"Active Learning in 2nd Grade" - The GIPS Cast, Ep. 057

"Number one for me is building relationships with my students... That right there is my number one classroom strategy — just building relationships and having conversation with my students."

Mrs. Kari Thornton has been teaching 2nd Grade at Engleman Elementary for 16 years.

Every year Mrs. Thornton aim to make the learning in her classroom an active experience for her students.  Which means building opportunities for students to interact with their classmates with a clear prompt, or students moving to different parts of the classroom for conduct different steps of the learning activities, or partnering for a creative project, and so much more.

It may sound, well active, but it’s all intentional.  Each prompt, each activity, each engagement designed to help reach all students.

Mrs. Thornton joins 'The GIPS Cast' to share how her approach to teaching seeks to keep learning fun and engaging.  

Because it's all about helping students learn and lean into a growth mindset.

Listen to the latest episode above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

(Transcript may be found below the episode player.)

#WeAreGIPS 
 

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:

Podcast Intro  00:00

This is Grand Island Public Schools podcast, and these are our stories. We are learners. We are educators in teaching hearts as well as minds. We are 10,000 diverse voices, and we're changing the world together, one classroom at a time. These are our stories. We are GIPS. We are GIPS. Somos que efe ese. We are GIPS. Somos GIPS. We are GIPS. And this is 'The GIPS Cast'!

 

Mitchell Roush  00:31

Welcome back to the GIPS cast, a conversation based podcast exploring the voices of Grand Island Public Schools in Nebraska. I'm your host, Mitchell Roush, the Communications Director here at GIPS, and as always, I am grateful to bring to you new stories from all corners of our district, because here we're driven by our mission of Every Student, Every Day, A Success!

 

Mitchell Roush  00:59

Learning is an active experience. So what does that look like? Well, for our elementary classrooms, it means building opportunities for students to interact with their classmates with a clear prompt, or students moving to different parts of the classroom for conducting different steps in a learning activity, or Partnering for a creative project, and so much more. It may sound, well, active, but all of it is intentional. Each prompt, each activity, each engagement, is designed to help reach all students, so with clear expectations and consistent opportunities for students to share, to to display the learning that they're that they're gaining. An elementary classroom is dynamic and it's meaningful, and that's certainly what fuels Mrs. Carrie Thornton's second grade classroom. Mrs. Thornton has been teaching at ingleman Elementary for 17 years, 16 of those years in second grade, and if you ask her, she will tell you, active learning is key to keeping learning both fun and impactful for students. So I had the chance to visit her classroom during the last week of school, and it was incredible to see the smiles along with the engaged conversations and all of the intentional teaching methods and the level of connection that was being made for the students in her class, they were learning about erosion during Science Time. And to no surprise, those students were more than just knowledgeable about erosion. They understood its impact over time, how it happens, and they could identify the difference in mountain ranges by looking at photos over a period of time. It's really cool stuff. And for Mrs. Thornton's class, erosion came to life for the students through a variety of intentional, active learning prompts. So she sat down with me to chat more about her approach to teaching second grade and all that goes into engaged learning. Here's our conversation.

 

Kari Thornton  03:28

My name is Kari Thornton, and I'm a second grade teacher at Engelman Elementary.

 

Mitchell Roush  03:32

Thank you for being here!

 

Kari Thornton  03:33

Thank you yes for having me.

 

Mitchell Roush  03:35

Absolutely. I'm excited to hear more about you and your experience teaching second grade. So you've had the unique opportunity to teach second grade for 16 out of your 17 years. So you're like an expert.  So, first question is, how did you become an elementary school teacher? Like, how did you end up here?

 

Kari Thornton  03:55

Growing up, I had a lot of influential teachers in my life, my third grade teacher, Mrs. Burback and my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Brogdon and Mr. Hammond in high school. And I just knew, based on how they made learning fun, that I wanted to do the same.

 

Mitchell Roush  04:13

Everyone has a story like that, especially our teachers, right? Like, there was a teacher or a series of teachers that saw something in you, and you were like, I want to be a part of doing that for kids. Yeah, I got to hang out in your classroom for a little bit today, and see you hang out with your kids, and you were talking about erosion and doing science and doing all kinds of different things around the classroom. It was really neat to see, you know, one thing that I've kind of picked up, as I've talked to people across the district, is that teaching, in many ways, can be viewed as an art form, because it's inherently creative. It's definitely challenging. You've got to be flexible as a teacher, but there's a lot of different things going on and so so many things. So talk to me about what it's like to be in your classroom from that perspective, your classroom management style and some of the different things that you do in class to make sure your students are are engaged in getting. What they need.

