Siobhan:

I'd like to acknowledge that this episode of TeachCast was recorded on the Homelands of the Dharug people. I'd like to pay respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening to TeachCast today.

Opening credits:

Welcome to TeachCast, a podcast by teachers for teachers. I'm Shannon, and I'm Siobhan.

Siobhan:

Welcome back to TeachCast, a podcast by teachers for teachers. We're your hosts, Siobhan and Shannon, and we are here today with a special guest.

Shannon:

Thanks for joining us. We are here today with Aaron, who is also known on social media as Mr J's Learning Space. So thank you so much for coming in, joining us on TeachCast and joining us on the couch. We are really excited, because today, Aaron is here going to share a little bit about his teaching journey. He might touch on his social media, how he uses that to sort of build connections with other teachers around New South Wales and beyond. And just to hear really about his in-classroom experiences and also his leadership journey, so welcome.

Aaron:

Thanks for having me. It's awesome to be here.

Shannon:

Fantastic. We'd love to start off and tell our viewers a little bit about you and your journey into teaching and sort of what that looks like.

Aaron:

Yep, so I am, like I said, Aaron or Mr. J, as some people know me. I have grown up on the Central Coast of New South Wales and as a student, I was a public school student and have never left school. I went to school in public schools. I went to uni and went straight back to teaching in public schools. So I've been teaching, this is my, going into my 16th year of teaching.

Siobhan:

Wow.

Aaron:

I don't know where that time has gone.

Siobhan:

You might be due a certificate soon.

Aaron:

That, four to go, I think I'll get my 20 soon.

Siobhan:

Woo-hoo.

Aaron:

So yeah, 16th year. This year, my 10th year this year in a leadership position as an assistant principal, but it feels like the blink of an eye, yeah.

Shannon:

That's fantastic.

Siobhan:

I love that. So your role currently is?

Aaron:

So currently I am Assistant Principal Curriculum & Instruction. So I started in that role last year and continuing in that role this year. But before that, I was an on-class teaching assistant principal.

Siobhan:

Wonderful.

Shannon:

Fantastic.

Siobhan:

For those who may not know, could you sort of, it is sort of a newly created role, the AP, C&I. Could you explain to those what a day in your life looks like as an AP, C&I?

Aaron:

Yeah, absolutely. So the role is all about supporting teachers through curriculum reform and, you know, implementing new curriculum. So basically a day in my life, usually before school, there's some kind of meeting. So usually I'm at a stage meeting or a staff meeting from the beginning of the day when the bell goes till lunchtime, I'm in classrooms teaching with our teachers. So I'm either modelling lessons, observing team teaching with teachers around literacy and numeracy and best practice and implementing, you know, consistent practices across our classrooms. Then in between that recess and lunch, you'll probably find me out in a playground on duty, just like all of the other teachers. Afternoons and lunchtime is really when I'm in my office doing a lot of the admin planning preparation. So I deliver a lot of the professional learning for our staff. So I'll be preparing that or I'll be working on, you know, supporting our teachers with creating resources or I'm having meetings with our staff one-on-one to talk about different things. That's a typical, you know, day in my life. Different weeks throughout the term, I'll be running planning days with our stages and we'll be, you know, collaboratively planning and pulling apart what we've been doing and reflecting on our practices as well. So yeah, it's busy, but I absolutely love it and I love that every day I'm still in classrooms teaching with kids. I do miss sometimes having my own class, but I love that I'm actually in the position where I had the privilege of being a part of everyone's classroom and working in our classrooms every day.

Shannon:

And I think it's so valuable, you know, someone who's come through a teacher had, a teaching role on class for so many years gone into as an assistant principal role and now in the AP, C&I role. I know from my own experience as a primary school teacher, having my AP, C&I at our school, she had just such a wealth of knowledge in relation to, you know, evidence-informed literacy and numeracy practices that she was able to sort of take the time to develop, you know, how she was going to help me in my classroom and come in and observe me teaching and, you know, I sat down and had chats with her about what I was concerned about or what I wanted some more support with in relation to literacy in my classroom. So I think having someone in that off-class role was so valuable for me as a teacher. So speaking on the other side of the fence from someone who's received that sort of, like, mentorship from an AP, C&I, it's a really valuable position in a school.

Aaron:

Yeah, I think it absolutely is. Having someone who can just have that really clear focus just on curriculum. I know as assistant principals on-class, we do, we still have that focus, but it's busy as well when you take into account all the other things that you're doing in your leadership role as well. But just being able to focus on that curriculum, implementing, you know, evidence-based practice. And I'll be honest and say I am a really big data nerd and I love reading, you know, research and best practice, but also taking that.

Siobhan:

Sounds like you. Kidding.

Siobhan:

Twinning over here.

Shannon:

Yeah, tell me more.

Aaron:

And taking that too, but having that classroom experience and going, 'The theory says this, but also let's talk about what it does actually look like in practice.'

Shannon:

And be real. Be reactive, you know?

Siobhan:

Yep.

Aaron:

On a day when, you know, things don't go to plan, that's okay.

Siobhan:

Or for your school's context even, you know, 'The research says this and it might work well in A, B, and C school, but it might not work well in X, Y, and Z school. So how can we sort of manipulate that to have it fit our school context?'

Aaron:

Yeah, absolutely.

Shannon:

For sure.

