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OCS Teachers Prepare to Return
Teachers from Northwoods Park Middle School discuss testing data and make plans for their return to school.
Teachers Preparing for Students to Return
With back-to-school dates in sight, excitement is building as teachers prepare to get back to their students and classrooms.
“We’re excited to see our kids,” said Alexandria Leo, a 6th grade math and social studies teacher at Northwoods Park Middle School.
Other NWPMS teachers shared the same sentiment when they all met this week to discuss testing data and instructional plans ahead of their return to school.
In their discussions of last year’s testing data, teachers brainstormed how they would improve instruction this year to not only improve overall test scores and those of at-risk subgroups, but to make the most of the truncated school year.
“We’ve got the data and now I can fine-tune my plans,” said NWPMS math teacher Heather Shannon. “Every minute has to count.”
Kristyn Butts, a 6th grade EC teacher at NWPMS, said that teachers will still have to overcome the academic struggles their students face, but in a shorter amount of time. She said that, for now, teachers are working together to hold pop-up sessions for their students and when school starts back, they will have after-school help available to students who need it.
Instruction, however, will not be the only challenge teachers take on when they return to school. Allison Chaucer, a 6th grade LEA and social studies teacher at NWPMS, said she would be “tackling empathy” as she returns to her classroom. With students having differing levels of loss from Hurricane Florence, she said she will work with her class to be cognizant of the experiences of others.
“We’ll have to have things set up where they’ll have people to talk to,” she said. “And so, hopefully it will build more of a community in my classroom, because we need to build tighter relationships and more understanding.”