Teachers Demonstrate Leadership

Element Ia: Teachers lead in their classrooms

Element Ib: Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school.

• I attended a PLT for all of the Kindergarten Virtual Academy teachers within Wake County. We took time to share what strategies we are using to engage students and implement our curriculum.

• I take time with my Kindergarten teammates to teach them new strategies that we can use within the virtual or in person classroom. These are strategies that I learned from becoming a Google Certified Level 2 Teacher.

• I share thoughts and insights learned from working with the math department at the district level with my Kindergarten team so we can implement some of those strategies within our own classrooms. Working with the department also deepened my knowledge of kindergarten math instruction that I could share with my teammates.

• I attended the Kindergarten Focus Group that was organized by the Wake County math department to discuss feedback from teachers on the digital math lessons I helped to create.

• I volunteered to be part of our schools first equity committee.

• I delegated my morning meeting block to my instructional assistant to give her more opportunities to teach. I also instruct her on what interventions need to be completed with her intervention group and provide lesson plans for her to teach Letterland small groups.

Element Ic: Teachers lead in the teaching profession.

Our Kindergarten team has formed a close working relationship where we can collaborate and take risks together. We constantly work together to ensure that our students have the best experience despite of the COVID-19 pandemic and that their social and academic needs are met.

The kindergarten Virtual Academy teachers collaborate to ensure that the lessons are delivered in such a way that is just as effective as if students were physically in the classroom.

This year, I worked at the county level to transform the provided math lessons into digital lessons. This has required me to translate the in person math activities into digital activities where students could still participate in the 4C's (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity). These digital slides were provided to all kindergarten teachers within Wake County Public Schools. I created the digital slides for Unit 1, most of Unit 2, and Unit 6.

Element Id: Teachers advocate for schools and students.

Since our Virtual Academy students did not get to attend in person instruction and have not yet had a chance to meet their classmates, students were given the option to attend our optional Virtual Academy event on a Saturday. Students were given a present that was donated by friends and family. We read a story to them and they created their own Gingerbread man. Students also had their picture taken. Families were also invited to this event and COVID-19 safety procedures had to be in place. Students got to socialize with each other 6 feet apart. This event was co-organized by myself and my Kindergarten Virtual Academy teammate, Elisa Porcelli.

I keep in constant communication with parents through my personal phone, Talking Points, Google Meet, Google Classroom, and email. Parents are able to reach me in the way that they prefer or feel most comfortable with.

This has been a difficult year that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, my students chose to experience kindergarten through our Virtual Academy. Because I was teaching in a complete virtual environment, I was faced with unique challenges that I constantly had to combat. My Virtual Academy teammate and I constantly collaborated together to overcome many of these challenges. Some of these challenges included:

• Assessments: We had to determine alternate ways to administer assessment in ways that we were not used to before. We utilized digital tools, such as breakout rooms, Jamboard, and PearDeck.

• Writing: Students had to submit writing samples through PearDeck and we added an extra writing block to our schedule to ensure that students were receiving the necessary supports.

• Core Teaching: I had to get creative in how to deliver the academic content virtually and how to keep students engaged.

• Distractions: Some students faced several distractions in their learning environment that they would not have experienced in the classroom.

• Kindergarten Experience: My Virtual Academy teammate, my instructional assistant and I had to get creative in how to give our students a unique experience in kindergarten that they could remember forever.