KEVIN WILKINSON

*Taught NGSS Science Standards using a Target-Focused Teaching Approach in which children took ownership of their learning.

*Developed expertise on what truly engages boys and practices that promote their academic and social development.

*Established a strong culture of joy, affirmation, teacher feedback and curiosity about the world.

*Planned and facilitated collaborative learning experiences using the Design Thinking Process.

*Gained a flexible attitude towards shifting learning spaces and arrangements including teaching in shared spaces, multiple spaces, and co-teaching.

*Assisted the Science Department with the gradual implementation of the NGSS Science Standards into the Lower School curriculum.

*Maintained a reflective disposition towards my instructional practices and regularly sought out professional development opportunities.

*Taught science classes from Pre-K to Grade 2 as a special.

*Assisted the school in developing and establishing a Makerspace.

• First Grade
• Further developed expertise in phonics instruction using Fundations and Words their Way.
• Used Responsive Classroom as a management tool.
• Planned and implemented grade-level appropriate units based on Investigations and Singapore Math.
• Differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all my students, including Guided Reading and math enrichment.
• Highly knowledgeable in various reading and math assessments including F&P Running Records, MAP, STAAR, Dibels, and Investigations.
• Participated in a planning Project-Based learning unit that connected science with reading, writing, and social studies.

• 3rd Grade
• Gained a wealth of instructional moves that promote rigor and critical thinking in the classroom including increased wait time, cold calling, Turn and Talks, literature discourse and other habits of discussion.
• Gained a wealth of classroom management techniques including positive narration, countdown, self-interrupt, nonverbal redirections.
• Taught in a variety in classroom arrangements including virtual via Zoom, hybrid learning, and asynchronous learning with Google Classroom.
• Received heavy professional development in teaching reading comprehension strategies with small-group instruction.
• Planned and owned the narrative reading instruction and curriculum for the grade level.
• Responded to data by reteaching skills and concepts to close learning gaps in a timely manner.

• Kindergarten ,2nd Grade, and 3rd Grade
• Planned and implemented Engineer for a Day (Efad) monthly engineering activities in classroom, some of which were used as a model through live observation from state STEM groups.
• Served as Grade Level STEM Representative
• Heavily trained and received outside professional development in Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop.
• Heavily relied on student data, including MAP and STAR data, to guide instructional planning and practices, including overseeing the growth of student achievement by an average of 80 points or more each year.
• Used small group instruction through flexible grouping during reading and mathematics to meet children at their instructional level.
• Served a diverse group of learners, including English Language Learners, SST/behavior disorder, RTI/EIP, and gifted, in an urban, Title One setting.
• Utilized a myriad of differentiation methods, including differentiated grouping, leveled assignments, and hands-on learning experiences catered to engaging critical thinking and collaboration.
• Awarded the Robert L. Blaney Award in “recognition for Outstanding Teaching and Achievement” by the Georgia State University Department of Education (May 2015).
• Served as Hightower’s Science Content Liaison for Dekalb County School District.
• Co-Sponsored Hightower Robotics Team for 2016-2017 school year.
• Authored school’s STEM theme for the 2016-2017 school year: “Growing Ideas…Harvesting Dreams.”
• Mentored Georgia State University Teacher Candidates during Summer ELL Literacy Camps
• Always conducted oneself professionally as an educator and a colleague.
• Dekalb County Schools

• Tutored an English language learner from Myanmar on a one- on-one setting in the 1st Grade. Implemented a tutoring plan after conducting a spelling inventory to assess student's stage of development in terms of phonics/phonemic awareness. Running Records and observational notes

• Kindergarten
• Small group literacy tutor with kindergarten students for Fall 2013. The lessons were crafted with a science-literacy connection.
• Atlanta Public Schools

• 3rd/4th grade
• Led science mini-lessons and demonstrations for STEM Summer Camp, and later, assisted students with science experiments for a mixed group of third and fourth grade students during the summer of 2013.
• Atlanta Public Schools

• Kindergarten
• Co-Taught at the 2013 STEM School of the Year in a dynamic, kindergarten classroom. Designed and implemented all lesson plans in accordance with Common Core State Standards, conducted small group conferencing, RTI Intervention methods, and operated within the Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop models.
• Co-Taught with a culturally relevant pedagogy in a heavily multilingual/English Language Learner classroom where home languages included Spanish (Central American and Caribbean regional forms), Nepali, Vietnamese, and Dagbani.
• Weekly small group literacy instructor for 1st graders. Lessons had a science-literacy cross-curricular connection. Guided Reading sessions and Sentence Play were also implemented to further assist students in strengthening their skills as readers.
• Planned and submitted literacy lessons to edTPA for constructive feedback on instructional practices.
• Dekalb County Schools

• 2nd Grade
• Co-Taught in a second grade classroom in southwest Atlanta. Planned and implemented differentiated lessons on whole group, small group, and individual levels.
• Planned and implemented Mathematics Learning Project which required data collection and item analysis as forms of assessment.
• Developed a warm demander style of classroom management.
• Present at every faculty and professional development meeting during the semester.
• Atlanta Public Schools

• 2nd Grade
• Experienced a two and a half week placement at a predominantly Latino elementary school to specifically study the intricacies of teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) with an effective and responsive approach.
• Trained in the work of an ESOL instructor in terms of record keeping, management of individualized portfolios, the purpose of ACCESS testing, etc.
• Dekalb County School District