Natalie Alpine

Early Childhood & Primary School,
Victoria

One of my many favourite teaching moments was in my foundation (kindergarten) classroom where I witnessed the most magical confidence growth of one of my students. He was the youngest of 3 siblings. When he started school he was hesitant to leave his family, was very quiet among his peers and often didn’t contribute to class discussions.

As I got to know him and engage him in learning by using topics/tools of his interest (mostly his family and football) his confidence grew and grew until one morning later in the year, he was our class VIP for the day. He stood at the front of the classroom and told the whole class of his adventure to the football with his family. During this he shared photos and stories with such confidence. He impersonated his dad celebrating the Melbourne team’s goals with such fabulous animation, it had the whole class in laughter. It was such a memorable moment to see a student show so much growth in a year. I was videoing his VIP moment as part of his digital portfolio and still today, it makes me smile when I look back at the year that was.

Since then, he has continued to build confidence and a love of learning. I love seeing my students learning and grow and even more rewarding is when they visit you many years later with memories to share.

Natalie Alpine

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