TEACHER'S CORNER: ST. DENIS TEACHER USES COOPERATIVE LEARNING TO HELP STUDENTS PROGRESS

BENTON -- St. Denis School teacher Janie Cox uses cooperative learning to help her first- and second-grade students progress during the year. Students spend little time working independently, she said, and although it looks chaotic, a lot of work is actually accomplished.

"The students learn at their level rather than just their grade or age," said Cox. "The older children frequently help the younger ones, and if one grade is working independently, that means I am with the other grade."

Cox said she uses uncommon methods to help her students understand concepts and enjoy learning. It's not unusual to hear students singing poetry to learn phonics or playing bingo for practice with reading and spelling, she said.

"The English curriculum we use involves rhymes and songs that repeat parts of speech and sentence structure," she said. "First- and second-graders do a beautiful job of labeling sentence parts if they think it is fun."

The small school atmosphere at St. Denis fosters a family feeling in students and teachers, she said. Classes are just the right size to sit on the carpet in a circle to read, and there are ample opportunities to give students individual help when needed.

Teaching was not Cox's first choice of professions -- she said she had planned to "do something important." After realizing the impact teachers had on her own children, however, she decided it was a job she could love.

"There is never enough time to teach every student everything you want them to know, but I can see a big difference in the way they read and write in September and what they can do in May," she said. "It makes me feel great."