A driving force behind all learning opportunities in Alison Babb-Brott’s second grade classroom is the power and importance of student voice. When students feel confident and empowered, their initiative, engagement, and quality of work all begin to increase. And as these habits of scholarship all start to increase, so do Ms. Babb expectations. It is this symbiotic relationship that underlies all of the work they do in second grade.
With so much lost to remote learning, Ms. Babb wanted to create an authentic, motivating project for her students that would lend itself not only to their voices, but also to their desire and ability to create.
She designed this project to give her students a space to reflect on the transition to remote learning and an opportunity to channel feelings of grief and powerlessness into a collaborative art project.
The students spent the final weeks of remote learning thinking, writing, sharing, revising, and drafting, and drawing to create letter pages that commemorate their remote schooling experiences.
The effort they put forth to create such a high quality product, especially given the many challenges to remote creation, is a credit to who they are as scholars.
Student Voices: An Alphabet Book of Remote Learning
“I hope my students will share this book with friends and family near and far, and that copies will eventually make their way onto bookshelves and coffee tables at home; reminding them of what they are capable of, no matter the circumstances,” said Babb-Brott.
This story was submitted by Alison Babb-Brott, a Second Grade Teacher at St. George School in St. George as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. In addition to being a second grade teacher, Babb-Brott is also the 2020 Knox County Teacher of the Year and was recently named a 2021 Teacher of the Year State finalist.
To submit a good news story or idea to the DOE, email Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.