BEST IN CLASS
TOP TEACHERS AS NOMINATED BY YOU
Kirsten Bacon Kate Peacock — Elizabeth College
HAVING a single student nominate you for a Top Teacher award is an indication you’re doing a great job.
But when you receive several nominations from students, it’s a sure sign you’re making a positive difference in their lives.
Elizabeth College teacher Kirsten Bacon has been applauded by her Year 11 and 12 students for her “positivity”, her “patience” and the “extra effort” that she puts in, going “above and beyond” to support the learning and wellbeing of students.
The VET hospitality and cookery teacher has been communicating with students online in recent weeks, sending them newsletters and recipes to encourage them to cook at home, and also to practise gratitude.
Ms Bacon said even before COVID-19 she enjoyed getting students to complete gratitude tasks in class, and this had become even more important during a period of isolation.
She has been setting a weekly gratitude activity for students, who have been encouraged to set goals, to stop and appreciate good things that happen in their lives each day, and to personally thank people they feel have helped them or have had a positive impact on their lives. They have been writing in journals, sending letters and texts, and creating gratitude memes, among other exercises.
The Kingston Beach teacher said it was an anxious and unsettling time for many students, so it was important to focus on mental health and wellbeing as part of online learning.
She said there were some aspects of online learning which had worked really well for the 50-60 students she had been teaching — including a weekly newsletter she had been sending to students — which she hoped to continue when students returned to the classroom.
A teacher for 30 years, she said she still loved her job as much as ever, and particularly loved the supportive environment at Elizabeth College where she had taught for the past four years.
Meanwhile, her colleague Kate Peacock has also been nominated, for being a great teacher who “is always there when we need her, inside and outside the classroom’’.
The business studies and sport and recreation teacher has been a teacher for seven years, working most of that time at Elizabeth College.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you’re really making a difference,’’ said Ms Peacock, of Geilston Bay.
“It’s easy to get caught up in getting the job done and getting through the year, so it’s nice to take a moment to stop and realise what I’m doing really does make a difference.’’