Siobhan:

Yeah. I have so much to ask you about, like, the AP, C&I role, how you balance that role, your content creation. But I just want to rewind a little bit and actually get into the crux of why you became a teacher in the first place. I think that's really important to tell a bit about your journey and why teaching?

Aaron:

Yeah, so why teaching? I think the thing for me is I always knew I wanted to work with kids and I wanted to do something that was going to have a positive impact. And I have said before that, first of all, teaching wasn't my first preference. I was going to go into paediatric medicine. Because I wanted to help kids. And then when I got into the end of year 11 and 12, I started to really struggle with the thought of, 'What if there's a kid and I can't help them? What if there's a kid and I can't have that positive impact?' And then I thought, 'What can I do where I can make sure that every kid, every student that I work with, I can leave them, hopefully, that's my aim, to leave them better off?' And that's why I went into teaching. Because that's my, you know, every day when I step into a classroom is that those kids would be better off because of the time that they spent with me. So that's why I love what I do and I would never look back. I have no regrets at all about the choice I made to be a teacher, because it is such a privilege.

Shannon:

It's such a common question to get asked I find by people who aren't teachers, like, why are you a teacher? But I love hearing everyone's why, and I think it's so important. And I always, when someone tells me their why, like teacher to teacher, it makes me, like, reflect on why I became a teacher as well. And it sort of brings to light all the really nice important pieces of, like, why our role is so important and why it's so valuable as well. And how the right people really need to be in the role, because, you know, it's just yeah, really fulfilling to hear from teacher to teacher our why.

Siobhan:

And there's no, there's no other career like it.

Aaron:

No, that's exactly right.

Siobhan:

It's not comparable to anything else, because it's so unique in its set of circumstances and experiences that you have every day. And I feel like for me, that's my why. I love the diversity of the role and I love that

Aaron:

Yeah.

Shannon:

Yeah.

Siobhan:

Although two days can be the same, no two days are the same either.

Aaron:

No, that's right. They're not the same.

Siobhan:

Is that routine, I do like routine, but I also like being able to change up my day-to-day life and who I see and who I speak to and how I deliver that. So I think that that's another facet of teaching that's also quite rewarding on a personal level, I suppose.

Shannon:

So you mentioned before you were six years in your classroom teaching role, and then you went into sort of a leadership journey. What did that look like for you?

Aaron:

Yeah, so leadership for me was, I would say something I fell into. It wasn't, I didn't leave uni, become a teacher and go, 'I'm going to be a leader.' At first it wasn't really something that I wanted to do. I didn't really have any thoughts about going into leadership. The school I was in, our principal took some leave and so our, my assistant principal at the time was relieving as principal. And so I was asked, you know, 'Would you step in just for a couple of weeks?' And I was a bit like, 'Oh, not really interested.' Like, I was just, you know, passionate about doing my thing and being the best teacher that I could be. And then I was like, 'Sure, okay, I'll give it a go.' And then for me, it sort of opened my eyes to the impact that I could have beyond the four walls in my classroom. You know, I've always been passionate about making sure that the students I teach have the very best opportunities and get the best out of me. But then when I stepped into leadership and seeing that I could actually have that bigger impact beyond my own students and beyond my own classroom across classrooms. And like I said, I've always been about, from the day one is making a positive impact. And so from that moment on, I was like, 'I'm all about this.' You know, having that positive impact outside of my room across the school. So I, you know, relieved for a little while and then really sparked that passion in me to be about whole school improvement, whole school change, and having that bigger impact. And then, yeah, the rest is history. I was super lucky to, you know, get a permanent assistant principal position and worked at, you know, that school for six years before moving into the role I'm in now as Assistant Principal of Curriculum and Instruction. And along that journey I had some opportunities to do, I guess a little bit of instructional leadership. So when I was on-class as an assistant principal, I was given the opportunity to be off-class two days in a, you know, instructional leadership position and just work with coaching and mentoring our teachers as well. And so then when the Assistant Principal Curriculum and Instruction role came up, you know, I loved doing that two days working in classrooms and supporting teachers and then the opportunity to do that full-time. I was like, 'I want to do this.' Because I love supporting teachers and again, making sure that all of our students have the very best opportunities. Yeah, so I absolutely love the work that we do every single day in our classrooms, it's great.

Siobhan:

And it is a really busy role. Like when you were talking about your day in the life, it's so busy. So I'm interested to see if you have any advice for those who may be listening about how you actually balance, find a balance between that work.

Shannon:

Balance is a tricky word.

Siobhan:

Yeah.

Aaron:

Yes.

Shannon:

We're always looking for it.

Aaron:

What is balance, what is balance? What is this balance?

Siobhan:

I suppose how do you sort of find the distinction between your role as an AP, C&I and then your own personal life I suppose? Because it is a common theme and a common struggle with a lot of leaders. So, I just wonder if you have even just a small piece of advice that's helped and made an impact for you or you've reflected back where you started and where you are now.

Aaron:

Yeah, definitely. I think the biggest thing I've learned around is having boundaries. Having boundaries is not a bad thing, it's a healthy thing. And so a few boundaries that I've put in place, number one, I think the biggest one for me early in my career was weekends. So as soon as I leave work on a Friday, I do not do any schoolwork or any work again until Sunday afternoon. I'm actually giving myself that time to just do stuff for me, spend time with my family, do the things that I like. And that was hard. You always feel guilty, but one thing I've learned is that the to-do list will always be there. And the to-do list is never empty.

