Peggy Devine
6th Grade Math Teacher
Raymond A. Villa Fundamental Intermediate School
Santa Ana Unified School District

"I am a true believer that any differences, cultural, economic or familial, no matter how great, can be overcome by finding common ground." 

Peggy Devine teaches sixth grade math in a fundamental intermediate school in Santa Ana, California, and lives those words everyday as she engages her students in "hands on" math lessons, incorporating technology and individualized instruction.  Her belief is based on her own life experiences, as a student, parent, tutor, and as an actuarial computer programmer. 
 
Peggy came to Villa Intermediate through the University of California, Irvine Spring Start Intern Program.   She had experienced a very successful and fulfilling career as a programmer with an actuarial consulting firm in New York, when her family moved to California.  Based on experience with her own three children and in their schools, she found that students learn differently based on their academic strengths and learning styles. She also discovered that technology could be a valuable tool.

Working with a guidance counselor at Villa, Peggy discovered that the school had access to the Johns Hopkins Online Classes for Gifted Students.  Suspecting that some of her students might qualify, her efforts led to eight students at the school (and several more in the district) qualifying for the program.  The school also had access to the Mind Institute's Secondary Intervention Program for math fluency, commonly known as JiJi.  The computer program is designed to teach math by combining automaticity with understanding.  Students can be working at different levels, as they respond to questions in journals prepared by Devine, to reinforce the functions that they've performed on the computer.  This conceptual work is reinforced with the problems in their math textbooks.

"Finding the common ground" isn't just about identifying academic needs and learning styles.  It also involves understanding each child as an individual.  "My commitment in the classroom is to provide an environment that is both nurturing and instructional."

With over 200 students each day in six core and support math classes, this takes a special kind of effort.  Peggy meets students, before and after school, and at lunch time to tutor, or simply provide a place for them to work.  She also co-directs the Student Leadership Club.  While she may not look like them, or talk like them (she still has a faint New York accent, and many of the students are English Language Learners), the students know that Devine cares about them, believes in them, and knows that they can master math.

It is not surprising that in March of 2011 she was named the Teacher of the Month at Villa.

 

The Teacher Corps would like to highlight all the wonderful teachers that have gone through our programs. Please share your teachers' stories by emailing us at info@cateachercorps.org. 

 

How to Strengthen Your Program

"A successful teacher is drawn to teaching primarily to help students learn and is intensely focused on maximizing growth and achievement of each student. They are optimistic, even in the face of challenges about what students can become and achieve.  They see themselves as unequivocally accountable for growth and achievement of their students and they continuously monitor the progress of each student" - Pete Pillisbury, founder of Target Success.

Beatriz Ceja, with the U.S. Department of Education, discussed at February's Teacher Corps conference how the most effective alternative certification programs have an intentional focus on teacher selection, including criteria that screens for and is able to predict a teacher's success before they enter a teacher preparation program.

One such method is Target Success, which offers a screen and selection interview tool that identifies the attributes of a potentially successful teacher. 

They key to capturing the qualities of a potential candidate involves conducting a structured interview with questions that address how a potential teacher:

• Demonstrates commitment to student growth and learning
• Possesses a positive attitude and believes all children can learn and can identify the strategies that are needed to do so.
• Possesses the ability to develop positive relationships with students, colleagues and parents that contribute to the growth and development of the learning process.
• Possesses the ability to motivate students to learn by designing a classroom with high expectations, with specific strategies that will effectively organize and  manage a classroom while creating a positive environment.
• Demonstrates the ability to help students connect what they learn within and outside the classroom setting while actively engaging them and encouraging diversity and working cooperatively within a multi-ethnic community.

Target Success is one of several tools that are available to assist in identifying potentially excellent teachers. The above themes should be carefully considered when looking at prospective candidates that will be successful in the classroom.

CSU Fullerton Sixth Annual General Education/Special Education Collaborative:
"Autism, Inclusion and Evidence Based Practices"

You are invited to attend the General Education/Special Education Collaborative: "Autism, Inclusion and Evidence Based Practices" being held once again at the Embassy Suites in Brea.  The general conference will open Friday night, April 29th at 4:00 p.m. with a keynote by Dr. Jan Weiner, CSU Fullerton followed by a panel of young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). They will discuss the issues, difficulties and triumphs related to the transition from school to career for young people with a diagnosis of ASD.

Saturday morning we will feature three keynote speakers, Dr. Laura Hall, San Diego State University, Dr. Jan Blacher, UC Riverside and Dr. Elizabeth Laugeson, Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA.  

Information on the conference is available at Educator Enterprises. For more information, email Teacher Corps Board Member Belinda Dunnick Karge.

Special Education Intern Network Meeting

If you are in a position where you provide teacher preparation to interns, please join us for the upcoming Special Education Intern Network meeting on Friday, April 29, 2011 from 9:30 to 2:30 at the Embassy Suites in Brea.  (This meeting takes place just prior to the autism conference). The agenda includes updates from CCTC, information on the new Education Specialist and time to network with colleagues.  Three CCTC approved induction programs will be featured and will share their successes.  There is no fee for this meeting, but you must RSVP to Belinda Dunnick Karge to confirm your attendance and for lunch count.