Taylor Johnston
Address
700 Town Creek Pkwy, Apt. L105, Lenoir City, TN 37771
Phone Number
631-603-8845
WELCOME ! A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
Hello! My name is Taylor Johnston. I am a graduate from St. Joseph's University in Patchogue, NY. I am currently furthering my education through Suny Cortland to obtain my TESOL certification. Since I have been a little girl, I have dreamed of having my own classroom. I grew up in a small town named East Moriches, where I had many teachers that inspired me to become an inspiring teacher myself. However, I fell in love with Tennessee and have decided to call it my forever home.
From coaching little league softball, to being a self-contained classroom teacher, to now teaching fourth grade, my passion for working with kids has only grown stronger. My resume and personal philosophy of education highlight what I hope to accomplish in my career as an educator of young children.
"Ms. Johnston has a natural talent for working with our special needs population and has excelled in both the ICT setting and self-contained setting within our school building.Ms. Johnston is able to differentiate lessons to tailor the needs of our students who have IEPs. She is able to add in technology and take into account every student's academic goals and needs."
Katelyn Edwards, Special Education Teacher
Fun Facts About Me:
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I love paddleboarding
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I have two Golden Retrievers
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I have a dream of seeing the northern lights
My Educational Philosophy
"Taylor Johnston has been by far one of the most promising teacher prospects I have ever encountered. She is eager to challenge herself, learn new material, and never abandons the objective no matter how challenging it becomes. She has a natural ability to gain stimulus control over each of her students and the classroom. She does so not by demanding, but by assertively commanding. By relying on student intervention plans and classroom management procedures, Ms. Johnston never raises her voice and subsequently does not need to. It was a pleasure to support her growth as a teacher, as well as it was to work with her."
Justin Rigas, Special Education Teacher
John Dewey believed that education should contribute not only to a student’s intellectual growth, but also to their personal and social growth. He also believes that education within the classroom should be related to students’ experience, interests, unity, and integration. From this insight, comes my belief that each student needs to be see as the individual that they are. I have students of different backgrounds, abilities, interests, weaknesses, strengths, and more. It is my responsibility to create an environment that allows for all of my students to reach academic, social, and personal proficiency.
From my experience, I have come to understand that learning occurs best when the students are interested. The content, process, and product of a lesson must be suitable so that every student is able to acquire proficient understanding. Equity is on the forefront of my mind when it comes to how I lead a classroom. Though I cannot touch on the interests and background of every student for every lesson, I try my best. I want to facilitate an environment where students feel that they can be themselves and that they are capable. Providing opportunities for students to learn using things that interest them or that they relate to is crucial.
By seeing each of my students as individuals, I can facilitate my mindset and my classroom environment where growth of all areas is encouraged. It is especially crucial for young students to build the foundations of academic, personal, and social growth. Progressivism is vital for students to flourish into the best version of themselves. As an educator, it is my responsibility to create opportunities that allow this to happen.
When it comes to my students, I want them to leave my classroom everyday with a sense of worth and a love for learning. I believe that a teacher holds the power of making or breaking a students’ experience in school. When my students walk into my classroom each day, I want them to feel seen, capable, and excited to learn. By utilizing progressivism within my classroom, I will be able to do this. I will facilitate an environment where my students are not afraid to fail, but excited to learn from their mistakes.
Resume:
Please click on the icon below to view my resume
Letter of Recommendations:
Please click on the icons below to view my letters of recommendation
Certificates & Honors
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Elementary Education K-5
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Interventionist K-8
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Special Education Preschool/Early Childhood PreK-3
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Early Childhood Education PK-3
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Lindamood Bell Visualizing Verbalizing & Seeing Stars
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CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention
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TESOL, In Progress
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CPR/AED/First Aid
Tennessee License
Professional Development Plan
Short Term Goals: Acquire adequate classroom management skills, pursue my master's degree in education, collaborate with fellow educators, and bring inspiration and motivation to students.
Long Term Goals: Maintain strong classroom management skills, cultivate relationships with colleagues, focus on student outcome, consider national board certification, and improve overall skills.
Paragraph Structure Lesson
In this lesson, students learned the "cheeseburger" method to form the proper structure of a paragraph. Students first learned the proper structures of a paragraph and what they should look like. They then broke into groups where they were given clues as to which imaginary field trip they were going on. It was the students jobs to write about the field trip they are going on using the "cheeseburger" method of a topic sentence, three details, and a conclusion sentence.
Please click the image below to view the Google Slide presentation that went along with this lesson:
Student Work Samples from Paragraph Lesson
Outside of Teaching
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Little league softball coach
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Middle school softball coach
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Tutor
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Camp counselor
Student Teaching/Current Teaching Reflection
My overall experience as a student teacher in all of my placements was wonderful and rewarding. My cooperating teachers taught and guided me greatly throughout my journey. All cooperating teachers also had different learning styles, classroom management methods, and more. I have learned and will carry through with me during my teaching career many of these strategies and methods from my cooperating teachers.
A major factor that I have learned and witnessed through my teaching experiences is that each student needs to be seen as an individual in order to have equity within the classroom. I have learned to accommodate and modify the content, processes, and products within the classroom in relevance to each student’s individual weaknesses, strengths, and interests. My experience has taught me that seeing each student for who they are individually is crucial for each student to reach their full academic potential. This has strengthened my educational philosophy as my philosophy aligns with my experience.
Throughout my experience, I have developed wonderful and trusting relationships with my cooperating teachers and with my students. There was a mutual trust and reliance that occurred between my cooperating teachers and I that allowed for a smooth flow in the classroom. This is the same case for my current coworkers and co-teacher. Mutual respect and cooperation among my co-teacher and is crucial in creating an environment where students have the best opportunity for great growth.
Overall, my teaching experience so far has been extremely knowledgeable, fulfilling, and rewarding. I have been provided with resources, insight, advice, and guidance that has shaped me into a different teacher than I was before.
Reflecting on my journey as a teacher so far, I have faced numerous challenges that have tested my resilience and adaptability. From managing diverse learning needs to creating an inclusive classroom environment, each obstacle has pushed me to grow and innovate in my teaching methods. However, the successes have been equally rewarding; witnessing my students' progress and building meaningful relationships with them has been incredibly fulfilling. These experiences have not only shaped my teaching philosophy but have also deepened my commitment to nurturing young minds.
Technology I am proficient in
"Ms. Johnson has a great rapport that was established from the beginning with not only the teachers she worked with but with teachers and faculty within the school building. She is respected and has become an established member of the school family."
Katelyn Edwards, Special Education Teacher
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Google Docs
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Google Slides
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Kahoot
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Google Classroom
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Classroom Dojo
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Raz-Kids
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I-Ready
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Canva
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Newsela
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Edpuzzle
"Taylor planned an outstanding lesson on addition and subtraction in word problems. Her use of technology was excellent, and her teacher-created materials provided excellent hands-on learning opportunities. She put a tremendous amount of thought and effort into designing creative and motivating materials to reinforce the learning objective."
Carol Mishkin, St. Josephs's University