|
 |
|
First Master Classroom
Certification in Connecticut
A Year of Firsts for Middle School Math
Class
|
Karl Krauss’s eighth-grade
pre-algebra class has experienced a lot of
“firsts” this year.
It’s the class’s first year at The Bridge
Academy, a public charter school in the
inner city of Bridgeport, Connecticut,
fortunate to be chosen by an open lottery
from a waiting list of over 1,000. Formerly
a school for grades 9-12, the school
expanded to include grades 7 and 8 for the
first time this school year.
Although the school had been using
Accelerated Math since 2001, it was the
first year Krauss’s students had ever used
Accelerated Math.
“On day one of each year, I survey the
students, and 90% of my kids felt they
weren’t good at math, that it wasn’t their
best subject,” Krauss said. “Now, however,
they feel differently. 75% of them now feel
they learn more in math than any other
subject. I think there are two reasons for
this: my teaching style and Accelerated
Math.”
And it was by chance Krauss’s students were
the first eighth grade class to achieve Math
Model Classroom—a distinct honor that has
set fire to not only Krauss’s students, but
to other students and classes in the school.
|
|
“Originally, because our middle school
program just opened this year and these
students were new to Accelerated Math, it
wasn’t my goal for these students to achieve
Math Model Classroom,” he said. “Then, after
about eight weeks, I realized they had a
shot. Knowing it had been done before and
could be reached again, they began working
even harder. Even my weaker students put
100%+ effort in. They are excited—extremely
excited—to have earned this honor.”
Once they’d achieved Model Classroom, the
class was determined to earn Master
Classroom and be the first class ever at The
Bridge Academy to achieve an honor this
high. In February, the class met this
milestone.
“Now that they have earned Master Classroom,
they’ve asked what the next level is. I may
have to make one up!” Krauss said.
Krauss is extremely proud of his class. He
said that striving for certification has
engaged a particular struggling student to
change his ways.
“Yusuf is bright, but didn’t do much
homework and was often behind the class. He
lost assignments, didn’t scan daily—the
whole nine yards. When he discovered with
two weeks to go that he was the missing link
for us earning Model Classroom, he turned it
all around,” Krauss said. “He likes being
liked by his peers, and did not want to be the
one who kept them from earning Model status.
So he worked very hard, and ended up pulling
it off. Everyone was so happy and impressed
with what he had done, and that kept him
motivated. His averages since then have been
high, and he scans daily. It truly turned
him around.” |
<<Return
to Main Page
|
|
|
|
|
|