Shannon:

No.

Aaron:

It's always something else.

Siobhan:

It can't be.

Aaron:

No, and you know what? We talk about this, I talk about a lot with teaching is there's always something you can come back to. You know how like with certain jobs, you're like, 'I've done that, finished that task.' But with teaching, it's never unfinished. There's always something you can come back to.

Siobhan:

Your programme, you deliver the lesson and you go, 'That was great. And I know how to make it better for next time.'

Aaron:

Absolutely.

Siobhan:

You need that space to reflect and yeah, it can't always happen.

Aaron:

Yeah, so, yeah, I think having some really clear boundaries. I try to avoid bringing work home. You know, it's not always possible. And I think in finding balance, it's also about recognising that there are just different, I guess maybe seasons in teaching where it's busier, like, report time.

Siobhan:

Correct reports.

Aaron:

It's always busier.

Siobhan:

Parent teaching interviews.

Aaron:

So, that time I am doing work at home. But I still try and make sure that it's not every night. Maybe it's two or three nights out of the week and I'm still giving myself that night off. So I've still got those boundaries. But in saying that, they're not hard and fast rules, they're flexible as well with the nature of teaching.

Shannon:

Yeah, and being kind to yourself as well. Like, we can set ourselves up for success as much as possible. But it's just like when you've written your lesson plan and you're like, 'This is 100%, nothing's going to go wrong.' Something will go wrong.

Aaron:

Yeah, absolutely.

Shannon:

And that's okay. Take a deep breath. Start again.

Aaron:

Yep.

Siobhan:

I think for me, actually, something that I found really useful, and this doesn't necessarily relate to leadership, but teaching as a whole, is emails, the concept of emailing and when I'm accessible via email. So in my first year with my Year 12 class, I would get a lot of practice essays via email.

Aaron:

Yep.

Siobhan:

Often, like, they're working on them on the weekend. So they come through Saturday, 2PM, Sunday midnight or something like that. I would make it really clear to them that I'm, I will not respond to emails over the weekend. And if you're wanting something marked or with feedback, you need to give me enough notice. So I would set a time limit of notice and when I would get back to them. And I think that was really healthy for me in the end. I certainly didn't establish that boundary with them or myself to begin with. And it sort of worked to my detriment. But I feel that having that boundary in place, it really made an impact as did deleting any school-related apps off my phone. And just having those on my work computer solely, I think they can be some really practical strategies and advice if you're interested in striking a balance. I think that that's something that I found useful as well.

Aaron:

And on emails too, I was thinking about, for those people who really do want to have, like, emails and that access, one thing I did was turn off notifications. I'm that kind of person that as soon as I get a buzz, like the suspense kills me.

Siobhan:

I have to check.

Aaron:

So I turn the notifications off. So they're there, but I can only see they're there, if I actually go in and open the email. So like if you have that feeling of you still want to have access to emails, I would say turn your notifications off.

Siobhan:

Correct.

Aaron:

Because it helps keep those boundaries in place where I'm not going to know that there's emails until I check it.

Shannon:

Yeah and it's on your time. And I really like how you said that. And I think reflecting on my own journey, when I was a beginning teacher, I didn't have emails on my phone or anything like that. And I was very much wanted to find, you know, so-called balance per se in my first couple years. However, in my, I think it was my fourth year I moved into leadership and it was then that I found having my emails on my phone, but notifications off supported me with how I needed to feel prepared. Like, I knew what was going on. I had that information there. I was, you know, prepared. And that's just something that helped me as I moved into my leadership journey. So people will find their balance. You realise, like, and it's funny, we talk about reflection all the time, myself and Siobhan and even reflecting on when you go back and think of yourself as a day one teacher, when you're sitting in front of those little darlings in the class and even, like, going back and looking at your lesson plans from when you were a first year to a couple years out. Like, it's just so wild to see how far you've come. And you will sort of grow and develop. And that's the good thing about teaching, I suppose.

Aaron:

Yeah, absolutely.

Shannon:

And I wanted to touch on, you mentioned before in your instructional leadership role, part of that you love to sort of mentor other teachers. Have you had much experience with beginning teachers and sort of facilitating them with their journey?

Aaron:

Yeah, so I've, last year had the opportunity to work with really closely with some of our beginning teachers and mentor them through the process of accreditation and even just induction into the teaching profession. You know, they're fresh out of uni, it's their first time teaching class and just working with them week to week, you know, where we sit down and I'm going into their classrooms and modelling teaching for them. I love the passion and the enthusiasm. They always get so nervous about, 'Oh, you're coming in to watch me.' And I always say, 'No, I'm not coming in to watch you. I'm coming in to work collaboratively with you.' And I love, I always say, you know, 'I love the way you did that', because there's so many great new ideas. You know, there's, absolutely, we never know it all. We can never know all the things. So I love going into, you know, classrooms with our beginning teachers, because some of the tools and the resources they're using, I'm like, 'I've never seen this before in my life.'

Siobhan:

'This is great,' yeah.

Aaron:

I'm adding that to my teaching toolkit. So just as much as I feel like I hopefully can offer them something, they can also offer me no matter how many years of experience I have as well, they've got so much to offer me as well. And even if it's just their passion and that enthusiasm, you know, sometimes, you know, the day-to-day, it does get to you and it's good to check ourselves and go, hang on, no. I need to find that passion again and that joy and that spark that.

