School of Education

The Ruth Probert Memorial Medal

Awarded for Excellence in Beginning Teaching
Nomination Form
We wish to nominate Thomas Porta
Name of Course Teacher of Psychology and Biology
for the Ruth Probert Memorial Medal for Excellence in Beginning Teaching,
based on exemplar performance demonstrated in the !nal ear professional experience"
Name and Position Michelle Payne Teacher of Psychology and !T
ntegrator
Email m"ayne#westminster$sa$edu$au
#ignature
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%ou ma wish to pro&ide extra e&idence to support their !nal report using the following
criteria'
(" Exhibits outstanding professional )ualities*
Thomas from the initial outset of the course showed outstanding professionalism"
Contact made during the Easter holidas as he wanted to ma+e sure his planned
se)uence of lessons were satisfactor" ,e planned the whole - wee+s placement
thoroughl, ad.usting where necessar" ,is use of technolog was increadible and /
organised for him to lead a teacher session in using the tools he had mastered to
encourage other sta0 to follow suit" 1ll feedbac+ he recei&ed was used throughout
his placement to build his practice and teaching s+ills"
2" 3emonstrates extensi&e +nowledge of rele&ant curriculum areas and teaching
methodologies*
Thomas used the school learning platform 324 and made his lessons follow on from
the ones / had alread created" ,e added new &ideo clips, powerpoints, wor+sheets
sca0olds, rubrics and )ui55es to this electronic class" ,is le&el of +nowledge in
Pscholog was extensi&e and this was e&ident in his drafting and feedbac+ to the
students" ,e would gi&e them detailed feedbac+ about )uestions or topics the were
unsure of in man was ma+ing sure he di0erentiated" ,is understanding of
plagarism and use of Turn it in was refreshing and as it is a recent purchase
discussing this with him was great for m de&elopment too"
6" Bases their teaching on well7de&eloping short and long term planning that
demonstrates an understanding of inclusi&it and social .ustice*
Thomas used the curriculum that was set out for him b our course and the topic was
#ocial pscholog where we discussed a lot of issues of social .ustice which he
related to real life scenarios so it was more tangible for the students to understand"
,onest is something the students relate well too and when the as+ed a )uestion he
was unsure about he told them he would get bac+ to them with the answer, which
showed them how natural it was not to +now e&erthing"
8" Competence in assessment, recording and reporting of student learning*
The feedbac+ and grading of student wor+ was exemplar" The students trul be!tted
from his time and hard wor+" Their initial wor+ was rather wea+ in their expression of
facts etc" ,e encouraged them with the use of sca0olds and rubrics to aim higher
which was essential for some of the students who were struggling to write in a
pschological wa"
The Ruth Probert Memorial Medal for Excellence in Beginning Teaching Nomination 9orm
School of Education
:" Maintains a positi&e climate for learning, and applies fair and e0ecti&e management
strategies*
When Thomas began teaching the class he distributed cards as+ing for feedbac+ on
the was in which the students preferred to wor+ and learn" ,e constantl referred to
these throughout his practice which made the students feel as though the were
ac+nowledged, creating a safe en&ironment" ,is classroom management de&eloped
o&er the course of the placement b listening to feedbac+ and ad.usting where
necessar"
-" 3emonstrates re;ecti&e practice for self7de&elopment"
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Please fax to the Professional Experience <=ce on >2?( 2:-> or email @ill Crump at
.ill"crumpA;inders"edu"au b 9rida 2?th @une 2?(8"

The Ruth Probert Memorial Medal for Excellence in Beginning Teaching Nomination 9orm