LOADING

Type to search

Uncategorized

Making the connection

Collage of teachers and students

Goucher alumnae/i educators share the classroom “aha” moments that fuel their passion for learning and teaching.

Jessica Tilli ’06

Number of years you have been teaching: 15

Name of school you are currently or most recently teaching at: Meredith Elementary School in Philadelphia, but I am now a math specialist for the Philadelphia School District.

Grade you typically teach: Middle School

As an educator, can you describe a specific project in the classroom that gave students an “aha” moment when learning a lesson/concept?

I was the kind of educator who wanted students to discover algorithms and theorems, so I would give them lots of opportunities to explore something and then ask questions to get them to the big idea. One example is the lesson I used in my Presidential Award application [earlier this year, Tilli won a Presidential Award in “Excellence in Math Teaching”] about the triangle inequality theorem. In that lesson, students experimented with pipe cleaners of different lengths and tried to create triangles with them. Ultimately, what they discovered is that you cannot form a triangle unless the sum of the shortest sides is greater than or equal to the length of the largest side. You could almost see the lightbulbs over their head as they realized this was the case!

How does it feel as a teacher experiencing those “aha” moments with your students?

Supporting students in experiencing “aha” moments is a really special feeling because it takes a lot of preparation to create the right kinds of experiences to lead to that moment. It also feels incredibly gratifying because those “aha” moments are what stick with kids. Discovery is far more powerful than being lectured or told what to think.

Reflecting on your education, can you describe an “aha” moment that you had as a student?

I am currently in a doctoral program at Temple University, and there have been many moments where I have experienced that “aha” feeling. Recently our professor had us read Why Go to School? by Steven Wolk. So much of what he says in this article made me have “aha” moments about the state of education. I encourage every educator to read it!

How did creativity play into those moments?

In the case of the triangle-inequality-theorem lesson, students had to think creatively to arrive at the triangle inequality theorem. I think in most “aha” moments, it is through creative thinking that students are able to discover the lesson. “Aha” moments are all about discovery, and discovery requires creativity.

Raekwon Walker ’17

Number of years you have been teaching: 5

Name of school you are currently or most recently teaching at: Academy for College and Career Exploration; GPEP (Writing Lecturer, Spring 2021); currently an education doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University

Grade you typically teach: Middle School Special Education (6th-8th grade)

As an educator, can you describe a specific project in the classroom that gave students an “aha” moment when learning a lesson/concept?

Often the “aha” moments are when students actualize the connection between the content and real life. Middle school adolescents are in that transition in their life already—physically, emotionally, intellectually. So when there is a clear connection, these students are ready.

In the curriculum, there is a module about students as changemakers, and students immediately began discussing writing a letter to the principal for more animals in the classroom.

How does it feel as a teacher experiencing those “aha” moments with your students?

For me, it feels grounding. This is the why of the work. When we talk about “aha” moments, I’m not thinking about concrete metrics. These moments reinforce the passion and the purpose, and why I should still be learning myself. As I am still a student, it helps to blend and make sense.

Reflecting on your education, can you describe an “aha” moment that you had as a student?

I reflect on my education journey often. I had a progressive secondary education. When I got my first F (I earned that F), I thought, “The teacher had the audacity to give me an F!” For me, the goal wasn’t to make a transformation as a student. The goal was to get an A. That pre-calculus class was not for me. I took it for my college transcript, not because I wanted it.

There is something deeper than this. If I tap into me as a learner and the content that is all around me, I can explore what I like about math, rather than worry about which grades will look good on my college transcript.

I went to a school that was grounded in the arts. After I took my first art class, it changed me. I changed my schedule to really be what progressive education was about, being a learner in whatever capacity that was. I was no longer worried about the grade, but the experience.

How did creativity play into those moments?

I’m really metacognitive about the experience I had in my own secondary schooling. As a special educator, I hope that my young people feel affirmed and valued and that they can advocate for themselves outside of the classroom.

I am super cognizant of the expressiveness of learning. Am I assigning papers because that is the way to show work? Or should we paint it out? That could be an option as well. That is how I actualize it.

Relationships are the fruit of education. If students don’t feel like I like them and they like me, and if they can’t connect with me with cares beyond the classroom, then what I’m teaching doesn’t really matter. I’m always trying to find ways to pivot beyond the content.

Rachel Kelly ’11, M.Ed. ’14

Number of years you have been teaching: 11

Name of school you are currently or most recently teaching at: Jemicy School

Grade you typically teach: 2nd grade

As an educator, can you describe a specific project in the classroom that gave students an “aha” moment when learning a lesson/concept?

