Gabrielle Lewis: Lots of laughter, love, enjoyable and pleasure within the classroom

For Gabrielle Lewis, 28, second grade is the “sweet spot.”

She is a second-grade instructor at St. Margaret Catholic School, the place she has taught for 3 years. In second grade, college students start their transition into independence. This is the phenomenon that Lewis likes to witness.

“They are just learning to be independent, but they still depend on me for certain things,” she defined. “Their personalities are really forming and they are becoming their own person. They are mature enough to have a meaningful relationship with you while still being childlike”.

She was born in Lake Charles and grew up in Iowa, the place she now lives along with her husband. Her studying expertise was tranquil, she recalled. School got here simply to her. But trying again, she realized there was one instructor who stays in her reminiscence.

Her first-grade instructor, Kimverly Richard, impacted her “through all of her actions” that yr, she stated. Be it by means of enjoyable classes or the connection she fashioned along with her college students, Richard left an impression on Lewis.

Her objective is to emulate this affect in her personal classroom.

“Lots of laughter, love, fun, and excitement, all while learning the required content. My students spend more time in our classroom than they do at their own homes. The experiences they have in my classroom are some of their childhood memories that they will remember forever,” she stated. “To me, that is powerful.”

She graduated from Iowa High School in 2015 and attended McNeese State University to earn a Bachelor’s in early childhood schooling.

She is now in her sixth yr as an educator. Her profession started in Iowa at J.I. Watson, the place she taught first grade for one yr. She was offered with a chance to maneuver as much as second grade, and that’s the place she has been ever since.

She taught at J.I. Watson for 3 years earlier than she determined to work at St. Margaret Catholic School. As a second-grade instructor, she teaches ELA, math, social research, science and faith classes.

She at all times knew she needed to work with youthful kids, however she was uncertain of which grade. As a baby, she would get house from faculty and mirror her day in her personal playroom that she become a classroom.

“My brother still likes to make fun of me for this!”

When she was offered with the chance to show second grade, she had no concept how a lot she would fall in love with second grade.

In addition to the independence her college students start to develop, her favourite a part of her function is to see the “lightbulb” second inside her college students. When an idea lastly “clicks,” she is the primary to see it.

She helps make these lightbulb moments occur by serving to college students learn to navigate their very own studying types.

“Once the learning style is discovered and the students start making those connections, it is just so great. I love to see the look on their faces when that “lightbulb” comes on.

“My very close, second favorite thing about teaching is just the students. Kiddos are just so special.”

Lewis is shut along with her college students. For her, it’s important to kind private bonds with college students that improve their schooling. By studying about their lives each inside and outdoors of the classroom, she might be there for them in any state of affairs.

“I always love to hear the things they come in so excited to tell me from the night before or over the weekend,” she stated. “They truly become my little besites.”

This studying takes place in a classroom that may be a secure haven. Lewis permits her college students to “be themselves, struggle and succeed.” They be taught to be genuine, fail and check out once more – and achieve this as a household.

“I believe that this forms a bond between the students that helps each child feel comfortable and safe within our classroom walls,” she stated. “If a child feels safe, they are more likely to grow and succeed within the classroom.”

With the suitable sources, the suitable curriculum, and (most significantly) the suitable instructor, college students are emboldened to problem themselves and attain new heights. Lewis’s college students are held to excessive expectations. And they obtain them along with her encouragement and steering.

“My students are taught many routines at the beginning of the school year and we practice these routines for weeks,” she stated. “I believe that teaching students routines to help our classroom run smoothly each day instills a sense of accountability within each student. It teaches them that they are responsible for their success.”