David Wingard

Name: David Wingard

       I teach third grade students in an urban area of Charleston, SC.  I am a graduate of the College of Charleston, and this is my second year teaching full time.  I teach all curriculum area in an inclusion setting to the same twenty students each day.  I favor the constructivist-teaching model because I believe students learn best when they have genuine experiences, use higher-level thinking and inquiry skills, and apply their knowledge to practical events.

       My students are all African-American and all but two of them receive free or reduce lunch.  We have no bussing, so all of my students either walk or receive rides to school.  According to PACT test scores, nine of my students perform Below Basic, five of them perform Basic, and six of them perform Proficient in math and language arts.  The reading levels of my students range from remedial first grade to low sixth grade.  These levels measure fluency and comprehension.  Three of my students have IEPs and one takes medication for emotional difficulties.  One of my students attends a pullout talented and gifted program once a week.

       My classroom structure, daily routines, and grading policies hold my students accountable for their academic development and behavioral expectation.  My classroom expectations are high and I demand success from all of my students.  My daily classroom objectives follow South Carolina State Curriculum Standards.

       My students sit in groups of three or four, so they can work effectively in cooperative groups.  They each have a specific duty as a group member and each student plays an integral part in completing assignments.  I have an extensive classroom library with books on many different reading levels classified by genre.  The classroom has various learning centers where students complete tasks independently.

       Since I teach seven different curriculum areas daily, there is a high degree of integrated learning.  I especially like to use science and social studies as the "big idea" areas, through which I teach writing, words, math, health, and language arts.  Every week my students recite one poem from memory to improve their speaking skills, and every month my students complete a research project.

       Third graders at Mitchell experience an extra-curricular school activity uncommon to many schools, a sailing program.  My friend, Captain John, takes four students sailing each month, where students navigate and steer the boat manually.  The program is four weeks long and each student sails five times, four to practice and one finale sail where the students actually sail the boat by themselves.

       I provide hour-long tutoring sessions three times weekly for willing students with parental consent.  Mitchell Elementary School has a wealth of support services for all students such as mentoring, guidance groups, lunch buddies, school psychologists, college practicum students, and student teachers.

       I love my students.  They are survivors of racial and economic discrimination, where they randomly fall on society's lowest rung.  They are descendants of generations of Africans who've struggled for centuries and who've fought with sword, pen, and tongue only to be trodden over and belittled, disposed of or grouped into segregated lots, whose poor urban planning scheme created a vacuum for civil responsibility and literacy.  A special group of them occupies one of these lots within a beautiful circumference of Charleston, a circumference that moves and shifts according to real estate trends and commercial development.  Many of them are subjects of gentrification.  Others are addicted to drugs at birth.  Many of them feel an inability to escape, others seize the easily accessible freedoms surrounding them--liberating themselves with knowledge, application, and achievement.  I strive to have my class enrich their lives, stimulate their minds, and open their eyes to life's abundance of opportunity, experience, and growth.

       I cannot imagine teaching anywhere else.