 

Kari Thornton  05:00

Number Number one for me, is building relationships with my students. So from the start of the year, I'm having lunch bunches with them and having them come in so we can chat in the mornings, I'm meeting them in the gym and visiting with them before the school day starts. And I think that right there is like my number one classroom management strategy is just building relationships and having those conversations with students. Every week in my classroom, we do something called good news, where I allow them to share just anything that might be going on in their lives that they want to share with their classmates and with me.

 

Mitchell Roush  05:39

And what kinds of things do kids share? I imagine you hear a lot of random stuff.

 

Kari Thornton  05:42

Right, I hear all about their pets, and I get to hear about their vacations.

 

Mitchell Roush  05:46

And as fun as that activity may be like that's that's deeply rooted in that bigger motivation you have of building a connection with students, helping them build a connection with each other, and helping them feel good about being at school.

 

Kari Thornton  06:00

Yes, yeah. And then I know their interest too, and so I can capitalize on that, if, if there's some way that I can include that and what we're learning.

 

Mitchell Roush  06:10

That makes a difference. Yeah, I love that elementary students are very curious, little little beans, right? And so keeping them throughout the keeping them engaged throughout the day, I would imagine, can be challenging on some days, maybe some days are easier, easier than others. What are some of your go to methods for making learning fun and engaging? So like today, I noticed when you were talking about erosion with the students, right there was a portion where they got to talk to the person they were sitting next to about things that they remember, that they learned. There was an interactivity piece on their Chromebooks. There was getting up and going to different parts of the room. I'm assuming there's intention behind all of that. So talk to me about some of that.

 

Kari Thornton  06:50

I definitely like to have them do a lot of the active learning. Like them sharing anytime I can get them to share, or them to do, is best. And then I also think just bringing the excitement, like if I'm excited about what I'm teaching, it helps build the excitement for them.

 

Mitchell Roush  07:07

That's a really good point. So talk to me about the interactive learning, the active learning you were talking about, and students sharing what they've learned, either to you or with each other, what? Why is that important in a kid's learning?

 

Kari Thornton  07:20

I don't like to go too long without them having the opportunity to process that information with someone else and getting the chance to talk it out, and maybe they have some connections or something that they want to share. So they get that opportunity to share with a partner, and then possibly share with a class, getting the chance to interact with the content.

 

Mitchell Roush  07:41

What are some other things that you do to make learning more interactive in your classroom?

 

Kari Thornton  07:46

I try to add movement. So when we're teaching new vocabulary words, and I get the kids involved too, trying to think of what actions they could do along with the word to help them remember it. So I think that is also getting up to move, and really helps them.

 

Mitchell Roush  08:04

Yes. They're wanting to move anyway, right? So that's a really good point, but I did notice that today. So again, you you let me come and visit and hang out for a little bit today, and I saw that there was a lot of movement involved, but obviously with very intentional prompts and directions, and they did a great job of following directions, but there was a lot of movement. And so that's clearly by design, and so is that, can you see a difference between the students picking up the learning as enthusiastically, if it's more of they're sitting in their desk the whole time, versus you're engaging with them with movement? More? Does the movement help more?

 

Kari Thornton  08:42

Yes, yeah. Elementary kids need to move every so often, like we they maybe have seven or eight minute attention spans. They just need that movement piece to help refocus and stay energized in the lesson.

 

Mitchell Roush  08:59

I was very impressed with how well your students handled those expectations, right? Because I think I watched your Science Time today, and you were working on science for like 20 minutes or something like that today, and they probably had prompts to get up and go to a different portion of the room, I think maybe five different times, four or five different times during that time, but they all did really well following that. So how much time and practice does that take throughout the year? Because we're recording this at the end of the year, right? So they're used to it by now.

 

Kari Thornton  09:27

Yes, it definitely takes some time to develop that, but they are great at meeting that expectation. We go over it and we practice at the beginning of the year. I start by giving them, like a three minutes to transition and get their materials out, and then we shorten it up and just tighten that piece up throughout the year. So yeah, yep, it was really cool, positive praise.

 

Mitchell Roush  09:51

It was really cool to see another thing I noticed up on your board when you were you were giving a pre correct to make sure they understood. X. Expectations about working together in groups, and you talked about hogs logs and frogs. Yes. Do you wanna? Okay, so I didn't prep you for this, right, but I noticed that today, and I was like, I'm gonna ask her about this later. So I wanna know about hogs logs and frogs, because they were locked in they knew exactly what you were talking about. And whatever that pre correct is, it led to some really good conversation between students. So what's that?

