Janice Edgar

1. Janice Edgar Vision and Philosophy of Curriculum Development

2. Mission Statement I will strive to teach all students in a positive learning environment that encourages them to think for themselves, to embrace a challenge, and not only to gain a personal desire to learn throughout their lives, but also a desire to teach others.

3. My Beliefs As an educator, I believe that all students can learn and succeed. Every student is entitled to an education with a teacher who doesn’t discriminate and believes in their capabilities, as an individual and as a group member.

4. My aims as an educator is to provide a classroom where: • Each student’s fundamental needs will be met through choices and independent expression • Students are valued for their responsibility as individuals and as team players • Application of many teaching strategies meets the needs of diversity in today's classroom • Students can achieve their full potential in their academic, creative, personal, and physical development through critical thinking and exploration • Technology is incorporated often • Students, parents, teachers, and the community work together to achieve success.

5. Stage One: What are my desired results for belief statement one? • Each student will responsibly make decisions based on given choices • Each student will be valued for their individual expression • Each student will develop successfully as an individual Back to my Beliefs

6. Stage Two: What evidence do I have that I embrace belief statement one? • Individual Student Portfolios • Progress reports/quarterly report cards • Teacher observation and reflection journal Back to my Beliefs

7. Stage Three: What experiences or activities do I engage in to strengthen and extend belief statement one? • I recently attended a Team Teaching conference where I learned how to collaborate and differentiate instruction more to benefit all the student’s based on individual learning styles. • In my classroom I use tiered learning activities to offer more choices academically in reading, science, and social studies. • Class management is set up to allow the students to make choices individually and as a group effort. • Students are required to reflect often on assignments and create goals that they feel are important to the unit. They revisit these goals and reflect on if they are meeting them and improvement techniques. Back to my beliefs

8. Stage One: What are my desired results for belief statement two? • Students will be valued for their independent class work and participation. • Students will participate equally in groups and be rewarded with team satisfaction. Back to my Beliefs

9. Stage Two: What evidence do I have that I embrace belief statement two? • Individual Student Portfolios • Progress reports/quarterly report cards • Teacher observation and reflection journal • Team member evaluations and reflections Back to my Beliefs

10. Stage Three: What experiences or activities do I engage in to strengthen and extend belief statement two? • I use cooperative learning in my classroom to instill a team-learning environment. • Students complete team evaluations each time they work in cooperative groups. • I use Notestar (http://notestar.4teachers.org/) to help monitor group progress. • Students are required to reflect often on assignments and create individual goals that they feel are important to the success of the assignment. • In my classroom mini-economy, each student is assigned an individual job that they are paid for in Star Bucks based on daily performance. This is a great tool to involve all individuals. Back to my beliefs

11. Stage One: What are my desired results for belief statement three? • Differentiated instruction that meets the needs of all students academically. • Varied learning strategies used daily that provide opportunities for critical thinking and active learning. Back to my Beliefs

12. Stage Two: What evidence do I have that I embrace belief statement three? • Individual Student Portfolios • Progress reports/quarterly report cards • Teacher observation and reflection journal Back to my Beliefs

13. Stage Three: What experiences or activities do I engage in to strengthen and extend belief statement three? • I have attended many workshops regarding instructional practices that provide training on differentiation. • I attended a workshop on team teaching that will enable me to better provide opportunities for differentiation with the help of special educators. • I am working on tiered learning activities for various novel units I teach in class currently and in the future. Back to my beliefs

14. Stage One: What are my desired results for belief statement four? • Students will develop their own plans of learning based on given objectives and goals. • Students are praised for their creative designs by celebrations and displays. • Students are challenged mentally and physically within many learning opportunities. Back to my Beliefs

15. Stage Two: What evidence do I have that I embrace belief statement four? • Individual Student Portfolios • Progress reports/quarterly report cards • Teacher observation and reflection journal Back to my Beliefs

16. Stage Three: What experiences or activities do I engage in to strengthen and extend belief statement four? • I have recently been doing research in to Problem based learning and plan to implement it in the upcoming school year. • I have been using PE Energizers in my classroom as a way to get students more physically involved in the learning process. • I also use games such as soccer and basketball to challenge students in many content areas. Back to my beliefs

17. Stage One: What are my desired results for belief statement five? • Students will use computers for word processing, research, and presentations. • The overhead projector will be used as a visual tool for learning in all content areas. • Students will participate in web quests and virtual fieldtrips as needed. Back to my Beliefs

18. Stage Two: What evidence do I have that I embrace belief statement five? • Individual Student Portfolios • Progress reports/quarterly report cards • Teacher observation and reflection journal • Rubrics for technology related projects. Back to my Beliefs

19. Stage Three: What experiences or activities do I engage in to strengthen and extend belief statement five? • In my class, I show many PowerPoint presentations using the projector across the curriculum. • I attend workshops related to technology use in the classroom. • I create a scrapbook page based on class activities to support our school website. • I keep an updated teacher webpage using the scholastic teacher web pages. Back to my beliefs

20. Stage One: What are my desired results for belief statement six? • Parents will be more involved in the learning process. • Service learning projects will connect students to the community and its needs. Back to my Beliefs

21. Stage Two: What evidence do I have that I embrace belief statement six? • On a weekly basis, I send home a reading and math challenge that the students complete with their families. • My class worked with the Optimist club this Spring on a park beautification project. Back to my Beliefs

22. Stage Three: What experiences or activities do I engage in to strengthen and extend belief statement six? • I am a committee member for our school PBS team and we are currently creating a family passport to get more families involved with class and school-wide activities. • I attend annual PBS meetings that focus on family involvement in school activities. Back to my beliefs

23. References Oliva, P. F. (2005). Developing the curriculum. New York: Allyn & Bacon.

24. Contact Information edgar_janice@yahoo.com Bellflower Elementary 406 S. Walnut Bellflower, MO 63333