Megan Brown, 5th Grade, Moreno Elementary

Spotlight: Kagan Structures, Collaborative Conversations, AVID, Eureka Math, RACES Writing, Classroom Managment

This is the start of my 19th year teaching in OMSD. I have taught 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th,  and 4th/5th combo classes. In 2024, I was nominated by my principal, Kimberly Martindale, for the CA Teacher of the Year Award.  I was selected as a winner for OMSD and also for the County of San Bernardino! Winning this award was such A HUGE honor, and definitely a highlight of my career.

   I am a strong believer of First, Best Instruction. Several years ago I had started incorporating more academic based collaborative conversations and cooperative learning structures (Kagan) within my classroom and saw the power behind it;  The level of thinking and learning that I have observed amongst my students has blown me away!  Being an AVID school, our ultimate goal is to get the students to a point where they can conduct  Socratic Seminars and Philosophical Chairs. Collaborative conversations is definitely a gateway into these structures.

 I also incorporate a variety of these Kagan structures throughout the daily Eureka Math lessons to enourage academic discourse. I have seen my students make tremendous gains in Math due to these structures.

It’s a really rewarding experience as a teacher to watch them grow from where they begin in August doing simple Kagan  partner-talk strategies, such as a Rally-Coach, to eventually being able to run a class-wide Socratic Seminar or Philosophical Chairs with minimal teacher assistance.  Ultimately then applying those discussions to write multi-paragraph constructed response essays,  citing across texts as the end result.  The kids love having collaborative conversations through cooperative grouping structures, they're highly engaging strategies, and they make learning fun! Not to mention the outcomes for student learning and growth! I incorporate Kagan structures across curriculum.

 I believe that in order for these structures to successfully take place, you need to create a positive and safe learning environment for your students by building relationships and making connections with them.  I look forward to sharing this journey with you throughout the school year as you follow my TeacherGram page.