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Philosophy of Danie Hesson

It is my belief that all children have the potential to become positive productive citizens in our
society. My classroom will be compared to the diverse culture that is in our society today. I will
teach my students that learning can and will be fun and they will continue to grow in knowledge
and life-long learning. But, first and foremost, students need to feel connected and respected in
order to grow socially and emotionally before they can grow academically. I will implement the
importance of feeling accepted and being safe, not only in my classroom, but throughout the
school community. I will accomplish this through Social and Emotional Learning lessons, from
the researched based programs, Connected and Respected/RCCP and Conscious Discipline. I
plan on using the first twenty minutes of each school day as a check- in with my students. The
daily check-ins would include a whole class family meeting, on the carpet area, to discuss
events that are happening in the students lives. Being socially aware of each childs strength
comes from assessing and observing each one of my students. I will have a positive attitude
with each child, as they bring something unique to the classroom. Because no two students are
the same, I will differentiate academic instruction and social interactions in order for the student
to grow to their potential.

The family is the best ally when it comes to teaching each one of my students as Standard 7
addresses. I will partner with families since they know their child better than I do.

Therefore, I will demonstrate open communication by providing students progress reports with
the family. When there are concerns, I will treat them with great sensitivity. Designing my
newsletter is just one way to communicate with families. There will be no limit to inviting the
parents/guardians into our classroom family, or to family event nights that will be offered after
school hours. Learning from the families will help ensure growth from the student, but more
importantly a bond of trust will transpire. I will earn trust from the family by being fair, honest,
and attentive to whatever their needs are. Research shows that if I attend the families activities,
the parents or guardians will likely feel more comfortable to attend functions at school with other
families and school staff. I will ensure that I have a home/school connection by regularly sending
positive notes home and provide a monthly newsletter of current events about our classroom
family. I will have an open door policy so that parents or guardians can come in anytime to
observe their childs learning.

I believe that a literate classroom is a calm place to learn, grow, and take risks. While teaching
reading, I will first model how I think out loud, then have students take an opportunity to state
their thinking out loud. Standard 1C is clearly evident in my on-going reflections. To assure
consistency with my philosophical beliefs, I will continue to adjust instruction as I grow as an
educator. I will also support learning with listening centers, books at every students level, and a
comfortable place to read. I will teach grade level standards, across the curriculum, and use
best teaching practices. One example of literacy instruction, would be to read the book Flying
Squirrel at Acorn Place, by Barbara Gaines Winkelman and Illustrated by Kristin Kest. I will first

do a picture walk, then I will intentionally teach the vocabulary words by having each table group
either draw it, pronounce it, write the definition, spell it, or act it out. Vocabulary words will then
be placed on our class word wall. Next, I will discuss with my students about the seasons and
what squirrels do for each of them. Finally, I will help students contrast squirrels from other
locations around the world. I will also have them measure how far squirrels can glide, by
teaching them outside, with the idea that flying/gliding is just a term for falling gracefully. Another
resource that I will use in my classroom is: Explicit Instruction, by Anita Archer, using the I Do,
We Do, You Do technique. My students will help organize the classroom library, as it is
important to have student buy-in with what is being read in my classroom. If the student has a
topic of interest in the classroom library, they are more likely to become engaged in literacy.
(Danielson Framework). Ashlock Lesson Mapping Charts will be taught daily for students
needing extra support with decoding words (phonics) and fluency development. Students will
apply decoding and fluency strategies while reading the story for the week. An example of
teaching fluency will include me reading the story aloud as students track the words with their
finger. The next step would be to choral read the story with students. Finally, students will
partner read the story so that they are applying the focused skills and strategies for the story.
Comprehension will be assessed for both literal and inferential questions and students will need
to answer questions, verbally and in writing, using complete sentences.

I will intentionally teach daily behavior expectations, routines and responsibilities to my students
through direct modeling. I will incorporate cooperative learning lessons through games, activities

and daily lessons. Cooperative learning lessons, in my opinion, will help students build respect
for each other. No matter what cultural background or economic status my students possess,
students from different cultural backgrounds will work together in a small groups to demonstrate
the power of building positive relationships with each other. I will group students by different
cultural or language groups so that students can build their communication skills in English. In
turn, I will encourage students to teach classmates about their cultural heritage and language.

Standard 5 requires monitoring and assessing student learning. I value formal and informal
assessments for children in my classroom. Formal assessments often times reveals only a small
amount of what the child is capable of doing academically. I know that I must continue to
monitor progress in all areas of learning. For example, the chapter tests will be corrected as a
whole group, so that the students can correct any mistakes they may have encountered. I
believe its important for students to understand how to correct their misunderstanding of skills.
Informal data will tell me a little more about the students academic ability and it can also give
me an insight into their behavior, which is also valuable. Both formative and summative
assessments will help guide my instruction. Data driven instruction allows each child to be
taught the skills needed to be a proficient learner.

Finally, I will encourage students to continue to grow in all academic areas because as a role
model, I am a life-long learner and am involved in several different professional organization

memberships. (i.e., AFT, NSTA, Honor Society). I also will continue attending mandatory district
and school-wide trainings as well as optional workshops and classes.

Cited Work:
Vacca, J., & Vacca, R. (2012). Reading and learning to read (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

RESOURCES
Jo Anne Vacca and Richard T. Vacca, the authors of Reading and Learning to Read,
(2012), states that using contractual cues and clues help children as it is a written contract, but it
acts more like a recipe for success. (p. 154)
Jane Harrison and Ken Breeding, the authors of Connected and Respected, (2007), states,
It provides the scaffolding that allows students and adults to model the skills they are learning in
an accepting environment. Although any teacher can draw upon the lessons in Connected
and Respected to teach important social skills and create a peaceable classroom community,
we would encourage schools and school districts to take a more systemic approach. (page ix)

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