Turning trash into gold

By Frances Haman-Prewitt

Introducing the concept of inference to her third-graders at East Brainerd Elementary School, Dionne Upton reached into a trash bag and produced, one item at a time, an Ace bandage, a Lean Cuisine box, a Carnival cruise billet, and various other receipts and magazines, to help her class speculate about the nature of the trash’s owners. She encouraged students to discuss each item with a partner, and then called on various pairs to give their conclusions, based on their background knowledge and the evidence produced.

Hands were flying the whole time we were in her classroom, with students so eager to participate that they could hardly sit still—a sure sign of an engaged class. But Upton doesn’t just call on the kids who know the answer. She keeps track of who is responding and who’s not, and she makes sure she calls on every student, gently coaxing him or her to think about the question at hand. This technique, called “differentiated instruction,” is one trait of an excellent teacher.

Differentiated instruction is hard. Instead of writing a lesson that targets the middle range of students, a teacher tailors her lesson to an appropriate level for each child. Questions are simplified or re-worded for children who are struggling to understand, and children who grasp the concept quickly are encouraged to think further on a more challenging level. Upton does this smoothly and constantly as she moves through her lesson.

That is one reason Dionne Upton is lead literacy teacher at East Brainerd. As a lead teacher (also known as a model classroom teacher), Upton teaches a class of children during the morning, then spends the rest of the day supporting and offering advice to other teachers in her building. The lead math teacher at East Brainerd, Lori DeCordova, does the same thing on a reverse schedule.  It’s a powerful system for spreading excellence to every classroom.

We had a great time in Dionne Upton’s class. Join us for a brief peek at PEFChattanooga.org/ExcellentTeachers .