Sharonda: Crest Hill tutor

Certified Tutor

My Philosophy of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment comes from each other; and following what Wald and Castleberry (2002) provided in several great suggestions related to learning from each other when it comes to teacher improvement, learning, leadership, moral, school culture, student/faculty learning and life in general. The authors shared the following when it comes to assessment and learning that I also practice:
1. Understanding yourself. As learners we have to understand ourselves by knowing who we are, what we believe in, and how we are willing to share what we have learned. We all see and react to things differently; that is important to see and listen to other's viewpoints.
2. Understanding others' beliefs and assumptions. We all have various beliefs and assumptions with expressed opinions that can be either influenced by others or just learned from experiences. We should be interested in knowing what others are talented in, what they have trouble with, how they can help another individual overcome an obstacle, what traits or similarities and differences they can bring to the unity for the team.
3. Communicating together in a trusting atmosphere. We should be able to listen to others carefully when one shares meaningful information without interrupting their thoughts or sharing your own personal views until they finish. We should respect each other's comments, be honest to giving your own suggestions if asked, be able to determine meaning of their conversation by rephrasing/repeating what they have ideas especially if the atmosphere is warm, pleasant and trustworthy, and should explain the reasons for doing certain things in detailed to avoid any relationship.
4. Making decisions together as a whole/consensus. We should be able to be straightforward with each other when making decision as a team. We should have a tally as to how many agree or disagree to certain issues and reasons to support decisions
5. Establishing ground rules and roles. When we come together as a team we should have set times to begin and end, we should stay focused on the discussion at hand, we should avoid any unnecessary interruption, we should allow all members to voice their opinion, we should save any negative judgments, we should support each other's suggestions and not knock them down, we should not make meetings long and drawn out, we should have established roles for each facilitator's recording kept.
6. Allowing time to reflect. As a team the group should reflect back on the rules, goal, vision, and ideas that have been set to improve learning for all. See what has been accomplished, and what else needs improvement/change on a continuous bases for learning, for growth, and an avoidance of becoming complacent.