Witnessing the 2018-19 Rodel Teacher Council in Action
Over the past two weeks, members of the Rodel team had the opportunity to visit some 2018-19 Rodel Teacher Council (RTC) members in their classrooms.
When we interact with the RTC members it is usually after school hours and in a formal meeting environment. The opportunity to witness them in action, in their classroom and in their element is truly powerful and eye-opening.
We first checked out EastSide Charter School in Wilmington, where RTC member Michael Williams was teaching pre-algebra and differential equations to a seventh grade math class.
His students learned to make the connections between equations and the real-world as Mr. Williams walked them through buying bags of chips with a limited amount of money.
Beyond the lesson, we also saw some great examples of social and emotional learning displayed on classroom posters. Personally, I loved the poster themed around Drake’s “In My Feelings” but with a college and career readiness twist.
The following week we took a trip down to Southern Elementary School in the Colonial School District to visit two more RTC members, Stephanie Alexander and Elena Miller.
We first stopped by Stephanie Alexander’s classroom. Stephanie is a special education teacher in the school’s Intensive Learning Center (ILC). Her students ranged from kindergarten through second grade.
We enjoyed helping students to color in their holiday bingo cards and asking them what things they were thankful for as they added feathers to their “Thankful Turkeys.” The students listed many things they were thankful for—everything from their teachers to their families to monster trucks and banana bread.
Mrs. Alexander also put a bucket outside to track how much snow was falling outside, which had everyone excited.
After visiting Mrs. Alexander, we were able to meet with RTC member Elena Miller. Elena is a district special education coordinator at Southern Elementary. She walked us through her day-to-day role at Southern, including her work overseeing the CASEL and ILC programs, coordinating IEP meetings, and providing support as a teacher resource.
Both teacher council members demonstrated that special education educators are truly a great asset to their school communities.
Our thanks go out to Mr. Williams, Mrs. Alexander and Ms. Miller for allowing us to witness them in action! Stay tuned as we continue to visit Delaware classrooms and learn first-hand about the exciting things happening for the teacher council.