Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Mrs. Orton: A Lesson in Doing Everything Possible to Help Your Students

Meet Mrs. Orton.  (No, she doesn't normally dress like The Cat in the Hat.) She has no idea I'm writing this post.



Mrs. Orton is wrapping up her fifth year at our school.  Two years in 5th and 6th grade, one year in 4th grade, one year where she started in kindergarten but switched to 1st grade when another teacher had a long-term illness, and this year completely in 1st grade.  That constant shifting should be an indicator to you she has a willing and helpful spirit that says, "I'll do what is needed."

Earlier this semester, Mrs. Orton announced that she will have her first baby in September and will not be returning to our faculty next school year in order to be a stay-at-home-mom.  She will be sorely missed by students and teachers.

Our school's commitment to Accelerated Math for grades 2 through 10 means that we are letting IXL subscriptions run out, and our 1st graders will be left without an online math program after Spring Break.  So, Mrs. Orton agreed to get her kids trucking on the MathFacts in a Flash section of Accelerated Math. The learning curve here won't be too steep but she will need some training and figure out some new things.

Imagine if you were looking at the last month and a half of your job. Would you take the time to learn a new program? Personally, I would coast through to the end, but not Mrs. Orton.  She is and always has been the kind of teacher who will go over and above what's expected in order to help her kids learn the best way possible.

Who do you work with that inspires you to dig in and do more to help the kids? 

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