HSE 21 In Action
at GES
Feature Teacher - Mrs. Abby Taylor
We continue the journey of knowing one another more and growing together with this week's feature teacher article coming from second grade teacher, Abby Taylor. Abby is new to HSE but a veteran teacher. Here, she shares a defining moment in her story:
I thought, "Oh no, what did I do? Did I forget to do something? Did I get a bad grade? Did I..."
I thought I was in trouble for something and my parents were going to be upset with me. When I went to talk to him, to my surprise, I wasn't in trouble! It was so much worse than I could have ever imagined! He want me to help Brad.
He said, "Brad is really struggling in school and could really use your help. He seems to really like you and I think he will want to impress you. I would really like you to consider helping him out. I want to move you next to him and have you keep him focused and help him whenever he may need help."
In my mind, I was like heck no, no way! However, it was Mr. Mars who I respected and didn't want to disappoint. I eventually agreed. I went home and was talking to my parents about what Mr. Mars had said to me and told them that I really didn't want to do this, but I didn't know how to tell Mr. Mars.
My mom sat me down and said, "Abby, when you were in 2nd and 3rd grade you were exactly like Brad. You were always in trouble. You stood on chairs, did cartwheels in the bathroom and would never stop talking in class. We had to come into school and talk with your teacher about you quite frequently."
That hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized then that I didn't want to help Brad because I knew that I could be too much like him. The next day, I went into Mr. Mars and told him I would help Brad. Mr. Mars used my leadership skills and my willingness to help others. Within one grading period Brad went from a D and F student to an A and B student.
When Brad earned those grades, Mr. Mars brought me back up to his desk to talk to me and said, "Abby, have you ever considered being a teacher because you would be amazing."
Of course, I was in 6th grade and hadn't thought seriously about my career yet. However, from that day on and with the encouragement of my 6th grade teacher, I knew teaching was my passion and teaching was what I would do. I know we all work very hard to reach all of our students. We all have students like Brad. I would encourage everyone to think of outside-the-box ways of reaching your "Brad."
Mentor Text Library for Notice and Note Fiction Close Reading Strategies
FIRST
SECOND
THIRD
Check out just one way an HSE teacher works to make math accessible, visible, and fun!
LET'S TALK MATH
Here is my challenge from recent days with Dr. Flessner:
"IF AS READING TEACHERS, WE VALUE HAVING A LITERATURE-RICH ENVIRONMENT FOR DEVELOPING READERS, HOW DO WE ALSO MAINTAIN A MATH-RICH ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS?"
Challenged. If I'm honest with myself, I'm constantly looking for the newest picture book or novel to support readers. I'm concerned that post-it notes, highlighters, and markers are available for annotating at all times. Excitedly, I share new stories, update book baskets, look to balance fiction and nonfiction texts. I'm concerned that my readers have every tool and strategy available to them for reading success. I model how to read an entire book, including the pictures and endpapers, but what might I be missing with my mathematicians?
Here are some questions that might be worth the reflecting:
1. Do we each have the materials required to meet student needs in math?
2. What manipulatives are at student disposal and how are they organized?
3. Are manipulatives easily accessible or may students only use them when handed out?
4. What anchor charts support student thinking and how do students use them?
5. What recent research have we read about math fluency and problem solving?
As spring draws near and our teacher brains begin to celebrate all that we have accomplished this year (and that's a great deal), let yourself dream about next year. What is my next step in supporting my young mathematicians? How can your administrative and coaching team support those dreams?
Interactive Array Wall
Take a Field Trip to Ms. Magill's hallway.
Complete the task!
Story Problems Resource (many have this link from previous years)
What Does Research Say about Fact Fluency?
HOW FAR IS 100 STEPS?
I CAN MAKE JUMPS WITH NUMBERS
I CAN USE MANY SHAPES TO FORM A TRIANGLE
DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE
If you are looking for more on DOK and questioning, click here for a file that will lead you to the HESS Matrix documents and many other resources around this topic.
Learning Objectives - FLIPPED!
BELOW: Jennifer Knox routinely co-creates learning objectives with her first graders, underlining key terms. She is the one who inspired me to flip objectives with our littlest learners.
It's an honor to serve Geist Elementary. - Megan
Mrs. Megan Thompson
Hamilton Southeastern Schools
Brooks School Elementary
Geist Elementary
Email: mcthompson@hse.k12.in.us
Location: Fishers, Indiana, United States
Twitter: @MeganCThompson