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2006-2007
Teacher of the Year
Kathy Greene
Kathy Greene teaches second grade at Slater-Marietta.
My educational philosophy is that all children have the capability of
learning. Such learning can take various modes: visual, tactile, and auditory.
As an educator, I have to tap into the mode(s) in which individual students
learn best and supply the stimulation to increase their retention of the various
objectives stated in the curriculum. During my fifteen years of teaching, I have
had the opportunity to interact and observe the different modalities of
learning. Some of these experiences have involved learning disabled students and
developmentally delayed students who needed more visual and tactile
presentations of a lesson than another student. Special attention to their needs
facilitated the progress of all the students in the class so that none were left
behind. When students have success in learning because of my philosophy, I
receive gratification in knowing that I have helped to equip them with some of
the skills that they will need to meet the challenges that they will face in the
future. I enjoy seeing students learn all that they can and transfer knowledge
to a myriad of areas. They learn much better when they see the connections
between things.
An important tenant of my philosophy is the knowledge that I must continue to
monitor, adjust, and adapt to the variety of students that enter my classroom
and their varying academic backgrounds. This knowledge allows me to interact
with students on a level which facilitates their growth as well as my own. I
know that a teacher must remain flexible and also maintain a commitment to
his/her growth as well as that of students. Through observation, I identify a
student’s strengths and weakness. This places me in a position to adjust my
lesson presentations in order to adapt to the needs of the learner. Such
adjustments are critical to teaching and making sure that students learn.
I see the importance of teaching and learning being a collaborative effort
between teacher, student, and parent. My teaching is reflective of this
understanding. I try to present lessons in the different learning modalities and
then share the skills developed in the modalities with parents in order that
they will be able to use these strategies at home. In my teaching, I use my PET
(Program for Effective Teaching) training by stating the objective, giving many
examples, providing much practice and repetition, and asking questions to check
for understanding. I distribute information to parents that will allow them to
reinforce concepts and principles learned or practiced in the classroom.
Another part of my teaching style is to create an atmosphere of learning. Each
year, I take special consideration of the setting-up of my classroom. I want to
stimulate their imaginations as well as provide them concrete resources of which
to turn for help. I have found that careful consideration of the posters, wall
hangings, and bulletin boards aids the students in learning specific concepts,
such as telling time, knowing the alphabet, number words, and color words as
well as many other things. It is important for me to use these resources as well
as familiarize the students with them.
It is essential that students have a solid knowledge base. Such a good
foundation will lead to more creativity and is built upon my tapping into the
different modalities. Structure is important in my lessons; it provides a
consistency for students, which helps them to learn.
Ms. Kathy Greene
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