The Big Interview-Final Project

1. Shameka Simmons
EDU-650 Teaching Learning and Leading in
the 21st Century
Instructor Laura Wilde
October 1, 2014

2. Educational Philosophy
My educational philosophy is to provide students
with the best possible education that I can, treat them
with respect, keep them safe, use different teaching
methods and strategies, and engage students in
learning. My educational philosophy also includes
communicating effectively with parents, students, and
colleagues to ensure that students reach their full
potential and are actively involved in learning.

3. Be honest.
Provide them with the best possible education.
 Provide extra help when they need it.
Be a role model.
Use differentiated instruction.
Be respectful.
Be fair.

4. Teaching Styles
 The classrooms of the
future will continue to be
filled with students of
diverse backgrounds,
cultures, and languages
(Newman, 2013). I
expect myself to use
different teaching styles
in order to reach each
student’s learning style
in the classroom.

5. Educational Philosophy Values
There are values that are
important to me as a person,
as a teacher, as a parent, and
as a learner. The value that is
most important to me as a
person is commitment. The
value that is most important
to me as a teacher is
teamwork. The value that is
most important to me as a
parent is accountability. The
value most important to me
as a learner is drive.
 It is important that I work
with other members of the
team to achieve a common
goal—student success.

6. It is important for educators to have an effective
classroom management plan.
Teacher understanding of the differences between
student knowledge and student understanding is
critical to implementing a backward design approach
(Childre, Sands, & Pope, 2009).
You cannot plan how you are going to teach until you
know exactly what you want your students to learn.

7. Effective Lesson and Design
 The Common Core State Standards play a role in
designing effective instructions so students, teachers,
and parents know what students are expected to
learn, to understand the skills and knowledge of each
standard (CCSSI, 2014).
 The Common Core State Standards help to guide the
objectives students need to learn and know how to do.
It also helps the teacher to create learning objectives
that are achievable for students.

8. Understand where students need to go, what they
need to learn, and work backward in planning
applicable activities (Newman, 2013).
Allow time to think about what you (the educator)
want students to learn (Newman, 2013).

9. Different School Models
 The two school models that I chose to research are public
school and private school. The two schools that I chose to
take a closer look are Crisp Academy, a private school and
Crisp County High School, a public school. Both of the
school models provide education to students and strive to
educate students what is the best possible methods.
 Both schools have similarities and differences in their
models.
 Private School-charge a fee or tuition to attend (Newman,
2013).
 Public schools does not charge a fee to attend.

10. Private vs. Public School
 The first school I visited was Crisp County High
School. The student population is about 1,064
students. The grade level for the school is 9th grade
through the 12th grade. Students are between the ages
of fifteen and twenty-two years of age. The student-teacher
ratio is 15 to 1, but Mr. Clemons stated his
classroom’s ratio was 31 to 2 (2014). The second school
type is Crisp Academy. The school has a population of
265 students. The school has grades from Pre-K thru
12th grade. Students range in age from four to 22 years
of age (Cello, 2014).

11. Public vs. Private Continued
 Both teachers believe students need to learn reading
and vocabulary so that they are able to understand
what they are reading. Mrs. Cello thinks that math is
also a needed skill that is important.
 Private schools have a lower student population than
public schools and the teacher student ratio is lower.

12. Assessments are those tools that are used to determine where
students are in mastering the required skills needed to be
successful in education and the real world. Teachers can use
formative or summative assessments to evaluate how well
students comprehend and understand instruction.
Assessments are also used to identify specific tasks that
students should be able to perform. Assessments are important
tools that can help guide a teacher’s practice in the classroom,
engage students in taking responsibility for their learning, or
carry the weight of a grade (Newman, 2014).

13. The first type of assessment is formative assessments.
Formative assessments are used to inform future practice and
used to inform learners and teachers about the progress
students are making and about the next steps in the learning
process (Newman, 2014). Teachers can use formative
instruction to redirect the flow of the lesson, get students on the
right train of thought, and to guide them into the next level of
learning. Some forms of formative assessment are multiple
choice and fill in the blank quizzes, journal entry, and
questioning. Formative assessments can be used throughout
the lesson. Formative assessment is the ongoing assessment that
is used throughout the lesson as checkpoints along the way and
includes descriptive feedback (Wormeli, 2010).

14. Summative Assessments
Summative assessment is the method and tools used
to determine a student’s overall achievement level in a
specific area of learning at a particular time and provides a
summary of the information that students need to know,
understand, or can do (Newman, 2014). Summative
assessments are used to show how well students have
mastered a variety of skills at a specific time in the learning
process. Summative assessments can be used at the end of
a chapter or unit of study, or during mid-term. This type of
assessment does provide feedback as well as formative
assessment. However, the assessment is not done during
the lesson to provide for improvement, it is done at the end
of the lesson.

15. The role that I see assessment playing in my classroom is one that
will allow room for improvement in using better strategies and techniques
that will help students to be able to process the information being given and
help them to retain it, which can help to provide improvement of student
successfully achieving or mastering the goals that are set. The information
that I can look at from formative assessments can help me to determine
whether or not I am teaching effectively, using activities appropriate for the
lesson, I need to change my teaching style, or if students did not gain a
complete understanding of the concept being taught. This allows room for
me to be able to go back and teach a strategy in a different way that will help
enable students to understand the content and reach the goal of the lesson. It
can allow improvement in learning and in teaching. Both types of
assessments are vital to success in learning and teaching in the classroom.
Formative assessments can help me to make sure students understand what
they are being taught and summative assessments can help me assess students
at the end of lessons to see how well they learned and retained the
information.

16. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.2- Follow
precisely a multistep procedure when
carrying out experiments, taking
measurements, or performing technical
tasks (CCSSI, 2014).

17. Pupils will be able to correctly identify and label the Earth’s crust.
Students will be given instruction on the Earth’s crust. Students will
write down the vocabulary words in their journals and their
meanings. Students will then watch a short video on the Earth’s
Crust for the particular layers we are going over for that day.
Throughout the lesson I would use the method of questioning to ask
student’s different questions as the lesson is being taught to make
sure they are following me. Students will be given a short five
question quiz at the end of the class to turn in each day the lesson is
taught. At the end of the lesson, the summative assessment would
call for students to construct a replica of the Earth’s crust, correctly
label them, and write two to three sentences on the significance of
each layer.

18. References
 Cello, Phyliss. Crisp Academy. Cordele, GA.
 Childre, A., Sands, J., Pope, S. (2009). Backward Design: Targeting
Depth of Understanding for All Learners. Teaching Exceptional
Children. 41(5). Retrieved September 22, 2014, from
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.
ashford.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=cf6f7c00-b07e-
4c76-b984-22f3b09c666b%40sessionmgr4005&vid=5&hid=4112.
 Clemons, Terrence. Crisp County High School, Cordele, GA.
 Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from
http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/.
 Newman, R. (2013). Teaching and learning in the 21st century: Connecting the
dots. San, Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
 Wormeli, R. (2010). Formative and Summative Assessment. Youtube.
Retrieved September 29, 2014, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJxFXjfB_B4.

19. References Continued