Thank you to Weesie Cook for sharing her REAL life with us! Weesie is an English teacher at McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Here are her thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Hometown: I live in my hometown in Chattanooga. I went to GPS (Girls Preparatory School), which is the sister school to McCallie. So,…
Thank you to Helene Sughrue for sharing her REAL life with us! Helene is an English teacher at Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts. Here are her thoughts on discussion, R.E.A.L.®, and learning. Hometown: Marion, MA Current City, School, Teaching Assignments: Marion, Tabor Academy, English 2, English 2 Honors, Advanced Topics: Rhetoric and Composition. Describe yourself…
The Protagonists series highlights the main characters of our mission: the teachers out there hustling to make their students feel known, heard, and challenged through student-led discussion. Hometown Manchester, NH. My dad grew up there, too – it’s very much home. Favorite teacher growing up: who and why? Ms. Sears was my sophomore English teacher….
“I’ve kept that with me as a teacher: I want my students to feel like I believe in them and trust them, that every challenge I give them is designed to lead them to success.”
“My middle schoolers are ready for more – more leadership, more say, more experiences – but we often don’t let them do more. There’s so much that educators can do to enhance education in middle school.”
“I’ve learned a lot about respecting [students’] boundaries and finding ways for students to contribute that aren’t verbal, but I do still believe that being able to articulate your thinking is an important life skill.”
“We don’t “team teach” but we’re on each other’s team, if that makes sense.”
“In Chemistry, anytime you can get students to do chemistry themselves, it’s like magic, and then when they’re explaining and they realize they can understand why it’s happening, it leads to really great insight. I really do think of it like magic. They’ve seen the wizard behind the curtain.”
“I always want for the kids in my classes to feel like that: heard, seen, and known.”
“Every once in a while, I wander and look in other people’s classes: I’d like to see what people are doing in other disciplines. How do they handle their lessons? How are they arranging their desks and table? I just ask.”