Previous Experiences
This Section:
1. Field Observations
2. Church Experiences
3. Gymnastics Coaching
4. Field Placements
5. Little Library
6. General Education Student Teaching
7. Special Education Student Teaching
8. Long Term Substitute Teaching
9. Learning Support Teaching
1. Field Observations
In the early moments of my teaching career, I started with observations and early lesson planning. I did my General Education placement in 2nd grade at Riverside Elementary School. I also volunteered at Head Start at New Castle, PA where I worked with Pre-K students. I completed my Special Education placement through PA Cyber Charter School in 4th and 5th grade. I have enjoyed getting to know more educators and gain more insights as I observed and collaborated. Below, you can see some highlights from my placements.
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2. Church Experiences
I grew up in the church, and it holds a special place in my heart. I have learned a great deal from my experiences in the Children's Church and through my opportunities with multiple churches. I have included some of my favorites with brief highlights from each for you to explore!
Middle School Girl's Bible Study
I was a head leader for a bible study for Victory Family Church. I had friends from ages 10-15 participating. We read through the book, "The Lies Young Women Believe," by Nancy DeMoss. They were asked Dok 3 and 4 questions and collaborated in discussing vulnerable feelings and topics.
Kid's Club
I led an after school program through the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church. Students were provided snacks and participated in crafts, music, games, and Christ-centered curriculum. It included grades K-5 with centers, whole-group instruction, and small group activities. I designed games, activities, and curriculum for the students.
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Sunday School
I was an intern at the New Wilmington Presbyterian Church where I led Sunday School. We explored some of the Old Testament where we created our own versions of Noah's Ark, practiced reading comprehension with project-based activities, and utilized PlayDoh for STEM related understanding of scripture.
3. Gymnastics Coaching
I started teaching by coaching the sport I love most, gymnastics. Here, you can view two gyms I have worked at and some of the highlights as my time as a gymnastics coach!
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Gymnastics Coach
Leaps and Bounds Gymnastics and Cheer
I started out my teaching career at Leaps and Bounds. I was coaching from Pre-K to 8th grade level gymnasts on all events and areas of the sport. I also partook in a summer show where I helped organize the event and made a video out of the experience. Please click the graphic above to see the start of my passion for teaching and coaching!
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Gymnastics Coach & Summer Camp Coordinator
ASPIRE Gymnastics and Fitness
I created two week-long summer camps for gymnasts where we incorporated fine motor and gross motor skills. The camp was themed as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, since they were on TV at the same time as the camps! Students from the ages of 5 and up could come to the camp. They earned certificates for new skills they completed, created metals for themselves, played games, and ended the week with a water balloon fight! Please click on the graphic to see the pamphlet for the camps!
4. Field Placements
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General Education Placement:
Sharpsville Elementary - 1st Grade
In my placement, I created a Writing Workshop on opinion writing where students learned about fact and opinion and created their own pieces on food opinions. Also, I organized a grade-wide event for Earth Day where I provided music, and we included stations for each student to explore Earth Day concepts through fine and gross motor skills. I collaborated with a remarkable cooperating teacher and enjoyed spending recess teaching ukulele. To see some highlights from the placement, please click the graphic.
Special Education Placement:
Grove City Elementary 4th & 5th Grade Life Skills & Learning Support
I completed two separate field placements at Grove City. My first placement was in a Learning Support classroom. It involved creating 12 Days of Christmas lessons of a multitude of skills. The stocking picture is from a lesson on inferencing. I also administered FastBridge progress monitoring and built rapport with the students. In my second placement, I was in a Life Skills classroom. I worked with students with exceptionalities, and I conducted a Morning Meeting lesson with students ranging from 1st-5th grade. I also observed the creation of an IEP. For more, please click on the picture to see the 12 Days of Christmas presentation I created while in the first placement.
Math Buddies:
Wilmington Elementary School - 2nd Grade Virtual
While seeking my certification in education, I taught a program through Wilmington entitled, "Math Buddies." I virtually met with students where we utilized virtual manipulatives and talk moves for 30 minute intervals. As I completed my General Education placement, I utilized the Common Core Math Standards to adequately prepare mathematical instruction. If you click the graphic, you will see how I utilized each idea for a mathematics portfolio through Math Buddies and my Field Placement.
5. Little Library
During my time at Westminster, I was PR Chair and President of Little Library. After my General Education placement was completed, I raised money with Little Library to give each student the book, "I am Enough," by Grace Byers. Each student got a copy of the book with an, "I am..." statement bag. Then, I read the book aloud with the entire grade and made a chant out of the book. The students should know that they are masterpieces, and the book encouraged that idea beautifully.
6. General Education Student Teaching
Sharpsville Elementary School - 3rd Grade Writing
Opinion Outback:
I created a thematic unit on opinion writing that was centered around Australia. The students traveled with me to explore opinion writing utilizing information from a multitude of texts to create gamified writing pieces. The students and I went through a process of slowly becoming more independent through the process and eventually lead to students creating their own magazines. Below details each week of the unit and the highlights from the travels.
Week One: The Most Dangerous Animals
To start the unit, we went through a teacher modeled introduction to opinion writing. I worked through one article and gave the class a choice to pick the most dangerous animal from the articles. Each class picked a different animal and collaborated to write an opinion piece pulling facts from their article with my guidance and examples. Each fact, transition word, and grammar rule followed earned them materials to write or draw on a poster they would be creating during centers after their official writing was completed. Please click the graphic to see the materials used and the end product by the students.
