Traveling
Linda McTier Carrier
Primary School Teacher (Pre-K - 5th)
Summary
Highly creative and experienced professional with a passion for teaching and learning. Advanced degrees in Early Childhood Education and Teacher Leadership with teaching certificates in Gifted Education, ESOL, and Instructional Supervision. Experience working internationally in IB World school. Truly cares for and values students. Stresses learning as a life long process that extends beyond the walls of a classroom. Talented in making learning interesting, relevant, and engaging while providing an experiential environment that is rigorous. Promotes student self-efficacy and agency. Respectfully and collaboratively works with parents, colleagues, and administrators as partners in learning. Strong work ethic, joyful demeanor, and contagious sense of humor. Loves working with children!
Overview
39
39
years of professional experience
Work History
Teacher of Talented and Gifted (K - 5)
Fulton County Schools
08.2020 - Current
- Planned and facilitated student-centered, inquiry-based units of study for students in a constructivist classroom environment.
- Student agency was a priority.
- Successfully created and implemented Project-Based Learning as influenced by student interest inventories, Multiple Intelligences surveys, and one-on-one interviews.
- Provided personalized, specific, and meaningful qualitative feedback on formative and summative student work.
- Supported students in developing a sense of global thinking through designing lessons on perspective-taking, understanding poverty, volunteerism, cultural/diversity understandings, map skills literacy and communication skills practice.
ESOL Teacher (K - 5)
Fulton County Schools
10.2018 - 05.2020
- Planned and facilitated applicable, engaging, and high energy learning for students whose home language was not English.
- Provided language instruction centering on reading and writing to meet goal of developing academic English to grade-level proficiency.
- Created projects and products to inspire and encourage development of expository, descriptive, persuasive, and narrative writing skills.
- Routinely offered student choices to instill a sense of responsibility of one's own learning.
- Encouraged a sense of pride in one's own cultural background and language with student-created oral and audio-visual presentations, International Night, and parent visits.
- Deliberately set aside time each day to share the love of reading for pleasure within the classroom.
- Allowed time for students to take on the role of teacher as they taught the teacher words from their home languages.
PYP Teacher
Albanian College Durres
08.2015 - 07.2017
- Year 1: Facilitated learning for non-English speaking first graders, integrating all subjects within IB units of inquiry in an English immersion classroom. Personalized plans based on learner interests. Half of the students successfully progressed a full year ahead in English language and math at year's end.
- Year 2: Facilitated learning for third graders with varying degrees of English language proficiency. The 13 students represented five different cultures. Emphasized skills of collaboration, inclusion, and taking initiative to encourage social and emotional growth through development of IB learner profile attributes.
- Collaborated with Albanian interpreter/TA to provide engaging and impactful learning opportunities that represented the ten attributes from the Learner Profile.
- Teamed with TA/Interpreter to provide informative parent meeting and conferences.
- Encouraged student leadership through student created and class led programs at EY/PYP Assembly every eight weeks showcasing learning.
- Actively engaged in school-wide service projects that extended well beyond the walls of the school and regular school hours.
- Earned IB professional development certificate, Making the PYP Happen in the Classroom.
- Collaborated with all faculty and staff throughout the process of earning International Baccalaureate World School credentials.
Teacher of Talented and Gifted (K-5)
Fulton County Schools
08.1999 - 06.2015
- Facilitated learning for K-5 students identified as gifted in a pull-out enrichment model that emphasized student-centered, experiential, and project-based learning.
- Created a constructivist environment that fostered students' intellectual risk-taking, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills.
- Created a culture of student agency in which students became active participants in their own learning. Included setting their own learning goals; choosing independent and collaborative learning projects e.g., Bloom-Gardner matrix, choice boards, student initiated; assessing own performance; peer assessment; and reflection.
- Directed schoolwide screening, referral, and testing cycles to identify students for gifted services. Administered tests in the areas of mental ability, creativity, and achievement. Interpreted test data to determine eligibility.
- Worked with general education teachers on various ways motivation could be viewed and inspired in students from diverse backgrounds.
- Actively involved parents as partners in learning through meaningful volunteerism in the classroom and as authentic audience members for student presentations. (e.g., art infusion program).
- Served as school's specialist on grade acceleration utilizing the IOWA Acceleration Scale.
- Created and led various seminars for parents on how to encourage creativity and higher order thinking skills at home.
- Created several units of inquiry to be used across school system's gifted program. (e.g., "Our National Treasures", "Where is the Dodo Bird?", and "Toy Company").
