THE BIG INTERVIEW ARTIA NELSON DR. LATOUCHE EDU 650

Introduction  Hello, my name is Artia Nelson. I currently live in Kaiserslautern, Germany, but I am originally from Savannah, Georgia.. I graduated from Valdosta State University in December 2011 with a B.A. in Early Childhood Education. I’ve worked in childcare for many years starting in my high school years, and I’ve loved it ever since. Teaching is truly a passion and a healthy part of my everyday life.  I am currently applying for the lead teacher position. If chosen for this position, I will produce students who are dedicated and motivated to being successful. I will encourage students to be more hands-on with their learning and encourage 21 st century learning environments. Student success is a must. I would help students become involved with formative and summative assessments and produce great percentages on standardized testing.

Philosophy of Education  My Philosophy of Education is based on the success of students and the importance of academic achievements. I want to impact and inspire my children’s’ lives one day at time so that they are wanting to learn more and succeed. I want students to learn the importance of having moral values as well as the knowledge to choose the right paths for themselves. I want my students to be able to inspire others and constantly challenge themselves. I want them to learn the importance of having an education and putting forth all efforts to achieve academically. I want my students to know the importance of giving and receiving guidance. The importance of collaborating as Lopez stated in “No Excuses University.” Teamwork and working together is very important in learning environments. The values in life that are most important to me is family, balance, success, stability, loyalty and education. These are the things that describe me as a person. As a teacher, I want to be able to inspire my students and bring out the best in them. Encourage them to believe that they can do whatever they put their minds to. As stated in the article ISTE Standards, I want to “promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking inventiveness.” (Standards T, 2008).

Classroom Management Plan  The goal of my classroom management plan is to create a positive learning environment that will promote teaching and learning. It will also serve a purpose for “creating and sustaining an orderly climate for academic learning, and enhancing the social and moral growth of students. (Newman, 2013)” Classroom management and curriculum will both intertwine so that it will engage, motivate, encourage and inspire every student that walks through the door. The grade level that will be addressed is second grade. My goal for my plan is to build effectively an environment that will benefit both the teacher and the students and enhance learning. Creating a student-centered classroom is most important because it allow students to construct their learning environment and be in control of their learning. Encouraging students to learn and be in control of their learning is a primary goal that will be assessed.

Classroom Management Plan

Different School Models  In my classroom, the implications for teaching and learning I will incorporate is technology, 21st-century skills, student motivation techniques, parent-involvement, creativity, and more. I realized how important technology is and how it being incorporated into lessons on a daily basis imperative in teaching. I want my students to be very aware of how to use technology but still maintain creativity. I want to encourage whole group collaboration when completing projects and daily assignments. My students will utilize 21st-century skills in the classroom but will not lose the sense of creativity. Having activities that include students to be more hands-on that involve them to use problem-solving skills and communication skills will be an implication that I implement. Parent involvement is going to a significant impact in my classroom. I want parents to be involved in their children’s educational career and helping them become successful. I think that will help build student motivation and support within the classroom. The areas of new knowledge I plan to explore is to figure out more ways to incorporate 21st-century skills with using technology and including creativity. I want to constantly learn more about how to align standards but still make it fun for my students to learn. Consistently motivating my students would become a ritual that is incorporated into the daily schedule. Encouraging students that they can make it and them believing it is what means the most. I would continually include parent involvement in my classroom. Implementing a parent involvement once a month to build the morale so that parents can see how their child is doing in the classroom and developing a plan to help in their area of struggle. I would prioritize the work in the classroom by beginning with the standard first and then formulating my lessons based off of the standard. I would focus on the area that my students struggle the most and spend more time focusing on helping them achieve the required goal for this field. Technology will play a huge role in assisting my lessons. Students will use technology for most activities that are completed in the classroom. The use of technology will build 21st-century skills and better equip students for the real-world experiences.

Effective Lesson Planning and Design  The most important elements of effective lesson planning and design are to gather research, develop learning objectives that are clear, complete and specific (Newman, 2013), and to use state standards as well as Bloom’s Taxonomy to construct the learning objective. (Newman, 2013)  Good learning objectives are very crucial to planning effective instruction because teachers want to challenge their students with higher-level learning objectives, questions, and assessments. Creating a good learning objective prepares students for a challenge.  Common Core State Standards Initiative plays an important role in designing effective instruction because each learning design or model has to begin with a standard that helps construct a learning objective. 

Assessment Matters  Assessments are given to gather information to help teachers determine where their students stand academically, what areas they need to focus on more in the upcoming year, and what areas they need to focus on in the current year. Lopez shares “Our reason for assessing students has to be grounded in a commitment to use the information in a way that helps us to generate greater success for them.” (Newman, 2013) Educators should always find ways to generate greater success for their students. Student success is the main priority and teachers should focus on how to develop ways to produce great results. Teachers have to determine ways to defend the assessments they are giving to their students. Assessments should be meaningful and be used to build on the engagement of the students. Lopez also states that we need to show that students are fully engaged in assessments and the results of those assessments should show student achievement. I believe this is the key keep our students motivated, as well as produce great test results.  The roles of formative and summative assessment in the classroom are an important and comprehensive factor in the classroom. Formative assessment is used to “improve teaching and learning.” (Newman, 2013). It is used on a daily basis to provide consistent feedback to teachers and students on the improvements of performance. It provides teachers with the information on where students need to make adjustments and how students are progressing. Summative assessment is used to “determine a student’s overall achievement level in a specific area of learning at a particular time.” (Newman, 2013) Summative assessments are known as “state assessments, district benchmarks, end-of-unit or chapter tests, etc.” (Newman, 2013) Summative assessments are tools that are used to help evaluate formative assessments. They are used to show if the tools and teaching practices that are being used in the classroom are effective. It measures the “effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs.” (Newman, 2013). Each form of assessment play an important role in supporting learning because it informs instructional decision making, guide for teachers and students in goal setting, and overall the grading process. Teachers can use the data from assessment to influence learning in the classroom by having students develop goals that they set along the way to achieve each semester or nine week period. This helps students see the progression they are making in their educational career with the descriptive feedback or formative assessments that teachers are providing. Once they have been properly prepared, then summative assessments will support the learning and teaching by the results being produced.

Professional Learning Communities  Building a Professional Learning Community is very important in the educational world. Setting goals, building inquire, planning, teaching, reflecting and applying are very important to the success of becoming an effective teacher. “Teachers almost always want to improve their instruction, ensure that every child succeeds, and reduce the achievement gap between students.” (Newman, 2013) Teachers must ensure they are impacting their classrooms and staying one foot ahead of the game. Continuously staying updated with new standards and teaching methods. I would expect to see these things in PLC-focused classroom where the teachers is maintaining the ten roles teacher leaders and leading their students to success.

References  Lopez, D. (2013). No excuses university: How six exceptional systems are revolutionizing our schools(2nd ed.). Turnaround Schools PublicationsNo excuses university: How six exceptional systems are revolutionizing our schools  Newman, R. (2013).Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: Connecting the Dots. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century: Connecting the Dots   4Teachers. (2008). Retrieved Classroom Architect. Retrieved from