For Nancy Robertson, Grand View Elementary School’s Teacher of the Year, an ideal day at school occurs when she hears a student say, “Oh, I get it!” She believes that learning is making mistakes. Nancy expertly demonstrates all six of the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.

 

Standard One: Engaging and Supporting all Students in Learning: Nancy does an amazing job of connecting students’ prior knowledge with learning goals. She consistently engages students in problem solving and critical thinking, and she makes the curriculum more meaningful through her creative lessons. She promotes self-directed, reflective learning for all students.

 

Standard Two: Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments for Student Learning: Nancy creates a classroom environment that engages all students. She spends hours ensuring her room is arranged to support student learning. She establishes excellent classroom management techniques that facilitate each student feeling responsible for being a productive learner, and she excels in using instructional time effectively.

 

Standard Three: Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter for Student Learning: Nancy is a very experienced, knowledgeable, and professional teacher. She keeps abreast of the current research in education. She excels in tailoring lessons to meet the needs of each individual learner. She develops student understanding through innovative instructional strategies that are appropriate for the subject matter.

 

Standard Four: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences for All Students: Nancy develops and sequences instructional materials for all of her third grade students. She modifies instructional plans to adjust for students with learning disabilities as well as for more advanced students. Nancy works diligently and cares deeply about meeting the needs of each student in her classroom.

 

Standard Five: Assessing Students for Learning: Nancy prides herself on using the results of assessments to guide instruction. She communicates regularly with students and their families to ensure consistency between the classroom lessons and student progress.

 

Standard Six: Developing as a Professional Educator: Nancy establishes professional goals and pursues opportunities to improve her professional practices. She works with her colleagues and is known to be a team player. She is passionate about her job, and it shows. She talks the talk and walks the walk. She is a superstar!

 

According to Nancy, “Grand View is comprised of such high-achieving and dedicated teachers that winning Teacher of the Year at my school is an incredible honor. Receiving this acknowledgement is rewarding and motivates me to keep working toward helping my students reach their personal best, both academically and personally.”