NAME:
Rita Capozzi
SCHOOL:
Saint Philip Neri School
CLASS:
Grade 4 Room 14
SCHOOL PHONE:
610-828-3082
Miss Rita Capozzi
Education:
I graduated from Plymouth-Whitemarsh High school in 1985. I attended
West Chester University and received a Bachelor of Science degree
in Elementary Education in 1990, in which I graduated with Cum Laude Honors.
I have graduate credits towards a Masters' Degree in Reading, and have taken
many workshops, continuing education classes, and masters’ equivalent credits.
Teaching experience:
I began teaching in April of 1990, at St. Ignatius of Loyola School in
Philadelphia, PA. I was a long term substitute in a first grade class until
the remainder of the year. I then taught third grade at St. Ignatius for two
years. After that experience, I was a substitute teacher for various school
districts, including Colonial School District, and Norristown Area School
District. I substitute taught for two years. I began teaching at Saint
Philip Neri School in 1995. I have been teaching fourth grade for 18 years.
Other Experiences:
I began the After School Cares program at St. Philip’s 16 years
ago, and have been running the program full time ever since. My other
experiences with children include a summer camp counselor, a Brownie Scout
assistant leader, a teacher’s helper in the St. Philip’s CCD program,
babysitter/Nanny and a private tutor.
In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I am the
youngest of six girls and have nine nieces and nephews, one great-
nephew and one great niece. I like to take long walks with my dogs, "Roman,"
a German Shepherd and "Lola," a Chihuhua/Maltese mix. I also enjoy gardening,
cooking, traveling, reading and the beach.
Philosophy
My philosophy of education follows our school mission statement,
which is to educate the whole child, spiritually, academically, and
physically.
I believe in educating the children in regard to religion by
teaching Christian values and morals. The religion curriculum for fourth
grade includes the Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the Works of Mercy, as
well as many other aspects, including the Saints, Prayer, the Liturgical
seasons, and many more areas. I believe in teaching these important areas by
applying them to the children’s lives in real life modern day situations.
In regard to academics, I believe in building a strong foundation in
reading, writing, and math. The children need to learn the basics first,
before they can master other content area subjects.
In reading, I am a strong believer in phonics. Children need to
learn how to decode unfamiliar words, or else their comprehension will
suffer. I also believe in teaching major comprehension skills, which include
building prior knowledge, previewing, predicting, making connections,
visualizing, etc. I also believe in developing in the children a love of
reading. My hope for them is to be life long lovers of reading. I have an
extensive classroom library, which includes many pieces of literature which
include a wide range of literature genres, so that all readers will have an
interest and variety.
My philosophy in Writing, grammar, and English are as follows: I
believe that children need to learn grammar through the basic parts of
speech. Grammar, sentence structure, and mechanics help them to be good
writers, as well as good speakers. Children need to learn that writing is a
process. It takes several steps, which include prewriting, first draft,
revising, editing, and publishing. It takes work on both the teacher and the
students’ part, but the final product is worth it.
Math is a subject I have a passion for. I truly believe in the
importance of mastering and memorizing the basic addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division facts. These facts must be memorized with rapid
recall, to ensure success in math in the upcoming grades, as well as fourth
grade. By grade four they should have all their basic addition and
subtraction facts memorized. They should have all their basic multiplication
and division facts memorized up to the 12 times table. This will help them in
5th grade when they do fractions and 6th grade when they do decimals.
Another important factor in math is problem solving (word problems). This is
another area I feel strongly about. Problem solving is also a process which
involves several steps. Some of these include: Reading the problem,
visualizing, making a plan (choosing a strategy), solving the problem, and
checking the work. The children need to learn and recognize the different
strategies, which include, choosing the right operation, making a diagram,
picture, or table, recognizing a two step or multistep problem, identifying
extra or hidden information, guess and check, etc.
In all the subject areas, I believe in engaging the children in their
learning. This means encouraging them to be active learners. I do this by
using manipulatives in math, doing hands on lessons, group work, cooperative
learning, and use of technology. It is also important for the children to be
independent learners and learn critical thinking skills.
Although sometimes, we need to use the text book and take notes, I
try to make use of the extensive technology that our school has provided for
us. This includes the use of the internet, including many interactive web
sites. We have projectors in our rooms, which project onto a large screen,
as well as an interactive Smart board. We also have many other resources,
which include United Streaming, which enables us to show many educational
videos. We also have a subscription to Brainpop, which is a cartoon video,
which follows with a quiz.
I also feel strongly about teaching children to be good citizens. I do
this by teaching positive character traits, such as respectfulness,
repsponsiblity, honesty, compassion, etc. In my classroom, I stress conflict
resolution, appreciating difference, and being peacemakers.
In conclusion, I believe in teaching Christian values and morals,
teaching the basics, encouraging active learners and independent
thinkers, and developing good citizens.