Photo Courtesy of Reporter Bradley Quaresma
San Luis Obispo High School Teachers change things throughout the year whether it’s to make the class easier or harder for the students. The year is getting closer to the end which means teachers are going to be changing things way more for the upcoming freshman and the new classmen. Expressions interviewed study skills teacher Mr. Grimm and he had this to say about his class changes.
Expressions: What do you plan on changing for next year?
Special education teacher Jessee Grimm: We’d like to get more tutoring help into the Hub next year. This year the school had staffing issues and we were all affected. I am hopeful to connect with Cal Poly and to streamline our Peer Helper class towards offering more tutoring assistance. This includes more consistent grouping of small groups for reteaching concepts, and also helping students implement good study methods and habits so they feel more confident walking into the classroom when it comes time to take their exams, tests, and quizzes.
Expressions: What do you plan on keeping the same?
Grimm: The daily schedule has been very promising, as have the use of planners to help students stay on top of their priorities. The students that use their daily planners consistently seem to be doing well in their classes, because they are reviewing all of their workload on a daily basis. I believe we will keep the same building as well, which is nice because we have many rooms which come in handy for student conferences and small group work sessions.
Expressions: Why are you changing it or keeping it the same?
Grimm: We constantly are reviewing our practices and determining what aspects of our program we’d like to change or keep. We base this judgment on several different factors, including grades, student perception, and staff perception, among others. We have noticed many trends and patterns among students this year, and we want to keep and/or increase the practices that work. Aspects of the program that aren’t helping students pass their classes need to be changed.
Expressions: How will keeping this the same or changing it benefit the class of next year?
Grimm: They say hindsight is 20/20. We have gained a lot of experience this year and we hope to learn from our mistakes, while keeping the good stuff. There are basic habits and mindsets towards learning that we believe are universal, so it doesn’t matter who comes to us for help next year, we believe we can help.
Thank you Grimm and can’t wait to see how this turns up for the next year to come.