Photo By Daniel Jackovino Carteret Elementary School teacher Jeannette O'Rourke poses with Emily Rodriguez and Alex Rodriguez, who are not related but are two students she is mentoring.
Carteret Elementary School teacher Jeannette O’Rourke poses with Emily Rodriguez and Alex Rodriguez, who are not related but are two students she is mentoring.
Carteret Elementary School was a hive of activity on Friday, April 25.
Preparations for the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment tests in mathematics and language arts were underway. These standardized state tests were scheduled for yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Earth Day, nationally commemorated Tuesday, April 22, was also observed last Friday at the school and a new Carteret initiative focusing on student attendance, achievement and academics was in full swing.
In teacher Marc Hanna’s sixth-grade mathematics class, the kids were being challenged by math games played on their school-provided Chromebook computers. Hanna said all New Jersey students must take the state evaluation test, beginning in third grade, assessing what they learned during the school year. His class was reviewing strategies for taking the test. He said that although pupils still use paper and pencil, teamwork is emphasized in arriving at an answer, even in math.
“I like it to be cooperative because of how they’re going to be using math in their lives,” Hanna said. “I think math is a part of social skills. We get feedback from the games and we talk about it.”
This, he said, helps children develop social skills since many students are afraid of openly making mistakes.
“But that’s a part of learning,” he continued. “I basically force kids to do that. But we don’t make anyone feel uncomfortable.”
At the beginning of the school year, his students were terrified to be chosen to answer a question. But according to Hanna, there was a shift. Now they want to be picked to answer.
This school year is his first in the district and his first year teaching sixth-grade math. He said the district has made it easier for him to teach the way he wants to teach.
“Ultimately, I need to make the student more independent,” he said. “They’re going to be experiencing a huge lifestyle change next year when they go to middle school.”
Hanna attended Oak View Elementary School and Bloomfield Middle School. For high school, he went to St. Peter’s Prep, in Jersey City. When he attended middle school, John Baltz, the current Carteret principal, was the principal.
Hanna said many of his students were understandably nervous about the state test. But he tells them not to worry because he knows they are better math students now than in September.
Meanwhile, across the hallway, sixth-grade English Language Arts Teacher Jeannette O’Rourke was mentoring two students participating in the school’s AAA initiative emphasizing attendance, achievement and academics. The program is in its second year.
“The purpose of this program is to bridge the gap between the home and school and bring us together as one,” O’Rourke said.
There are 10 mentoring teachers in the Carteret program, each assigned two or three students. The effort is overseen by Marissa Acosta, the guidance counselor. O’Rourke has two students, a first-grade girl and sixth-grade boy. She checks in on them daily to see how their day is progressing.
“This is basically to help students with their attendance, getting them to school on time and academic support,” she said. “But the most important part is social skills, navigating their social skills throughout the day.”
Paramount is for teacher and student to develop a trusting relationship.
“I always tell my students, if you’re honest with me, I can help you with your problems,” O’Rourke said. “But the best part of the program is the home visits and going to the student’s extracurricular events.”
Principal Baltz and Acosta, the guidance counselor, Acosta, accompany O’Rourke on her home visits.
“I’ve always felt that if students don’t feel trust in the classroom, especially older students, learning will not take place,” O’Rourke said. “Safety, trust and comfort within a classroom community have to be in place, even for adults.”
For Earth Day, kindergarten teacher Monica Evangelista and her students were planting morning glory, snapdragon and bachelor button seeds in milk cartons.
“What do plants need to grow?” she asked her little gardeners.
Green thumbs were raised, but some kids answered beforehand.
“Water, soil and sun,” they said immediately.
Their teacher told them that to make their milk cartons pretty for a flower, it would be decorated. She then very carefully poured a slowly moving, lava-like rivulet of white Elmer’s Glue, from a half-gallon container, into small cups. There were four tables of about ten kids.
“Listen,” Evangelista said, “you’re going to take a little glue and put it on your milk carton. I gave you each a brush.”
She gave each child small squares of colored paper to glue onto the cartons. A boy came up to her and asked for seeds to plant and pointed to a package.
“You chose Sweet William,” she said.
“Sweet William?” the boy asked, obviously puzzled.
“Yes,” Evangelista said and asked the class what the plants will need every day.
“Water,” answered the chorus.
“Yes,” she said. “Water and put them into the sun.”
According to the package, the seeds will germinate in seven to 10 days.
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