St. Robert has gone through many changes throughout the years, including minimal and big alterations. Changes have gone through every classroom. This year, a lot of these changes can be seen in the math classrooms as well.
Last year, the school began a new math curriculum, and this year, new teachers and resources have been dedicated to making this math curriculum the best it can be. One of the newest editions to the subject is Mrs. Popalisky, the sixth grade math teacher. This name may sound familiar because Mrs. Popalisky used to substitute for Ms. Moede before she was a teacher at St. Robert School and she is also a school parent. According to Mrs. Popalisky, she has been doing a little substituting for two years and has been teaching for around six years. She also says she is covering the same math units Mrs. Moede taught to the sixth grade last year, but bringing in a new teacher allows the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to spend more time in math class each day.
In all her years of teaching Mrs. Popalisky has found that there is not one perfect way to teach a whole class. She says she uses games sometimes but for a whole class instruction, games don’t always work well to teach new concepts. Mrs. Popalisky’s words she likes to teach off marker boards. A marker board consists of each student having their own whiteboard to work off of. She gives them a problem to solve, and they use the whiteboard to tackle the problem and report progress back to her. Mrs. Poplisky states this practice helps her see where her students are quickly. She also claims it’s important to use many ways of teaching in order to reach every student.
Mrs. Popalisky also has her own views on math. She believes math is important because math can lead to more opportunities in the future and teach students more skills like reasoning and perseverance. She also thinks math retakes are a great thing to provide students with as it is key to have kids go through their mistakes and give it another go.
Finally, Mrs. Popalisky has goals in teaching math at St. Robert. She states that she hopes for her students to master all standards in sixth grade math. She then also wants kids to find more ways of thinking or understanding. Ms. Popalisky also wants to make math fun this year. She says she tries to make math fun, but it may be a different kind of fun for everyone. Ms. Popalisky is a great addition to St. Robert School. She has plans for her classes and wants to make sure everyone has the same understanding.
