Hey teacher!
This World Teachers' Day, we're turning the spotlight on the real heroes of the classroom—our amazing teachers!
We reached out to some of our favourite educators from our community to get the inside scoop on their teaching journeys.
From what inspired them to step into the world of teaching to the lessons they've learned along the way, we've asked them all the burning questions.
Ever wondered what your favourite teachers love most about their job or what teaching hack they swear by? You’re about to find out!
So, sit back, relax, and get to know the incredible teachers who make learning magic happen every day.
Teacher Spotlight: Atama Cassidy
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a teacher?
My name is Atama Cassidy and teaching runs in my blood. I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by inspiring educators, my mum who is a passionate junior teacher and now a dean at a local girls high school and my aunty who is a principal and has been teaching for 30 years.
I am the oldest of four, and so my idea of fun was playing school and pretending to be a teacher. I would give my siblings homework and on Friday give them stickers if they finished their tasks. I was also great with my younger cousins, creating games for them to play.
Teaching is in my DNA! I have been teaching for 8 years and currently am an Assistant Principal. My journey to leadership was a fast one!
How long have you been teaching, and what subjects or grades have you taught?
I have been teaching for 8 years, and have taught all the ages and year levels. In New Zealand, I teach the New Zealand curriculum which means we have to teach all the subject areas.
Looking back, what lessons have you learned in your teaching career that you would share with others?
I think the most important lesson I would give to younger teachers is the power of work life balance. As teachers we are so relational and passionate that we can fall into the trap of infusing being a teacher with our own identities. It is so important we have our own lives, enjoy time with friends and have hobbies outside of school. That way we are well rounded individuals being the best we can for our students.
A teaching highlight?
A highlight in my career would be the initiative I created called Morning Missions, which I started in my class and soon it was adopted by many local schools. It is basically provocation learning; students would come into class at 9am and see a provocation on the whiteboard that would connect to their world i.e. our local bridge needs repairing, can you build us a better bridge? The kids would get assigned roles e.g. the boss, the builder, the designer and then plan and build some amazing things using lego materials in the classroom. It was so much fun! We found this helped them to be amazing learners.
What is your favourite teaching hack, tip, website or resource that you would recommend to other teachers?
Teachers Pay Teachers!!! My favourite website because I love getting ideas from wonderful teachers.
You can find more from Atama on instagram @teachers.trove and tiktok @teachers.trove
Teacher Spotlight: Lauren Cullen
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a teacher?
My name is Lauren but I am known to everyone as Loz. I'm a bubbly and friendly person who loves quality time with friends and family, reading, being active and outdoors, travelling and listening to RnB music to name a few.
In terms of teaching, I didn't actually realise that I wanted to be a teacher until my mid 20s while working an office job in business and finance.
Leaving that job and going to uni at 25 years of age was possibly one of the best decisions I've ever made. I'm so passionate about teaching and honestly couldn't see myself doing anything else.
How long have you been teaching, and what subjects or grades have you taught?
I'm in my 4th year of teaching with it also being my 4th year on Stage 2. I've done a 3/4 composite class, year 3 twice and now I'm teaching Year 4. I absolutely love this age group of students and would happily stage on Stage 2 forever. I do want to try my hand at Stage 3 next year though. While completing my uni prac experiences I did Kindy and Years 3-6 with little experience on Year 1 and 2 even during my time as a casual teacher.
What do you love most about teaching?
The thing I love most about teaching is the connections and relationships you make. Not only the wonderful relationships with the students but also with the teachers you work so closely with! To me, relationships are the most important part of my job and I honestly think I do a great job in creating and maintaining these relationships. I would love to be that teacher who kids remember when they're older and think of me with fond memories.
Looking back, what lessons have you learned in your teaching career that you would share with others?
