1. Daretta L. Wilson EDU650: Teaching Learning and Leading in the 21st Century Instructor: Dale Kimball 9/29/2015 to 11/9/2015

2. Hello Board, my name is Daretta Wilson and I am applying for the 2 nd grade position that you have listed within your school districts webpage. I have always wanted to teach second grade and would be honored to work for a district such as yours that has excellent achievements and high standards. As a first year teacher I will continue to improve my educational studies so that I may be the best at my career. I recently graduated from Ashford University with my Bachelor of Arts in Education, specializing in Child Development. While attending college I also worked full time, while being a wife and mother; during these four years I was selected to join the SALUTE National Honor Society and also joined the Alumni Association. My grade point average ranged from a 3.20 to a 3.43 during my four years in college.

3. Personal Philosophy of Education I loved school and enjoyed being there, the teachers were great, the work was easy and I really enjoyed spending my days at school. When I went in to the second grade I enjoyed my teacher; the fact that I was learning how to write cursive and getting to learn and make new things was very intriguing to me. I knew right then in second grade that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. This did not stop in second grade though, the older I got the more I wanted to help in whatever ways the teachers would let me. Teaching has been a lifelong dream of mine and it is because of teachers like the ones I had in elementary, the ones that left an impact on me, and helped me through my elementary years that led me to want to be just like them. Teaching means the world to me because I want to make a difference in the lives of children all over the world. I want children to realize that no matter what obstacles one has in life that learning is not impossible if you have the right person teaching you and 100% is given by both the student and the teacher. As a teacher I will come to school with a positive attitude and motivate my students by sharing the joy of life and learning with them. I will get to know my students each year on a first name basis and understand their lives, who they are, where they came from, and where they want to go. I do not think that teaching is coming in to the classroom and opening a book, reading, and doing a lesson for a grade. Teaching is caring about your students, wanting to make sure that they succeed and learn all that they can while they are in your presence. Teaching is making a difference in the life of someone else. Being able to challenge my students by having them set daily, weekly, and monthly goals will benefit them and give them joy when they see that they have accomplished their goal and can move on to bigger and better things. Students are not challenged when they do the same work over and over, as an educator I will make sure that my students are receiving the necessary assessments to help them progress and move forward. I will also challenge them, have them struggle with work in order to learn from it, and encourage them to be creative and innovative. Learning and education are extremely important in an individual’s life no matter what the age of the person. I tend to follow the philosophy of John Dewey who said, “The purpose of education should not revolve around the acquisition of a pre-determined set of skills, but rather the realization of one’s full potential and the ability to use those skills for the greater good” (Dewey, 2009). John Dewey makes a strong case for the importance of education not only as a place to gain content knowledge, but also as a place to learn how to live (Dewey, 2009). In a learning situation students are using their brains, their senses, and their prior knowledge and adding on to things that they have already learned which is building up their knowledge daily. In my classroom I will offer group and individual learning so that students have a choice in how they learn, I will offer centers in my room so that students have choices in where they learn, and I will offer them positive reinforcement throughout their learning experiences by giving assessments with positive feedback and group re-teaching. I believe that every child deserves an equal chance at learning and that no matter one’s circumstance that it should not hinder one’s learning. As an educator I will do everything in my power to make sure that each and every student is treated fairly and that each one has the same opportunity to learn as the next person. It is not enough just to go to school and get a degree and sit behind a desk, I will become a part of my classroom, a part of my student’s daily lives, and I will be there for each one of them to turn to in the time of questions, concerns, and tutoring. I will have an open door policy so students feel comfortable talking about school problems and issues, so that those that feel bullied have a place to turn to, and so that those that are in need can come and ask for help without the embarrassment that is sometimes felt.