Week Two: The Best Cuisine
This week, we worked in assigned teams by voting on a Jamboard to pick which cuisine around the world is the best. I provided a ReadWorks article for each cuisine that had underlined examples of facts to support their opinions. Students worked as a team to create their cuisine writings with their groups and created drawings with their final drafts. Please click the picture to see the materials used and end products from students.
Week Three: Visiting Countries Through Flags
Through their flag creations, they had to convince readers to visit their made up countries. They used two articles from ReadWorks that they could pull facts from to write their piece. The students created their own flags but earned materials through their writing checklist. Students conferenced with me to see what they could earn through their writings and created their own country flags with fabric and fabric markers. Please click the picture to view the materials used and the student work.
Week Four: Blue Devil News
The opinion writing masters in 3rd grade took on the role of news reporters and journalists as they created their very own magazine article from a choice of prompts. The students had the choice of three prompts which included two articles for each prompt. The students could choose from prompts including sports, animals, and the arts. Each prompt connected to a topic we discussed in class or to the Opinion Olympics (since the 2022 Winter Olympics were being held during the project). Students through their writings and checklists earned materials to create their own Olympic medals to wear.
Kindness, Courage, Gratitude: Digital Culture Boxes
Dr. Jennifer Toney, Dr. Charlene Klassen-Endrizzi, and I developed an extracurricular activity to explore challenging ideas on a DoK 4 level. Students explored stories on difficult topics and connected them to real life experiences. In 6 weeks, we explored the surface of hard hitting realities in a way that celebrated vulnerability and the very things that make each individual unique.
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"This culturally responsive instruction project was designed to invite third graders together with their families to consider their role as global citizens. Using culturally authentic children’s books, Faith offered Interactive Read Aloud lessons, designed to encourage dialogic conversations focused on Kindness, Courage and Gratitude. Together with Dr. Toney, she helped teach third graders how to create their own multimodal culture boxes as an avenue for offering their reflections and hopes. This month, Faith continues to work with Dr. Toney and me on submitting revisions to an accepted book chapter for NCTE’s Special Issues: Critical Media Literacy edited text. We hope classroom teachers will consider our Uncovering Connections through Digital Culture Boxes chapter as an avenue for building greater unity in spite of racial, political and economic differences in our nation." - Dr. Charlene Klassen-Endrizzi
Lessons I Learned from 3rd Grade:
Since I introduced myself as their new student teacher through YouTube, I thought I would flip the script and let them know about the top 10 takeaways from being their teacher. From inside jokes to new friendships, these students have made the past eight weeks the best of my life. Please click below to get a small look into just how wonderful my friends are and always will be.
7. Special Education Student Teaching
Sharpsville Elementary School - 1st-4th Grade Learning Support
LMB Phonics Instruction
Sharpsville utilizes LMB to teach phonics. Students spell words how they sound whether they are necessarily, "correct," or not. Then, students discover the way most preferred with their spelling. They also do sight words each day at their own individual level.
Roz's Sight Word Scavenger Hunt
Roz and Brightbill followed some third grade friends to the new placement and had a special gamified challenge for them. The detectives needed to find their sight words to help them get back to Wild Island! Click the picture to see more details about the lesson and materials.
Egg Dash Challenge
It was Easter time, and Roz hid eggs around the room for 2nd and 3rd graders to find! They needed to find their eggs to earn points. They had to watch out for rotten candy where they had a penalty. Sometimes, they could get golden eggs with bonus points or tasks they could chose to complete. Students collected one egg at a time to earn the Ultimate Egg Prize. Please click the picture to see the fun the Egg Dash Challenge provided!
8. Long Term Substitute Teaching
Sharpsville Elementary School - 4th Grade
I was extremely fortunate to receive an offer to finish the school year in 4th grade at Sharpsville Elementary. We completed my favorite project of all time - Genius Hour.
Genius Hour
If you could choose what you learned in school, what would you choose? Welcome to Genius Hour! We started the project off by hearing the breaking news case on a lack of passion going around! Click the picture below to see the introduction video!
For pictures and materials used for Genius Hour, please click the button below. You can view some remarkable creativity and passion through their projects! When students are wondering, they are learning!
Field Trip & PSSAs
After we took the ELA, Math, and Science PSSAs, we got to go to the Cleveland Zoo! We had so much fun learning more about animals and seeing some of our favorite animals!
"Because of Winn Dixie"
The book, "Because of Winn Dixie," was an exploration for us as we dove straight into the book! We practicing starting and holding conversations through literacy circles. Students were given random groups and each student had a specific role in the group. However, they had to work together to answer the writing prompt and answer the question to help Winn Dixie and Opal get answers! On the last day of school, we had a "Winn Dixie Party," with all the food and drinks it references in the book!
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9. Learning Support Teaching
Beaver Area School District - 6th Grade
Pullout Math
I had a group of 5-6 Learning Support students in this class. I designed curriculum to meet their needs at their instructional levels but also adapted and modified the standards for sixth grade. I utilized gamified content and used data and inquiry based teaching to best work for my students!
Co-taught ELA
I worked with one of the ELA teachers to co-teach in a setting where Special Education students received extra support with the General Education curriculum. We planned and collaborated to best help students of all needs.
Social Emotional Learning
I spent a majority of my time working with both Special Education and Regular Education students on regulating their emotions and building awareness around their feelings and words. We even had a vision day with a small group of students where we set big goals and dreamed together!
Learning in all Forms
This past year of teaching, I became published in NCTE's magazine, became the student and learned through professional development, learned IEPs, and even tried out new trainings (such as Maker Learning)!