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As my college education is coming to an end, I beyond excited to begin my journey as a classroom teacher. I am very interested in working as a Middle or High School Language Arts teacher in the state of Connecticut. I would be a perfect fit for an inclusive, safe, and nurturing environment that's main goal is for students to grow both mentally and emotionally. As a teacher, I plan on creating the most inclusive and comfortable place for my students where they can thrive and learn.

I have had the opportunity to teach and observe in many different schools across the state. I was also able to work in unique classrooms that weren’t the typical English class environment. During my year of student teaching, I taught a Journalism and Sports Media class at the Sports and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford, CT. This was a unique experience because I was with students hands-on in the media center, working with various types of camera and production equipment. This year, I am interning at Smith Middle School in Glastonbury, CT. I am working as a Reading and Writing Intervention Specialist for grades 7 and 8. This incredible opportunity has allowed me to work one-on-one with struggling students, consistently track progress through Progress Monitoring, and design lessons to best fit each student. I have exited 50% of students from this program after the first two months. Students are steadily increasing their scores, and I hope to graduate many others before this semester ends. These two experiences have not only expanded my knowledge on teaching methods and the use of technology, but they taught me the importance of patience, creativity, and student voice in the classroom. A huge focus of mine is Culturally Responsive Teaching. I have had the pleasure of building relationships with students from all backgrounds, cultures, religions, ethnicities, etc. Despite the global Pandemic and virtual learning curveballs we were all thrown this year, I was able to build meaningful student relationships and improve both their reading and writing scores.

Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to this opportunity to speak with you directly about how I can contribute to the (Insert School Name) family. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at @samantha.laviero@uconn.edu

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This is my transcript from the University of Connecticut, 2017-2021.

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Here is a verification letter confirming that I will graduate in May with a B.A in English Education and a M.A in Curriculum and Instruction.

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2021 Verification Letter for Masters Students w endorsement area

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Letter of recommendation from Joanne Gertler, Reading Literacy Specialist at Smith Middle School in Glastonbury, CT.

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Letter of Recommendation from Melanie Zamorski, English teacher at Sports and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford, CT.

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In my classroom, I will implement journal entries as part of our daily routine. Having students write daily doesn't only allow them to practice repetition and improve their skills, but it allows students to use their voice and explore their identity. Some of the most meaningful discussions that I have had with students are based on their journal entry responses. Attached is a sample of journal entries that I like to use with my students.

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At the beginning of each class, I like to take a couple of minutes to get students in the right head space before class. As a student, it is easy to let outside factors effect our learning inside the classroom. By taking a "mindful" minute, it allows students to be in the moment, and appreciate their growth. There has been countless times when my students have walked through my doors and I could tell they were having a tough day based on the look on their face.  I knew that if I was just to begin teaching, my students wouldn't have retained one thing. After 3 minutes of breathing exercises, I felt the mood in the room shift and relaxation set in. My students were ready to learn, and were able to leave any negativity at the door.

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Fist to five is a great strategy that I use often in my classroom to gage student understanding and emotional well-being. At the beginning of use class, I ask my students to hold up their hand, and put up a finger zero to five to let me know how they are doing; zero being terrible and five being awesome. This not only gives students a chance at the beginning of class to talk about their day, but it gives me an idea of what student's might not be in the best head space to learn. I also use this strategy before and after a lesson. Before the lesson starts, I ask students to let me know fist to five how much they know about the given subject. I tell them that I expect low numbers, because we haven't learned it yet. At the end of the lesson I ask again, and four and fives tell me that it was a successful lesson. If scores are low, this tells me that I need to re-assess my lesson and instruct in a different way.

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Goal setting is a very important part of my classroom and teaching philosophy. When students have a goal, they are more likely to hold themselves accountable for their work and progress. By constantly creating and checking up on goals, students can be more motivated to complete a task or increase their skills.

I use goal setting a lot in my classroom, especially for group work. Sometimes, group work can get a bit unproductive when students are paired with friends. Before I send the groups off to work, I have the students collaborate to come up with a list of attainable goals that they will accomplish by the end of their work. At the end of class, we go back to these goals and talk about what was accomplished. We also discuss what wasn't accomplished, and what the students could do in the future to accomplish these goals.

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When the pandemic hit, many teachers had to lean how to navigate a virtual platform. Not only did this include figuring out how to teach virtually, but teachers had to find tech tools to keep students active and engaged. When my classroom switched to virtual in the fall, I saw a significant decrease in student participation. This led me to research and test multiple different technology platforms that would not only increase participation, but also keep students engaged. I created a document with different resources to use during both in person and virtual learning that are free and accessible for all students.

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Progress Monitoring and Tracking Student Data

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Progress Monitoring and Tracking Student Data

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For my internship this past year at Smith Middle School, in Glastonbury, CT, I worked as a Writing and Reading Interventionist. I tracked student progress in multiple targeted areas using Google Sheets. I then presented this data at team-wide S.I.T Meetings and tailored my lessons to student progress and teacher recommendations. I met weekly with my Co-coordinating teacher and updated her with student data and progress reports.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Here is a lesson plan that I wrote to teach to a 7th grade Reading and Writing Intervention class.

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My philosophy on writing, reading, and creating a safe, comfortable place for students to learn.

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Lesson Plan: High School Journalism and Media class

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Lesson Plan: High School Journalism and Media class

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Lesson plan focused on student Identity and how their identity impacts who they are today.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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NCTE National Council of Teachers of English

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NCTE National Council of Teachers of English

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Member

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Students Rights to Their Own Language: The importance of culturally-specific dialect:

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Students Rights to Their Own Language: The importance of culturally-specific dialect:

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I have created a presentation for teachers on the importance of culturally specific dialect and how to address this in the classroom. Students have the right to their own language and as educations, we need to make sure that we don't diminish our students voice and values.

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Importance of Culturally Specific Dialect

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How can we Incorporate Creative writing into a Reading and Writing Intervention classroom?

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Attached is a handbook that I created full of creative writing mini-lessons to give students at the start of class. Although my students primarily focus on written response to text and sentence structure, creative writing has proved to not only help their overall writing skills, but it allows me to build relationships and learn the identity of my students. These creative writing activities have been essential to assessing my students progress and getting to know their strengths and weaknesses.

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UndocuPeer: Dismantling Barriers in Education training 	

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UndocuPeer: Dismantling Barriers in Education training 	

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The UndocuPeer training is a two-hour virtual interactive program facilitated by currently and formerly undocumented students that focuses on increasing educators, counselors, and administrators’ knowledge and skills for supporting undocumented students and advocating for institutional changes to ensure access, safety, and belonging for all students regardless of immigration status. Developed by undocumented students, trainers provide the necessary tools to begin or continue conversations on how to better support and work alongside undocumented students.

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In fall 2020, I taught a First Year Experience course at the University of Connecticut. This course was designed for first year students to learn how to have the most enriching college experience possible. Some of the topics I covered in this course was organization, social injustice and action, time management, and mental health. After the semester, my students filled out an S.E.T form with comments and feedback on my teaching.

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Creating a safe, collaborative community is the number one goal in my classroom. I want to keep families engaged with their child's work and progress so that they have all the tools to be a support system at home. I plan on sending monthly newsletters and student praise so parents can stay in the loop. By including families in the classroom, we are able to build a stronger, more collaborative learning environment. Here is an example of a newsletter I have sent out to families before the first day of school: