WELCOME! I’M MELIA CARTER
History Teacher 6-12
ABOUT ME
My Background
I am originally from Calhoun, Georgia. I will be graduating in May with a degree from Jacksonville State University in Secondary Education, with a concentration in history. I look forward to teaching our future generations of historians.
RESUMÉ
Background & Expertise
EDUCATION:
Calhoun High School graduate (2016)
Jacksonville State University (2020)
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AWARDS:
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2016 Washington Youth Tour Delegate
Gordon County Retired Educators Scholarship
Presidential Gold Cup Scholarship
Delta Zeta: Outstanding Freshman 2016
Deans' list: Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019
Presidents list: Fall 2019
Cum Laude Honors Graduate
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ORGANIZATIONS:
Delta Zeta- Parent Alumnae Chair (2017), Vice President of New Member Education (2018), Member (2016-2020)
Freshman Forum- Member (2016-2017)
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WORK HISTORY:
Calhoun City Schools- Community Education (2014- Present)
I assist Calhoun City Schools with any camps during the summer. I have worked with the t-ball, soccer, art and music camps. I have been a team leader at Calhoun City Schools Jacket Jamboree camp where I work with students in grade 5th-8th. I also worked at the Calhoun Aquatic Center helping with customer service.
JSU HONORS
JSU MERIT PAGES
Link to my JSU honors and awards
INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
What I’ve Learned
COOPERATIVE LEARNING
Cooperative learning allows students to interact with each other in the classroom.  Cooperative learning creates a positive environment where all students feel valued and empowered to learn. This instructional strategy assigns every student a role for different forms of assessment. This strategy makes the students responsible for their learning. This approach helps break the norms of a standard "lecture" class in history by allowing the students to work together and discover.
KWL CHART
A KWL chart is a strategy that will serve as a tool in the classroom. This tool will assist students in organizing their knowledge and assesses their understandings. The students will use this chart to write down what they already know about a topic, what they want to know and what they learned. This strategy helps the teacher assess the students and the progress they have made throughout different lessons. I like this strategy because it helps students organize their thoughts and allows the teacher to adapt instructions to fit the student's needs.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Guest speakers will be a vital strategy used in my classroom. Inviting people into my classroom who were directly affected by certain historical events or who have experience in different cultures will allow my students to learn different perspectives. Guest speakers can peek the student's interest and allow them to gain direct knowledge from people who experienced certain historical events. I believe guest speakers will keep students engaged in the classroom and allow students the opportunity to investigate the past.
DEBATE
Debate is a strategy that teachers use which allows the students to research, create and develop their own arguments for an educational purposes. Debates allow students to hear different perspectives from that which they believe. This strategy helps students further develop verbal, social and reflection skills which are important skills that we need as adults. Incorporating debates in the classroom will engage students and make them responsible for their learning.
GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
Graphic organizers are tools that assist students and make it easier for them to grasp concepts. I like to use graphic organizers in the classroom because there is a large variety to choose from that will fit every student's needs. Using graphic organizers in a history classroom will allow students to see cause and effect, compare and contrast, and help them with vocabulary knowledge. Using this strategy makes it easier for students to categorize their notes and see everything on a larger scale.
PROJECT BASED LEARNING
Project Based Learning is different than just completing a project. PBL allows the students to think critically, communicate and solve problems. PBL allows students to think on a "real world" scale instead of just memorizing information and putting it on a poster. I believe this strategy can be useful in a government/economics classroom because it can help students find problems and create their own solutions with limited restrictions.
PROFESSIONAL READINGS AND THEORIES
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Cooperative Disipline
I believe much like Linda Albert that classroom management is key to creating a successful environment for learning. Cooperative Discipline puts an emphasis on student involvement in the classroom and building relationships with your students.  After studying cooperative discipline I believe this will be a crucial aspect of managing my classroom and creating a safe space for students to learn and think critically.
It is my belief, that education is essential to creating a stronger and more united society. If every person had the opportunity to learn and grow, our world would be a much better place. I believe we must create an educational environment that embraces our differences and helps build on them. Everyone that has ever walked this earth has a story and every story is important and deserves to be told. Through education, we gain our voices and develop our thinking. If we want to change to take place we must be knowledgable and we enhance this through education.
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As a history teacher, it is important to teach my students that history is the past, present, and future. I believe history is more than just memorizing facts and dates. History gives us an opportunity to analyze our mistakes and our strengths. I believe history is important to my students because it allows them to see the past as a small chapter of our lives. History can not be changed, but it can change us as individuals. My ultimate goal as a history teacher is to create an enlightened student who can think critically, and realize they have an opportunity to change their family, communities, countries, and the world.
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I believe learning about the diversity of other cultures and countries is important to fully understand the history of the past. Students must have an environment where they feel no judgment or prejudice because of their own diversity. As educators, we must create a safe space for our students to become the best versions of themselves. Students cannot reach their fullest potential without the knowledge to think critically and learn with little limitations.
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I believe we must build relationships with students that will be meaningful. My students should feel comfortable every day walking into my classroom. If my students only learn one thing in my classroom, I hope it is that we must treat each other with respect because we are writing our own history. I hope that each of my future student's impact on the world will be a positive one.
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RESOURCES FOR INSTRUCTION AND LEARNING
What I Will Use
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
"This Day in History" is a resource I will use in the classroom as a bell ringer activity. I believe this is a great resource to introduce to students at the beginning of each day to get their minds focused on history without directly diving into the content/lesson for the day. This resource can be used as a formative assessment.
TIMELINES
Timelines are an essential resource in a history class. We use timelines as a resource to help us understand and organize dates and events that have happened in the past. I plan to have students create their own timeline throughout the year so that they can refer back to this resource throughout their school. Students can use online timelines at home or in the classroom as a tool to research on their own.
KAHOOT!
Kahoot! is a resource for teachers to use in the classroom. The teacher can create small assessments that students can access on their smartphones, tablets or computers. The assessment can be timed and the students can see their progress/ what they missed and can give an explanation of the correct answer choice.
CNN 10
This is a great resource for students to get current unbiased news that is happening around the world today. Every day a new video is added to this website that gives students a brief description of the present history that is happening in the United States and beyond. I believe this is a great resource for students to use to get caught up on current events.
MY WORK