 

Kari Thornton  10:24

That's a mini lesson that we have at the beginning of the year. And we talk about what what they think of when they think of a hog, someone that's hogging the materials or taking all the things, taking over in their groups. And then we talk about what they think of when they think of a log and how it just sits there and does nothing. And then we talk about with the frog, how, in a lot of fairy tales, what does the frog become a prince? And just kind of what, what behaviors they would see from from a frog versus the hog and the log, and a frog would jump into the learning, but allow other people to jump into the learning as well. That's, that's the essence of hogs, logs and frogs.

 

Mitchell Roush  11:08

I love that. And again, giving, giving your second graders like a common lexicon and something that they can identify then instantly with. Okay, so we know we're going to be working in small groups. We know what this expectation is. When you say, go be a frog, that's awesome. So curriculum is a big word when we talk about schools, right, like, especially at the elementary school level, it's, it's a big part of how you handle teaching and the content that you're giving to kids. So how do, how do you in your classroom, adapt the curriculum to try to personalize it for students. Because I hear, I hear that a lot throughout the district, right like you want to try to personalize learning for kids. So what, what does that look like for you in your classroom?

 

Kari Thornton  11:51

Whenever I can, I try to use students names within examples or make connections to their interests. I add visuals and have more ways for them to interact and add movement. And I feel like those are the ways that I personalize.

 

Mitchell Roush  12:07

I noticed today that and this, this is something I see in a lot of classrooms, not just yours, but like, you know, the picking different moments throughout your time together to like, draw sticks with names on them and have that so how do you how do you like identify when's a good time to do that and when's a good time to have the whole group together?

 

Kari Thornton  12:26

I think almost Most times when I'm going to draw sticks, I almost always have the kids turn and talk first, yep. And so it's just kind of a way to check in then and kind of see where the group is as a whole. When I do that.

 

Mitchell Roush  12:40

I'm always fascinated to hear about the classroom interactivity and things like that, because I think that that's one of the ways we can help share with the community. You know, what does school look like now? And so coming back to the science thing that I saw, I know that you don't necessarily do this for every lesson in class, but your students spent very little time during that science time at their desks. They spent a lot of time on the floor as a big group or in different portions of the room, working in small groups. You also did that time right after recess. So I don't know if you've got a rationale behind that at all.

 

Kari Thornton  13:14

I think that's true for most of our day. Actually. Yeah, we are up and moving. That's awesome. Yep, it's not just a science or just after recess thing for me throughout the day.

 

Mitchell Roush  13:25

And that keeps them locked in and engaged; working with you.

 

Kari Thornton  13:29

Yes. I like to start the year so many lessons that kind of work on teamwork, besides the hogs logs and frogs, I we do like a cup stacking challenge with their teams, where they can, they have to stack the cups, but they can't use their hands. Oh, that's awesome. So they have actually a rubber band with four strings tied to it, and they can, they can only touch the string. Yep, it's their string. And they really have to work together to to be able to maneuver the cups and get them in a certain design. That's really cool. We talk afterwards and kind of just debrief and what made that challenging, and what kind of communication they heard with their partners that was helpful versus what communication was hurtful. And so I think that really helps them kind of grasp that teamwork and why it's important to work together.

 

Mitchell Roush  14:23

There's a lot to learn there.

 

GIPS COMMERCIAL  14:31

Public School Newsflash: Free meals are available for the month of June. That's why GIPS has Summer Meals open for free breakfast and free lunch all throughout June. Children, one through 18 years old, eat for free, and adults may purchase a meal for only $5.50 meals will be available at five of our schools. Go to gips.org/summer, for information, where you can go. Get free meals this summer. GIPS is an equal opportunity provider. See you there!

 

Mitchell Roush  15:12

You've been teaching for 17 years and in second grade for most of that time, right? Yes, which is all you've seen a lot. So when you, when you look back on your career, what's a piece of advice that you would give to a new elementary school teacher who's just starting out?

 

Kari Thornton  15:31

I think I would tell them to prioritize their to do list, because you can't do it all. Yeah, focus on what you think is most important and what you can let go.

 

Mitchell Roush  15:43

I feel like that's really helpful advice, right? That concept of a new to the career young educator, wanting to come in and do all the things, or feeling a lot of pressure because you want to make a difference right away. How do you how do you handle like? Maybe it just comes with more more experience, right? How do you handle kind of like that, constant feeling of expectation, but knowing that, like you just want to, you want to take care of your kids and make sure that they're learning.