Shannon:

And a beginning teacher will definitely help you find that.

Aaron:

Absolutely.

Siobhan:

I think having, having that mindset as a leader is really beneficial.

Shannon:

100%.

Siobhan:

And I think it's really important to adopt that early on. The fact that you're not just the facilitator of all the knowledge, but you can actually gain knowledge from others in a collaborative journey, I think that's really important.

Aaron:

Yeah, and I think it's being vulnerable too, and sharing even with our beginning teachers that yes, I've got more years of experience, but I'm still learning and I still make mistakes.

Siobhan:

We're always learning.

Aaron:

And I've loved when I've done, you know, like say a demonstration lesson and it hasn't gone to plan. Or something's happened and it's bombed. And then we have that conversation and they go, 'Your lesson was great.' And I go, 'Actually no, it wasn't, because it didn't go to plan.' And just modelling that reflective practice and showing them that no matter how many years of experience we are, you know, into teaching, we're still learning and having those conversations and letting them know, you know, your wins and your losses and that being vulnerable as a leader. You know, I know coming into my first few years of leadership, I thought I had to know it all and be perfect. But the more that I've gone through my leadership journey, I've learned that how powerful it is to be vulnerable as a leader and be human.

Shannon:

It builds connection.

Aaron:

Yeah, absolutely.

Shannon:

That's a really good point. My mentor in my first year as a beginning teacher, she had actually retired. She was an assistant principal for many, many years, on-class assistant principal. And she came back her year after retirement and she mentored, there was about six of us in our first year who were all beginning teachers. And I was always like a little sponge. Like, I was just so in awe, because she had so many years of experience. But she used to always say to me, she's like, 'I always learned something from our time together and from coming in to your classroom.' She's like, 'I've learned so much that, you know, I've added to my teacher toolkit.' And I liked how you were saying that before and it's so important to verbalise that with, you know, pre-service beginning teachers, because they're the things that build you up in your early years. Because you are, you're nervous, you're trying to do it all and you think, 'Oh, I'm about to graduate or I am graduated, I need to know it all.' And it's so important to sort of bring back that realness and share that with them.

Aaron:

Yeah, definitely. And I always try to rewind and put myself, what was it like for me when I was, you know, a first-year teacher and remembering that pressure that I put on myself of thinking I had to know it all. And just having those conversations.

Shannon:

The pressure is so true.

Aaron:

And going, 'You know what, it's okay. It's okay to feel that way. We all feel like that.' I even say to them now, you know, 'This is my 16th year and I still don't necessarily know what I'm doing. I'm still figuring it out as I go.' Because we're always learning.

Shannon:

And then, you know, we'll get thrown a new syllabus or something.

Aaron:

Absolutely.

Shannon:

And it's like, 'Wow, okay, let's take this and let's roll with what we already know and let's implement what's, you know, the next step forward and what's best.'

Aaron:

Absolutely.

Shannon:

Yeah.

Siobhan:

Do you actually have a KLA that you prefer? Like, that you like teaching the most, I wonder?

Aaron:

Yes, I do.

Shannon:

Controversial for a primary school teacher.

Siobhan:

I always, yeah, because I think obviously as a secondary teacher, like English and society & culture, that's my forte. And I always wonder as a primary school teacher, do you have sort of an area that you personally enjoy teaching the most?

Aaron:

I do. I mean, I would say I love them all.

Siobhan:

Yeah, of course.

Aaron:

I love integrating.

Siobhan:

They're like children, you can't have favourites.

Aaron:

Yeah, exactly. But I think creative arts and science would be my two most favourites that I love. You know, it's just the personality, you know? I love teaching creative arts. You know, whether it's drama or dance or visual arts and then science & technology and just getting really creative and hands-on, I think are two of my favourite things to teach. And even just integrating those things into literacy and numeracy in the arts.

Shannon:

Oh yeah.

Siobhan:

Across, yeah.

Aaron:

That we do and I love when kids have conversations and they go, 'But this is English time, this is science time, we can't possibly do this.' We can.

Siobhan:

Do you have.

Shannon:

I love that.

Siobhan:

Yeah, do you have a memorable, like, lesson off the top of your head that, or an innovative idea that you've done before and you're like, 'Wow, that was great and I'm amazing.'

Siobhan:

Now I want the whole world to know how.

Shannon:

Mr J crushed it today.

Aaron:

So I know one of my favourite things to do and it always happens with kids when you do it, because we'll be looking at say texts and we'll be looking at stories and then I'll say to the kids, 'Okay, now we're going to use our, you know, science and technology problem-solving. We're going to make stop motion films.'

Siobhan:

Very cool.

Aaron:

Of the books they're making, they're like, 'What?' And so we just use, like, Stop Motion Studio on our iPads. And we would make little stop motion videos about, you know, the text that we've read. Also a great way to engage kids, I think in comprehension activities, rather than having to write their answers or verbally respond, they can still demonstrate that, you know, their comprehension and their understanding of text and even the themes and things in a text in a much more interesting way or more than they would be able to do by pen and paper.

Shannon:

And it's not linear, you know? Like, they might be a creative. So that's their way of showcasing their knowledge.

Aaron:

Absolutely.

Shannon:

So, I love that opportunity.

