Algebra teacher Amanda Pritt recently took on the role of teaching at Crown Point. Prior to this, she was a student teacher at Crown Point and was a teacher at another school.
Pritt’s decision to move was to support the best interests of her family. It was convenient for her to work in the same school district as her kids.
“It was best for the family because we live in Crown Point, and we wanted to be on the same school schedule. My kids and my husband are in the same school system,” Pritt said. “At one point, we were all in different school systems, and it was chaotic, so my coming to Crown Point gives us more time together than if we were all in three different school systems again.”
Moving to a new school system can come with challenges because every school is different. Pritt found it challenging to latch on to the new curriculum, but she was able to succeed with the help of the other teachers.
“The biggest challenge moving here was changing how I taught, changing the curriculum. I really was able to feel successful as the year went through teaching this curriculum by talking to other math teachers,” Pritt said. “They helped me to focus on certain things, certain words, and certain ways to teach. I feel the support from the other teachers, who helped me get through the material and do my best at facilitating the material.”
Pritt finds her main responsibility in the classroom to be facilitating the material to the students in a way that can be applied to future life situations.
“To get students to think about critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and higher-order thinking in order to move on to the next level. We do not necessarily assess the higher-order thinking questions, but there are many times in class where we give lots of different scenarios to apply the math to real-life situations,” Pritt said.
Positive reinforcement helps maintain student motivation as Pritt utilizes encouragement towards her students’ learning ablilties in the classroom.
“I am always encouraging students to ask questions and talk to their peers. We all know, especially in math class, how anxiety builds up because they feel like they don’t know things, so I am always trying to read the students,” Pritt said. “If I know someone is struggling, but they got something right, I try to call on them to give me a little correct answer just to keep the motivation going, just to keep the participation going, because if you don’t participate in math, it’s really hard to do well.”
Pritt prioritizes her family by opening herself up to a new school, and also prioritizes her students by giving them the best opportunities. Overall, Pritt utilizes numerous strategies in the classroom to keep the students engaged.
