Rodel Teacher Council Member Spotlight: Michelle Wilson

By Rachel Wiggans Chan and Neil Kirschling

After hearing Principal Dale Brown speak passionately about the ongoing work at Booker T. Washington (BTW) Elementary School during the 8th Annual Vision Coalition Conference on Education, we headed to Dover to see how the work is translating in Michelle Wilson’s “Libergarten” classroom. Principal Brown stopped by the classroom to tell the kindergarteners about his and Mrs. Wilson’s participation in the conference, and his energy filled the room!

The high-energy adventure continued, as we settled in for the reading lesson. BTW is currently under construction, so Michelle’s kindergarteners meet in the school’s library space (hence the “Libergarten” moniker), which has led to some improvisation and adaptive thinking from Michelle and her students.

During the reading lesson, students rotated through a variety of stations for a mix of different activities. At one station, students worked independently on computers, at another, small groups received instruction from Michelle, another group played educational games on the class iPads, at another, students worked on reading skills with Mrs. Haller, and the final group “read” a book with support from a recording. After station time, all the students gathered on the classroom rug for a group activity about the concept of syllables.

What was most inspiring was to see the strong bond and classroom environment Michelle and her students have developed. Students were exceedingly polite and helpful, with lots of “pleases” and “thank yous.” Chairs were always pushed in, and if a friend dropped something, a classmate retrieved it eagerly. If someone got in the way, there was a quick, “excuse me.” If a student wronged the other, there was a quick prompt from an adult a sincere apology followed from the student.

These behaviors were clearly no accident. You may remember Michelle’s blog post from earlier this year, “Striving for Social Emotional Success.” In it, Michelle explained how she helps students navigate challenging social situations and places an emphasis on equipping her students to understand social norms and (eventually) solve their own interpersonal conflicts. It’s clear that Michelle’s students have been working very hard to create a courteous and friendly environment—props to them and to Michelle for creating such a positive learning environment!