My name is Julie Belk.  I graduated from UNCC with a Bachelor's in Child and Family Development, BK teaching license and an Infant/Toddler certification. I taught children with special needs for six years, followed by teaching kindergarten in the public school system for 8 years.  For the past 11 years, I've had my own learning program.  I earned my National Board certification in 2005 and have recently renewed it.  I have been married to my childhood sweetheart for 26 years.  We are both native Charlotteans and love it.  We have been blessed with three children:  Lauren 21, Alli 11 and Bryson 9 years old.


Here is a brief summary of my accomplishments and experiences. 

August 1996 - August 2002
    
    *Teacher at St. Mark’s Circle School
        -planned and implemented individualized lessons and goals in an inclusive school setting.  I worked closely with families and therapists to provide an optimal learning environment for children with special needs. I was also responsible for challenging and enriching typical children in an inclusive classroom.  

    *Photographer for Children with Special Needs
        -created appropriate backdrops and positions for students with a variety of physical and mental disabilities.  Because our school community was very close, I was able to provide care and attention to meet each student’s needs based on their functional ability. It is sometimes difficult for these children to participate in a regular photo session at a studio, so this provided a comfortable setting for them. I captured expressions on many students that parents were very pleased with.

August 2002 - June 2010

    *Kindergarten Teacher at Mountain Island Elementary School
        -created and implemented differentiated lessons in all subject areas. I used a variety of hands on activities to promote independent thinking. I collaborated with colleagues, therapists and parents in order to provide a safe, fun and enriching learning environment for all students. I used a variety of assessments which helped to drive instruction.

    *National Board Certification
        -completed the National Board Certification Process which is a supplemental teaching credential.  It is designed to recognize effective and accomplished teachers. There are five core propositions.  They are: to be committed to students and their learning, know the subjects and how to teach them to students, manage and monitor student learning, think systematically about teaching practices and learn from the experiences and to be a member of a learning community.

    *Grade Chair
        -responsible for leading the team by providing best teaching practices and modeling appropriate strategies for effective teaching.  I also organized a variety of grade level lessons and extracurricular activities to extend instruction beyond the classroom.    

*Accelerated Reader Conference / Featured in AR Publications / AR Committee
        -selected to attend the Renaissance Learning Conference in Nashville, Tn. I went to a variety of workshops to learn more about the Accelerated Reader Program.  I was also part of a team who researched and provided data from our students to show the progress made by using this program in an elementary school.  We offered organizational strategies as well as incentives offered to make the program a success.  Shortly after, I was chosen as a featured educator in the RenLearn Newsletter as well as the STAR Enterprise advertising brochure.  
    The links are:
           http://www.renlearn.com/success/exed/ExEd_10_07.pdf pg. 4 and 6
          http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004385314GJDFD7.pdf pg. 12

    
    *Building Leadership Team
        -worked with other team leaders to voice concerns and find solutions to arising problems involving students, parents and staff.  The team brainstormed and shared resolutions with other colleagues to provide a positive learning and working environment for students and staff.

    *School Leadership Team
        -collaborated with the principal, assistant principal, colleagues and parents to develop and implement our School Improvement Plan.  The document is continually reviewed and modified to ensure students are receiving appropriate instruction in a safe environment.  We discussed things such as:  curriculum, school safety, data, etc.

    *Writing Team
        -developed differentiated plans to enrich, challenge and extend student thinking with the writing process.  I used a step by step process which included but wasn’t limited to drawing and writing without limits, pictures, labeling, mapping, writing sentences to describe pictures, turning pictures into stories and handwriting.  I used rubrics to assess each student and then provided individual lessons as a guide to help them improve.  We displayed the writing products in a variety of ways including, books, letters, descriptive and action sequences and play writing.

    *Data Team
        -used a variety of assessment tools to acquire data on students in all areas.  This was used to drive and differentiate instruction.  We compared student progress in our own classrooms to others within the same grade level as well as the school.  Over the course of several years, we used this data to see the trend in teaching and what improvements we could make.

    *Tutor
        -tutored students in preschool through 8th grade in all subject areas.  I used formal and informal assessment tools to gain information that assisted with creating unique activities for each child.

    *Student Teacher Mentor
        - mentored, observed and guided two year long student teachers.  I was responsible for managing students, the student teacher, the college supervisor and a variety of support staff on any given day.  I modeled a variety of strategies that supported the curriculum. I had the task of teaching the correct way to administer several assessment tools.
       
     *Summer Camp Director
        -created a Bible School/Summer Camp and managed groups of 20-30 children over the course of five years.  I used a theme based approach to teach fundamentals each day.  Topics included: space, plants, sea life, health and physical fitness, animals, etc.  To extend camp activities, we took trips to the local Raptor Center as well as enjoyed fun hands on activities in and outdoors. The children made a variety of take home projects as a result of what they were learning each day. I also used a lot of music and movement and incorporated it into each daily topic.

June 2010- August 2014

         * Kids Are Learning - Kindergarten Preparation Program & Tutor

           (My program name before Lakeside)

September 2014 - May 2015

           *Pre K Teacher & Tutor

June 2015- June 2016

           *Kids Are Learning - Kindergarten Preparation Program & Tutor

             (My program name before Lakeside)

July 2016 - Present

           *Owner/Teacher - Lakeside Preparatory Preschool/Prek &

                                               Kindergarten Prep Program