Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010

Piegore uses hands-on approach with classes

As Linda Piegore discusses North Carolina's fishing industry with her fourth-graders at St. Michael School, she references an activity the class did the week before - trading shrimp for crabs and learning basic economic principles.

Piegore often tries new hands-on projects to illustrate fourth-grade concepts and said that flexibility is key in her class.

This is Piegore's eighth year at St. Michael School, after teaching three years in the Wake County schools.

I visited her class and spoke with her about her teaching experiences.

Q: What is the most important thing students must learn in fourth grade? What is the most important thing you want them to take away from you, as a teacher?

The most important thing here at St. Michael School is strengthening their faith.

As far as academics, definitely math: they strengthen their multiplication and division skills and fractions.

I hope my students come away with a love of writing. Sometimes students start out saying, "Oh no! How many sentences do we need to write?"

I use [the writing program] Empowering Writers.

The program breaks it down into a diamond rubric so the students can visualize it.

It gives students techniques, like try starting with a question or an action. We are working on suspense now, using the question, "What's inside the mitten?" We break it down; we don't write the whole story each time. We write it in sections. Students get excited; it all falls into place. Students need tools, and Empowering Writers gives them the tools; this is my fifth year using it.

Q: What have you learned from your students?

I have learned to be open-minded. I came into teaching like, "I'm the teacher." But I realized quickly that my students teach me, and they give me such energy.

They have taught me compassion. I love being around them - my father passed away a few years ago, and I came back to school three days later because I needed to be with my students.

They have also taught me that love of learning again; that really gets you going as a teacher.

Q: How do you come up with new ideas for class projects?

I taught in a [Wake County schools] discovery program that was a way for students to keep learning during track-outs.

We would do week-long programs like robotics, ancient Greece and "chemistry capers" as ways to keep them learning.

I did not enjoy school as a kid, and I'm always looking for ways to get kids excited.

One of the projects I do now with my students is lollipop sales, a business program.

The unit is three weeks long - five days of selling for a half-hour each morning.

All profits go to the American Cancer Society for cancer research. Students used to bring in money from home, but I thought that they really needed to earn it.

Our principal is great because she says, "If you bring me an idea that makes sense, I'll let you run with it." This year, we earned $2,488 from lollipop sales.

Q: How do you use your faith to help students grow and learn?

Faith is a strong component. We teach it one period a day, and it is a ribbon through everything that we do. We studied a biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. in reading, and my students could not understand why the buses were segregated because, "God made all of us." I feel that for us to pull that strength is important.

Q: What is the most memorable project you have worked on with your students?

After students take the writing test in March, we have a four-week program on expository writing. Students choose a biography of someone from North Carolina, which lets me see which person struck them the most.

They bring in a two-liter bottle dressed up as their person. Last year, I had a boy who loved UNC. He wanted to write about a UNC baseball player, but I asked him, "How are you going to write about him? There is not a book to reference."

He e-mailed his questions to the athlete, and the athlete invited him to a game and let him interview him. [The athlete was later drafted by a pro team.] It was amazing.

I love watching who they choose. They choose someone different every year, and it is the culmination of their love of writing - it's awesome.

Q: What is your biggest challenge on a day-to-day basis?

My biggest challenge is having the patience a fourth-grade student needs me to have. I sometimes can get frustrated. But in the end, they give me more than I give them.

Q: Most adults can remember their fourth-grade teachers. What do you want your students to remember about you when they are grown up?

I really want them to love learning. If you find you are fascinated with history, go for it. I want them not to be afraid to ask "why?" and to feel excited about the learning process.

Q: What is the most surprising thing about teaching?

Most surprising is how open they are to telling me what they like and don't like. I've had students say, "You made me believe I could do math."

We never talked to our teachers that way when I was growing up. Every year, there is something that I didn't expect.