In her fifteen years of teaching, Michele Meyers has positively influenced the lives of hundreds of
children, as well as her colleagues. Now, in her role as a Teacher Trainer for the Learner-Active Classroom, Michele has taken her practice to the next level.
Michele has taught in Ho-Ho-Kus for her entire teaching career as both a second and fourth grade teacher. She is currently completing her thesis for a Master's degree to become a Reading and Literacy Specialist.
This past summer, Michele co-facilitated a week-long workshop about the Learner-Active Classroom for teachers in her district. When asked about her reflections upon the week, Michele had this to say:
"I loved every moment. It was the single best professional development experience in my career. I know I was able to help others, but I learned so much through that process. I came away feeling so much pride for where I work, the people I work with, and for the sense of c
ollegiality - the bonding and sharing. Everyone was at a different place, yet they were all working together ... It was so interesting to watch as they went on the journey; to see it as I never had before. There was this closeness, this sense of camaraderie. It was an extremely uplifting experience."
In terms of her own growth in her role as a teacher trainer, Michele explained, "I saw the value in listening and what it really means to be a facilitator. I learned so many skills in having a leadership role."
When asked what she likes most about teaching in the Learner-Active Classroom, Michele said, "It provides a structure for students to take responsibility for their own learning. I like that they have choices. It is so powerful in terms of making them intrinsically motivated to learn ... In the beginning I was concerned about how I could create scaffolding to meet th
e needs of so many different students, but it really does all come together."
In talking about assessment, she explained, "The amount of formative assessment I can now do allows me to truly differentiate. I have so much more time to conference with individual students on their writing. Last year they came in with scores of 1 and 2 on the New Jersey Holistic Rubric for Writing and left as 5's and 6's."
"The Learner-Active Classroom has enabled me to raise the level of my kids. Doing mini-lessons has enabled me to increase their learning. On a recent unit pre-test, students sc
ored in the 40s to 70s.
In the end, out of 16 students, 14 scored a 100, one a 94 and one an 88. Why? I was able to pull them for the small-group and one-on-one instruction."
And her students have a lot to say about Mrs. Meyers' class:
"She teaches us processes in math and reading and she sits with us."
"I love that I can decide what I want to do when. You don't have to do stuff in order. I just use my schedule to keep track of stuff."