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During the 2021-2022 school year, I taught Critical Instruction in English, for 10th grade students who were unsuccessful at passing the English I STAAR test. The data shows student growth over the course of the school year produced by data-driven and best practice informed instruction. 

I stay abreast of the latest educational technology, pedagogy, and content innovations through district offered trainings. Additionally, I am a member of the International Literacy Association, which grants me access to peer-reviewed journal articles with literacy studies and best practices, as well as supplementary trainings.  















 

Based on my teaching experience with Critical Instruction in English in the 2021-2022 school year, I designed a curriculum rich in real world reading and writing experiences for students for the 2022-2023 school year. The base of the curriculum is built upon Readers/Writers Workshop, where each unit allows for a deep dive into the genre of focus, with built in time for reflection, peer feedback, and revision during the writing process. 

During the 2021-2022 school year, as I completed my master's degree, I noticed a need for a Reading Specialist at the high school level. I created a proposal for the campus I worked at, based on the population I worked with, and the overall need of the campus with the coming implementation of HB4545 in the 2022-2023 school year. This proposal includes a one-page infographic that provides an excerpt of ILA’s position statement, the data driven need for the position, as well as the proposed duties, qualifications, and long-term goals that correspond with the position.

During the 2020-2021 school year, I noticed a need for an English II intervention course that offered English II curriculum and English II credit to students struggling with English content. I created a proposal for Deer Park High School-South Campus based on the population I worked with that suggested smaller class sizes and English II content offered at a more moderate pace for the coming 2021-2022 school year.
 

The English TEKS dictate that students "publish written work for appropriate audiences." Through Edublogs, students have access to creating a blog, publishing their writing, commenting on other students' posts, and the capability to share their blogs with others. This platform allows the teacher or administrator of the class site to set a password to protect students' privacy.

In the summer of 2021, House Bill 4545 dictated that any students who were unsuccessful on a STAAR end of course exam in high school be subject to remediation for 30 hours per content area, per unsuccessful attempt. To address this demand, Deer Park High School placed students needing remediation into tutorial sessions built into the school day. The tutorials ran Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, for roughly twenty minutes each day. I designed intervention lessons in easily digestible chunks based around high interest topics. In many cases, over the span of a three-day week, each lesson built on the previous day's lesson, and, rather than focusing on "drill and kill" test taking passages and skills, the activities were based on building students as real-world readers and writers.
 

As a classroom teacher, I was given feedback via walkthrough observations, which were quick check ins in my classroom from administration, observations, which typically spanned the length of a class period, and summative evaluations, which evaluated my performance as a teacher across the length of a school year. All evaluations reflect positively on my performance in the classroom. 

In a world driven by reviews for services and goods, testimonies from students speak volumes about the work that I do, the connections I make, and the services I offer. These are just a very few illustrations of the positive feedback I have received from students. Students' names have been redacted for privacy.

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