Making A Difference One Child At A Time My Education Philosophy “We shall have to begin with the children” -Gandhi By: Katie Smith Special Education Practicum Professor: Marcel Lebrun Plymouth State University Plymouth, N.H.

My Experience  Trained in: Applied Behvaior Analysis (ABA)  Client Intervention Training (CIT)  How to be a self advocate on a students Individualized Education Plan (IEP)  Trained in how to work with juveniles in the juvenile justice system (JJS)  CPR and First Aid  Pivitol Response Treatment (PRT)

Past Experience  Playground Monitor  One on one in home Habilitation/Respite Provider for children with Autism (3+ yrs experience)  Past substitute teacher for English and Literature classes 7 th grade and up  Past AVID Tutor for 7 th grade and up  Lead open mic. Night at local coffee shop  Lead/taught open poetry/literature group free and open to the public  Child care provider  Para-Educator Elementary and Middle School academic level  G:\resumedocx G:\resumedocx

My Educational Philosophy  Never talk down to students  Create an environment with mutual respect  Positive reinforcers/consistant, constant encouragement  Democracy within the classroom and school culture  INSPIRE rather than INSTRUCT  Child-centered learning  Respect individualism within the student body

I Support  Inclusion of diverse learners (special needs as well as gifted and those with diverse cultural backgrounds)  Service learning (community service)  The use of positive re-enforcers rather than negative punitive re- enforcers  Explaining rather than saying “NO”  Open classrooms  Integrated curriculum  Hands-on learning and Dewey’s ‘learning through experience’  Individual students learning styles and meeting their particular needs  Mainstreaming students with disabilities  Student EQUITY and EQUALITY  Cooperative Learning  Critical thinking and problem solving within the classroom  Democratic Educational community putting ideas into action  Engaging the learner

Promote Diversity Within Class  Have students share their personal experiences  Encourage parental involvement; have parents involved in homework i.e. interviews, questions about heritage  Involve community i.e. have students connect class activities with local issues/goings on  Cooperative learning; group work/pairs

Involving Social Constructivist & Cognitive Approach  Incorporate social context of learning: group work and discussion  Scaffolding: build off of knowledge they already have  Relevance: Be sure relevance in subject taught is obvious/ how can they apply knowledge built to real life?  Repetition/process assessments formal and informal

My Classroom  Ongoing cycle of learning centers:  Beginning with child’s experience  Building knowledge through reading, writing, speaking, artistic expression  Four main sections within classroom sections for:  Group work, independent work, art, teacher conference

My Classroom Setup  Encourages self expression/exploration  Cooperative learning  Independent work  Engagement  Individuality  Positive Behavior Supports (PBIS)  The use of Response to Intervention (RTI)