Debby Mitchell

State:

Maryland

Testimonial from a participant

STAR is Debby’s course, she lives the course skills!

— M.R. Great Mills, MD

PLS courses I teach:

• STAR(Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility)™
• TTLC (Teaching Through Learning Channels)
• BCTC (Building Communication and Teamwork in the Classroom)
• Classroom Management
• Differentiated Instruction

Years with PLS:

Since 2000

Why I love teaching PLS courses:

It is always fun to meet other teachers. Meeting and sharing with other educators who are interested in learning new strategies to help their students is exhilarating! PLS provides an opportunity for “safe practice” of the new skills. Teaching PLS courses gives me an opportunity to share what I have learned and learn from others’ experiences too.

Education:

• M.S. McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College)Education/Curriculum and Instruction, August 1999
• B.S. University of Southern Indiana (formerly Indiana State University – Evansville) Evansville, Indiana Major: Elementary Education Minor: Reading, May 1977

Teaching experience:

• St. Mary’s College Maryland, Adjunct Instructor 2003- present
  Course Taught: Literacy Assessment
• McDaniel College (formerly Western Maryland College), Adjunct Instructor 2000- present
  Graduate Courses Taught: Successful Teaching for Acceptance of Responsibility Teaching Through Learning Channels
• St. Mary’s County Public Schools, Teacher, 2002-present
  G. W. Carver Elementary School: 5th grade
• Prince George's County Public Schools, Teacher, 1997- 2002
  Owens Road Elementary School: 3rd grade Reading/Language Arts/Social Studies
  Owens Road Elementary School: 2nd grade Math/Science
  Concord Elementary School: 4th and 5th grade
  
• Hawaii Department of Public Schools, Teacher, 1993-1996
  Mokulele Elementary School: 3rd grade
  Moanalua Elementary School: Remedial Reading 3rd, 4th and 5th grade
  Moanalua Elementary School: Kindergarten
• Department of Defense Dependent Schools, Teacher, 1992-1993
  Idar-Oberstein Elementary School: 4th grade

Related experience, recognition, awards, etc.:

Substitute Teacher
Idar Oberstein Elementary School, Idar Oberstein, Germany, 1990-1992
Wilson Elementary School, San Antonio, TX, 1989-1990
Iraklion Elementary School, Iraklion, Crete, Greece, 1979-1981

Conversational English Teacher
English Telephone Club (English for business professionals), Tokyo, Japan, 1983-1987

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS, ORGANIZATIONS, CERTIFICATION/LICENSURE
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Member since 2003
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Member since 1996
National Education Association Member since 1993
Education Association of St. Mary’s County since 2002
International Reading Association Member since 1990
Maryland State Teaching Certificate, Elementary School Teacher, Reading Teacher, since 1996

BROADER PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY and/or CAMPUS SERVICE
Cooperating teacher for student teaching intern Aug –Dec 2004; Aug-Dec 2005
Intermediate Grade Level Chair, St. Mary’s County Public Schools, Lexington Park, MD 2003-present
Second Step Trainer, St. Mary’s County Public Schools, Lexington Park, MD 2003-present
Curriculum Writer, Curriculum Integrated Program for Math, Science, Technology Magnet Schools, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Landover, MD June 2002
Faculty In-service, The Maryland Learning Outcomes (Reading, Writing, Social Studies), Prince George’s County Public Schools, Oxon Hill, MD January – March 2002
Intermediate Grade Level Chair, Prince Georges County Public Schools, Oxon Hill, MD, 2001 – 2002
Faculty In-service, Second Step, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Oxon Hill, MD, September 1999, 2000, 2001
Faculty In-service, Teaching in the Performance Based Classroom, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Oxon Hill, MD, August 2000, 2001
Faculty In-service, Graphing Everyday, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Oxon Hill, MD, September 2000, January 2001, 2002
Faculty In-service, Teaching Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Oxon Hill, MD, June 2000, 2001
New Teacher Mentor, Prince George’s County Public Schools, August 1997- June 2002

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
TERC Level 2 Training, St. Mary’s County Public Schools, June 2005
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 83rd Annual Meeting Conference, Anaheim CA April 2005
Regional NCTM conference Baltimore, MD October 2004
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 82nd Annual Meeting Conference, Philadelphia, PA April 2004
Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Workshop, Baltimore, MD April, 2004
I.D.E.A.S. Brain-based Ways We Think and Learn, graduate course, Mechanicsville, MD March – April 2004
St. Mary’s County Staff Development March 2004
Maryland Special Education Inclusion Conference, Baltimore, MD, November 2003
St. Mary’s County Staff Development, “A Framework for Understanding Poverty” March 2003
St. Mary’s County Staff Development, Grant Wiggins speaking on “Understanding By Design” Sept, 2002
St. Mary’s County Staff Development, “Technology in the Classroom” September 3 & 12, 2002
Prince George’s County Staff Development, “Balanced Literacy” October 2001 – March 2002 Maryland Learning Outcomes Workshops (Reading, Writing, Social Studies) 2001-2002
Prince George’s County Staff Development, “Four Square Writing” September 2001
Patricia Cunningham speaking on The 4 Block Method of Teaching Reading, March, 2001
Prince George’s County Public Schools, “SAFE” Study Group September 2000 – May 2001
Teaching Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum June 2000
Successful Teaching For Acceptance of Responsibility, graduate course, Baltimore, MD, March – April 2000
Mid – Atlantic Equity Center, Dr. Bessie C. Howard “Learning to Persist/Persisting to Learn” Nov 1999- Apr 2000
Second Step Train the Trainer, June 1999
Junior Great Books Basic Leader Training, June 1999
Teaching in the Performance Based Classroom, June 1999
National Urban Alliance, Dr. Melvin Baxter “Writing Across the Curriculum” September 1998 – May 1999
Maryland Assessment Group Conference, Ocean City, MD, November 1998

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS, PUBLICATIONS AND AWARDS
“Using Origami to teach Geometry” St Mary’s County Public Schools Inservice, March 2005
Planning and Teaching the HM reading program St. Mary’s County Public Schools Inservice, January 2005
"Power Writing," Presented at the PGCPS SAFE Study Group Dine and Discuss April 2001
"The Effect of Small Class Size on Student Achievement," Presented at the PGCPS Teachers As Researchers Conference, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, June 1999

What I love most about teaching:

In a time when teachers feel unbearable pressure to standardize what we do, it is important to begin with the conviction that we are no longer teaching if what we teach is more important than who we teach or how we teach.
--Carol Tomlinson, Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom

My favorite moment in teaching:

I am currently teaching 5th grade. Last year I had a student who started 5th grade reading at a beginning 2nd grade level. I told him I could help him improve his reading level if he worked with me. We set goals for his reading achievement and he worked hard all year. He charted his progress. We celebrated successes along the way and continually set new achievable goals. At the end of the year, he was reading at the end of 4th grade level. He now enjoys reading and school. I love being able to help a student set goals and achieve them.

Personal Information

Scrapbooking, Reading, Sudoko, Playing with my granddaughter, Traveling with my family