Try not to compare yourself or be so hard on yourself because everyone is on their own teaching journey and everyone started at the beginning in the same boat as each other essentially. Try to be ok with change and being adaptable is another huge one. My first year on class after uni was 2021 and I was so excited to have my first ever class but of course lockdown happened. This part of life reminded me of all these things, how important keeping your relationships with students and staff are and how important being adaptable to change is.
A teaching highlight?
This is hard to pick one as I feel very blessed to have a few highlights. I didn't get to have a uni graduation during lockdown so my incredible principal organised an impromptu surprise graduation for me while I was on class in my first year, with a gown, cap and handmade certificate. This was incredibly special as I got to celebrate graduating uni with my class full of students.
Another highlight would have to be in my third year (2023) when I won a leadership award. My principal nominated me for a NSW Leadership award for Early Career teachers and I won. I feel very proud of myself for this one and never would have thought I'd have won or even be nominated for something so early into my career.
Another one is working closely with the Aboriginal Education team at my school and leading our school's first ever whole school Reconciliation walk, which has now been going for 3 years. We arrange for our entire school, community members, families, COS schools and local Elders to all come together and walk around our local village to celebrate Reconciliation. Some really lovely highlights that I feel so blessed to have.
What is your favourite teaching hack, tip, website or resource that you would recommend to other teachers?
Spend 5-10 mins at the end of each day tidying up and organising your things for the next day, it will make you feel a little more organised.
Invest in at least one stamp, it makes marking that much quicker.
Teach your class how to pack up and put things away so that it's a collaborative effort and doesn't fall on you doing it all.
I love BTN for comprehension activities for 4-6, Pobble is another great website to have up your sleeve for writing resources. Remember to have a bit of fun, it's ok not to know everything and it's ok to be a bit silly with the kids too!
Where to find you??
You can find me on TikTok where I post lots of teacher related content. Everything from prac tips, teaching tips, outfits, shopping hauls, classroom organisation, days in the life and a variety of other things. I love making videos on tiktok to help and inspire other teachers, it genuinely brings me joy. I also post on instagram a lot of similar content.
You can find more from Lauren on instagram miss.cullens.world and tiktok @loz.kate
Teacher Spotlight: James Sutherland
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a teacher?
Hey, I’m Jim. I’m 34 years old and I’m a very optimistic person who tries not to waste time on worrying about the small things in life. I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up and and I didn’t love school all that much when I was younger.
A friend suggested I try to be a teacher one day and I thought why not. I never had much life direction after high school and I thought maybe I could be the type of teacher I would of loved to have.
How long have you been teaching, and what subjects or grades have you taught?
I’ve been a teacher for the past 7 years and in that time I’ve been teaching between grades 3-6. I’ve moved between those ranges pretty regularly but I really enjoy working with kids in that age bracket as I love to see the independence developing and also being able to have a laugh and a joke about things. I always wanted to be a P.E teacher but I’m happy in the classroom for now.
What do you love most about teaching?
The best thing about teaching is that you have an opportunity to really make a difference and leave an impact. Sometimes we forget how much of a difference we really make. If you think about yourself or your friends. Everybody can pick one teacher who made a real impact on them. I think that’s amazing and something that doesn’t happen in a lot of jobs. You can be the difference between a good and a bad day for a child in your care. You can also see those beautiful light bulb moments where a child finally overcomes a challenge. That moment is incredible.
Looking back, what lessons have you learned in your teaching career that you would share with others?
Teaching is a great job but it’s also a demanding job. My very first day of full time teaching was the day my daughter was born. It taught me to always be present with my family first over my job. Learning to be able to say no and put yourself first is really important and you should never feel guilty about that. The other thing is please know that it’s ok not to know. I spent university in fear thinking that ‘teachers needed to know everything’ and that almost caused me to quit. That fear of feeling like I needed to be perfect. Mistakes are amazing and learning as you go or with the kids is absolutely ok. If you’re told it’s not then I think you’re in the wrong school.
A teaching highlight?
