Elementary teacher Kathy Pitt developed technique to reduce alienation and bullying

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Elementary school teacher Kathy Pitt has developed a technique to reduce alienation and bullying among her students.

Recently I read a fascinating article about an elementary school teacher who developed a great strategy for reducing bullying and feelings of alienation in her classroom. The teacher is Kathy Pitt, a retired fifth grade teacher from Sea Gate Elementary School in Naples, Florida.

Every Friday, Kathy gave each of her students an index card. She asked the students to write down who they would like to sit with the next week. And she invited the students to nominate one of their classmates they thought was “exceptional.”

After collecting the note cards, Kathy placed them in front of her on her desk and study them. She analyzed which students received the fewest nominations, and she looked for the patterns. Who never got requested by others as a seat partner? Who never got noticed enough to get nominated as “exceptional”? Who had tons of friends last week, but none this week? Who never gets noticed enough to be nominated? She also looked to see which students were unwilling or unable to nominate others. In this way, Kathy discovered clues to social issues that weren’t always visible to her as she moved through her daily curriculum.

The teacher was looking for lonely children, kids who were alienated and struggling to connect. She was identifying the youngsters who were falling through the cracks. The next week she would make a special effort to connect with those kids. Kathy was also able to detect which kids were being bullied and who was doing the bullying. Then she took steps to resolve those conflicts.

The innovative educator once revealed she developed the technique after the school shooting at Columbine. She had been using it every single Friday since that 1999 event. It was just her way of attempting to helping students feel less lonely, less alienated, and to help students get along with each other better.

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this blog post found on Lifestyle.

Chalkboard Champion Emma Hart Willard advocates for girls’ education

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Chalkboard champion, educator, and advocate of education for women Emma Hart Willard

One of the most influential educators in American history is Chalkboard Champion Emma Hart Willard, a teacher and women’s rights advocate from New England. In a time when most women were restricted to the role of homemakers, Emma advanced the cause of making higher education available for girls.

Emma was born on Feb. 23, 1787, in Berlin, Connecticut. Even at a young age, her intelligence was evident. Even though she was a female, her father nurtured her intellectual development. By the time she was 17 years old, Emma was teaching at the academy where she had been a student. By the time she was 19 she was the principal of the school.

In 1809, Emma married Dr. John Hart, and the couple had one son together. After her marriage, Emma and her family moved to Vermont. There she opened her own boarding school for girls. She taught her young students courses in science, mathematics, philosophy, geography, and history. The experience put her in a fine position to advocate for an institution of higher learning for female students.

In 1821, Emma persuaded the leadership of Troy, New York, to sponsor the founding of an institution of higher learning for girls. The school became known as the Troy Female Seminary, the first higher education institution for women in the country. The school was an immediate success, and upper class families began to send their daughters to Troy. Her example inspired other private institutions to open their doors to girls. Emma served as the principal of Troy Female Seminary until 1838. By that time, hundreds of graduates of the school—many of them teachers—had been shaped by her philosophy.

In addition to paving the way for advanced educational opportunities for girls in New York, Emma traveled widely throughout the country and in Europe, where she advocated more schools of higher learning be established. She founded an all-girls school in similar to the Troy School in Athens, Greece. She also wrote textbooks for American history and geography. In addition, she published a volume of poetry.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on April 15, 1870, in Troy, New York. She is interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy. In 1905, this amazing educator was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in Bronx, New York. She was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2013. The school that Emma Hart Willard founded in Troy still exists today, although it is now known as the Emma Willard School.

To read more about Emma Hart Willard, click on this link to Encyclopedia Britanica.

Educator Joan Bray also served in both the Missouri State House and Senate

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Former teacher Joan Bray also served in the Missouri State House of Representatives and the State Senate.

Many fine educators have also served as able politicians. One of these is Joan Bray, a teacher who has served in both the Missouri State House of Representatives and the State Senate.

Joan was born on September 16, 1945, Lubbock, Texas. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Southwestern University in 1967. She went on to receive her Master’s degree in Counseling and Human Relations from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1970. She also earned a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1971. After earning her degrees, Joan taught first in Colorado and then in Massachusetts.

During the years she worked as an educator, Joan also employed as a journalist. She worked first for the San Antonio Express News, and then with the St. Louis Post Dispatch. During this time she also served as the Vice President of Local 49 of the Newspaper Guild.

The former teacher was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Missouri House of Representatives. She represented the 24th District there from 1993 to 2002. In 2003, Joan was elected to the Missouri State Senate to represent the 84th District. She served there until 2010. As a senator, she served on the committees for Ways and Means, Transportation, and Appropriations. Joan left the political arena when she reached her term limits.

Joan currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, Carl Hoagland. To read more about this Chalkboard Politician, read the Missouri Senate biography Joan Bray.

Victoria Soto: A Chalkboard Champion of Sandy Hook Elementary

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First grade teacher Victoria Soto lost her life while protecting her students from gunman Adam Lanza during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

It is a sad fact that a number of American educators have been put in the unenviable position of protecting their students from active shooters. They are sometimes injured or killed while sheilding their students. One of these teachers was Victoria Soto, a first grade teacher who was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.

Victoria Soto was born on November 4, 1985, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  In 2003, she graduated from Stratford High School located in Stratford, Connecticut. Following her graduation, she enrolled in Eastern Connecticut State University. There she earned a dual Bachelor’s degree in History and Education, with honors. She also took courses towards her Master’s degree at Southern Connecticut State University.

Once she earned her teaching credentials, Victoria accepted a position as an elementary teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. On December 14, 2013, Victoria was engaged in teaching her first grade class when gunman Adam Lanza burst into the school wielding several weapons and looking for victims. He started shooting. Staff and students heard Lanza discharging his weapons over the school public address system. By the time the gunman made his way to her classroom, Victoria had been able to hide her children in a closet. When confronted by Lanza, Victoria told him the students had been sent to the school gym. But some of the children were too afraid to stay hidden. When they ran from their hiding place, the shooter began to fire at them. In a supreme act of heroism, Victoria threw herself between Lanza and the children. In so doing, she sustained a fatal gunshot wound.

Victoria was only 27 years old when she was killed. Her career spanned five years. The Chalkboard Champion was laid to rest in Union Cemetery Stratford in Fairfield County, Connecticutt.

In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded Victoria a Presidential Citizens Medal posthumously. The medal honors Americans who have performed “exemplary deeds of service” for their country or fellow citizens. The medal is is the government’s second-highest civilian award.

Read more about this amazing educator in this online article entitled “The Teacher as Hero.”