 

Kari Thornton  16:07

I don't know that this speaks to that, but I feel like when I first started teaching, like I was living in like day to day mode, and I would just be studying my lessons like that night for the next day. And it really throughout my years and getting the and experience I've, like learned that I can look farther ahead, and that's been really helpful.

 

Mitchell Roush  16:30

Learning what's really important and what's really not.

 

Kari Thornton  16:33

Yeah, that takes, that takes a long time to figure out, yep,

 

Mitchell Roush  16:38

Yep, absolutely. That's good though. That's good advice. I'm well, I feel like it's good advice for a young teacher to hear. Don't try to do it all you can. You can be a great teacher if you focus on your priorities. That's okay. Yep, absolutely. So what keeps you coming back to the classroom? Why do you why do you do what you do?

 

Kari Thornton  16:55

I think a lot of it is seeing excitement on the kids faces when they learn something new. Yeah. And I think just the tremendous amount of growth that they show from like the beginning of second grade to the end of second grade is powerful for me. And I just, I enjoy what I get to do every day.

 

Mitchell Roush  17:15

It's cool that, again, that that growth piece, right? You get to, you get a front row seat, like you get to see all these kids grow, which is amazing. Every every kid starts off somewhere, and they're not there when you get to the end of the year, which is amazing. Is there anything else about how you approach your classroom or how you interact with your students that you want to you want to highlight it all.

 

Kari Thornton  17:38

I like to spend a lot of time talking with my students about growth mindset and challenges and mistakes, and how it's okay to make mistakes, that that's proof that they're trying, and that mistakes can help us learn, and that if you can't do something, it's just that you can't do it yet.

 

Mitchell Roush  17:56

The growth mindset piece that's evergreen, Right? I feel like, like, I can use that reminder all of us, right? All of us can use that reminder, but it's so it's refreshing to see that being a resounding message in all of our classrooms, like I see that everywhere we go in the everywhere I go in the district, is that growth mindset piece is so huge for kids to grasp onto, and probably helps with their confidence, I would imagine as well too, knowing that they have a safe space to make mistakes as they're learning and they're trying things. Yes. Carrie, I ask everybody that guests on this podcast this question, because I'm fascinated by the answers. So I want to ask you, what's one thing about public education that you want people to know?

 

Kari Thornton  18:39

Maybe that it's always changing and very complex. Absolutely, I think that like within a single lesson, there can be so much going on that there's a kid that needs a band aid because they have a cut, and there's the student not getting along with another student and just trying to teach the content, yet it also address the needs of my students in that moment and kind of all the other things that might be going on as well. I heard it said that teachers make more decisions than a brain surgeon.

 

Mitchell Roush  19:19

I mean, I don't doubt it. Decision fatigue is definitely a thing, yes, and the thing I it's so I'm actually really grateful that you brought that up. Like I a concept that I kind of come back to an awful lot is the professionalism of being a teacher, like you're a professional doing this. And it is not a small task to do what you just said right to to get up in front of the class and have 22nd graders in your room, and you're wanting to make learning fun and engaging and help make sure that everyone is growing. But then also, each one of them has these other micro needs that are coming up along the way, and you need to effortlessly make sure. Everyone is getting what they need while learning at the same time. To me, I'm like, That makes you a pro?

 

Kari Thornton  20:07

Well, thanks.

 

Mitchell Roush  20:09

Yeah, absolutely. And so I I'm grateful to hear you say that, because I do think it is an underrated piece of our understanding of educators. Thank you so much for letting me come to your classroom and for sharing your voice on the podcast. But more importantly, thank you for everything you do every day in your class. For your kids, it's really cool to see.

 

Kari Thornton  20:30

Thank you for having me!

 

Mitchell Roush  20:38

Absolutely. Once again, thank you so much to Mrs. Thornton and for her sharing her voice, her love of teaching and her classroom with us here on 'The GIPS Cast'. And of course, thank you listeners for joining us on this podcast. We wouldn't be here without you. And also, if you enjoyed this podcast, or if you enjoyed this episode, we would greatly appreciate it if you gave us a rating or a review on your favorite podcast platform, Apple podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio. Wherever it is, you listen to us, it'll help other people discover us along the way. Don't forget free summer meals are going on this summer right now for GIPS, it's free for children ages one through 18, at five of our locations. Go to www.GIPS.org/summer, for all the information you need on our free summer meals program. And while you're at gips.org, check out our updated website! We recently refreshed the website. Make it a little bit cleaner, a little bit easier to use, a little bit more mobile friendly, and it's got all kinds of great resources and trusted information for you at www.GIPS.org. Thank you again for listening along. We will be coming at you soon with some more great stories from our district!

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