"The highlight of my day is when students have the ‘ah-ha’ moment, where concepts click and they begin to understand."
Mathematics Teacher, Bunbury Senior High School. Finalist, WA Beginning Teacher of the Year 2016.
Sharna studied a Bachelor of Education (Primary to Middle Years) at Edith Cowan University.
"Growing up I really enjoyed my time at school and always knew I wanted to be a teacher.
"It was my own secondary school mathematics teacher who inspired me to become one myself.
"I am now in my fourth year with the Department of Education at Bunbury Senior High School teaching mathematics to students from Years 7 to 12.
"I run my classroom as a ‘flipped classroom’, which means that students are delivered the content of the lesson at home, usually via my video podcasts. Then when they come to school they know the skills required and we have more time for engaging with the content using cooperative classroom activities. My use of technology and innovation in the classroom is one of the reasons I was selected as a WA Beginning Teacher of the Year finalist in the WA Education Awards last year.
"I love many things about my job, but the highlight of my day is definitely when students have the ‘ah-ha’ moment, where concepts click and they begin to understand. This is even more rewarding when you have a student struggling with mathematics, as you know you are helping them to improve their perception and attitude toward the subject. It does take time, sometimes even weeks, to develop one concept, but it is very much worth the effort when you see students light up and enjoy their studies."