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Our amazing members Appoquinimink's Andrea Connally finalist for Presidential Award - by Mary Cleary Connally helps students with IEPs in math or science by learning how to participate in their own learning. between his job on the Eastern Shore and their Philadelphia home, the couple drove to Maryland one weekend to search for a new house. Meandering through the country- side, they crossed into Delaware and found the perfect place for their growing family. That Connally is now one of three finalists from the state for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching shows she moved in the right direction. Her nomina- tion shows she can move students in the right direction, too. As the seventh-grade inclusion E teacher at Alfred G. Waters Middle School in Middletown, Connally teaches science and math to students with Individual Education Plans (IEP's) within a larger class she shares with co- teacher Becky Mazer. Science les- sons include life science and genet- ics, properties of matter and the Delaware Watershed. They concen- trate on geometry and statistics in math. Even complex lessons can be understood when students learn to break information down Yes, theirs is a demanding cur- riculum, but Connally knows lots of strategies to involve her students in the same lessons as more capable students in their class. Differentiation is embedded in the lessons themselves, she says. "I focus on the big idea, the essen- tial goal of the Common Core State Standards, and I simplify it," Connally says. "My students learn a complex concept in simpler terms." Connally also rewrites directions leven years ago, when Andrea Connally's husband tired of the daily commute in simple terms, and insists that students read them. She uses graph- ic organizers, she scaffolds lessons, she gives them extra time and, for several students with writing dis- abilities, she offers some prepared notes to assist their note-taking. "They feel like they're participating in their own learning," she says. "They're invested in the lesson." Technology helps All science and math classrooms in the Appoquinimink School District are equipped with Smart Boards, enabling Connally and Mazer to present audio and video lessons via United Streaming. They also have Red Cat technology and wear microphones so students can hear. Uses questions to guide the learning, help students really think But Connally declares that the best instructional practice for increasing the achievement of her students is questioning, because that encourages students to really think. "During instruction, I use questions to scaffold their learning by providing question prompts that guide their thinking," she says. "The use of questioning allows my students to problem solve independ- ently and know at the end that the solution was their accomplish- ment." Independent thinking is neces- sary for students to make connec- tions to what they are learning. They become more engaged, more confident and more willing to par- ticipate, Connally adds. "I remember a student who, after much exposure to my questioning strategy, raised her hand one day to ask me a question. As I walked over to her, she said, 'Never mind. You're just going to ask me a question. I think I can figure it out.'" Of course, students themselves ask lots of questions, the most com- mon being, "Am I right?" says Connally, who believes that getting the answer right is secondary to 8 Nov/Dec 2011 DSEA ACTION! Independent thinking is what helps struggling students be successful, believes Andrea Connally. How a student gets a correct answer is more important than the answer itself. how a student got the answer. "I respond with 'What do you think?' followed by 'What makes you think that?' or 'How did you get that answer?'" Questioning becomes contagious, and she hears students asking what Connally calls 'clarifying questions' to their peers. Students are learn- ing how to clearly communicate a response, learning from each other. "This is the environment I hope to achieve in each of my collaborative groups or pairs," Connally says. She carefully monitors student achievement on summative and common assessments which give her an accurate picture of their performance compared to students who do not receive special educa- tion services. "Over the years, this analysis of data gives me insight into my teaching," she says. "I know that my teaching is effective when my students are able to per- form at the expected level of mas- tery." Connally earned an undergradu- ate degree in Psychology from Temple University in 1996 and a Master of Education in Curriculum, Instruction and Technology from Temple three years later. From 2007 until 2010 she pursued a post-graduate course of study in Middle School Math at the University of Delaware. After five years as a regular class- room teacher in Philadelphia, she stopped teaching for three years to stay home with her three sons, the youngest born shortly after the move to Delaware. She was a sixth- grade Special Education teacher in the Capital School District for a year before accepting her current assignment in 2007. Connally currently serves on the Appoquinimink Special Education Leadership Committee and the Governor's STEM Council. Connally admits she is over- whelmed about being nominated for the Presidential Award, the highest honor for math and science teach- ers in the USA which includes a $10,000 bonus. "It is awesome to be recognized for what you do every day for chil- dren," she says. "It is not only an honor for me, it also honors the teaching profession and all the great teachers who have influenced others to be great." Mary Cleary, now retired, is a former Nationally Board Certified reading resource teacher, having taught for nearly 40 years in the Christina School District. You can reach her at mmarymarble@msn.com www.dsea.org .