Shelly Moody, born in Caribou, is a 1994 graduate of Waterville High School. One of ten students awarded the Alumni Scholars full tuition scholarship, Shelly graduated magna cum laude in 1998 from the University of Maine at Farmington with a degree in elementary education. Since then she has taught students in grades 3, 4, and 5 at Williams Elementary School in Oakland, creating her current grade 3-4 looping classroom in 2007.
Shelly earned a Master’s degree as a literacy specialist in 2005 from the University of Maine and is a certified Maine Reading First Instructor. She has been a frequent speaker on literacy topics at local, state, and regional conferences, presenting on such topics as instruction for comprehension and the six traits of writing. In 2006 Shelly collaborated with Williams Elementary literacy specialist, Jody Workman, to extend the Maine Reading First course for colleagues in the intermediate grades. The teachers in the course learned to create a balanced model of literacy instruction that incorporates vocabulary, fluency, phonics, and comprehension.
Shelly's classroom focus for the past five years has been inviting each student's parents to collaborate with her in developing individual learning plans for each student. This focus derives from her belief that each child is unique and deserves a goal-based learning plan tailored to her or his specific academic needs. Each student's ILP (individual learning plan) provides measurable goals in reading, writing, math, and citizenship. Since implementing these ILP's, Shelly's students' academic achievement has improved substantially.
Shelly is currently engaged in the second cohort of Maine's Reinventing Schools Coalition (RISC), which supports standards-based instructional design that includes performance-based assessment. Always an eager learner, Shelly has completed the Beacon and Advanced Beacon training, as well as the Guide Training so that she can facilitate standards-based curriculum work in her district. In Shelly's classroom, the RISC model means the learning standards are fully transparent to the students, so that they know exactly what they are expected to learn. Each student's ILP customizes instruction to best support the student's achievement of the learning goals.
2011 Teacher of the Year - Shelly Moody's Wikispace
NOTE: Information current at time of award.