Philosophy Statement As a teacher, it is important for me to understand that there is not just one single way in which all

students learn. Children learn in a variety of ways. Some students are visual, auditory, kinesthetic or tactical learners. Sometimes, students learn using a combination of these learning methods. As a teacher, it is my responsibility to discover my students learning style and create my lessons to accommodate them. Students who are visual learners need to have pictures, posters, and graphs incorporated into lesson. Auditory learners remember what they hear so they need verbal instructions and supplemental resources such as songs or poems that they can respond to. Kinesthetic learners who learn by doing are the ones I find I encounter the most. These students benefit most from hands-on activities that have them up and moving. Tactile learners do best with a lesson where they are able to touch the manipulatives that are using to help them learn. When taking all these learning styles into consideration, it is clear that differentiated instruction is a necessity in my classroom. Differentiation is not just having a variety of worksheets at varying difficulty levels but rather making sure that the right students get the right learning tasks at the right time (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 27). Including differentiation in the classroom gives each student the opportunity to learn at their own academic levels. If a student is being taught at a level that is too high for their capabilities or on the reverse, at too low of an academic level, you will likely lose their attention and they will no longer be engaged in the lesson. When bringing differentiation into the classroom, it is important to remember that it is an individual-focused approach to teaching and the teacher must study the development of students as individuals (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 36). Throughout the research I have done through these courses, I have found that assessments

have become a key factor in teaching. It is a teachers job now to show evidence of student learning. Whether it is standardized assessments or informal assessments done throughout a unit, teachers must have a reliable and accurate way of checking student understanding. I have learned to use my assessing as the goal for my lessons. My assessments are designed around the learning targets which match the common core standards. By looking first at what I want my end result to be, I plan my lessons and activities accordingly. By knowing all my learning goals I can map out my lessons and units and decide how much time I need to spend on each skill. I have also learned how important it is to use assessments to monitor my students progress. By giving assessments throughout a lesson I can see which students have mastered skills and which ones are struggling and need reinforcement. As Nitko and Brookhart (2011) explain it, assessments are useless if you do not take action when you see the results p. 109. Assessment results are often used to monitor students who are struggling. It allows you to catch the students who are struggling so they do not slip through the entire unit without gaining an understanding of the content. They also need to be used to identify the students who have mastered the skills and require more challenging objectives. After studying all the different components of reading, I have concluded that the ultimate goal for my literacy program is for my students to have reading comprehension. This is one of the basic building blocks of reading but is what I believe is the most important. After all, comprehension is the reason for reading (Armbruster, 2013, p. 41). I want to give my students a purpose for reading and turn them into active readers. I originally thought that the majority of my teaching needed to come from me modeling to my students. Through my readings and discussions during this program, I have come to realize that I must make my students more active participants. Gunning explains that reading comprehension involves relating the unknown to the known, which means it is important that students can relate their previous knowledge to

the text they are reading (2013, p. 317). I first and foremost am going to concentrate on activating my students prior knowledge. When introducing a new text or topic I will use strategies like semantic mapping and oral discussions. This technique will allow me to gain a sense of what my students know about the topic and help them to organize their knowledge and ideas (Gunning, 2013, p. 267). In regards to literacy, I have also learned that it is necessary to create a classroom that supports literacy. As Gunning (2010) states, regardless of where children are in terms of literacy, an essential step in further development is to create an environment that promotes active reading, listening, writing and speaking. (p. 124). I have made adjustments in my classroom to create a literacy-rich environment that include an attractive and comfortable reading area, an expanded library, and a designated area for a listening center. The reading area is a quiet spot in the room with pillows for students to sit or lay on. It is an inviting place for students to do independent reading. My classroom library is organized by and easy to use color-coding system that organizes a large selection of narrative and non-fiction text by reading level. Students are given a bookmark that has their reading range on it so they are able to choose books independently. When reflecting on my phonics instruction, I have seen how critical it is for students to have strong foundational skills in order to make them successful readers and writers. This program focuses on building phonemic awareness by working with letter sounds, high-frequency words, word parts, word endings, and fluency with expression. This program also emphasizes systematic phonics and the study of word structure (Wilson Language Training, 2011). This program has a strong bottom-up approach. In first grade we start the first three weeks of school by reviewing and practicing letter recognition and sounds. We then move

