NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Morgan Kappenman, third grade teacher at Wiley Elementary, is February's Allen Samuels CDJR Teacher of the Month. For Kappenman, this is her first year teaching third grade.
"I've kind of been everywhere, but specifically about third grade, I like how independent they are," Kappenman said. "Still, they are young enough where they love to come to school and they love to build those relationships and they are excited about new things. They are also right at that age where they are excited about all those leadership opportunities that we have to offer here at Wiley."
The transition into 'big kids' is key for Wiley third graders.
"The most rewarding thing about third grade is just seeing how much growth, because they go from second grade, third grade is a new hallway, so we're kind of like the upper grade hallway," Kappenman said. "It's fun to see them go from feeling like, so young, to like that huge step, that huge growth, when they get to third grade. That's a lot of fun. That's the most rewarding part."
There are 23 students in Kappenman's class, so that presents some challenges to make sure to teach to each student's abilities and grow them at their best rate.
"Something that we do here at Wiley, we do personalized learning," Kappenman said. "There are not a lot of times that you will see any teacher teaching a whole group. Most of the time, we're doing small groups, to meet those needs of students. You'll see students getting the learning at their own level and not necessarily at another friend's level. That's the hardest thing, but you have to stay extremely organized. You have to have a lot of structure in your room and very clear expectations, to make that possible.
Kappenman's class received a pizza and ice cream party thanks to Pizza Hut and Braums as a result of her award.
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