Bridging The Gap: Listening, Learning, and Lifting students to Grow
Listening is more than what you hear people say. It is also paying attention to what they could not say due to emotional blocks that are shared through behavioral utterances.
Kelsey Pritchett, A Future Master Class Today (FMCT) Generation Y member.
Follow me as I briefly share her Teaching — Personal Touch that empowers her students to disarm themselves from emotional distractors that have hindered them from learning and advancing forward on their educational path.
Kelsey has a Bachelor of Education degree from Messiah University and is pursuing a master’s degree from Millersville University in Language and Literacy. She currently works as a Middle School, Learning Support Teacher (5yrs) in the Southwest School District in Pennsylvania.
Focus on the Student first, Academics second.
Because she works with students who need support with their learning, she uses an individual approach to help her to listen for two things: what their mouth is saying and what their behavior is communicating.
Their mouth and behavior are linked together. What their mouth does not say, their behavior would share the full story. From this point, planning occurs to ensure the right teaching strategy is used to start the learning process.
This approach positions Kelsey to teach without the behavior distractions and the student can learn the subject while doing something he/she enjoys. A Win to Win for both…
Case In Point.
There was a student who spent most of his time out of the classroom for various reasons. As Kelsey developed a rapport with him, he shared that he loved to sing a particular song. When they would sing it together, his behaviors changed, and he gave her access to teach him the appropriate subject. In addition, she gave him extra breaks throughout the day to help him to stay focus and on task.
Because of this strategy, she could teach more to him as his leaving the classroom became less. A Win to Win for both…
She had another student who struggled to stay on task- again for various reasons. As she developed a rapport with him, she learned that he had a passion for taking pictures. She knew his capacity to learn to do this activity was transferrable and could be used to help her to teach him the class requirement. Therefore, she allowed him to bring his camera to school. This allowed her to reward him to use it outside, only if he performed his work during class time. It worked! Again, a Win to Win for both…
I could go on and on about how students have learned under Kelsey’s teaching style with this emphasis: Focus on the Student first, Academics second. She has proven that it works and has demonstrated how strategies can be simple and taught with a relational touch.
Recognition.
No good thing can be kept secret. What Kelsey is doing for her students has been noised amongst her peers and colleagues. For her teaching leadership and excellence, they nominated her to receive the Teacher’s Education in Excellence Award. Great Job! Kelsey-well done.
Kelsey Pritchett, a Generation Y FMCT member, is an Excellent Teacher now. She has the baton running and winning her race today. The Future looks Brighter for our children.
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