About Mrs. D
It has been a pleasure to teach at DuFief Elementary School for the past 10 years. I have had many of your children or their friends. You might be interested to know that I have taught a variety of grades since joining the staff in 2000. I began as a 1/2 Reading Initiative Teacher when my family and I first moved here. Since then, I have taught 1st and 2nd grades for several years before moving to 3rd grade a year ago. It has been a wonderful experience to watch how the children and the curriculum grown and change with each year.
My philosophy about teaching is pretty straight forward. I believe that
- teachers must have a repertoire of teaching methods and use each effectively
- teachers strive to use these methods to meet the needs of all students
- teachers must maintain the students’ interest and focus as they instruct a curriculum that varies in intensity and pace,
- teachers must be able to facilitate the group discussion to ensure progress
- teachers must also work closely with the students and guide their thinking
- teachers only build on what student know thus assessing and using background knowledge is important
- teachers can inspire the students as they assist them in learning
- teachers discover more through listening to the students’ questions than their answers because they question information as they strive to assimilate new information with old
- teachers establish expectations of the classroom climate by showing care, concern, interest, and consideration
- teachers are students as well
With the last in mind, I strive to set new goals each year for myself and the students. This helps all of us grown and learn together. As we move through 3rd grade together, I hope to incorporate more technology into the daily instruction. While we do not yet have Promethean boards in each classroom, we will have two new ones in the school soon. One goal I have is to begin using them during instruction. For the students, I plan to build on the computer skills they gained last year to incorporate more independence. They will learn to scan, insert pictures, text and build videos using Photo Story. Additionally, the students will begin to learn search sites and take notes for nonfiction research. My biggest goal this year is to work with the students to create podcasts and a wiki for sharing writing pieces. By building slowly on what they already know, the students should feel confident at the end of the year to complete technology based projects.