2015 end-of-year Feedback to Tracey Zehle 24/11/2015

Hi Tracey

Congratulations on a successful 2015! Students in your EALD and Research Project classes
have thrived due to your establishment of a culture of high expectations, setting
challenging learning goals and the use of effective teaching and learning strategies. In
leading How Language Works sessions for colleagues you have also impacted positively
on their ability to provide explicit instruction around language and literacy improvement.

You have not only improved student English language and literacy ability in year 9 and 10
EAL classes, but also in the Research Project. Effective classroom use of systemic
functional grammar and genre theory can take some years in which to become highly
accomplished. Within two years, however, you have demonstrated not only that you can
apply effective language and literacy acquisition strategies in EAL classrooms with non-
English speaking background students, but that you can also extend and apply the same
concepts to develop the language and literacy skills of English speaking background
students in the Research Project, leading to improved results. You have also developed
and shared with students and colleagues alike, an impressive array of language and
literacy resources (online print and video) which you continue to tweak for improvement.

In addition to the high expectations you have for your students, you also provide high
levels of explicit support. You have clearly articulated learning goals to EAL students,
making them aware of key SFG concepts such as the Register Continuum, and how you
will partner together with them in teaching and learning to make continual progress
towards their achieving personal best work. You have demonstrated a keen
understanding of how to strategically apply SFG methodology over the course of a
teaching learning program for maximum effect; choosing not to cherry-pick simpler ideas
to work with such as the expansion of nominal groups, but rather, in written work, to focus
students on understanding and manipulating the clause to create compound and
complex sentences through which to express their ideas. Your explicit EALD pedagogy is
accompanied by extensive and self-developed online (multiple platforms) and print
resources which not only ensure that students can revisit concepts, but also mean that
you are very well prepared to deconstruct and co-construct texts with students in a highly
accomplished and informative manner.

Congratulations on the successful delivery of How Language Works sessions to colleagues.

Your demonstrations of how to embed high-impact language and literacy strategies into
teaching learning programs, and willingness to build and share quality resources, has had
a positive and transformative influence.

Thanks for your hard work and commitment in 2015!

Richard Waugh (EALD Leader)