{"id":36,"date":"2014-08-03T21:08:24","date_gmt":"2014-08-03T21:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/?page_id=36"},"modified":"2015-10-27T18:35:24","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T18:35:24","slug":"testimonials","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/?page_id=36","title":{"rendered":"Testimonials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Differentiated Instruction<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

YouTube video<\/a> from Sonoma Country Day School faculty.<\/p>\n

When you read a book, you don\u2019t get smarter.\u00a0 You have to apply what you know.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why I want my professional development snack size and weekly.\u00a0 And that\u2019s Amy. Working with her has been THE key to my success in differentiating several parts of my 2nd grade curriculum. Her time, insight and planful intelligence have been crucial to creating and reflecting on the outcomes of differentiated student work in my classroom. [East Bay Independent Lower School Teacher]<\/span><\/p>\n

Amy has been instrumental in helping me improve my practice as a 1st grade teacher.\u00a0 She kindly took me from where I was with differentiated instruction and helped me to grow at a pace that was comfortable for me and productive for my students.\u00a0 Amy listened carefully to my questions and concerns as a teacher trying something new and provided appropriate and timely feedback on a consistent basis.\u00a0 Her ideas inspired me. Her kind words of encouragement and appreciation fueled my desire to continue to learn.\u00a0 And, her professionalism and organization make each of our meetings a worthwhile use of our time.\u00a0 Amy is absolutely, without a doubt, the best mentor and coach I have ever had in my 13 years as an educator! [East Bay Independent Lower School Teacher]<\/span><\/p>\n

This has been one the smoothest, most fun starts to the school year and I cannot thank Amy enough for her expertise, support, great chats, ideas, etc.\u00a0 I have had many visitors in my room so far (including the new Head of School twice!) and all have been blown away by what we\u2019re doing this year. And the parents gave me so many accolades when I talked about my Social Studies curriculum for the year. I couldn\u2019t have done it without her! [SF Independent Lower School Teacher]<\/p>\n

Effects on a Faculty<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As an administrator, I appreciate Amy\u2019s ability to be an additional set of eyes and ears around the school and help me stay connected, given the enormous job. In addition, her expertise is incredibly helpful in my working with teachers on their individual professional goals. There is a warmth and honesty about Amy that is both refreshing and needed. The staff sees her as an expert in differentiated instruction and hence trusts her feedback. I also think her delivery is differentiated to each staff member\u2019s learning style.\u00a0 As a result of her work, I see better teaching in my staff and more confidence and willingness to take risks. There is more authentic self-reflection. And so much more! [East Bay Independent School Division Director]<\/span><\/p>\n

It is rare in teacher support work to find someone like Amy. She uses her deep understanding of the challenges of the teaching profession and skillfully and supportively raises the hard questions that lead to changes in learning opportunities for students. [Mills College Administrator]<\/span><\/p>\n

Observation and Reflection<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the reasons I love working with Amy is that I never feel like she\u2019s going to judge me.\u00a0 Her intention is to make me a better teacher, not to figure out what I\u2019m doing wrong, and not to point fingers at me.\u00a0 She\u2019s interested in doing what I want\u2014which is to become more effective\u2014and that allows me to be completely frank about what I struggle with. [East Bay Independent Middle School Teacher]<\/span><\/p>\n

Mentoring New Teachers<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In our conversations about teaching, Amy modeled all the qualities of a master teacher, while inspiring me to climb my way there. With regard to the academic success of my students, I hold nothing more sacred than maintaining high standards \u2013 because as a coach, Amy did the same for me. She would never let me get away with a lazily-articulated idea, instead pushing me to formulate the thought I was capable of expressing. And I\u2019ve never met someone more skilled at unpacking my reflection, and prompting me to use that tool of my own reflection to its fullest potential. Amy\u2019s guidance, her involvement in my development as a teacher, and the resonating influence from our many discussions have meant more to me than any class I took or any text I read. [Public High School English teacher, Boulder, CO]<\/span><\/p>\n

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Differentiated Instruction YouTube video from Sonoma Country Day School faculty. When you read a book, you don\u2019t get smarter.\u00a0 You have to apply what you know.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why I want my professional development snack size and weekly.\u00a0 And that\u2019s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-36","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163,"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36\/revisions\/163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.amysymons.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}