NOTE: To change the image on this slide, select the picture and delete it. Then click the Pictures icon in the placeholder to insert your own image. THE BIG INTERVIEW SHAMORA GILLIAM EDU650: TEACHING LEARNING AND LEADING IN THE 21 ST CENTURY DR. LATOUCHE DECEMBER 7, 2015

Self-Introduction & Summary of Position  Self Introduction My name is Shamora Gilliam-Washington, I currently reside in Coppell, Texas on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas I am a wife and mother. I graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Information Systems. My future professional goals are to help people preferably children solve and cope with problems in their everyday lives. I am on a mission to help children who are not fortunate to help themselves.  Summary of Position Applying for I am applying for the third grade lead teacher position at Cherokee Park Elementary School. Within this position my objective is to work with teachers, parents and schools administrators to develop plans and strategies to improve students’ academic performance and social development. In the future, I want to be able to protect vulnerable children and help families in need of assistance. My ultimate goal professionally is to be an advocate for a child’s personal, educational, career development and social needs.

Educational Philosophy My philosophy of teaching is a critical aspect of being an effective teacher, as it will influence my approach to teaching. I would motivate students to try their best to obtain their future goals, give them courage if needed to complete what’s required of them as students. O’Neal, Meizlish, and Kaplan (2007) made a valid point that all students should teach regardless of the subject, “…I intend for my courses to be enriching to my students of diverse backgrounds in various ways that will suit their particular academic and personal needs.” The most important responsibility of being a teacher is to inspire and encourage students to strive for greatness. It is imperative for me to ensure that students gain the required knowledge that’s needed for students to be successful.

Classroom Management Plan “Classroom management is one of the most influential factors for determining not only the success of the teacher, but also the academic success for students (Blackburn and Hayes 2014).” Classroom management is critical without an effective plan learning is limited. Classroom management organizes student’s time, space and materials so that instruction and learning can take place more efficiently and effectively. Their will be daily procedures and routines that are set into place from the very beginning that students become accustomed to. Their will be specific desk arrangements for easy monitoring or collaboration with students. The walls will contain the different objectives of what students need to learn each week as well as classroom rules and consequences. Engaging in professional growth and leadership will help me to constantly improve my professional training to create lifelong learning and leadership skills within my classroom. This particular standard will allow me to engage with other teachers to see the way that he or she teaches a lesson and it will also give me valuable feedback on how to effectively assist my students in their learning.

Different School Models School models that exist today within our society have a goal of helping students achieve their fullest potential. Although students learn differently and educators have to implement the different way students learn we all share the same objective and that is to make sure that students are able to learn and excel within their education. Twenty first century skills are not new, how we are taught to master and how to use different skillsets is what’s rapidly changing within our society. As stated by Newman (2013), “Technology heavily influences education…” Within my classroom I plan to use technology. I will also recommend that my colleagues use it as well because I will be able to bring innovative ideas into the classroom as well as to retain students interest. I will use the interactive smartboard to connect a laptop to play fun educational games as well as complete interactive worksheets, the students are also able to touch the smartboard for use with certain educational activities to try and correctly answer questions.

Effective Lesson Planning According to Newman (2013), “research is one of the most important components in effective teaching and learning…” It is very important to create effective and efficient learning strategies/activities for students. “Write good learning objectives using Common Core State Standards as well as Bloom’s taxonomy, (Newman, 2013).” Creating an effective objective is critical in teaching in order to have a positive effect on students and ensuring that they become successful.

Student’s Role in the Learning Process (Backwards Design)

Assessment Matters As an educator formative and summative assessments must be used as it determines whether or not the objectives of education are being met. “…assessment is designed to help guide the teaching and learning process, not just to evaluate where a student is in his or her knowledge acquisition (Newman 2013).” Assessments are also used to measure what information students retain within a unit that was taught by the teacher. Assessments are used to guide the teaching and learning process, not to just test a student’s knowledge. “Teaching and learning methods must be assessment-centered to offer learners opportunities to prove their emerging abilities and receive backing to enrich their learning (Baleni, 2015).” Formative assessments can be in the form of a quiz, journal reflections, short tests, homework and assignments just to name a few. “Formative assessment is only effective if students take ownership of their portion of the learning experience and accurately perceive that there is a different between their performance and optimal performance on tasks (Covic & Jones, 2008).” Some examples of summative assessments are “state assessments, district benchmark or interim assessments, end-of-unit or chapter tests, end-of-term or semester exams and scores are used for accountability for schools and students (report card grades) (Newman, 2013).”

Professional Learning Communities “Professional learning communities offer an infrastructure to connect individuals and a way of creating an organization that is dedicated to collaboration and continual learning (Newman, 2013).” PLCs is a process to build and achieve better results for students. Completing educational workshops are designed to enhance ways that a student learns. I want to be able to collaborate with other teachers to communicate and share goals to make our students excel within their academics.

References Baleni, Z. G. (2015). Online Formative Assessment in Higher Education: Its Pros and Cons. Electronic Journal of E-Learning, 13(4), Briesch, A., Briesch, J., Chafouleas, M. (2014). Investigating the Usability of Classroom management Strategies among Elementary Schoolteachers. Retrieved from Covic, T., & Jones, M. K. (2008). Is the essay resubmission option a formative or summative assessment and does it matter as long as the grades improve? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 33 (1), 75–85. Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots. Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the dots San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. O’Neal, C., Meizlish, D., & Kaplan, M. (2007). Writing a statement of teaching philosophy for the academic job search. Center for Research onWriting a statement of teaching philosophy for the academic job search Learning and Teaching. Retrieved from