Teacher (K-5), General Education
Fulton County Schools
08.1985 - 07.1999
- Created impactful learning opportunities through fostering student agency; developing engaging and rigorous lessons; encouraging academic risk-taking; and growing creative thinking, problem solving, and communication skills.
- Facilitated interdisciplinary learning in heterogeneously mixed classrooms; i.e., 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades.
- Taught in schools ranging in highly diversified socio-economic levels. Differentiated learning based on student data and student choices. Worked closely with families as partners in learning.
- Infused art, music, and movement to help students visualize new or challenging concepts.
- Collaborated with team teachers and school counselor to warmly support students' feelings of safety, acceptance, and being valued.
- Collaborated with staff to provide the least restrictive and best learning environments for students with multiple exceptionalities.
- Headed school-wide geography and cultural awareness project. Developed and lead county-wide professional development, "Grasping the World: Hands-On Geography".
- Awarded grant, "Cooking Up Math and Science". Assembled portable cooking cart with supplies to utilize cooking in the classroom to visualize skills and concepts. Created accompanying lessons based on state standards.
- Awarded grant, "Masters of the Universe" which utilized parent volunteers to use art across disciplines to enrich and encourage connections in learning.
- Mentored three student teachers.
- Grade-level chairperson: Collaborated with department chairs on school matters through weekly meetings. Collaborated with teaching peers in open forum format each week. Members contributed to lesson plan with emphasis on creativity, higher order thinking, and effective formative and summative assessments. Self-reflection was encouraged. Used student data to inform planning.
Education
Specialist of Education - Teacher Leadership
05.2001 -
Research focus: Information Literacy - How, When, and Why We Teach Research Skills to Elementary School Students
Master of Education - Early Childhood Education
05.2001 -
Bachelor of Science - Early Childhood Education
05.2001 -
Skills
Student Agency
Developing Creativity, Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking
Differentiated Assessment
Project-Based Learning
Scaffolding
Facilitating Inquiry
Compassionate and Caring
Collaboration
Motivating Students
Accomplishments
- Bermuda Union of Teachers Conference, Hamilton, Bermuda. Guest presenter on gifted education for four years. Planned and co-led two-day staff development workshop for Bermudian public school teachers at primary and secondary levels. Worked closely with Bermudian teachers on gifted programming options, teaching theory, and higher-order thinking strategies.
- Fulton County staff development for gifted teachers, Alpharetta, GA. Developed and taught, "Using Primary Sources and Portraitures in the Classroom". Collaborated with other gifted teachers to present, "Using the Socratic Method in the Elementary Classroom".
- Summer Institute for the Gifted, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Co-ed gifted program designed to offer educational and social opportunities. Created and taught three courses, "Kaleidoscope", "The Curious Chemist", and "Patterns in Our World".
- Saturday School for Scholars and Leaders, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. Enrichment program structured to offer educational opportunities emphasizing leadership, scholarship, and cultural awareness for students. Designed and taught course, "Kitchen Che-Mystery". K-2 and 3-5.
- Georgia Supporters of the Gifted Convention, Atlanta. Developed and presented, "Maintaining a Constructivist Classroom in a Standards-Based World".
- Georgia Council on the Social Studies Conference, Augusta, GA. Developed and presented, "Grasping the World: Hands-On Geography".
- George Washington Summer Residential Teachers' Institute: Highly competitive program which brings teachers to Mount Vernon, Virginia for an intensive week of study. Selected as one of two teachers from Georgia.
- Georgia Geographic Alliance Summer Institute (National Geographic state affiliate). Selected participant.
- Albanian College Durres: Professional Development presenter - "Educational Kinesthetics and Brain Gym".
- Director Camp Invention, Milton, GA. Nationally recognized summer program focused on creativity, innovation, real-world problem-solving and the spirit of invention.
- Golden Medallion Award, Milton, GA. Outstanding lesson plan writing.
- National Boards Certificate - Middle Childhood Generalist.
Interests
Cooking and being a Foodie
Singing
History and Geography
Timeline
Teacher of Talented and Gifted (K - 5) - Fulton County Schools
08.2020 - Current
ESOL Teacher (K - 5) - Fulton County Schools
10.2018 - 05.2020
PYP Teacher - Albanian College Durres
08.2015 - 07.2017
North Georgia College & State University - Specialist of Education, Teacher Leadership
05.2001 -
Kennesaw State University - Master of Education, Early Childhood Education
05.2001 -
Georgia State University - Bachelor of Science, Early Childhood Education
05.2001 -
Teacher of Talented and Gifted (K-5) - Fulton County Schools
08.1999 - 06.2015
Teacher (K-5), General Education - Fulton County Schools
08.1985 - 07.1999