Thirty-one years and counting ...
Betsy began teaching 31 years ago as a home economics teacher. Her talent as a teacher allowed her to adapt to any schedule and almost any classroom. She has taught several subjects in her 32 years of teaching, family consumer science, study skills, math and even health! She found a new home a few years ago as a math teacher. Betsy holds a B.S. from Mansfield State College in Mansfield, PA and a M.A. from Centenary College in Hackettstown, NJ.
Thoughts on education ...
"I believe it is my responsibility to not only prepare students for life, but to make good memories. We all have that teacher that we remember because they either gave us a reason not to succeed or a memory from a teacher that gave us a reason to learn and make every effort for excellence. I insist on being a good memory for my students and creating a reason to strive for the best."
Ways we remember ...
"Math is full of memorization. I try to have fun with the children by making up silly concepts and ideas to help them remember basic math rules." For example in Betsy's class she calls improper fractions "Bikini Fractions." The idea is, bikinis do not belong in a math classroom and neither do improper fractions! Another fraction concept is telling students to "trim the fat!" Students understand that this means a fraction can be reduced. These terms are used throughout the year by her students and continue into the seventh grade.
Betsy is a creative person, always looking for new ways to help her students remember math concepts and to differentiate by teaching to the different learning styles of her students. Another
way her students remember things is through songs. Betsy has taken several popular melodies and made changes to the words to be basic math concepts. A basic "army chant" and a popular hit like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" are two examples. Students are not required to participate, but it would be difficult to find a student who isn't willing to show off their new math song.
To differentiate further and address several different learning styles, Betsy gives her students the option of using the computers in her classroom. Students are given basic skills and activities to complete either on the computer or on paper.
Ideas and thoughts about scheduling ...
"At first I was terrified, thought it was going to be a waste of time. At times, the students still have a rough time with it; they have been doing it less than a month and are still learning about taking on the responsibility. The students are more focused now. I used to use a schedule for keeping me on track, now the schedule is there for keeping THEM on track. They now get five minutes in the beginning to schedule their time and I can see them, in the future, getting to the point where they will be independently working giving me time to focus on individual student needs."
Organization in the LATI Classroom ...
"Using folders is great. I have one crate for their personal folders and another crate full of the worksheets and the activity lists they need. Students will go up and get their folders when they need it. They also get up and obtain worksheets or answer sheets from the resource center when needed. The wait time is less for them."
Activity Lists ...
"I have noticed that I adjust the activity list as needed. Sometimes I am giving them too much work and need to be flexible. It is a learning process in the beginning. We are in the first steps of using activity lists so the lists are very specific but giving them some choice with scheduling what they want to do when they want to do it. Baby steps are what we are taking, but we are getting there."
Creative Learning Projects and Problem-Based Learning Tasks ...
Betsy's sixth grade class is participating in several different types of projects. One is the Medieval Faire guided by a basic rubric. Students are building a catapult and competing for distance and accuracy. Several different areas of curriculum are being tied into this project including the math curriculum. Basic problem solving is involved and students will be measuring and charting the distance of the catapult launches as well as learning how to convert measurement.
The Noon Day Project (http://www.k12science.org/noonday) will be taking place around the time of the Summer Solstice. Students will be measuring, graphing, charting information, learning about angles and then comparing their data with a class in Puerto Rico. This is another cross-curricular activity which includes the science department as well as the math department and is guided by the technology teacher, Debbie Leary.
Students always use a rubric in this classroom. Even small activities like "Fraction Monsters" has a basic activity written with a rubric to follow. This was a fun activity done around Halloween.
Later this year, Betsy's students will work on a problem-based learning task with a rubric which she created with two other sixth grade teachers participating in the grant. Currently, Betsy is still "tweaking" the task and rubric and is developing an activity list to follow while students solve the problem.
Working with Basic Skills Students ...
"Some of my students are doing amazing things. This type of classroom allows my BSI students to reach success. They are no longer competing against other students and they are beginning to meet success. They are much more self- motivated. Not once have any of the students said, they have nothing to do and they are always engaged."
"When the Basic Skills teacher comes in, this classroom allows more flexibility for them to do their jobs. BSI students do not stand out, everyone attends mini- lessons and all students receive the direct instruction they need."
In Wharton, New Jersey at the