Post for Sureya Fowler

Marcia Tate-Brain Based Strategies
Marcia Tate is an awesome presenter! In the education profession, teachers are consistently told that we must have a classroom that is engaging and one that provides engaging lessons in which students think on a higher level, they move about, and they make connections. However, when we attend professional development workshops, many of the presenters lecture and can’t provide strategies that address all learners. Dr. Tate truly provided strategies that address every learner in the classroom.
I was on the edge of my seat the entire time as she discussed her strategies and then modeled each one! What a breath of fresh air! Many will tell you what should be done; however, no one wants to model it. Since attending Dr. Tate’s workshop, I have incorporated the music in my classroom. Music really changes the dynamics of the classroom. In addition to the music, as I plan my lessons, I focus on making sure I incorporate activities that require the students to communicate within their groups and then move out and share and assist other peers in the classroom. Also, I have the students to get up and act out various elements of the standards.
I enjoyed Dr. Tate so much that I discussed the workshop with my principal. We were able to get her to present to our faculty. Our faculty really enjoyed her presentation and she left us with a wealth of strategies that many teachers in the building have begun to incorporate in their day to day instruction. What I really love about her coming to my school is that my mentee had an opportunity to see the presentation, and she now understands why I was incorporating the music and activities in my lessons. My mentee has also embraced the various strategies and have begun to incorporate them into her instructions as well.

Sureya Hendrick-Fowler



Mentoring
I have been in the education profession for over 13 years and I can truly say that I love it. In these 13 years I have been blessed to have come into contact with strong veterans in which I could discuss my concerns, celebrate my successes, and address my weaknesses. In helping my mentee, I think the first thing I would share and assist her with would be classroom management. In my teacher preparation class at the university in which I attended, we were told that classroom management is essential to learning; therefore, if classroom management is not mastered first, learning can’t and will not take place.
In helping my mentee with classroom management, I would stress the importance of addressing expectations of the children. I feel students do not rise to “low expectations”. Also, I feel that it is essential to review and practice classroom procedures, rituals, and routines. Also, I would help in showing my mentee how to organize the room, organize instructional and student information, effectively manage time for the best results, and manage and retrieve instructional information that assist in maximizing instructional time.
I really feel that a good mentor is the facilitator that helps the mentee through the year. However, I feel that the mentee should not try to imitate the mentor, but go in her classroom, learn her students and their instructional needs, and then take the classroom theory, the various instructional strategies and information, and the wisdom that has been imparted by the mentor and other in order to develop a classroom setting that fits the needs of her children, as well as express her personality, passion, and love for the profession and the children.

Sureya Hendrick-Fowler




Differentiated Instruction:
I really enjoyed the presentation by Mrs. Rottle. The vast resources that she provided us with have and will continue help in making my instruction and that of my mentees a success. I simply enjoyed taking the multiple intelligences survey and charting out my results. I really feel that charting out the results of the intelligence survey is powerful because it provides not only the teacher with a visual of the diversity of the class, but it provides the individual student with a visual of the diversity of their abilities and their interests.
In addition to charting the results of the multiple intelligences survey, mapping the various activities using the multiple intelligences categories helps the teacher to stay aware and plan for activities that will address all the intelligences within the classroom. I feel that the map provides the teacher with a big picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the lessons that were planned for a unit. When identifying the weak areas, the teacher can then go back and quickly make adjustments to those lessons and activities so they address as many learning styles as possible.
In addition to the multiple intelligences, the chart with Bloom’s taxonomy will be very helpful during planning. Rigor, relevance, and relationship are key, and the wall size chart makes the teacher cognoscente of what is needed to move students from basic acquisition of information to high order thinking.

Sureya Hendrick-Fowler