Bianca Battoraro
Townsville Grammar School
At just 25 years old, Bianca Battoraro is already inspiring others to be a teacher.
The Townsville Grammar School (TGS) teacher is an Australian STEM Video Game Competition judge, a QCAA Chemistry District panellist, a past CONASTA science teachers conference scholarship recipient, a school netball coach, and an Opti-Minds co-coordinator/ district & state judge. She has run Information Technology workshops for staff and in her spare time, she studies for a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Pedagogical Leadership. But it’s her passion to see students achieve, her engaging real-world lessons and her drive to constantly evolve that is truly inspiring. |
The Chemistry, Science and Information Technology teacher is one of the nominees in this year’s Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) Excellence in Beginning to Teach Award.
Bianca has prepared and conducted workshops for TGS teachers on the school’s learning management system and says studying for her Masters is one way of delving into how to make lessons more interesting, while expanding her own knowledge. "I remember learning things and wondering, 'Where is the value in this?' and wondering, 'Why are we learning this?'. I want to make sure that assessments and curriculum are actually reflective of real-world practices that kids can actually apply," Bianca says. Her Year 10 students are given a robot and are set the task of making a security system, which can include building in lasers and trip sensors or motion sensors. Robots and data loggers are just some of the technology used to engage students. I picked teaching because I had such a good experience at my high school and I enjoyed building a rapport with my teachers, she says. “The environment is ever-changing—it is always going to be a new day with different experiences and different students you are trying to connect with; I like the change and that every day is different.”
She says her favourite part of teaching is “building rapport with students and helping them find those moments where they have breakthroughs and comprehend things”. “Even just being a mentor to them. I’ve had a few students tell they would like to pursue teaching; they see my enjoyment of the job and that is quite rewarding,” Bianca says. “I think education is just so fundamental to everything. I genuinely love the school and I want to do as much for them and the students as I can. “I never ever want to become stagnant. I just enjoy learning things and getting my head around new ideas and passing those on.” Congratulations Bianca on being a finalist. |