Claire Jarman
Graduate Teacher 2021
Personal Statement
Claire Jarman
‘A good teacher can inspire
hope, ignite the
imagination, and instil a
love of learning’
- Brad Henry
This quote resinates with my passion for teaching
and learning, and the qualities I hope to instil in all
the students I have the privilege of teaching in the
past, present and future. My name is Claire
Jarman and I am an enthusiastic graduate
teacher seeking a teaching role in your school in
2021. This personal statement will step you through
just a portion of my professional knowledge,
practice and engagement. Including my
experiences not only on professional placements,
but involvement working and being involved in a
number of school communities while learning,
being and becoming an outstanding primary
educator.
Professional Knowledge
Having knowledge and understanding of the
physical, social and intellectual development of
students in my classes has always been an
important factor in determining how these
characteristics effect learning. I am and have
always been aware that students come to class
with varying capabilities and social capacities. I
ensure to uncover the implications for teaching
these students and how I can use teaching
strategies that are responsive to their learning
strengths and needs so all students can contribute
to the learning. I always ensure to establish
professional relationships with students and
communicate in a number of ways to build strong
relationships and plan meaningful learning
sequences. Importantly, I ensure to set clear
learning expectations and intentions to students
to build a positive classroom community. My
mentor from my final placement states “Claire
established a very professional rapport with the
students from the moment she began her lead in
days with our classroom. She spent time
individually with each student as well as
communicating with them in small groups/whole
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class tasks”. She also went on to say “Claire
speaks very confidently and clearly to the
students, identifying the learning
expectations/intentions to the class. She worked
on making these easily understood so the students
had a clear idea of what was expected of them”.
Differentiation is a key part of my practice that I
incorporate into all of my learning experiences as
I believe it is one of the most important factors
when it comes to supporting all students to
participate and meet specific learning needs,
especially for students with a disability. I use prior
knowledge tasks to determine all students current
knowledge and plan for ways that all students
can access the learning. This was often done by
grouping students and assigning separate tasks
for each group. This also allows me to work
individually with groups where necessary and
assess if students needed further extension or
support and have the tasks readily available to
provide to them. My site coordinator on my final
practicum states “Clear differentiation is also
evident through Claire’s use of open- ended
questioning and progressively more complex
activities to provide appropriate scaffolds and
extension for students accessing the curriculum at
various levels”.
Professional Practice
Imbedded in my teaching is always the use of
learning goals to set expectations for students. I
find that difficult but achievable learning goals
motivates students to strive. I find that connecting
learning goals, learning activities and assessments
helps make the learning visible to students. On my
final placement the school had an excellent
program in place for setting individualised
learning goals for students, I utilised this process
and used learning goals as a focus for my
teaching. As an educator, I understand the
importance of understanding that my students
come to class each with their own prior
knowledge, conceptual understandings, skills and
beliefs. When I present them with problems or
new information, I understand prior knowledge
and experiences influence their thinking. Hence, I
believe that being an effective teacher requires
the implementation of creative and innovative
teaching strategies to meet students individual
needs. I enjoy creating learning experiences that
require students to collaborate, question,

communicate, create and discover. I believe “the
best teachers are those who show you where to
look but don’t tell you what to see” – Alexandra K.
Trenfor. My mentor teacher states “Claire planned
for and implemented highly organised lesson
sequences with her knowledge and The Australian
Curriculum. She demonstrated a wide variety of
teaching strategies including ICT, learning
environments and resources which engaged and
challenged the class”. I have been fortunate
enough to have been introduced to many
different resources that help engage the students
in my classes. Incorporating technology into
my teaching was a great way to actively engage
my students, especially as digital media surrounds
young people in the 21st century. Furthermore,
incorporating different forms of assessment
provide me with evidence to make decisions,
often in collaboration with the learners, about the
next steps forward in my learning program. During
my placements I carried out assessment tasks that
varied from informal questions during a learning
activity to formal written tests at the end of a
learning program. It was highly important for me
to moderate these assessments to support
consistent and comparable judgements for
learning. Moderation is as assessment practice
which provides structure and process for me to
develop a deep understanding of learning
intentions, success criteria and curriculum
standards.
I also utilise a range of communication strategies
within the classroom, including verbal and non-
verbal instruction. Developing a set of classroom
expectations really allows me to communicate
with students in a very positive way. I have been
complimented on my direct, confident, relaxed
and narrative type communication style by my
site coordinator, he states “Claire has completed
a highly successful practicum in a professional
manner. She demonstrates an engaging and
confident manner in the classroom and has
demonstrated a commitment to building solid
relationships with her students”. I also embed
feedback as a strong form of communication with
students, which was my focus for my inquiry
project on my final placement with remarkable
Claire Jarman
Graduate Teacher 2021
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results. I not only provide feedback to students but
also to parents as I believe parents and families
are important partners in the development and
education of their children. I make it a priority to
provide parents with snapshots of the learning
happening within the classroom, as well as ways
they can support their children at home.
Professional Engagement
Teacher professional learning helps teachers gain
insight into and knowledge of their craft. It
encourages the development of new ways of
thinking about content and new approaches to
teaching. While on my final placement, during a
pupil free day all teachers undertook a day of
professional learning. I attended two workshops,
the first was about 'trusting the count and
conceptual understanding in number and
algebra presented by the department
of education. The second was about problem
solving and reasoning to extend kids presented by
Tierney Kennedy. These workshops changed my
practice in mathematics for the remainder of my
placement as I chose to incorporate a number of
Kennedys techniques in my financial maths unit
including her questioning technique of working
backwards: giving students the answer and asking
them to work out why or how you got there. This
change in teaching practice correlated strongly
with the improvement of specified student
outcomes in the classroom. I received very
positive feedback from my mentor and site
coordinator on my inclusion of these new
practices in the classroom and ability to adapt my
planning. I find seeking and receiving feedback
from my mentor, leadership, my university liaison
and peers allows me to continually improve my
practice. As my liaison states "Claire has proved
herself to be a life-long learner seeking and acting
upon any feedback given".
Thank you for taking the time to read my personal
statement, I am looking forward to meeting you
to further discuss my teaching and learning
experiences as I begin my journey as an
educator.
“It takes a big heart to shape little minds”