About Me

For the 2011-2012 school year I will be taking on the role of Staff Development Teacher. I am so pleased to have the opportunity to develop my professional expertise in education through this avenue. I have devleoped a website about staff develoment at http://staffdevelopmentteacher.weebly.com/

Dale Chupp's Dairy Farm

I am Patricia Whitfield from Tulsa, Oklahoma by way of Fort Smith, Arkansas. I am in my 20th year of education. I started as a paraeducator in a demonstration school. Several components of the school were deregulated by the state in order to construct a different model for teaching and learning. I taught everything from reading and math to art and science during the 11 years that I was at the school. During that time I also went back to school and obtained a Bachelor's in Education. At graduation I was hired as a fifth grade teacher and have been at this school for 9 years.

In 2006, I began the journey to National Board Certification. After an intensive year of teacher reflection and assessments, I was fortunate to pass and receive National Board Certification in the first year of a three year process. I must say that this has been the most rewarding professional development that I have participated in.

Currently I am pursuing a Masters of Education in Leadership from the American College of Education.

In 2005 and 2006 I was nominated for the prestigious honor of Teacher of the Year at my school. I was also received the honor of being "The Best of the Best" honoree sponsored by Tulsa Community College

http://www.gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/1341/alumni-friends-gather-tocelebratebest-of-tcc8217-2006

Presentations:Para teachers: Pathways to Teaching presentation in Washington D.C. 1999
PT3 (Preparing Teachers for Tomorrow's Technology) Washington DC 2002
Oklahoma Technology Conference Oklahoma City, OK February 10-2010

Currently I am pursuing a Master's of Education in Leadership from the American College of Education.
My three teaching truths:
These three things I believe are critical to the development of an individual who will grow up to be a keeper of the future.
Critical Thinking: I spend a lot of time teaching the art of critical thinking to the students in my classroom. Critical thinking skills allow students to be skeptical and open-minded. Critical thinker’s value fair-mindedness, they respect evidence and reasoning. They are able to understand perspective or different points of view and know how to change positions or reach a consensus when it is reasonable to do so. An very important part of teaching critical thinking is metacognition. Metacongition is thinking about one's own thinking. More specifically, "metacognition is being aware of one's thinking as one performs specific tasks and then using this awareness to control what one is doing" (Jones & Ratcliff, 1993).

Cooperative Learning: On the same note cooperative learning skills are essential. Cooperative learning not only produces greater student achievement than traditional learning (Slavin, 1984) it prepares my students for the world they will be entering as adults. Companies are finding it more beneficial and profitable for them to combine the knowledge and manpower of a team to accomplish a work goal. Teams of people working together are able to accomplish more than individuals working alone.

Responsible Citizenship: Burmaster (2003) said that service-learning is especially relevant as a methodology for teaching citizenship education. It is important for students to learn and understand what their responsibilities as citizens in a democratic society are. My job as a teacher is to work with parents to help strengthen the desire and capacity of students to perform civic obligations.


References:

Burmaster, E. (2003, August). A democracy at risk: Engaging students as citizens. Citizenship Matters, Education Commission of the States. Retrieved April 23, 2011, from www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/ 46/74/4674.doc

Jones, E. A. & Ratcliff, G. (1993). Critical thinking skills for college students. National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, University Park, PA. (Eric Document Reproduction Services No. ED 358 772)

Slavin, R. E. (1984). Team assisted individualization: Cooperative learning and individualized instruction in the mainstreamed classroom. Remedial and Special Education, 5, 33-42.