Martha Preston, Excellence in Teaching
Philosophy of Teaching
My father enjoys telling the story of me as a young child who did not want to go to sleep at night. I would readily get into bed, but would find any excuse to stay awake. One particular evening, after exhausting all available resources and requests, my eyes scanned the room and came to rest right next to the door. I turned to my father and earnestly asked, “Daddy, how do they make light switches?”
Fortunately, not much has changed. I am now able to fall asleep without incident, but still want to know all about everything. I didn’t begin college with the intent of becoming a teacher. However, I quickly realized it was what I needed to do. Teaching, quite literally, thrills me! I find myself renewed and inspired daily by the students with whom I work. I take pride in them as people and in their abilities.
The exact moment a student truly comprehends is precious. Blink and you might miss it, but that instant of understanding is priceless. I saw it recently with a student. Her eyes literally popped open and a small “oh” escaped from her mouth. It was a small topic, working with tens and ones in two-digit multiplication, but a turning point in her understanding. These tiny instants of understanding are what I love most about teaching.
Students today must be critical thinkers, able to analyze, apply, and utilize the knowledge they gain. Basic comprehension is no longer sufficient. When what I teach helps my students to teach themselves, it is a good day and I have made a difference.
Quality teaching and learning must be three things: purposeful, personal, and passionate. Many teachers do one or two of these very well. But to be an outstanding and effective teacher it takes all three. Purposeful education should be based upon state and national standards, guided by formal and informal assessment results, and focused upon individual student needs. Our society is too diverse to assume that a single teaching approach will reach all students.
My extensive experiences with bilingual and limited English proficient students have made me a true believer in the “show me” aspect of education. Students must see and experience what they are learning, whether it be a visual diagram to clarify a science concept, manipulatives to demonstrate a math topic, or a student’s own words to teach a grammar lesson. The walls of my classroom are a sea of charts, diagrams and pictures, covering everything from proper nouns to polygons to supply and demand to reflection and refraction. If I can talk about it, I also show it.
The personal side of teaching is often overlooked when analyzing the effectiveness of a teacher. Forging a trusting and caring relationship between teacher and student won’t turn a poor teacher into a great teacher, but it can greatly magnify the results of a quality teaching experience. When I ask my students about the weekend or vacation plans, their demeanor often changes. A guarded, insecure student immediately opens up to eagerly tell me his exciting news. When I continuously ask students about their progress on Fastt Math, they then come to me, bragging about the newest level they have achieved.
Passion is what drives me in teaching. Any time I can excite my students about their learning, I take advantage. A couple of years ago, during our study of the solar system in third grade, NASA launched a probe to Pluto. We participated by tuning into NASA television at the scheduled launch time. Weather delayed the launch. We tuned in again at the rescheduled time but again, delayed. By the third try, my kids were obsessed! We ran in early from recess with just enough time to sit down and see the probe take off. The fact that this probe would finally reach its destination their senior year in high school blew them away!
I strive every day to make sure that my teaching is purposeful, personal, and passionate. In this pursuit, I have discovered that each one of my students is both an opportunity and a blessing. They are opportunities because of all of the wonderful things I can teach them. More importantly than that, they are blessings because of all the wonderful things they can teach me.
Educational / Professional Background
University Degrees
- Fall 1996 to Spring 2001 - Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies
- Elementary Teaching Certification includes General Elementary, Early Childhood, Math, Reading and ESL/Bilingual
Summer 2003 to Summer 2006 - University of North Texas, Denton, TX
- N.E. in Curriculum and Instruction
Emphasis in Gifted and Talented Education
Professional Work Experience
Fall 2005 to Present: Forman Elementary
Math Curriculum Specialist / Title I Teacher
- 07-08 Math Vertical Team Leader
- 07-08 Campus Differentiation Team Member
- 07-08 Recipient, PISD Foundation Grant
3rd grade team leader and bilingual teacher
- STARS tutor
- Developed curriculum for Project Inspire
Summer 2006, Summer 2007: PISD Multilingual Department
- Trained teachers on the use of science instructional strategies for English Language Learners
- Developed interactive computer-based science vocabulary games
- Developed and delivered trainings to new bilingual teachers
Fall 2004 to Spring 2005: Barron Early Childhood School
- Discover Program Specialist
- Wrote and implemented Discover curriculum for the pre-K level
- Presented at Region X Conference on Gifted Students
Summer 2004, Summer 2005: Pre-K/Kindergarten Bilingual/ESOL Summer School
- Curriculum Specialist
- Assisted teachers with student instruction and assessment
- Coordinated schedules and curriculum for approximately 30 teachers
Fall 2001 to Spring 2004: Forman Elementary
- 02-04 Kindergarten Team Leader and bilingual teacher
- 01-02 Kindergarten bilingual teacher
Member of Math and Integrated Vertical Teams
Summer 2002, Summer 2003: STARS Summer School
School
Principal Recommendation
I have had the honored privilege of knowing and collaborating with Mrs. Martha Preston for the past six years. Mrs. Preston is an exceptional educator and has been an integral member of our leadership team at Forman Elementary.
Instructional experience from the bilingual general education classroom provided the foundation for Mrs. Preston to develop an expertise in delivering and coaching other teachers in providing an effective math program. This meticulously crafted talent earned her the respected position as our campus math instructional coach. She was hand selected for this math instructional coach position after demonstrating strong leadership skills in her capacity as lead teacher in third grade, and formerly lead teacher in kindergarten.
Under her guidance as math instructional coach, she has mentored, trained, collaborated and coordinated activities with the school community to increase our campus’ math TAKS scores. Mrs. Preston instinctively knows how to be an instructional coach as she demonstrates how to analyze the data, write curriculum to support instruction, and mentor teachers in lesson delivery and assessment.
Motivated beyond her job description by volunteering for extra “duties” such as campus MAP coordinator, Traffic Fairy (please ask her about this), and Spanish translation services to increase communication between non-Spanish speaking staff members and their Spanish speaking parents are proof that there is not one student at Forman whose life is not positively impacted in some way by Mrs. Preston. She has proven to possess skills of professionalism, motivation, determination and sensitivity to excel in the demands of her job while simultaneously balancing the challenges of family and obtaining her master's degree.
Forman is so very proud to have Mrs. Martha Preston represent the high quality of educators devoted to the children of our learning community. Throughout the building one would hear from staff members, “Mrs. Preston is amazing... she has helped us so much.. .what would we do without her?” Mrs. Preston is greatly respected by the Forman staff. It is no wonder that she is our Teacher of the Year. Sincerely,
Tramy Tran
Principal, Forman Elementary School
E-mail congrats to Martha Preston
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