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Knowledge Is Power!
About Me
The Story
Greetings all, my name is Kiffany Cody and I reside in the Atlanta, Georgia area. This is my tenth year of teaching. I began my career teaching Health and Physical education for seven years. Within the PE Department, I taught Health, PE, Exercise and Weight Control, and Weight Training. For the past three school years, I have serviced as a Learning Support Specialist for Inclusion Math, primarily tenth grade Analytic Geometry. As an LSS, I provide learning support services for students with disabilities within the regular classroom.
I earned my B.S. Education in Health and Physical Education from Georgia Southern University in 2007. Currently, I am pursuing a Master’s Degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology at Nova Southeastern University. My passion for education is deeply rooted in my desire to enhance the quality of society by instilling students with good character traits. Great teachers emphasize the need for cultivating positive, productive citizens of society. This is the foundation of my education philosophy.
My interests include working out, reading, watching documentaries related to social and racial issues, attending sporting events, spending time with family and friends, and traveling. In addition to teaching, I officiate high school and collegiate basketball. As a former high school and college coach, I never imagined being an official, until a friend introduced me. Surprising to me, officiating has become something that I truly doing.
“Knowledge Is Power” is a concept that I developed five years into my teaching career. It is the idea that when we expand our knowledge, we empower ourselves to be better in all aspects of our lives. Knowledge of self is the foundation that gives us all the power to become our best selves. Knowledge of the world around us can empower us to live better lives from a holistic approach.
Curriculum Vitae
My curriculum vitae is a snapshot of my education and career experiences. I am a ten-year veteran teacher and graduate of Georgia Southern University. During my first seven years, I taught Health and Physical Education courses. For the past three years, I worked in the Special Education department as a Learning Support Specialist, co-teaching Math.
Copyright
In this section, you will find websites that address copyright issues as related to technology and multimedia.
Common Sense Media
Common Sense is a nonprofit organization that provides media information to teachers, parents, children, and others. The website offers free memberships to parents and teacher and free subscriptions so they can receive emails. There is a course called “Digital Citizenship” that parents and teachers can use to encourage good digital citizenship in children. One of the topics directly addresses copyright, fair use, and rights. This free course is available on the website.
I use this website to teach my students about digital citizenship. At the beginning of the school year, I spend the first ten days teaching the Digital Citizenship course to my students. The course is self-paced, and is loaded with graphics, video, and interactive pieces. Students are asked to work in groups and solve problems related to copyright, safety, and other Internet- and technology-based issues.
Georgia Milestones
The Georgia Milestones Assessments are administered to students every year. Students score in one of four categories: Beginning, Developing, Proficient, or Distinguished. The scoring varies by grade level and subject.
Scores are sent back to schools early the following school year. Currently, I have a caseload of 10 students that are targeted based on Coordinated Algebra scores, to move from one scoring level to the next. With this targeted list of students, I will provide small group instruction outside of the classroom setting and ongoing monitoring of their mastery of skills. I use IXL and WebQuests to individualize learning for each student.
Professional Development Goal
Professional Development is more than simply attending training sessions. It is a purposeful commitment to improve in one or more particular area of teaching. As a part of my yearly evaluation, I completed a Self-Assessment using a rating scale of 1-4. The area of growth I chose was Assessment Uses. My goal is to use more ongoing assessments to drive instruction. Rather than giving summative test and moving on, students should be assessed using small, informal assessments throughout the entirety of each unit. My co-teacher and I give quizzes weekly or biweekly, but we have not done a great job of using this data to drive instruction. This school year, I have made a conscious effort to use data to group students for lessons at least twice a week. Heterogeneous grouping allows for students will similar skill levels to work towards common goals within the standards.
Resources
In this section, you will find helpful resources.
NEA
National Education Association
Each day, neatoday.org brings you the latest take on what’s happening in the world of education news. Learn more about National Education Association activism on key issues facing our 3 million members and read what those members have to say about the current events that affect them. Also, check out features about NEA educators in the news and our tips for the must read stories of the day.
Web 2.0: How-to For Educators, 2nd Edition, Revised and Expanded
By Gwen Solomon & Lynne Schrum
This second edition introduces an expanded list of Web 2.0 Tools.
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