Our last teacher to be showcased is Trevor Dawson from The Riverina Anglican College. 

Name: Trevor Dawson. 

School: TRAC. 

Grades and subjects taught: agricultural teacher. 

1. Why did you become a teacher? 

I was ready for a career change and I had been in the agricultural industry my whole like, mainly in advisory and consultative role. I was frustrated by a role where I had to think for other people.

When I was approached by the college, I thought I could enjoy teaching students how to think critically and solve problems and I’m glad I did.

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

My dog had nine puppies and she only has eight teats, so mum made me stay up rotating the puppies around the teats every hour.

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

It was in front of the whole school and the principal was asking for a student to come up from the crowd and I was a the front of the assembly. But, I only heard the first name of the student he wanted, and retrieved a totally different student with the same name, from outside and presented him to the principal in front of a whole school assembly.

4. What do you love most about your job? 

I get to teach in an outdoor environment that has a lot of co-curricular programs. I can bring my farming, agronomy, and consulting experience to the classroom, I teach a subject I am passionate about, and I teach students that love the subject.

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

A Year 11 student asked: why is that cow seeing out it’s belly?

6. Who’s harder to keep in line – parents or children? 

Neither. I think it’s a matter of approach - neither are difficult if you approach from a position of equality.

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

I don’t have a plan b. Set the rules because you mean to stick to them.  If you worry that they will be hard to manage they’ll sense it…like a bloodhound.

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

Maths.  

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

It allows me to bring the outside world into the classroom, and also the classroom into the outside learning environment.

Classroom technology is only part of the picture. The technology available to the agricultural industry is amazing and I like to include as much of this in my teaching as I can.

10. What’s the biggest change you’ve witnessed during your teaching career? 

The amount of administration work a teacher is expected to tend to had increased exponentially over the 9 years I have been teaching. It is impossible not to stay up late to get it all done.

AND

When I  arrived 9 years ago, we had our share of ratbags and hard to discipline students, but over my 9 years our student culture has evolved into a caring and sharing community of students.