Hello! My name is Kara Wilson, and I am so excited to be teaching my 15th year at Oakland Heights Elementary School beginning in the fall of 2025. I have taught fourth grade for six years, and this will be my ninth year teaching third grade!
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I have a Bachelors of Science in Education Degree with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). I graduated from UCA with this degree on May 7th, 2011. This degree, along with the PRAXIS Teaching Assessments, allow me to hold a standard teaching license in Arkansas, where I am certified to teach pre-school through fourth grade. On December 14th, 2013 I completed my graduate school work, and I received a Masters of Science in Education Degree with an emphasis in Reading/Literacy Education from UCA. My masters degree qualifies me to work with struggling readers in grades K-12. The Reading Endorsement was added to my teaching license in January of 2014. In addition, I achieved National Board Certified Teacher status in the area of Literacy: Reading-Language Arts-Ages 3-12: Early and Middle Childhood in December of 2017. I achieved renewal of this certification in December of 2021.
Throughout my teaching experience, I have attended several workshops and have been through many special trainings. Some of these special trainings include: Effective Literacy (ELF), Extending Children's Mathematics (ECM), and the English as a Second Language (ESL) Graduate Academy. In June of 2012, I spent two weeks at the ESL Graduate Academy at Arkansas Tech University (ATU) to obtain my ESL Endorsement. I have been trained specifically in how to teach children who are English Language Learners (ELLs). The ESL Teaching Endorsement was added to my teaching license in July of 2013. The Career Professional Educator and Master Professional Educator Designations were added to my teaching license in June of 2019. I have also completed the Arkansas Reading Initiative for Student Excellence (RISE) Training as of February 2020 and the Teacher Leader Program (TLP) in June of 2022. I receive training through ATU every two years on how best to host student interns and mentor new teacher candidates. I most recently completed the Special Education (SPED) Resource Academy at UCA in December of 2022, and added this endorsement to my teaching license in April 2023.
My philosophy of teaching is that every child can learn and has the right to learn. It is my vision to create and maintain a classroom community of learners so all of my students feel safe and important. It is essential to incorporate listening, speaking, reading, and writing in all lessons for my students. I use a medium-teacher control model. I act as the facilitator of learning for the students by teaching mini-lessons, then give the students the opportunity to discuss their learning with their classmates. I model how to use or incorporate the skill or concept I have taught, then allow the students to work in small groups, with a partner, or on their own, depending on the content, to practice the new skill. I also like to incorporate technology into most of my lessons so that my students can feel confident in using it to help guide their learning.
Please contact me with any additional questions you may have about my teaching qualifications, teaching methods, or goals for my students.
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