Recently I was at the supermarket and I hear somebody yelling out my name. It was a student I taught about 4-5 years ago. They had genuine enthusiasm on their face. They were so excited to see me and they wanted to share everything they’d been up to and know I was doing. That moment showed me that I’m making an impact. 5 years later and they were excited to see their teacher as a teenager. I just think that’s really special and it reminds me of why I’m in this job.
What is your favourite teaching hack, tip, website or resource that you would recommend to other teachers?
I love mini whiteboards. I think they are so versatile and they allow for instant feedback. Students can wipe them quickly and change answers without feeling embarrassed and I just think if you use them well they can be such a great asset. Writing, maths, spelling they really work in any lesson. It’s also good to remember that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Smart people make resources so if it matches your lesson then why not use it or at least adapt it to save you time. In teaching, the saying work smarter not harder is very true.
A little more...
Currently, I’m just focused on being the best dad, fiancé and teacher I can be. Those things are really important to me and what I spend my time focused on. I would love for my page to become something that I can use to find a little bit of financial breathing room one day but for now, I just genuinely like trying to connect with others through humour and realistic content. My beautiful fiancé is a talented artist and she creates paintings in her spare time so if anybody read this and wanted to check out her website or Instagram @amyhinchliffeart (and follow her) then that would be so appreciated.
You can find more from Jim on instagram @life.of.jims and tiktok @life.of.jims
Teacher Spotlight: Lesley Woodhouse
Introducing Lesley, who has been working in the education space for 11 years.
What lessons have you learned from your experience in the education sector?
I think don't take it personally. We meet so many people at very different stages of their personal education journey and their responses to truth can be confronting. Children are very honest. Having a thick skin and realising that their response is not about you is important.
What do you love most about being able to share your knowledge?
The thing I love the most about what I do is seeing teachers become confident in with Aboriginal perspectives. Teachers are the ultimate influencers and so much change can come about from one teacher finding their groove with Aboriginal perspectives.
Most teachers we work with want to get it right and being able to provide the support that encourages confidence and empowerment is rewarding. I also love seeing kids embrace new information and becoming confident in standing up for truth. Aboriginal education is one of those spaces that you can influence real change and watching that ripple effect is such an amazing thing.
I love seeing the pride that First Nations kids have when they see their culture in the classroom and I love seeing kids embrace information that supports them developing into strong allies. We share knowledge to encourage others to make impact and thats pretty cool.
An education highlight?
We took a collection of traditional tools and items into a class and a child who had been highlighted to us as non-verbal and likely to not engage was so engaged. She touched everything, made eye contact, laughed and helped with the entire session. She shared a little about her family and just embraced having us in her learning space. At the end she hugged Aunt so hard i thought we weren't going to be able to take her out with us! That's the connection that makes the job so good!
And the other is the network of Aboriginal educators and allies that i have become part of. It is such a nice community to be part of.
What is your favourite teaching hack, tip, website or resource that you would recommend to other teachers?
Is it too cheeky to say www.wingaru.com.au - I love our blog particularly, it has become such a wealth of information and lots of free resources!
Otherwise www.rileycallieresources.com.
Tell us about Wingaru Education...
Wingaru Education is 100% Aboriginal owned education specialist.
We produce a pretty deadly range of classroom resources - everything from posters, education cards and board games to teacher tools and even books. https://shop.wingaru.com.au/
Our digital tools are amazing! - Wingaru Kids is a comprehensive Aboriginal education platform with over 250 curriculum aligned lessons and comes with teacher PD, cultural support and some really cool resources. Our technology was build by the same person (My husband!) who built the original mathletics platform and has been involved in some really amazing tools like Reading Eggs, Clickview and ClassCover.
ClassHive is the ultimate tool in making digital resources easier - imagine never having to find a student's password again, or being able to get a full class logged into your favourite digital tools in under 5 minutes. Imagine never having to format a classlist to meet the requirements of your favourite providers or photocopy another login sheet for students. ClassHive does it all and saves so much time!
