Applicant and School Narrative

Connolly Middle School is a sixth through eighth grade school with approximately 1,149

students enrolled. Our mission statement is to prepare students for college readiness and success

in a global society through rigorous coursework and critical thinking. The school motto is

“Whatever it takes, we are college bound!”. Connolly Middle School is centered in a diversely

populated area of Tempe with many unique cultures. The area of Tempe is a suburban area with

generally a low to middle class economy which applies to the students of my school and district.

This project will be conducted within my own classroom as well as the entire school in order to

make a lasting impact with the students in the district and community as a whole.

My name is Natalie Layman it is my third-year teaching here at Connolly Middle School

and my seventh-year teaching altogether. I am a graduate from the Arizona State University

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. I have a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and

English Literature as well as a master’s degree in Education. As a student in the public-school

system in California I have experienced common core and many changes and advancements to

the education system. I have witnessed several education programs firsthand such as AVID and

GATE as well as other opportunities for children within my own education. I believe as an

educator it is my responsibility to create an all-inclusive learning environment for all students

who enter my classroom and provide them with everything necessary for them to succeed in my

class and future classes. It is our responsibility to facilitate student led learning and bring about

options and various learning opportunities to progress their development of content standards

knowledge. My teaching career began at Connolly Middle School for the first two years of my

career. After Connolly I moved to my old high school, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, in

Eastvale California for four years. Now I have returned to where I began for a new opportunity
and hope to implement this project to positively impact this community here in Tempe. Project-

based learning experiences are a positive way to implement student-based learning and

engagement within the classroom to discover how to meet student and community needs. By

discovering the needs of the students early on in their education we can keep reinforcing positive

actions further on in their education and life outside of school as well. Student engagement is

pivotal to centering our teaching and their learning around what the student population needs

most in order to keep them in school and enjoying their learning experience customized to them.

Within the classrooms we can use the technology we are provided and otherwise to facilitate

their learning around the students’ needs and engagement. SMART boards, Chromebooks, and

other online ways of presenting instructional content and actives allows students and teachers to

maintain common ground for learning. Using technology in the classroom provides inclusion

tactics for all students and new challenging ways to present information, receive/give feedback,

and give assessments that challenge students to make a technological form of assignment instead

of simple tasks in class. As teachers using technology creates a higher level of learning

environment for the students and ourselves on one solid platform we can continue to use and

share for years and alter slightly along the way as things change. I think my knowledge of my

own learning and proficiency in my content will allow me to facilitate learning environments that

offer creativity and structure for the students to reach their goals and objectives for the year and

take on to their next educational experience.