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Teachers dole out inaugural Glennys
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Boardman Glenwood teachers, from left, Bill Coler, Lisa Kutchel, Kathi Rothman and Jenn Dravecky, make up Gray 5, one of the team-teaching groups instituted this year. The teachers meet regularly to discuss lesson plans, student performance and behavioral issues.
By Karl Henkel
BOARDMAN
America has the Grammys, the Emmys and the Oscars.
Glenwood Middle School also has the Glennys.
The inaugural awards were handed out by the fifth-grade group composed of teachers Jenn Dravecky, Kathi Rothman, Lisa Kutchel and Bill Coler, known as Gray 5.
Teachers doled out certificates for perfect attendance, most improved, always prepared and best citizenship among half of the fifth-grade class (the others comprise team Maroon 5).
“We tried to hit as many kids as we possibly could,” Dravecky said. “We’ll do it again at the end of the school year.”
The event was one of many as part of a new initiative this year at Glenwood called team teaching, where groups of instructors teaching core classes all teach the same group of students.
The four use their planning periods, creatively scheduled to occur at the same time, to discuss curriculums, upcoming projects and any student issues that may arise.
Principal Anthony Alvino said it has allowed for continuity among teams, and teachers know what projects or assignments their students are working on in their other core classes. He also said it provides structure that makes it easier on students.
“They’re not dealing with four separate sets of rules,” he said. “And we reorganized the rooms so the teachers are right next door to one another. If they need anything, they can literally walk right across the hall.”
Dravecky said she’s seen a “huge improvement,” especially when it comes to attendance, and said in her 10 years of teaching, it’s been the smoothest transition for fifth-graders [after coming over from elementary schools].
Team teaching isn’t a newly developed method, and John Lounsbury, consulting editor for the National Middle School Association, reported that in 2009 more than three-quarters of all middle schools in America had begun using the program.
One of the benefits noted by Gray 5 was how the teachers can intertwine lesson plans across subjects. Dravecky, who instructs social studies, recently covered the American Revolution, and in doing so, emphasized literary elements from the presented texts and documents.
“You definitely have participation,” Dravecky said. “They want to be the first to recognize that they talked about it somewhere else.”
She said it’s also been a benefit to have longer class times, about 15 minutes longer than in previous years, which means a bit more planning on her part.
“I’ve found myself working harder this year,” Dravecky said. “I think it’s trying to use time wisely.”