Meet Mrs. Tate, a former music teacher of 13 years who transitioned her focus to teach third grade for the first time this year at Du Bois Integrity Academy! Mrs. Tate works closely with PowerMyLearning Personalized Learning Specialist Andrea Harris to help strengthen her practices and provide personalized learning experiences for her students.
They began the school year by using the PowerMyLearning Framework to help Mrs. Tate refine her classroom environment with her homeroom students who were initially apprehensive and unaccustomed to a very structured class environment and class schedule. Together, they used tools like timers and communication strategies to assist students in adjusting to Mrs. Tate’s expectations, resulting in great gains in student responsiveness and engagement.
With time and practice, Mrs. Tate also strengthened her expertise in math and technology. In fact, she built such a stellar reputation that students struggling in math were assigned to her during the school’s daily RIT-band period: a time when specialized learning groups gather for English Language Arts or math-focused lessons that prioritize blended learning practices and help students better understand grade-level concepts. Mrs. Tate uses PowerMyLearning Connect assessments to assign scaffolding activities to her RIT-band small groups, and Andrea works with her to build PowerMyLearning Connect playlists tied to goals and award points. This tool empowers students to drive their learning and reach their learning goals.
Mrs. Tate and Andrea are now geared up to implement additional techniques to promote more student agency as the next PowerMyLearning Framework domain of focus. We have a feeling Mrs. Tate will do just fine!
“Since my introduction to PowerMyLearning Connect, I truly have grown alongside my students. They have grown academically and I have become more methodical regarding differentiation and highly-engaged learning. W. E. B. Dubois said it best himself when he stated, ‘Education must not simply teach work, it must teach life.’ I can truly say that PowerMyLearning’s engaging, educational activities are supporting my goals as a teacher to teach life.” —Mrs. Tate, Ed. S.