4. Classroom Management Plan Education in today’s society is about adapting to a changing world. Educators must keep up with technology advancements, with society’s life changes, and with the diversity of the classrooms; by doing this we will keep our children engaged and help them to become successful. It is not enough to just stand in front of a classroom and lecture, we must use the 21 st century skills in order to really reach our students. This means that we have to become the adapter, the communicator, the learner, the visionary, the model, the collaborator, the risk taker, and the leader. The goal. The goal is not just to pass each one of the students on to the next grade because they could memorize their work long enough for a test, no the goal is to help them actually learn the material being presented to them. The goal is for me as a teacher to use the 21 st century skills and teach, instruct, engage, and be a model for these students so that they can be successful in life. Rules and expectations. Classrooms, like businesses, have a level of multidimensionality that occurs consistently every day. They are complex systems where many things occur at several different levels, which make managing a classroom difficult (Newman, 2013). For this reason it is very important that educators set rules with consequences along with having high expectations for their students. Expecting our students to behave a certain way and making those expectations clear to them can shape their behavior (Newman, 2013). The role students have in the classroom. The student-centered classroom focuses on the needs of the students. Students are actively engaged in making decisions in the classroom, including those about rules and procedures, and they have a level of ownership in their learning (Newman, 2013). When having a student-centered classroom students feel responsible, are more apt to set goals and want to achieve them, and are more willing to do what is right because they are the ones that set the rules. The role in the classroom is to give 100% effort in learning and doing so that they will be successful. Their role is to listen carefully, interact, be creative, use technology, and ask questions. The role educators have in the classroom. As an educator in a student-centered classroom the teacher is there to guide, model, observe, and teach the students. This type of classroom has a more balanced feeling as opposed to the teacher-centered classroom (Newman, 2013). My role in the classroom is to teach and instruct, to be engaged and active with the students and the lessons, to answer questions, and direct students in the right path; I am to model the behavior and learning of the 21 st century. The classroom management plan. The classroom management plan will include how to organize students’ time, their space, and the materials so that instruction and student learning can effectively take place. The classroom management plan will also have high expectations for student behavior and learning.

5. Different School Models As parents we always want the best for our children and we always look for the best schools, with the highest ratings, and the best reputation. There are many different types of schools that we have to choose from when trying to choose a good educational path for our children; such schools include: public schools, charter schools, alternative schools, and private schools. Self-pace high schools allow students to work in an online self-pace classroom with an eighteen to one ratio as where the public high school works both with text books and computers while being teacher taught in a twenty-eight to one ratio. Students at the self-pace school can finish a credit in as little as four weeks if they work hard enough, they then take an online test for that credit and if they pass they will receive their credit. In regular high school a student must first go through a teacher taught course for a whole semester and then take a final semester test to determine if they receive the credit. John Dewey stated that “progressive education was one which designed experiences based on intimate understanding of people’s past experiences which, he claimed, significantly determine their present experiences.” For Dewey, the educator must manage the quality of students' experience in the present situation by interacting with, and adjusting, the circumstances. The educator must finds ways of presenting relevant subject matter which maximally engages the interest and motivation of the student (Dewey, 1938/1997).Dewey

6. LESSON PLAN = INSTRUCTOR ROAD MAP Steps for Preparing a Lesson Plan Outline learning objectives - What you want students to learn and be able to do at the end of class Develop the introduction - Design specific activities that will help students to understand and apply what they have learned Plan the specific learning activities (the main body of the lesson) - Prepare ways of explaining the material Plan to check for understanding - Check for student understanding Develop a conclusion and a preview – Review the material covered in class Create a realistic timeline – Allow time to adjust the lesson plan during class depending on what the students need Presenting the Lesson Plan Educators should inform their students of what they will be learning, as well as doing, in class. When students are informed it helps keep them engaged and on track. Successful lesson plans addresses and integrates these three key components: Objectives for student learning Teaching/learning activities Strategies to check student understanding

7. According to Rick Wormeli, formative assessments should be worked into the lesson plans; formative assessments give us three descriptive feedback questions: what is the goal, where are you at with that goal, and what are we going to do to close the gap? The formative assessment is ongoing and is used as a check point along the way. In order for us to measure educational quality we must identify the six things that make a school a thriving school; once we identify these six things we must first identify the steps, second measure each step, and third we must signal to people that we value these things by publishing and posting. While assessments will likely continue to be a large part of our educational experiences, their purposes and functions are changing. Whether the assessment is summative or formative, educators must make sure that the assessment is valid, reliable, and transparent. Summative assessments are those assessments that are done near the end of the course and usually cover the entire semester of learning grouped in smaller categories. Summative assessments are done in order for the teacher to give a grade, they are formal and seek to evaluate the students’ overall achievements. The formative assessment on the other hand is used to show improvement, a student’s weakness and strengths, and to show the teacher any progress that has been made in a lesson. Formative assessments are used to mark where improvements can be made, but not necessarily to keep a grade of the assessment; these types of assessments are ongoing.

8. Professional Learning Communities PLC’s can be small or large, they can be formal or informal, and they can operate with a tight nit group or more openly. PLC’s can be district-based, cross-district, local school-based, or national. Joining a Professional Learning Community will help me to engage in a wide range of activities and experiences. In addition to sharing common beliefs and behaviors, successful professional learning communities share a common focus. Challenging each other and raising the expectations of everyone, caring deeply about learning, feeling free to take risks, aggressive in continually building capacity of each member to work smarter, respecting and valuing perspectives other than my own by seeking and valuing every member’s input, and intentional in seeking to do the work better. The work of the professional learning community should expand the knowledge and skill of participants while encouraging innovation and excellence (Martin-Kniep, 2004).