Aaron:

And it's got lots of scope too for whatever the student's ability level is as well. So anyone can access the task, they can produce, you know, the stop motion video that suits their ability and their knowledge and skills. And you've got kids that will do, you know, one that's very simple and you've got ones that will do something that's very sophisticated and it's got, you know, all of the, you know, filming techniques and you go, 'Whoa.' But yeah, that's one of my favourite things to do is just get creative with things like that. And I know you were saying that before, Siobhan, about how there's just that, you know, no two days are the same, no two lessons are the same, but there's so much scope for us to be creative in what we do. Even with new curriculum and the new syllabus and even things like sample units. You know, we can still be creative, we can still have autonomy and we can change it up and go, 'I'm going to do this because I know my kids will love it.'

Siobhan:

That's right.

Aaron:

And I love that about teaching, because even though we have a syllabus or we might have a program that we're following, there's that autonomy in us as teachers to make decisions that are best for our students. because that's really what quality teaching is, is responding to our students and going, 'This is great, but if I do this or I try this activity, it's going to engage my students so much more.'

Siobhan:

Correct, yeah. If the Olympics is on, for example, which it is this year, Paris 2024, excited for that. If the Olympics is on, you can relate it to back to the content. And have them, like, you know, integrating that together. But I actually remember a conversation that we had where you said, you know, in your first year, you sort of saw it as, like, maths, English, science. And you were saying before, Aaron, like, oh, the students see it. Oh, but this is English work or this is science time. We can't be crossing the curriculum here. Do you both have advice for beginning teachers who might be struggling with the same problem in that, 'Okay, well, this is mathematics time. How do I integrate English into the mathematics time', for example?

Aaron:

Yeah, so I think it's really tricky as a beginning teacher. because you do, you compartmentalise things and you just want to go with, 'Well, this is English and this is my English block.' But I've learned it's about working smarter, not harder. because we're always time poor. Isn't that the one thing that we talk about teachers, 'What's your biggest challenge?' 'Fitting it all in.' Or, you know, 'I don't have enough time.' So I think actually looking for those opportunities to integrate things and sort of do integrated units. There's power in actually giving us more time to do more things. So I would say start small and just look at, 'Okay, if I'm particularly maybe maths. Okay, I'm going to start with maths.'

Shannon:

Maths is a great one.

Aaron:

And then, 'When I do this lesson, what other aspects of the curriculum, can I bring in an artwork?' Like, so for instance 3D shapes. You know, or three, sorry.

Shannon:

3D objects.

Aaron:

I know, that was like, that's my pet peeve.

Siobhan:

You haven't lost a touch.

Aaron:

3D shapes, 3D objects.

Shannon:

3D objects.

Aaron:

As soon as I said that, I was like, 'Oh no.' 3D objects, so you're teaching it, but then, like, let's do an artwork based on that. It's such a simple thing to do, but it's often not in the, you know, the units of work or the things that we're doing.

Shannon:

Even that consolidation, right? My, one of my favourite artworks to do with Stage Three, I would love to do angles in an artwork and just the artworks that they would come up with, I couldn't even in my wildest dreams have considered as an idea and they would demonstrate their understanding of, you know, different types of angles. And it was just, they were so excited to do art with maths. And I loved seeing that with them and seeing them develop that. Because you're right, like in the beginning, even as a beginning teacher, I was like, 'Oh no, I have to do English at this time. I have to do maths at this time.' And it says I have to have this many minutes. And learning your craft and sort of finding those links takes time as you develop your skills and your confidence with the curriculum as well. But my students used to always freak out also, and like, 'No, this is maths time. Like, what do you mean we're doing art? How is it math?'

Aaron:

Yeah, 'We can't do art in maths.'

Shannon:

I was like, 'Okay, so does a gardener go out and say, right, it's maths time now, I'll calculate the garden beds.' And then does, you know, he go and use his English skills when he has to go to Bunnings, for example, and buy his materials? And so we'd have these conversations trying to relate it to the real world. And I think that's really important to show your students as well.

Aaron:

Yeah, absolutely.

Shannon:

That life's not like that. We're not compartmentalising our day into different subjects, so we don't have to do that in the classroom.

Aaron:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, like, exactly what you're saying, Shannon, about real world where it's applicable and relevant. You know, one thing I used to love doing with my students at the start of the year is we're going to design the layout of our classroom.

Shannon:

Oh, yes.

Aaron:

And we would go to, we have to start by measuring the area. And we'd get into maths by measuring the area, because our classroom shape wasn't a square or rectangle. So we have to look at all those composite shapes. But then we go into, the end goal is to produce, like, a map or a layout, but it's actually, you know, got a scale and they've thought about that one centimetre equals this much. But then we talk about colours and things like that, you know, and the effect that that has on our learning and how the colours make us feel. And so it's a real world experience, but it brings in all these different things. And then the kids would.

Shannon:

So many domains.

Aaron:

Do a presentation too about why they made these different choices. So we're bringing in again that English.

Siobhan:

Chef's kiss.

Aaron:

There's just so many great opportunities. But at the start of year, it was great, because we're setting up the classroom together and we're building this classroom environment together.

Siobhan:

And it's our classroom.

Aaron:

Yes.

Siobhan:

Not your classroom, our classroom.

Aaron:

And that was the thing that the kids loved too, was at the end of it, like, we're all going to work together to pick maybe someone, a bit of Shannon's design and a bit of Siobhan's design, a bit of my design, we're going to put it together and that is what our classroom's going to look like.