to blending CVC words followed by blends and digraphs. Each area is focused on individually and then is built on previous skills. Fundations is similar to the Reading Mastery program described by Gunning (2013, p. 4). It is a teacher-centered approach that involves echoing and signaling. I am more supportive of this program because it is aligned with the Common Core and it is rich with teacher modeling. After using it for two years, I believe it is effective in helping children to learn and use the alphabetic principle which is a huge factor in their ability to decode new and unfamiliar words (Armbruster, p. 11). After my participation in these courses, I have begun to teach using more hands-on manipulatives that get the students more involved in the lessons. We use sound cards on the board as well as individual tile boards that allow students the opportunity to build words themselves. At the beginning of this program, I was like Spandel (2013) in my writing instruction where I would assign writing, collect it, and correct it. I did not take into consideration the process of writing, rather I just skipped right to the end result (p. 31). I quickly found that this approach was not effective and did not have a positive impact on my students writing development. As I have continued through the courses, I have combined both Spandels and Gunnings approaches to writing. In first grade I feel my young students need a little more guidance as Gunning encourages through teacher modeling. However, I like my students to express themselves and develop their own writing through the six traits Spandel explains. When teaching the writing process to first graders, I have found that they need both verbal and visual reminders of the steps in the process. I have created and implemented a Writing Process chart where students are able to see their progress as they work their way through a writing assignment. This chart outlines the important steps I work with my students to use when writing;

prewriting, drafting, peer editing, revising, self-editing, and publishing. Teaching these specific writing strategies help to improve my students skills in planning, drafting, and revising their writing (Spandel, 2013, p. 20). To support the changes I have made for reading comprehension, I am always awaking my students background knowledge by holding class discussions or creating semantic maps. I am also extending this change by giving students an opportunity to individually complete a semantic web. I continue to improve my literacy-rich classroom by adding a variety of texts into the classroom library. To continue to build interest in non-fiction text, when I introduce a topic in class, I will collect additional books on that topic that students can choose from and expand their learning on the topic. Using the sounds cards and student tiles boards more efficiently was an easy change. I have seen great improvement in all students ability to build and read words phonetically. In writing I am working to support the changes I make by giving students the opportunity to express themselves and have more freedom in their writing. I have seen this to effective because students are able to self-monitor their own writing by moving to and from the different steps of writing. The changes that I have made are critical to my students and their learning process. As I continue teaching, I will continually change, extend, and adapt each of my teaching techniques to assist my students within the classroom. While working through this program, I have both offered advice and sought out advice from my colleagues. Majority of the time they were very receptive and helpful. Ever since I began my teaching career I have been given many suggestions, tips, and resources from my fellow teachers. Therefore, I was thrilled to be able to use the knowledge I have gained to offer my own suggestions for techniques and strategies that can be used in the classroom. The parents of my students have provided me with several comments that lead me to believe the changes I

have made in the classroom have had a positive effect on their children. During conferences and casual conversation they have made positive comments about the structure of my classroom and the progress they have seen in their children. My principal has also shown that she is impressed with my dedication and work ethic. We have conversed about my progress in my masters program several times and she has made note in her evaluations of the learned information I have applied to my lessons. Overall, this program has provided me with many valuable tools that have allowed me to be a better teacher and improve my students rate of success.

Resources Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., Osborn, J. (n.d.) Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks For Teaching Children to Read - Kindergarten Through Grade 3. Third Edition (pp 148). Retrieved from:http://lincs.ed.gov/publications/pdf/PRFbooklet.pdf Gunning, T. (2013). Creating literacy instruction for all students. (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Nitko, A. J., & Brookhart, S. M. (2011). Educational assessment of students (6th ed.). NewYork: diverse classrooms. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. Spandel , V. (2013). Creating writers; 6 traits, process, workshop, and literature. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Wilson Language Training. (2011). Fundations: Bridging phonics and literacy. Retrieved from http://www.fundations.com/overview.aspx