We recently published our first picture book - the story is in Dharug language - there is something very cool about seeing Dharug on a page so powerfully!
We love the work we do with Deadly Science each year on the National Science Week resource - this is free to teachers and supported by Australia Post.
You can see more from Lesley Woodhouse (Wingaru Education) on Facebook, Instagram , Pinterest or over www.wingaru.com.au
Teacher Spotlight: Georgia T
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a teacher?
Becoming a teacher has always been a lifelong career goal of mine. I was so lucky to be supported by such amazing educators throughout my life, both at school and university.
I was always so inspired by how much love and care they gave to their students. Teaching was my only career path I've ever considered, up until I had a career change shortly after graduating in 2019.
How long have you been teaching, and what subjects or grades have you taught?
After I completed a Bachelor of Education with a specialisation in Special Needs Education in 2019, I went straight into relief work. I worked in Primary and Special Education settings. My time in teaching was short lived, because in October 2019, Miss T Teachables took off and I was able to make that my full time job!
What do you love most about teaching?
I really miss connecting with students and creating fun learning opportunities, however it is such a privilege being in the position I am to support students and educators from outside the classroom. It's an honour to create products such as our Emotional Regulation Tools to bridge the gap between the challenges of teaching and learning emotional regulation. It's an incredible feeling seeing these tools in action, and hearing feedback from educators and students who have found our tools useful. It's a real pinch me moment!
Looking back, what lessons have you learned in your teaching career that you would share with others?
Teaching is so different from what they teach you in university. There are different challenges, different experiences and many aspects that you'll learn on the fly. Report writing? We weren't taught how to do that. Job applications? My university removed that course. Once you graduate, the learning doesn't stop, but you'll find some great colleagues to support you along the way!
A teaching highlight?
Although this is very ironic, it has to be the 'downfall' of my teaching career. Long story short, I had a bad experience on my final practicum that went from me wanting my own classroom, to me not wanting to continue my teaching career. This ultimately led to the success of my business, and I couldn't be more thankful. Through my experience as a business owner, I've had the opportunity to connect with so many incredible educators, have conversations, and create resources and tools to support their teaching journeys.
What is your favourite teaching hack, tip, website or resource that you would recommend to other teachers?
The Hive! Jez and Tam are the creators of The Hive and it's such a game changing platform for educators! You'll find all things education from digital planners for teachers and students, learning apps, classroom resources, a digital whiteboard, and more. It's such a high quality resource that I'd definitely recommend checking out!
This space is for you! Tell us a little bit more...
I own Miss T Teachables! We specialise in all things educator: lanyards, emotional regulation tools, resources, stickers, badges, stamps etc! Our goodies are unique, high quality and loved by so many incredible educators.
You can find more from Georgia @miss.t.teachables on social media, or over at www.misstteachables.com
Teacher Spotlight: Tam Milledge
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a teacher?
I wanted to be a teacher for my whole life - growing up, my poor siblings endured my pretend school every holidays!!
Teaching really is the most rewarding job... the impact we're able to have on the next generation is enormous.
How long have you been teaching, and what subjects or grades have you taught?
I've been teaching since 2010. I've taught across K-6, but the majority of my experience has been with K-2. I was also Assistant Principal for a number of years.
What do you love most about teaching?
It's hard to go past seeing kids learn to read and write - it's the most magical thing to witness! I LOVE when you see a concept click for a student, or when you see students implementing social-emotional strategies that you've taught them. Nothing beats it!
Looking back, what lessons have you learned in your teaching career that you would share with others?
Oh golly, so many! I think all my experience in teaching the early years has really cemented the importance of building really strong foundations. There's no point tackling more complex topics or skills if students haven't grasped the basics. Explicit teaching of foundational skills is CRUCIAL - don't rush it!
A teaching highlight?
Conducting 600+ students at the Sydney Opera House was pretty amazing! I've also loved the many opportunities that I've had to train K-6 teachers in systematic phonics instruction and evidence-based literacy practices. I compiled many of those learnings into my free Phonics & Beeyond handbook, and it's so far been downloaded by over 70 000 teachers world-wide, which never ceases to blow my mind!
