All+About+Me_Rodney+Robinson

I have taught all Social Studies courses offered in grades 6-12 during my seventeen year career in Richmond Public Schools. This has allowed me to gain extensive content knowledge and expertise. I have had the opportunity to develop educational resources and strategies that I regularly disseminate to teachers of Richmond Public Schools while providing quality professional development experiences to my peers. I have coordinated and presented cross curricular trainings with all content areas that increased student achievement and promoted project based learning. I am a trainer for the Creating Independence through Student Owned Strategies Project (C.R.I.S.S.), a program that builds a student’s metacognition to promote higher level thinking skills. I am also trainer for the DBQ (Document Based Questions) Project, a program that deepens student understanding of history, while building reading, thinking, and writing skills.

I have attended and presented at various local, state, and national conferences that promote new ideas and innovation in education. I have presented professional development workshops for Richmond Public Schools while enthusiastically serving as district leader for US History and AP US History and Government. Currently, I serve as the RPS representative on the Metropolitan Education Research Consortium, a research group consisting of VCU faculty and representatives from 7 local school districts. The focus of this study being the role professional development plays in increasing teacher morale.

I am a member of the Virginia State Operated Programs (S.O.P.) Social Studies Committee. This committee is responsible for professional development and training for Social Studies teachers in all State Operated Programs (hospitals and juvenile detention facilities in Virginia). I am also a trainer for the Virginia Department of Education Social Studies Office which provides creative lesson plans and trains district leaders on new Social Studies Curriculum and Initiatives from the state.

Throughout my career, I have developed strong leadership skills. I have served as a mentor for student teachers, several of whom who have gone on to have successful teaching careers with Richmond Public Schools and surrounding districts. I completed the Teaching American History Academy, a federally funded history teacher improvement program, later becoming a coach and mentor to new teachers in the program. As a department head at Armstrong High School, I worked on several school improvement committees such as the School Planning and Management Team and the Armstrong Alliance Team focused on improving the school’s graduation rate. In 2009 I was recognized by my peers by being selected as Armstrong High School’s Teacher of the Year. I later received The Community Foundation’s R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence which allowed me to participate in rewarding professional development projects. I received the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Citizenship Education Post Recognition Award in 2013 for promoting Citizenship Education in the community.

In 2011, 2014, and 2016 I participated in the Yale National Initiative for Urban Education (www.teachers.yale.edu) in New Haven, CT. The purpose of the Yale Initiative is to provide quality professional development in a teacher centered environment. At Yale, I professionally published 2 curriculum units on using Hip Hop Culture (rap, spoken word poetry, street art, and interpretive dance) to teach the American Immigrant Experience and Using Images and Works of Art to teach History. I presented strategies on the importance of incorporating literature across all curriculums and engaging urban learners to a global panel of educators. A summary of my curriculum unit on Using Images and Art to teach History was published in Yale’s On Common Ground Education Magazine. I continue to serve as an RPS representative at the Yale Teacher Initiative.

As a classroom teacher with Richmond Public Schools I have developed a passion for education. While serving as an instructional leader, I have demonstrated differentiated instructional strategies in my classroom leading to student success. As a life-long learner and professional, I keep abreast of educational best practices and I truly believe that all students can learn with the help of knowledgeable teachers.