LUNCHTIME games, mentoring students and creating engaging lessons were among the reasons Canning Vale College teacher Anita Piccioni was nominated as a Beginning Teacher of the Year.
Since 2014, the multimedia and ICT teacher has brought her passion for photography, IT and game design to class, helping her build excellent relationships with her students based upon common interests, trust and rapport.
The WA Education Awards are an annual event that honour and reward the dedication and passion of staff in public schools who are committed to providing the best possible education to children and young people across Western Australia.
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READ NOWMs Piccioni is among four WA finalists recognised for their commitment to their roles.
She said she was driven to incorporate the technological landscape into her classes.
“My focus is to harness the importance of utilising technology in the classroom to help students explore concepts relevant to our changing world,” she said.
Ms Piccioni’s expertise has led her to present at local universities and later this year she will be travelling to Kathmandu University in Nepal, where she and a colleague will present at the first International Conference on Transformative Education Research.
She has also been selected as one of two teachers at Canning Vale College who are being trained intensively to enable them to provide one-on-one coaching for all staff at the school to harness the power of Apple devises to improve student learning.
Head of department Aaron White commented on her ability to improve curriculum and build the capacity of others.
“For a beginning teacher, Anita has demonstrated a high quality of leadership. She will share her experience with other staff and up skill them where appropriate,” he said.
“It has been (said) teachers can learn more from her in a classroom than any one hour professional development session.”
The winner of 2016 Beginning Teacher of the Year will be announced at an award presentation ceremony on Monday November 28.