What is your favourite teaching hack, tip, website or resource that you would recommend to other teachers?
My biggest teaching hack? Find every and any opportunity to watch fellow teachers in action - we all have our own unique ways of teaching concepts and/or running our classrooms, and there are so many golden nuggets that we can learn from our teaching colleagues! Like the cliche says - the best PL is the teacher down the hallway! Take advantage of it!
Best teaching website? I'm not sure I can go past The Hive... ;-)
A little more about you...
In addition to spending my days creating engaging, research-based teaching resources, I have also partnered with my tech-wizard husband, Jez, to create The Hive - a revolutionary online platform of educational and digital resources for teachers.
You can find more from Tam & Jez on instagram @mrslearningbee and @learningwiththehive . Don't forget to check our their website for resources, classroom decor and more mrslearningbee.com
Teacher Spotlight: Ash & Alisha
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a teacher?
We are 2 teachers here at Rainbow Sky Creations! We like to say we are the yin and yang or the type A and Type B of the teacher world!
Ashleigh (our type A) always wanted to be a teacher and comes from generations of teachers! She loves the routine, creativity and energy of teaching in a hustling and bustling classroom.
Alisha (our type B) started out studying a bachelor of communications but it was her love of adventure that landed her in the classroom. She loves the connections you create with the students and that no day is the same when you are teaching.
How long have you been teaching, and what subjects or grades have you taught?
We are both primary teachers, teaching Grades K-5. Both of us have spent most of our teaching years in middle primary (Grades 3 and 4). We have each been teachers for 15 years + and we still love all things education!
What do you love most about teaching?
It is a job where you can make an impact! We both love being creative and enjoy connecting with people. Teaching is all about connection in fun and creative ways. It has also created many opportunities for us over the years and led us down paths that we never thought possible.
Looking back, what lessons have you learned in your teaching career that you would share with others?
Your to do list will always be never ending. Do what you can and then make time for yourself and those important to you. To be the best teacher you can be, your cup needs to be filled - it is the right thing to do for yourself and ultimately your students.
A teaching highlight?
We met teaching in an International School in the sandpit (aka Dubai, UAE). That was a highlight for both of us. It combined our love for travel, meeting new people and education all in one, PLUS we met each other which led to us starting Rainbow Sky Creations many years later.
What is your favourite teaching hack, tip, website or resource that you would recommend to other teachers?
We love a good hack! Flicking a paper clip around a pencil to make a spinner, always have students leave their books open for you to mark their work, and using everyday games and items like UNO cards to make learning fun
Oh and if you love a freebie, check out this fun game!
Tell us more...
We love to love on teachers (especially new teachers) at Rainbow Sky Creations. We have a podcast where we share weekly chats as well as a community of thriving teachers inside our membership, Transform your First Years . If you are a teacher looking to save yourself time but still be an educational rockstar at the same time, you have found your people!
Alisha and Ashleigh aka team Rainbow Sky Creations.
Website: https://rainbowskycreations.com/
Podcast: https://rainbowskycreations.com/podcast/
TpT Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Rainbow-Sky-Creations
You can find more from Ash & Alisha on instagram @rainbowskycreations , Tiktok @rainbowskycreations and Facebook
As we wrap up our World Teachers' Day celebration, one thing is crystal clear—our teachers are nothing short of extraordinary! From their heartwarming stories to their top teaching hacks, it’s evident that their passion for education knows no bounds.
Whether they’re inspiring the next generation or finding joy in those lightbulb moments, our educators are the true champions of the classroom.
So, next time you see your favourite teacher, be sure to give them a high five or a heartfelt "thank you." After all, it’s their dedication that turns classrooms into spaces where learning truly comes to life.
Happy World Teachers' Day to all the amazing teachers out there—you really are the magic behind the magic!
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