Extra credit: Jessica Senatore - Stevenson Elementary School in Des Plaines
Need to know: Teaches third- and fourth-grade students in a dual language classroom in which instruction is provided equally in Spanish and English. Stevenson serves about 430 kindergarten through sixth-grade students living in Des Plaines, Niles and Park Ridge.
Q. When your district started multi-age classrooms, were you eager to participate or did you need to be convinced? Why?
A. When I first learned I would be teaching a third-/fourth-grade multi-age dual-language classroom, I was surprised and intrigued. Although I initially felt a bit anxious about the challenge, the more I thought about it, the more excited I was about the opportunity.
Q. What advantages does a multi-age/grade classroom offer for students over a traditional single-grade classroom?
A. One big benefit is being able to "loop" with the groups of students. I work with each student for two years, not one. And by the second year, it's amazing to see how all my students have grown over that time. Another advantage: the older group of students coming into the second year already knows the rules, routines, and expectations of the classroom, and they're fantastic role models for the new, younger students. The leadership these older students take on in the classroom is impressive. Because I already know half my students' strengths and areas for growth so well right off the bat, I'm also able to work at a faster pace - starting certain types of instruction earlier in the year.
Q. What challenges have you handled that you didn't expect when you started teaching a multi-age class?
A. Early in the year, finding ways to help the two grade levels bond in a multi-age classroom can present challenges, since one group has already been together for a year while the other half of the class is new. But after the first few weeks of class, I start to see relationships form between grade levels that almost certainly wouldn't have happened had they not been in a multi-age classroom. They start to connect and work together pretty quickly, creating opportunities for unlikely friendships to form.
Q. If you could combine two non-education things the way you mix two grade levels, what would you blend? (Chocolate and peanut butter? Music and pajama pants?)
A. Sunshine and gardening! I love being outside in the summer working in my garden.