9. Churches, A. (2009). Teaching skills: What 21st century educators need to learn to survive. Retrieved from http://www.masternewmedia.org/teaching- skills-what-21st-century-educators-need-to-learn-to-survive/Teaching skills: What 21st century educators need to learn to survivehttp://www.masternewmedia.org/teaching- skills-what-21st-century-educators-need-to-learn-to-survive/ Combs, Dr. Jurgen. (16 June 2010).Writing your own Educational Philosophy. Common Core State Standards Initiative. (n.d.). Standards in your state. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/ Dewey, J. (2009). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: WLC Books. (Original work published 1916). Dewey, J. (1938/1997). Experience and Education. New York: Simon and Schuster.Standards in your statehttp://www.corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state/Experience and Education Fink, D. L. (2005). Integrated course design. Manhattan, KS: The IDEA Center. Retrieved from http://ideaedu.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Idea_Paper_42.pdf Gray, Audrey (n.d.). Constructivist Teaching and Learning. SSTA Research Centre Report #97-07. Retrieved from www.saskschoolboard.ca. Hamilton, L. S., Stecher, B. M., & Yuan, K. (2008). Standards-based accountability in the United States: History, research, and future directions. RAND Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2009/RAND_RP1384.pdf International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE Standards Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards- T_PDF.pdf Jensen, E. (2008). Brain-based learning: The new paradigm of teaching (2nd Ed). California: Corwin Press. Lopez, D. (2013). No excuses university: How six exceptional systems are revolutionizing our schools (2nd ed.).Turnaround Schools Publications.http://ideaedu.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Idea_Paper_42.pdfwww.saskschoolboard.caStandards-based accountability in the United States: History, research, and future directionshttp://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2009/RAND_RP1384.pdfISTE Standards Teachershttp://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards- T_PDF.pdfNo excuses university: How six exceptional systems are revolutionizing our schools Martin-Kniep, G.O. (2004). Developing learning communities through teacher expertise. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Annenburg Institute for School Reform. (2004). Professional development strategies that improve instruction. Providence, RI: Brown University. Ibid. Michael Pershan. (2012, July 6). What if Khan Academy was made in Japan? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHoXRvGTtAQWhat if Khan Academy was made in Japan? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHoXRvGTtAQ References

10. Montell, Gabriela. (27 March 2003). How to Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Multiple Intelligences for Adult Literacy and Education. (n.d.). Assessment: Find Your Strengths! Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: Connecting the Dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Piaget, J. (1983). Piaget’s Theory. In P. Mussen (ed). Handbook of Child Psychology. 4 th edition. Vol. 1. New York: Wiley. Robert Swanwick. (2011, December 14). New classrooms overview part 1 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= Stenhouse Publishers. (2010, November 30). Rick Wormeli: Formative and summative assessment [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxFXjfB_B4 TED Talks. (2012, August). Daphne Koller: What we’re learning from online education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html TED. (2006, June). Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html TED Talks. (2011, March). Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.html TED. (2012, October 17). Stop stealing dreams: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFS [Video file]. Retrieved from http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/STOP- STEALING-DREAMS-Seth-Godin TEDxTalks. (2011, August 14). TEDxSoCal – Dr. Brian Stecher – Cultivating thriving schools [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYdW871pL4 Tony Wagner (2012, May 31) Play, passion, purpose: Tony Wagner @ TEDxNYED [Video fil e]. Retrieved from http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxNYED-April-28-2012-Tony-Wag Wiley, John & Sons LTD. (2010). Assessment Methods in Statistical Education, An International Perspective/ edited by Penelope Bidgood, Neville Hunt, and Flavia Jolliffe. Websites: Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org) Common Core Standards (commoncorestandards.com)Assessment: Find Your Strengths!Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: Connecting the DotsNew classrooms overview part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?vRick Wormeli: Formative and summative assessment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxFXjfB_B4Daphne Koller: What we’re learning from online educationKen Robinson says schools kill creativity http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.htmlSalman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education.htmlStop stealing dreams: Seth Godin at TEDxYouth@BFShttp://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/STOP- STEALING-DREAMS-Seth-GodinTEDxSoCal – Dr. Brian Stecher – Cultivating thriving schools http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYdW871pL4Play, passion, purpose: Tony Wagner @ TEDxNYEDhttp://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxNYED-April-28-2012-Tony-Wag Khan Academyhttp://www.khanacademy.org