Fulton County Schools provides professional development opportunities throughout each school year. The offerings are designed to support classroom initiatives put forth by the county and school. This year, I had the opportunity to present at the school level and sit on a panel at the district level. To better support our teachers to provide rigorous instruction in a hybrid environment, I facilitated a session on Microsoft OneNote. The panel I served on offered tips on classroom management and increasing student engagement. My growth in this area allows me insight as an educator and teacher leader that benefits those I serve and teach.
Over the past five years at Westlake High School, I have been presented with many opportunities to develop as an educator. I am consistently seeking to improve my pedagogy and my students’ experience in my class. As a result, I make an effort to take advantage of the various opportunities as they are made available.
Currently, I serve as Department Chair of the Mathematics department. In this role, I observe classes and offer constructive feedback on what works well and where improvement can be made. I support mathematics teachers as needed including boosting morale. I attend to clerical needs of the department as well as participate in the interview process for prospective faculty members.
I am Talented and Gifted certified as well as trained to teach International Baccalaureate classes. I am the Professional Learning Community (PLC) Lead for PreCalculus. Each year, I lead the effort to establish meeting norms and preside over weekly meetings where curriculum plans are constructed along with best practices to gain desired academic outcomes.
I also sit on the School Governance Council at Westlake High School and Stonewall Tell Elementary School. I am the current parliamentarian at Westlake and served as the chair at Stonewall Tell during the 2019-2020 school year. As a member of this body, I collaborate with school and community stakeholders to create, initiate, and support school initiatives.
Additionally, I am the Beta Club Advisor. I have led professional development on the implementation and use of OneNote in the classroom. I sat on a district-planned and executed panel celebrating Fulton County teachers. I am a gradebook champion, meaning I helped to roll out a new gradebook system at our school and remain a source of support for teachers when needed throughout the school year. In the past, I have served as a support for new teachers and as a member of the testing committee.
These experiences have led me to become a more effective educator. As department chair, I have the ability to affect departmental decisions at some level to improve conditions for teachers and therefore the lives and education of our students in the mathematics department. I have learned many teaching techniques and gained numerous resources being certified as a Talented and Gifted teacher. As an IB teacher, my pedagogical lens has expanded to appreciate and include an internationally-minded curriculum. As a result, students I teach in other areas of mathematics benefit as well. Serving as a member of SGC and as the Beta Club Advisor, I get to know my colleagues and students as people while helping to make our community a better place to live, work, play, and learn. I learn their interests and desires which helps to form and grow connections that are enriching for me as a teacher and a person.
Pantic, N. (2019). Teachers’ reflection on their agency for change (TRAC): A tool for teacher
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Shillingstad, S.L. & McGlamery, S. L. (2019). Teachers as leaders: Navigating multiple roles. Delta
Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 86(1), 25-38.