|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
TeachersOctober KBAY Teacher of the MonthThe KBAY Teacher of the Month program is a partnership between 94.5 KBAY FM and the San Jose Education Foundation, the leading education foundation serving students, families and teachers of San Jose.
Version 1 Audio Clip The KBAY Teacher of the Month for October is Jan White, who teachers Kindergarten at SUCCESS Academy in San Jose. Jan will receive a $500 Innovation Grant for her classroom from the San Jose Education Foundation.
Jan White taught for six years in an elementary school in South Central Los Angeles before moving to San Jose in 1990 where she has taught kindergarten through second grade classes. In addition she has taught at the New Teacher Center at UC Santa Cruz and at National Hispanic University. Jan will use her SJEF Teacher Innovation Grant to increase early literacy for all her students and their families. She will purchase enough Early Literacy Take Home Packs to allow every student to have a different book at home each week. The packs will include one or two theme related children’s books and activities to go along with them. “The other thing that I love about being a teacher is having the opportunity to be creative. I can create my own lessons and try various strategies until I find what works best for my students.” These Take Home Packs will increase parent involvement, a core value in her school’s design. Students will work on the activities at home with their parents and parents will be encouraged to meet together informally to discuss how they are using the books and materials. Parents will also be asked to take over the management and distribution of the book packs each week, promoting parent leadership, another of the school’s core values. As much as this grant will help Jan do her job better, Jan believes that there are challenges that need to be overcome. “My biggest challenge is finding the personalized key that unlocks each student. Every child learns in different ways and it is my job to figure out which strategies to use with each individual. The way I meet this challenge is to continue to seek new instructional strategies, try them out, and see what happens. When I fail, I have to increase my effort, continue to try, and not give up on any child.” Congratulations to Jan White, KBAY’s Teacher of the Month for October. |
“The greatest thing that I can experience as an educator is to stand back and look at my students working with each other, learning from their peers, cooperating with to get a task completed, and taking responsibility for their own learning.”