During my social studies unit on American history and culture of the 1920s through 1960s, the second-grade students examine historical figures, events, inventions, food, and technology from multiple perspectives with an emphasis on women and people of color. I always begin the unit with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because the students typically have some foundation in understanding who he was. The students begin to comprehensively understand the role Dr. King played, but that he was not the only “change maker.” This year, following our discussion of Althea Gibson, Jackie Robinson, and Earnest Everett Just, one of the students shouted out in the middle of class, “Wow, all of these sports and rules each had someone who had to be first and have a hard time.” I could see that the students began to understand that change happens slowly and with great effort. Then another student spoke up that “they struggle every day with reading, and it can feel hard for them each day too.”

How does it feel as a teacher experiencing those “aha” moments with your students?

Large “aha” moments (like the student learning about changes in history) and small “aha” moments (a student learning to decode a word for the first time) are all invigorating in their own way. Guiding my students in those small steps that inevitably lead to the larger “aha” moments is invigorating because I am able to watch them become better citizens of the world while accessing the material we study in a new way.

Reflecting on your education, can you describe an “aha” moment that you had as a student?

My biggest “aha” moments as a student came from my professors pushing me to understand information in a new way or from someone else’s point of view. I remember a lecture in my adolescent development course when the professor encouraged the class to consider how students from three disparate socio-economic backgrounds might feel about a given scenario. This was an “aha” moment for me because until this moment I had considered their emotional states and academic needs as the highest priorities. This focus on backgrounds allowed me to understand how their background will impact how they hear and process any new information.

How did creativity play into those moments?

Every day, my role as a teacher allows me to create multisensory and engaging lessons to accommodate the goals that I set for my students for their appropriate emotional, social, and academic development. There is never a day that I don’t creatively alter content, or the way I present such content while addressing the needs and abilities of my students. Each of these creative alterations leads to “aha” moments for my students.

Elizabeth Depta Savage ’15

Number of years you have been teaching: 5

Name of school you are currently or most recently teaching at: Forestbrook Elementary

Grade you typically teach: Moderate/Severe Special Education K-5

As an educator, can you describe a specific project in the classroom that gave students an “aha” moment when learning a lesson/concept?

As a special educator, “aha” moments may be harder and less frequent to come by than it might be in other classrooms, but when they do happen, it makes them all the more precious! One moment that sticks out in my memory is trying to teach dreaded equivalent fractions to one of my 7th graders with Autism. He was so smart and loved math but had been having a difficult time remembering and organizing the steps. Every day, I would draw arrows with him, pointing this way and that way, when I realized they looked kind of like a rainbow, arching over the previous fraction, with little multiplication notations above. I decided to create rainbow graphic organizers for him, with “x1, x2, x3,” etc., written above each colored layer, and as soon as I presented him with this systematic, visual way to look at it, it clicked for him. Whether it was the color coding of each fraction or the way we followed the rainbow with our finger during each multiplication fact, he immediately understood and could independently generate five equivalent fractions for any given one. I was so proud, but he was definitely prouder.

How does it feel as a teacher experiencing those “aha” moments with your students?

This is why we do what we do, right?! It’s so rewarding to see the fruits of our labors, learning all those skills, like multiplication, come together to help us perform a new task that we didn’t even know we could do! It makes me feel like the most important part of my job is giving students moments like that, so that they can be confident in their ability to learn to do things that they may not be able to do right now.

Reflecting on your education, can you describe an “aha” moment that you had as a student?

Math was always my toughest subject as well. It never clicked for me, conceptually. It wasn’t until I was in school, studying to become a teacher myself, when I learned multiple methods of multidigit multiplication and division. These visual strategies made me really understand, for the first time, why we achieved the answers that we do from performing the standard algorithms. The area model, for example, made expanded form make sense for the first time! Understanding something I’ve done all my life on a different and deeper level as a young adult has just affirmed for me the fact that lifelong learning is a very valuable experience that I want to continue to have.

How did creativity play into those moments?

In both moments, it took a more visual method to make things more clear. This may have just been a coincidence, but I think visual means of problem-solving are easier for a lot of people. Having the creativity, as a teacher, to look at a problem in a different way and being able to understand the misconception of an individual student is an invaluable skill that can lead to a breakthrough. I like to watch how students are working through a problem to find where they get stuck. Once I know that, I can find some way to support them through the misstep. It’s a process of trial and error and often crayons, markers, and colored paper, as well!

Tags
Previous Article