me in learning and much of what i do in the classroom now is much of what I saw as a student. 

2. What’s the best or worst excuse a student has given for not doing there homework? 

I honestly couldn’t say, because homework for me is a secondary thing. The learning happens in the classroom and the homework is the reinforcement. So I don’t expect excuses or what not, it’s just additional. 

3. What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you in the classroom? 

I don’t get embarrassed. I remember my very first day here, coming straight from the Christmas holidays, I wrote the wrong date on the board and continued the wrong date for a few days afterwards, so I felt a bit silly after that, but I just embrace that sort of thing and have a laugh with the kids. 

4. What do you love most about your job? 

I love seeing the change in the children from the start of the year to the end. They definitely achieve great things throughout the year so seeing them love learning is the biggest thing. Watching them grow, change and achieve and develop confidence within the year. 

5. What has been the biggest change you’ve witnessed during your teaching career? 

Accountability would be the biggest thing, much more paperwork. Crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s to make sure we’re all doing the best job we can. 

6. What’s the funniest question a student has ever asked you? 

The children ask a lot about my own children. We talk a lot about things that happen in the kids’ home and my home, so we do a lot of of comparing. If you’re a parent of a child in my class, I know everything about you. So they ask and tell a lot of funny things. 

7. Who’s harder to keep in line, parents or children?

I would say equally the same, probably the kids from day to day. We have a great group of parents and very approachable community, so I would probably say the children. 

8. What’s your secret to controlling an unruly class? 

Consistency; being firm and fair. But also being friendly, letting the children know that I have very high and clear expectations and just reinforcing that everyday, so they know about our routines. 

9. What’s the one subject you would never want to teach? 0

I don’t think I could quite do extension mathematics. 

10. How has technology transformed the role of a teacher? 

It’s brought another component into the classroom. I started with blackboards and very quickly within the first couple of years of teaching, I moved to smartboards, but I use whiteboards equally as much. I think technology assists, but it’s not the be-all-end-all. It certainly assists but I don’t rely on it at all to teach.