THE BIG INTERVIEW Deirdre Watson EDU650 Week 6 Dr. Jackie W. Kyger, Ed.D. Insert your pictur e Here!

Hello! My name is Deirdre Watson I currently live in Atlanta, Georgia and was born and raised here in the state. I am 35 years of age, I married my best friend and high school sweet heart, together we produced 3 beautiful, talented, amazing kids 2 boys 11years old, 9years old, and one daughter 5years old, I attend Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, there I work with the Youth Ministry. Immediately after graduating High School in 1998 I enrolled in a 2yr college to major in Early Childhood Care and Education, then continued my education at Mercer University to obtain my BA in Education, I am currently enrolled in the Maters of Education Program online with Ashford University, I would like to take this time to thank you in advanced for the opportunity to interview for the open position here with your agency.

MY EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY My educational philosophy is to support students I serve in a variety of ways that will connect the school and home. I believe that as a teacher I must work with families as a unit to provide the best quality care possible for my students, as an educator I will provide responsive,meaningingful interactions, create a classroom that has a nurturing environment, while also supporting and encouraging them to explore and show their independence. I will be able to provide developmentally appropriate practices that embrace my students cultural background and respect their families. I believe in practices that would allow my students to be engaged in positive daily learning experiences, practices that builds their self-confidence. I want to be able to provide my students skills that will embrace technology but experience more hands on activities. It is my ultimate philosophy to provide a learning experience that meets need of the individual child engage my students skills that will allow them to use critical thinking skills to solve problems on their own.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN THE GOAL OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN A Classroom Management Plan is merely a combination of my philosophy and techniques that I plan to use in my Pre-kindergarten class that allows my students to be organized, focused, and productive throughout our day to day operations. With my classroom management plan, I can minimize behaviors, and I am allowed to show my skills of being an effective teacher. I believed I have a well-organized class I must be a competent teacher to receive practical outcomes, to be an effective teacher there must be a plan designed for me to follow. I believe that a successful classroom management plan improve the chances of students learning abilities it doesn't only focus on behavior, but it also allows me to create a positive learning environment for each student that builds a foundation for caring and respect of all. My students know the expectations of the classroom because they are the ones that created the class rules and reviewed them every morning. The rules are clear and simple so that my students can familiarize them. As an educator I create the tone of the classroom at day one, this allows students and parents to have an idea of what the school year looks like at a glance. The Role of the student … I believe that my students should be leaders in every way. My students are active in setting our classroom rules, as well as assisting in what our study topic s will be. I think involving students in our classroom decisions, will allow them to be more engaged and excited to take a part in our daily learning experience. It is their responsibility to come in and actively participate in the daily learning experience, in a positive manner using a variety of materials which includes but not limited; to hands-on experiences, technology, outdoor play, large group, small group and much more. It is their role to engage in peer interactions and attempt to use their critical thinking skills to solve complex problems. My students are expected to write every day in their journal and reflect on what was learned the previous day. The role of the teacher… It is my responsibility to create a high-quality learning environment that enables my students to reach their full potential. I will ensure that their environment is conducive to learning, encourages curiosity, exploration, problem solving and self-expression, by implementing a curriculum that fosters all areas of child development: cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and language. It will be my role to serve as a facilitator over my student’s ability to use critical thinking skills, organize information, and construct understandings, I will create a learning environment that includes hands-on activities, interactions, and meet the individual need of a child as well as my entire class a whole. I will create lesson plans weekly, update on-going assessment. It is my ultimate role to provide a safe and healthy physical environment for my students and their families.

SCHOOL MODELS It is important to have good learning objectives to keep students informed of what their tasks will be for the day, it contributes to effective classroom management. Each school have their own learning model that the educators follow. I would love to embrace the Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS) Model, this tool main goal is to manage classroom discipline problems effectively.Once the behavior is controlled the teaching falls into place.

EFFECTIVE LESSON PLAN DESIGN An effective lesson design should be relevant to the learning objective and should allow students to activate prior knowledge for meaningful experiences. Teachers should understand, have knowledge and apply the state standards for the grade and subject in which the teacher is teaching Important Elements of Effective Lesson Design Effective learning takes place when educators design age appropriate strategies to obtain feedback on each student learning experience Effective Planning meet the needs of students and to predict/plan reactions to student challenges Effective planning gets students thinking and allows them to ask questions and build new skills Effective planning gives educators a clear expectation of collaboration with their students The Common Core standards establish grade-level expectations in math and English language arts (ELA) for K-12 students. The standards are aligned with college and work expectations and internationally benchmarked. (Education Digest,2014) Example of Good Learning Objective Aligned with Common Core Standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.1.A – Pint many upper and lowercase letters

ASSESMENTS MATTER Assessments are a critical factor in the classroom environment and alongside can be considered a difficult aspect of teaching. Assessments both formative and summative should be tailored to specifically fit the purpose of the objectives given the state standards. Neither formative nor summative assessments are more important than the other. Formative assessments are able to show if the students are grasping the material being taught to them while the lesson is still going on. Summative assessments are only given after the complete lesson has been taught. Both assessments are an integral part of class instruction, the overall goal is to determine if the educational objectives are being met. As a teacher it is important that I am aware of my state standards for the subject and grade that I am teaching. Both assessments are important and as a teacher I will not be successful if I am not able to distribute and administer these assessments to my students properly.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY Professional learning communities (PLCs) are a great way to impose continuous learning amongst teachers, Educators in these communities believe that their continuous learning is the key to improved student learning.” (Newton, CH Para 2) Its ok to aim to be the best educator you can be, but it also wise to make sure you are able to share your ideas, and network with peers in the same field. If I was to walk into a PLC school I should teachers confident in their work as well as teachers working together in an effort to reach the main goal of producing successful students.

REFERENCES 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 Education Digest. Apr2014, Vol. 79 Issue 8, p p., Database: Corporate Resource Net