BRIDGETT R. DORA THE BIG INTERVIEW FEBRUARY 22, 2016 DR. WENDELL LATOUCHE

SELF-INTRODUCTION Hello, my name is Bridgett Dora. I live in Monroe, Louisiana where I was born and raised. I’m married and we have 4 sons ranging in ages I graduated from the University of Louisiana of Monroe in December, 2013 with a Bachelors in general studies and I’m currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Education. I feel that this position would be a opportunity for me to begin my teaching career. I have previously worked in the education field as a paraprofessional for over 6 years and I’ve also taught in special services for a year. I have extensive training in working with students who require small groups, one-on-one, gifted, special needs, and more. I’ve worked in a Title 1 school where the school score was a D and improved to an A and ended up as a “Choice School”. I look forward to joining your team and helping students achieve GOALS!

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela Education is the most valuable tool a person should be willing to earn. As a mother of boys and a wife; which aims to reach the highest mountains, to show my family that no matter what many thought was impossible you can obtain the possible. I value my role as a parent, teacher, and a learner. As a parent, I teach my boys to follow rules, obey authority figures, and be upright humble citizens while not just when they are with me, but even from out of my presence. Teacher as a Facilitator Teaching students with special needs is very rewarding. Many of the students that I plan to teach lack the basis understanding of math and reading. Some of the students have attention problems and physical difficulties. All of my students face challenges in their daily lives, and they persevere. In my eyes, they will be the “real” Gifted and Talented students. Life-long Learner/ Goals My goals for my students are to increase my students skills in Reading, Spelling, and Math. My students’ frustration level is high; so when a new skill is introduced, as the teacher I will introduce it slow and steady. The math curriculum is effective in helping to teach all important concepts. The Reading series emphasizes sound pronunciation, handwriting, and Reading Comprehension. My goal is also to increase dramatically reading skills and improve math computation and reasoning skills. 21 st Century Skills The kind of teaching that I represent is more of a traditional classroom. “Attributes of a traditional classroom, other than its physical layout include presentations by the teacher, often followed by teacher-monitored independent work, and then summarized with a written test that looks for deficiencies in learning.” (Newman, 2013 section 1.2 para 4)

The students that I will focus on would be Resource grades 1-3. Each student will be aware of the classroom rules. Those rules are posted on the bulletin board inside of the classroom. In class we will discuss the bubblegum system. Also, on the bulletin board students will see their “drawn” bubble gum machine. If a student is on task each day for the week, not misbehaving, working diligently, keeping their hands and feet to themselves; their class will receive a bubble gum ball. If they aren’t on task a bubble gum ball would be removed from their class. At the end of the week, if all gumballs are still on the machine; the class would receive a treat. If its only one student that I’ve had to stay on constantly that person is the only person that would not receive a treat for the week. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

School ASchool BDifferences/Similarities identified between schools Type of SchoolPublicCharter Total Population/ Demographics School A is 85% African American, 5% Arabic, and 10% Caucasian ( Free Lunch for the next 3 years to all students) School B is 100% African American (Free, Reduced Lunch) Student to Teacher Ratio1820 Both teachers voiced that they wanted a paraprofessional in their classrooms to be that extra set of eyes but due to funding it’s not allowed Key Issues FacingNot being individualizedReading Comprehension School A: Regular education teachers who have SpEd students and they are teaching Science/S.S. They must be taught the grade level standards no matter the cognitive level. School B: Students are struggling at reading comprehension. After being asked to read 3-4 times and then answer 4 short questions; they are struggling to complete Role of Technology Smartboards IPad Smartboards Interactive lessons Both schools have smartboards to use while school A also uses IPads and computers in class school B have to go to the computer lab to access computers. 21 st Century Skills School A: Twenty-first century skills are requiring students to use critical thinking, problem solving, and communication School B: Parents are not knowledgeable about new skills being taught. (They don’t have any similarities) Different School Models

EFFECTIVE LESSON PLANNING What are the most important elements of effective lesson design?  THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENTS IN EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LESSON DESIGNS IS GOOD LEARNING OBJECTIVES.  ARE THE QUESTION THAT ARE BEING ASKED CLEAR AND SPECIFIC  RESEARCH IS MOST IMPORTANT IN EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING AND IS THE BEST PLACE TO START.

FORMATIVE vs. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT As stated on page 183 in the journal article, “The distinction between summative and formative assessment is clear: summative assessment makes a judgment call on learning outcomes, while formative assessment provides a sense of direction to achieve unattained goals. If the information which professors send to students has a direct impact on the learning tasks established within the analytical program of the discipline, it can be considered feedback or formative assessment. If information sent by professors does not have an immediate impact on learning, it is summative assessment. So, we can define feedback as a trajectory move towards attainment of a learning goal.” (Costel, Simona, Ana, & Stefan, 2015) ASSESSMENT MATTERS

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES Professional learning communities are defined as a group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise, and works collaboratively to improve teaching skills and the academic performance of students.

REFERENCES Costel, S., Simona, M., Ana, O., & Stefan, G. (2015). Measures of Transforming Summative and Formative Assessment in Evaluation Students Activities. Constanta Maritime University Annals, Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: Connecting the Dots. San Diego, CA.: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.