![VANESSA H. PRANZO<br />181 E.73rd St. Apt. #17E New York, NY 10021<br />c: (917) 370-6066 vanpran@yahoo.com<br />Education Philosophy <br />I believe that all children are capable of learning; they just do it in their own way. Open mindedness and understanding of other cultures, ie. religious beliefs, societal values, is extremely important to educate a child who will succeed in a world with boundaries that have all but disappeared due to the internet. In my eyes, students need to have the ability to understand and resolve social conflict, and an appreciation of human rights. I think it is important if they can appreciate, and love as I do, meeting and learning about people from other countries. <br />Learning another language and living in another country is (very difficult for the average American student), as well as participating in an international school (IB or other globally minded curriculums), is how this can be achieved, if feasible. As mentioned above the average student in the urban school system, or even those which are considered exceptional public schools, are unable to provide many of the elements necessary to achieve a globalized generation of young Americans who are not privileged in one way or another. However, that is for another conversation, and here the focus is on how to achieve the goals laid out in my education philosophy. <br />As mentioned above, I believe that all children are able to learn, and I think that many teachers underestimate the intelligence and motivation of their students. All students learn in different ways. Some are visual, physical, spatial/mathematical or musical learners. I try to incorporate all of these things into my assignments and teaching methods. <br />When I was student teaching at the Beacon School, I taught a class of 30, 10-12th graders with mixed levels of French, who were supposed to be French 2. They were a smart group of students, who were bored, and not challenged in any way, which was a shame. They would have been amazing if they had been, but since they had not, by the time I got there, they were difficult to keep on topic. <br />However, I gave them a two-part project that would reinforce their knowledge of the future in French (it is attached). The instructions were put on a handout (in English) that included a list of due dates. The first part was choosing a francophone country by doing research on line, as well as a paragraph telling me, why this was their country of choice. The second part was to write an itinerary for a trip they would be taking to this country. It had to have specific verbs, locations, and verbs that could not be used more than once. The third part was to choose a group of four/five, and pick a country from the ones they have worked on amongst themselves. They would then write a TV spot that would be 5 minutes. It had to have visuals, naturally it had to be in French, and the objective of the spot was to promote the chosen country to people for future vacations (thus the itinerary). My cooperating teacher did not think they could do it, and they were amazing, and had a ton of fun doing it. It was truly my best moment with those students, as they were so proud of their work. <br />Recently I have been working with two seven year olds on reading, spelling and writing. One has been told that he is at a first grade reading level, and he is in second grade. However, I have given him both second and mostly third grade reading, which has not only improved his fluency, but his reading comprehension is extraordinary. He has other personal issues that affect his work, and this is exactly why I feel it is so important that a teacher understand how a student learns, and can pinpoint whether it is an emotional or academic issue. <br />I am a very astute, empathetic, teacher, who is tuned in to the needs of my students. I am accustomed to working with two classes of about 30 students each. I worked with this number of sixth graders while working at Shuang Wen, PS 184. I had more than one student, who I was told could not do the work. I did not believe it, and I must add that I had fresh eyes, as he had been there since pre-k, and the literacy coach had known him since that time. I talked to him one on one, encouraged him to see me for help, and that he was able to learn (it was Ancient Greek & Roman History) anything he wanted, as long as he studied and did the work. He did, got his first B, and although his grammar still needed work, it was not even close to the level that most teachers believed he would be unable to surpass.<br />I am a strong advocate for my students, and I am always available to them on a personal and academic level. I partner with parents and other teachers, and I loved working with other teachers on certain projects. I particularly enjoy working with younger students and have developed a lesson plan that works well with them. (The outline for this project is attached) It is: <br />,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/philosophecolefr-12823333904359-phpapp01/85/education-philosophy-1-320.jpg)
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Education Philosophy
- 2. A musical component, i.e. songs about the seasons
- 3. Using a graphic organizer for the seasons
- 5. Assessment: was a drawing of what they had learned during that week.
- 6. Each week was exactly the same as young children require repetition in the classroom. Finally, I am hoping that I have given you a clear picture of my philosophy, and how I would be an asset to your school. <br />