Stephanie Whitaker - Dunedin Elementary School
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VOTE STEPHANIE AS YOUR FAN FAVORITE BELOW!
Stephanie was nominated for her student-engaging instruction and use of learning communities within the classroom. Mrs. Whitaker sets challenging expectation not only in academic growth but also in social and emotional growth. Her students are expected to be role models for their younger peers at school demonstrating actions such as appropriate ways to transition in the hallways and interact in the cafeteria, being respectful in their conversations with teachers, and being collaborative and reflective learners who continually work to improve. She expects her students to be able to understand what they are learning, why the learning is important, and how they can demonstrate their new learning. Mrs. Whitaker’s learning strategy involves giving a menu of option assignments to students. To name a few examples, this menu may include using the laptop lab to create PowerPoint presentations, using a SMART board presentation to present a “Big Idea”, allowing students to express their creative outlets through Animoto picture presentations, completing animal adaptation formative assessments through Blabberize, creating a non-fiction topic of interest essay, teaching other classes benchmarks by preparing their own lessons and filming them, and using student created web pages to present their content. Mrs. Whitaker’s class is an excellent example of a learning community.
Not only does Mrs. Whitaker establish a community of learners in her classroom, she is also active in this process at the school and district level as a Teacher Fellow Facilitator and a Communities of Practice Facilitator. She guides teachers through inquiry and action research, allowing teachers to take ownership of their professional development. She has a long list of leadership initiatives at a school and district level including: National School Reform Facilitator, SMART board training leader, Safety Patrol Sponsor, Science Leadership Team Facilitator, and more. Mrs. Whitaker was also honored to win the Progress Energy Grant for her project that aimed to teach students that they can have a positive impact on the community by being energy efficient. Mrs. Whitaker is, indeed, an outstanding educator who is creative in her teaching approach, demonstrates a commitment to students and families, is committed to improving the education profession, and her primary purpose is to dedicate herself to inspiring and engaging children.
