Grant Tigers
Patricia Fitzgerald’s Pillars of Education
“I love to see what children are capable of when they’re engaged in a task worth doing.”
The role of public education is to help create responsible, productive citizens of the world. Together with parents, educators give children the tools they need to be of high character, to solve problems and to appreciate hard work. To support these tasks, I’ve developed personal pillars of education:
These pillars are my philosophy of education, and to get to know me as a teacher, let’s explore what the pillars mean.
Believe. Every child can learn. Every child can be successful in school and in life. It is my responsibility to make sure every child that I teach leaves me having achieved success. To that end, I ensure a positive learning environment, where we celebrate success on an individual and group level. We celebrate the little “wins” that keep children focused on the rainy days in March, and the big wins that end the year on a high note, sending kids into the summer excited to come back in September.
Expect. There’s an old cliché that says that whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right. Children must think they can. Our society propagates what is perhaps the most damaging myth in the world: that you have to be “smart” to succeed. Success comes from hard work. I operate off a simple equation.
Hard work= success and success begets success. I always expect each child to give his or her best. The best is not an "A" or 100%. The best is each child's personal best, the best they can possibly achieve as an individual and as a part of our learning community. To help each child achieve his or her personal best, I differentiate instruction in many ways to accommodate learning styles and levels. Dr. Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences are the backbone of differentiation, guiding me to take many approaches to instruction. I use ongoing assessments to determine each student's starting point, then use flexible grouping, learning centers, group investigations, tiered lessons, interest groups, varied homework and independent study to accommodate every student.
Improve. I do this by striving to be the best: the best teacher, the best leader, the best learner. I am always learning new methods to help my students achieve. I've utilized my training in reader's and writer's workshops, Six-traits writing, Four Blocks Literacy, Everyday Math, Understanding by Design, Love and Logic, and project-based learning, to name a few. I read professional literature and participate in study groups with coworkers. I stay up-to-date on current research. Every day I strive to increase my knowledge so I can deliver the best instruction possible to my students. Mediocrity has no place in a child's life. Therefore, I refuse to be a mediocre teacher.
Environment. My classroom is a child-centered, hands-on learning environment. Everything I do is in an effort to create a passion for learning in my students. Because I believe in integrating instruction, I've taught state standards and the school curriculum using project-based learning, developing unit plans using Understanding by Design, and used authentic assessments such as portfolios. Real learning takes place in the real world, and the closer a child can get to real world experiences, the richer their experience will be. Expert speakers, community outreach programs, business partnerships, and service projects are essential pieces of real world learning.
| Name: | Patricia Fitzgerald |
| Subject/Grade Teaching: | 5th Grade |
| Education: | Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, Clarke College |
| Professtional Experience: |
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| Conferences/Special Projects: | Project-based/Expeditionary Learning |
| Contact: | pfitzger@kusd.edu |