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SISD announces SMS Teacher of the Year |
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Written by Staff Reports
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Tuesday, 23 June 2009 |
Virginia Shore Terry was named the Teacher of the Year at Sweetwater Middle School. She is a Special Education teacher for grades 6-8. She has been teaching for 22 years, with 21 of those years spent teaching in Sweetwater. She is a graduate of Abilene Christian University. Terry was nominated for Walt Disney Teacher of the Year in 1996 and 2002, nominated for HEB Teacher of the Year in 2004, and elected to Who's Who in Education in 2005.
The following is a short philosophy of teaching submitted by Terry: "Being a teacher in the middle school setting is not a position of envy by my peers. We are a campus of out-of-control hormones with big, open mouths. It may easily be an analogy to the West Texas climate. A person never knows what to expect one day to the next. This is the chaotic world of adolescence that teachers in middle school endure from one day to another. It is often daunting. But I seem to thrive on it and actually enjoy it. This is where I belong. This is my niche in life, to be with special needs students in the middle school environment. I love these kids! It is with this love that I enter my classroom each day and try to cultivate this same love for learning and the value of education to each of my students. My philosophy for successfully achieving this is to be a positive role model, promote self-confidence, respect and trust in themselves and others, to be flexible, and above all, to have patience.
Today's life is full of good days and bad days. Each of us have these days. Each day in my classroom, I try to communicate this to my students in as many ways as possible. Foremost professionalism, both inside and outside the classroom is a must. Acting as a professional, dressing as a professional, interacting among my peers and students alike as a professional sets the groundwork for my success and the success of my students. The students are able to see through my appropriate action so that they can achieve positive results in their lives.
Promoting self-confidence, respect and trust are also attributes I strive to produce in each child. Martin Luther King once said, "Before you can inspire, you must connect." Failure of this is frightening, especially if you feel the entire adolescent world is looking at you straight in the face. In order to "connect" with my students and end this fear of failure, I let my students know we all begin on the same playing field with different talents but we can all work together as a team and have positive results by helping each other. No one is perfect, that also includes myself. I do not expect perfection. No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. The solution is to do the best you can, give all you have to give, no more, no less.
Flexibility and spontaneity are a must in the teaching field. Lesson plans often stray from their desired destination, but I must have the courage to reorganize my plans if another learning opportunity arises. If the class discussion is relevant to the subject matter, go for it. The interest is there to pursue. Do not miss an opportunity to teach. Enjoyment of the subject matter is what the students will remember the most in later years. The more fun the student has, the more they will learn. I try not to present a lesson the same way each year. I admit is a lot easier to use your lesson plans year after year, and probably safer, but so boring! By being flexible and open to changes, I often success more in the core subjects.
Remember, Rome was not built in a day, nor was the state of Texas. Patience is a virtue; some of us have it, some of us do not. As an educator, it is a must if we are to be successful. In special education, and probably in all fields, a teacher's patience is tested many times during the day. It is necessary for me to find a variety of new and innovative ways to be creative because pre-teens and teenagers are creative. Without creativity, the "connecting," the trust and the respect would be hard to achieve.
In the country song Trisha Yearwood sings, "I want to go too far, I want to go too fast. Somebody draws the line, so I can blow right past!" David Keirsey relates this personality theory in his book, "Please Understand Me." The at-risk students belong to the artisan group. It consists of four sub-groups. After analyzing my students, I found these characteristics to be true:
1. A desire to feel free and spontaneous.
2. A preference for unstructured settings.
3. A need for a happy environment.
4. A tendency to take new risks and try new things.
My philosophy is to include all of the above things, but most of all, love and respect for each student." |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 June 2009 )
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