Siobhan:

Yeah.

Aaron:

For maybe the first term and then we will change it up after that.

Shannon:

Yeah, and that level of student voice is just so important in your classroom and your students, they feel so valued once you sort of, like, take what they're saying and you run with it and you just see that pride in them. That's, I always do a design the classroom layout. I love to do that at the beginning of the year. I think it's so valuable.

Siobhan:

I had never heard of that. Like, as a secondary teacher, it's like, this is the way the room is. Because there's 200 of us using it, so enjoy.

Shannon:

It's so different in a primary space.

Aaron:

Definitely.

Siobhan:

Well, that's the best part about this podcast. If I was a new teacher listening, I would say, 'Oh, well, first day back or first week back, I'm designing a classroom, like, designing the classroom with my primary school students.' I think that's amazing. It also reminded me of, like, almost not tricking them into doing maths, but, like, hiding.

Aaron:

Like kind of a little bit.

Siobhan:

Hiding vegetables in pasta, like.

Aaron:

We're doing maths, but you don't really know. It's like kids go home and they say, 'We just play games all day.' Like, we didn't play games all day. We actually did, like, a lot of maths work. We just played a lot of games while we learned how to count and stuff.

Shannon:

Yeah, we did fun maths.

Aaron:

Yeah, it's like, you know, my daughter comes home and she's like, 'We played games all day.' I'm like, 'Mm, you didn't.' There's probably some learning in there.

Siobhan:

I think, would you be happy to talk about now your Instagram platform?

Aaron:

Absolutely, yep.

Siobhan:

How or why did you start that in the first place, Mr J's Learning Space.

Aaron:

Yep, so I started that it feels like forever ago, I think five years ago. And I have, you know, had a personal Instagram and I've followed a lot of, I guess teaching accounts to get ideas and to share, you know, people sharing what they were doing in the classroom. And I was like, 'Oh, that's really cool, I do that.' And then I moved to my previous school where I was at, where I went into I guess collaborative teaching environment where it was team teaching and, you know, classes working together. And I just hadn't seen, I guess anything on Instagram where teachers were kind of sharing that. And it was actually my wife who was like, 'You should, like, start a page where you're sharing, because so many, that's the way schools are going and there's not a lot of people sharing out there. Like, I'm sure people get ideas from you.' And so I guess it became a little bit of a way of just documenting and sharing what I was doing in my classroom, being in, I guess a different kind of teaching environment and what that looked like. It was just kind of me sharing what I was doing, you know, ideas of activities or things in the classroom. But I guess it's kind of like, you know, that motivation of me, I'm all about sharing and supporting teachers and just wanting to help others. So it just became, I guess another opportunity for me to do that beyond just my school, and.

Shannon:

Another space, yeah.

Aaron:

Yeah, and so that's really where it came from was just about sharing what I was doing and I was like, 'Oh, if people are interested in following, cool, that's great.' I'll just, you know, share what I'm doing this week and day-to-day in my classroom and sharing ideas, and then I got into, you know, as I was going along and doing things and, you know, I would, you know, implement something. 'Oh, I'm going to share that.' And maybe people will take that on board and put it in practice and they might, you know, go, 'Oh, that's a good idea, but I want to change it.' So yeah, that's how it started as a, you know, probably I'd say Mrs J's, you know, pushing in the right direction. Like, 'Do that, you should do that, you should do that.'

Siobhan:

Shout out to Mrs J.

Shannon:

Supportive spouse.

Aaron:

Yeah, so, and she's a teacher too, so she would often say, you know, 'Oh, like, you told me about this thing you do. I thought that was awesome.' And so, you know, I'll and often and so she's a teacher too and she will often, 'I'm doing this,' I'm like, 'Can I share that on my page?' She's like, 'Absolutely.'

Shannon:

Aw, that's amazing.

Aaron:

So yeah, so, it's.

Shannon:

I think it links so nicely to, like, what you were saying about your role as an instructional leader and then now as an AP, C&I, like, sharing and building up future teachers, pre-service, beginning teachers, being able to have an Instagram platform where you do share your insight into your classroom, because, you know, I think it's changed so much from what the classroom was many years ago. It would just be our four walls. You know, now we find ourselves as a teacher, it might not just be you and your 24 to 30 students in a classroom. You could be in a team-teaching environment where you're collaboratively teaching together. There could be three teachers in the room. So there's all different learning environments across schools, and you know, we've got over, what, 2,200 schools, public schools in New South Wales. There's a lot of wonderful different things going on inside these walls. So having a platform like that is so valuable to be able to share your insights so other teachers can see, you know, what's working and share the love really.

Aaron:

Yeah, and I think too, you know, we take for granted sometimes when we're in schools where there is high levels of collegiality or just a lot of other teachers. But thinking in mind that there are schools out there with one solo teacher or two solo teachers. So it's also an opportunity for them to see beyond their school. And maybe if, you know, there's schools out there who have, say, virtual AP, C&Is, so they don't necessarily have someone that's with them all the time. So it's also creating a space where, you know, via Instagram I've been able, you know, to have conversations through, you know, messaging with people who, you know, I probably never would've connected with. But it's led to awesome opportunities. We've actually been able to run PL for rural and remote schools via Zoom, because they said, 'Hey, I saw you doing this on your Instagram. Would you, you know, would you run a session for us for the four teachers in my school?' On that, I'm like, '100% I will.' Because I'm just, you know, we're all about supporting one another. We all work for the same team. We're all with the same goal, right?

