Director of Teaching & Learning Miles Azzeh's Academic Spotlight: Wykeya Taylor and Marvis Hunley
Our Lansing USD 469 teachers are incredible at engaging our students in fantastic learning opportunities to reach their full potential every day in our district. To highlight and bring recognition to this great work, Director of Teaching and Learning Miles Azzeh will be regularly shining a spotlight on a stand-out teacher through "academic spotlights."
This week's "Academic Spotlight" goes to 2nd-grade teacher Wykeya Taylor and paraprofessional Ms. Marvis Hunley for their engaging and informative lesson on famous Black Americans for Black History Month.
"The Black History Month Calendar activity introduces and teaches students about a new influential African American person daily. Ones they may or may not know." Wykeya said.
It was fantastic to see the students interacting with new information in a way that allowed them to use multiple learning methods, such as visual and kinesthetic (hands-on), all the while having a great time.
"This calendar is easy to integrate with my BSEL lesson, keeps students engaged continuously with different interactive components embedded, and increases the importance of cultural awareness."
After watching short videos on George Washington Carver and Fredrick Douglass, students worked on drawing pictures and/or writing famous words attributed to their accomplishments, like a peanut for Carver, who invented over 300 used from it (but not peanut butter, as the students learned!) or that President's Day is in February to honor both Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass's birthdays. Students cut and pasted this information onto the calendar for the month (see below).
Students enjoyed the short activity and were excited to learn about the famous accomplishments of Black Americans of the past:
"It's fun and exciting to learn about different African American people and watch videos about them," Elias said.
"Being able to have the calendar gives me a reminder of famous African Americans and what they did/do," Amiya said.
Another aspect I enjoyed witnessing was how hands-on and helpful Ms. Taylor and Ms. Marvis were with students. Whenever a student needed assistance or guidance, one of them swooped in to make sure they met their needs while pushing them to work independently to complete the task. It was indeed a fantastic display of teaching prowess and compassion.
All the aspects of excellent teaching were on display when I visited Ms. Taylor's class and her "scholars" (the name she affectionately calls them) while they were learning about an essential topic.
"The importance of teaching our students about the different African Americas that they have been learning about weekly helps them to learn about cultural awareness. I want them to know that everyone is important despite the color of their skin," Ms. Marvis said.
Great job, Wykeya and Ms. Marvis!