While Self Development Charter School (SDCS) is known in the local community and the state as a school providing an academically enriching program to its students, dedicated and caring teachers, such as Annmarie Richard, are the key to students achieving high levels of learning.
The 2012-2013 school year marks Mrs. Richard’s seventh year at SDCS and 16th as an educator. She is part of the school’s site-based management team, a middle school teacher, and a grade-four science teacher. At SDCS, she has taught grades three through seven and all subjects.
Mrs. Richard’s success as a teacher is her ability to promote higher level, critical thinking skills. She incorporates a number of instructional strategies to achieve this goal.
Before engaging students in high level, critical thinking activities, she lays a strong lesson foundation. Outlining processes into steps, explaining and defending information and propositions, and creating new ideas or theories based upon prior information are among the many techniques. Academic discussions are promoted, and each student’s participation is encouraged. Critical thinking skills are essential to the development of problem-solving skills.
Mrs. Richard sets high standards for her students, and creates a positive learning environment, one in which each student is successful. Additionally, she incorporates metacognition into the classroom. She teaches students about the learning process, and how to monitor their own processes. Students have a greater chance of success if they are aware of their own learning processes, and how they best learn and retain information.
Students and colleagues alike adore Mrs. Richard.
SDCS is an award-winning, tuition-free, excelling school, which for the 2010-2011 school year, was the top-ranked individual kindergarten through eighth grade school, as recognized by the Arizona Department of Education.