Mariam Wachaa

                                           A Teacher in the Making...

                                Welcome to my online teaching portfolio!

This portfolio reflects who I am as a classroom teacher. Look around to get to know more about me, read about my experiences as well as some of the lesson plans I have made and executed.

My Name is Mariam Wachaa. I am currently a Student at Curtin University in the Bachelor of Education Program. I have completed a Diploma in Early Childhood, Cert IV in Training and Assessment and a Child Psychology Diploma, to name a few. I am an upbeat, energetic, young lady with a passion for teaching and learning. I am an entertaining loving, caring and forgiving person, and I strongly believe that life is too short of taking little things for granted. I chose to teach because I want to make a difference in people's lives and encourage positive attitudes and lifestyles. I have been working with children since I was 16. I volunteered in multiple schools, assisted in a special education classroom with autistic and dyslexic children, spent several years being a Youth, Middle School, and High School, tutor. Over the years I have discovered my true love for teaching and working with children.

I have always enjoyed being around children of all ages, but I particularly love working with young adolescents. It is my desire and passion to impact the lives of children, and that is the main reason I decided to partake in the journey of becoming a school teacher. It would indeed be an honor to be entrusted to the enrichment of young, eager minds. I consider myself blessed to be able to know that my future consists of impacting the lives of children through my teaching.

I had a wonderful student teaching experience in a sixth-grade classroom at Wattawa Heights Public School, located in the Sydney region, where I made my decision to become a school teacher. From this valuable experience, I learned how strong my passion for teaching is, and for that I am grateful.

It is hard to believe that soon from now I will be fulfilling my dream of teaching in my classroom. I have known that I wanted to be a teacher all of my life. In my childhood, I spent holidays teaching my cousins and siblings what I had last learned in school and assigning them homework. In high school, I was a tutor and worked in a tutoring center educating and helping children with homework. In my senior year, I was blessed to assist a special ed classroom specializing in Autism and Dyslexia. My experiences there changed my life forever. I was inspired by the will and strength of the students in the class and knew then that this was my life destiny. Since then, I have set out on a life-long goal to make the difference I had on all these students.

I wake up each morning with the intention to live each day to its fullest. In my free time, I enjoy working out and reading a good book. I have been to many countries, and my long term goal is to travel the world as I believe travelling is one of the best forms of education. I believe traveling helps you grow and develop as a person and learn many life skills that you may not learn otherwise. Almost every one of us agrees that life’s real education happens outside the classroom. Classrooms with teachers, friends, and textbooks are of course one way to learn, but they are not the only way. In fact, traveling is the best way to learn things and the things that matter. Travel will never fail you as a teacher. I am willing to try anything, within reason, and hope that this love for life will influence my future teaching. Apart from reading, working out and travelling, I love cooking and have considered integrating this into my teaching in the future as this is a great way to support healthy and positive attitudes towards food and eating, and encouraging positive lifestyles.

The professional teaching standards portfolio is designed to identify details and evidence of my professional experience and knowledge throughout my bachelor of primary education degree. Photos, professional experience reports, and assignments will provide evidence of my thoughts and feelings towards education and my teaching practices. Professional and theoretical experiences throughout my teaching degree will be discussed and focused on throughout this portfolio. There is no doubt that I have grown both personally and professionally during my years of education at Curtin University. My growth as a future educator will be evident through the work shown in this portfolio. I hope that I will get to experience the joy of watching my future students show the same kind of growth and progress in the years to come. I have always thought of myself as a lifelong learner, and I am aware that becoming a great teacher takes both practice and time. I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences and journey throughout my Bachelor of Primary Education.

• First name: Mariam
• Last name: Wachaa