Email: smalinka@mail.usf.

edu

Teaching Philosophy
I believe in student directed management, collaborative learning, and cooperative discipline. I believe that students can control their own behavior; thus, it is my job to help students learn how to make their own choices/decisions and most importantly, to learn to think for themselves. First and foremost, a child needs to feel safe along with a sense of belongingness above anything else. Therefore, community building is vital for students to feel comfortable and for any learning to occur. Furthermore, I believe in giving students a variety of choices in addition to encouraging students to make their own choices.

Education
August 2010- May 2012 St. Petersburg College Associate of Arts Degree August 2012- present University of South Florida College of Education's Urban Teacher Residency Partnership Program Major- Elementary Education Chosen as one of 57 University of South Florida Elementary Education majors to participate in a collaborative two-year long, full time elementary student teaching residency in a second and third grade setting in Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida), the 8th largest school district in the United States. In this Urban Teacher Residency Partnership Program, residents accumulate almost 2000 hours of field experience time that purposefully integrates university coursework with the realities of classrooms. This program received the 2014 Award for Exemplary Professional Development School Achievement from the National Association for Professional Development Schools, the 2014 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award from the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE), and the 2014 Spirit of Partnership Award from the University of South Carolina PDS National Conference.

Field Experiences

August 2013- May 2014 Level III Internship: Hillsborough County Renaissance School (3rd Grade) Responsibilities Included: Taking the lead in all subjects Taking the lead in management Creating and implementing community building activities

August 2012- May 2013 Level I and Level II Internships: Hillsborough County Renaissance School (2nd Grade) Responsibilities Included: Taking the lead in the reading block Taking the lead in social studies Taking the lead in management

Work Experiences
July 2010- Present Pier 1 Imports: Associate Responsibilities Include: Working with customers Ringer Off hours transitions

References
**Because of security reasons, I have removed my references names, my school site name to protect personal information. All of these are available upon request: smalinka@mail.usf.edu.