Shannon:

One team, one dream we like to say here.

Aaron:

You know, we're all on the same team. We all want the same thing. And so it's just about supporting one another. And if Instagram is the platform that allows me to do that, awesome.

Shannon:

Yeah.

Siobhan:

Even just, like, if I were to watch your stories or click something on your feed, it's almost like a micro PL in itself. Like, you actually, you don't even realise it's such a positive way to consume and learn and perfect your craft and seeing what someone else is doing and how you could apply that into your own classroom. Like, without even knowing, I feel like the Instagram teaching community is giving back and giving a form of professional learning to others almost without us knowing, again, hiding veggies in pasta.

Shannon:

We're all about that. And I like how you said in your AP, C&I role, you, you know, develop resources as part of it. Because I know through your platform as well, you often share resources that you create. So I'd love to hear a little bit about that sort of passion that you have.

Aaron:

Yeah, so I just, you know, through doing the work that I do, I'll have an idea and, 'Oh, this might work really well.' And, you know, I just put those things out there, like, they're all free. They're just, you know, if you want to use it and you think it'll work, go for it. This is something that I've put together as, you know, a resource that I think will help myself or the teachers that I'm working with. And, you know, people can get those, because I'm just all about, you know, sharing and supporting teachers. Go for it. Those things are there. They're, like I said, it's just things that I've developed along my journey and have gone, 'This works for me.' If it works for somebody else, awesome. I'm happy to share that with them.

Shannon:

Yeah, and every resource that we can add to our toolbox is some time saved. But I'd love to hear a little bit about what are your top department resources that you love to use on the regular?

Aaron:

Yep, so I have a couple, so more than just one, because you can't just pick one when it comes to anything. I think ones that I use regularly, like, almost daily would be the Universal Resources Hub. So that's one of my go-tos for finding resources, not reinventing the wheel, same with, you know, me sharing my resources I created. It's about not reinventing the wheel. There's so many great resources on there that have been developed by teachers and shared, they're just a click away. So you can search for those. So Universal Resources Hub, the other one is the Statewide Staffroom. So it's a great place to keep up-to-date with what's happening in new curriculum space as well as having access to, you know, resources that teachers are creating and sharing. And also, like, the literacy and numeracy leaders who are on there often moderating, we can post questions and get responses from them. They'd be two of my absolute go-tos every single day. And then the other one that I absolutely love is the Digital Learning Selector. Again, because I don't have to, if I want an activity or a cool, like, I want to do this thing, like, for instance stop motion, I've got this idea of stop motion, but what could I use? I can just go on there and, like, search and it's got like, here's all these apps that you could use. Or I want to do this questioning activity or this collaborative activity. You go onto the Digital Learning Selector. And there they are like Google Slides templates or PowerPoints or Word docs. And I can just drop them into, say my Google Classroom or my program and put them up on my smart board, it's literally a click away, but I can literally just, like, search by a KLA or, you know, 'questioning'. Or, you know, 'group work'. There's so many things there.

Siobhan:

There's a dropdown for everything. So dropdown, which stage you want to look at, dropdown which subject you wanted to look at, dropdown which outcome you want to look at in some of the selectors.

Aaron:

You can even with the Digital Learning Selector, you can even search by, like, Bloom's Taxonomy, like, levels of thinking.

Shannon:

Oh, fantastic.

Aaron:

Like, there's just so many things there. So they would be my three that I use almost daily.

Shannon:

Yeah, for sure.

Siobhan:

For those playing at home, if you're interested in the resources that Aaron's talking about, they are accessible via your Staff Portal through the department. So you should be logged in with your staff credentials and then you can access them. My top tip would be when you log in and you can see your applications, so you should have, like, your email, maybe your Google workspace, SAP should be up there as well.

Shannon:

In Microsoft Office.

Siobhan:

Yes, you can just add them to your essentials. So there should be an option to do that on your portal page. So I'd be adding in 100% the Universal Resources Hub and the Digital Learning Selector. And then as for Statewide Staffrooms.

Shannon:

Yeah, so Statewide Staffrooms is fantastic, because not only as Aaron mentioned, can you access literacy leads, numeracy leads, there are a number of staffrooms that are held on Microsoft Teams. So you just have to be logged into your Office 365 account with your department email and then you can go and submit a request to join those staffrooms. You can also find out, and this is something that I use a lot in my classroom, about opportunities for your students. So whether that might be the game challenger.

Siobhan:

Game Changer Challenge, love that one.

Shannon:

For example, when that competition is running or you might.

Siobhan:

Arts Unit.

Shannon:

The Arts Unit are on there.

Siobhan:

Public speaking, drama.

Shannon:

There's so many resources that other teachers bring to your attention that you might not have known. And the other thing is, and on a teacher note, it's really good professional development-wise, because you can find out about programs that the department has, like, the Premier's Teacher Scholarships, for example, when they open, what opportunities there are on hand for you to upskill or to, you know, develop in a new area. And that's a really good way to get that information as well in the Statewide Staffrooms.

Siobhan:

If you're not in it, you're missing out.

Aaron:

Absolutely.

Siobhan:

And you should join today.

Aaron:

Yep, FOMO.

Siobhan:

And they're all free.

Aaron:

FOMO, people. Get on there.

