Karen Casey-Robinson

• I build positive relationships with students and families for safe, trusted learning support.
• Enhance classroom management by establishing clear expectations, rules, and routines.
• Collaborate with colleagues to share resources, brainstorm ideas, and problem-solve challenges faced in the classroom environment.
• Implement differentiated instruction strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of all students.
• Promote learning through play with engaging activities, games and lessons.
• Promote a positive learning environment with the use of collaborative group work and hands-on activities.
• Deliver lesson plans, implemented school curriculum and used data to create, monitor, and establish personalized learning plan for each student.
• Improve student reading skills by implementing phonics-based instruction using strategies from Science of Reading workshops and guided reading activities.
• Develop strong relationships with families to address any concerns or issues impacting student success.

• Increase parent involvement through regular communication using Class Dojo, parent-teacher conferences, and encouraged parents to assist in classroom centers.
• Monitor and evaluate student progress through regular assessments and observations. FAST and iReady data used to monitor students in need of remediation

• Exercised good classroom management focused on positive behavior support by clearly articulating fair and consistent expectations along with appropriate natural consequences.
• Served as a mentor for new teachers, providing guidance on lesson planning, classroom management, and instructional strategies.
• Collaborate with other faculty and staff to promote rigorous learning opportunities, general well-being of school and collective interest of staff and student body.
• Cultivate love for reading among students by integrating interactive storytimes into daily routines as well as having an inviting book nook making books accessible to all students.

• Boosted students' understanding of basic math concepts with use of hands-on learning tools and activities.

During these two years, I took over classes that teachers were out due to pregnancies.

I started teaching at Country Hills when it opened and was able to establish guidelines for purchasing curriculum materials. As a kindergarten teacher, I continued to attend workshops to enhance learning and was asked to facilitate math and literacy workshops for county kindergarten and first grade teachers. I was the team leader for my kindergarten team. Each year I worked closely with administration to collaborate with teachers to implement a curriculum that met the needs of students in all subject areas. I was in the DROP program and at the end of my 5th year, it was necessary to retire. At that time, I only needed to be out of the classroom for 30 days to be eligible to return to teaching.

• As a new teacher, I worked closely with seasoned teachers to determine the best methods to meet the needs of my students
• This was an "Open School" with no walls which was a challenge until I was able to establish class management and curriculum.
• Differentiated instruction to accommodate diverse learning styles, ensuring all students made progress towards academic goals.
• At this time, the focus in kindergarten was teaching the students colors, shapes, nursery rhymes and introduction to the alphabet. Students were in school for a full day with a one hour nap time.

Preschool teachers needed to take classes to keep their training up to date.

• Recommended curriculum choices and created lesson plans to maximize effectiveness of instruction.
• Used positive reinforcement choices and provided clear feedback to help students succeed with class management.
• Utilized multimedia strategies to facilitate learning and increase student engagement.
• We explored age appropriate songs, fingerplays and art projects to use with preschool students.