Shannon:

It's real. I love that.

Siobhan:

I think that from the conversation that we've had with you, to me, you are so giving and generous in your time and your resources. And I just wonder if you were to sort of meet some of your former teachers now and they would see you and speak to you and see you in action, what do you think they would say? Like, was there a former teacher that had an impact on your life that you would look back and if you saw them now, they'd go, 'That's, we're really proud of you.'

Aaron:

Absolutely. There's actually a couple who I have reconnected with and I do keep in touch with and it's been so wonderful to connect with them, even having one of them come to my school and speak to the students. And it's just, like, a really special moment. So for me as a student, I grew up in a, like, low socioeconomic area. And so those teachers that I, you know, had the privilege of even primary school, to have such fond memories of, I love that they, you know, created a space where school was, like, a safe place. I loved going there. But they were committed to, like, giving us the best opportunities, and it didn't, they didn't let our postcode or our socioeconomic status determine, you know, what was going to happen. And I always think about that, because, you know, the thing that we do in education is we create futures for our kids. That's, like, literally that's what we're in the business of doing every single day. And they helped create the future that I'm living now. Because without them, like, I could have gone down a very different road. There was a lot of, you know, things happening I guess in my community that I could have got involved in that would've taken me in a very different direction. But I had these teachers who believed in me, supported me, encouraged me to be more than my circumstance, more than, you know, the situations around about me who kept me on track. And it's those teachers I've reconnected with, because they probably don't know that that's what they did for me. That they were people who I just adored and I knew that they believed in me and I showed up at school every day, because I wanted to make them proud, because I knew that they were invested in me. And so to have the opportunity now to talk to them, and one particular teacher, she was like, 'I got to that point where I was like, I don't know if I want to do this anymore. And seeing what you're doing now is that I've made a difference', and she's still teaching and she's amazing.

SIobhan:

You can shout her out.

Aaron:

Yeah, so when I was a student, her name was Mrs. Friend. Hi, Mrs. Friend. And she was just amazing as well as our school librarian, Mrs. Townsend, I think she was another one too. And she was particularly important to me, because I had great teachers and classrooms. But that librarian was that person that we had K-6. And I would find myself in the library.

Shannon:

That constant.

Aaron:

She was like a constant and she just was so encouraging and so supportive. And I love still being in contact with them today and just sharing and having them, you know, you know, see the work that we are doing and, you know, getting encouragement from them is like, because I feel like if I can be half the teacher they were to me, I feel like I'm doing an okay job.

Siobhan:

Yeah.

Aaron:

Yeah.

Shannon:

Aw, that's, yeah, I mean that's as a teacher, like, I hope in years to come that I have students that I can have that relationship with. It's all I can, you know, project into the future and hope for, but we'd love to sort of hear you've had such a fulfilling journey in education and, you know, you said 16 years now. Which is, you know, that's no easy feat with ebbs and flows, no doubt. Do you have any advice for some of our beginning teacher listeners who are about to embark on their career or someone who's maybe thinking about taking up teaching as a career?

Aaron:

100% if anyone is thinking about taking up teaching, my advice is do it. Absolutely do it. I cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing. I absolutely love the work that we do every single day. And if you're thinking about doing it, do it, for those teachers that are, you know, starting out, I think some of the big key lessons that I would say, thinking back to what I'd want to say to myself as a new teacher is take risks and make mistakes. I know when I first started teaching, I thought I had to be perfect. But when you've got all that support, when you first come out of teaching, that's the best time to try things and it not work out, because you've got people there to catch you and support you and give you that, you know, feedback and, you know, support you to improve your practice and make those steps. I think being flexible. I know when I first came into my teaching role, it was a bit, you know, 'I've gotta do this at this time,' and just that's not how the day rolls. And also to just be kind to yourself, because I spend a lot of my time just working, working, working, working. All with great intentions, but I feel like at the beginning, I didn't really get a chance to enjoy those early years, those beginning years, because I was so.

Shannon:

That's a good perspective.

Aaron:

You know, I just wanted to be the best and learn, learn, learn. I feel like I pushed through and it wasn't until a few years where I really started to go, 'I'm enjoying this.' And I started to use my passions. You know, I put all that stuff to the side, because I wanted to be the best teacher I could be. But knowing that my passions and the experience that I bring, actually embracing those and bringing those into the classroom. Value those things that make you who you are, because it makes you number one, a better teacher. But it helps you build those connections with staff and students. So I think they would be my top bits of advice for anyone going into teaching. And they're, like I said, if you're thinking about teaching, just do it like Nike. Just do it, guys.

Shannon:

Jump in.

Siobhan:

Just do it.

Shannon:

Well, thank you so much for joining us, Aaron. We really appreciate you coming on to TeachCast, sharing your wisdom. You have so much under your belt that you were able to sort of go through and share with our listeners. So thank you again for joining us.

Aaron:

Thank you so much for having me. It's been such a pleasure.

Siobhan:

Until next time.

Aaron:

Yep.

Siobhan:

Bye, everyone.

Shannon:

Thank you for tuning into TeachCast where we explore the dynamic world of education. Don't forget to follow, like, and subscribe to be notified when new episodes become available. You can find us on social media via our handle @teachNSW. Until next time, keep learning, keep teaching, and keep making a difference. TeachCast is a podcast by the Teach NSW team from the NSW Department of Education.