November 2024 Educator Spotlight: Chelle Hambelton
This month, the CCTM would like to acknowledge Chelle Hambleton for all of her amazing work as a high school math teacher at Ralston Valley High School in Arvada, CO. Chelle was nominated by her colleague, Andrew Busch. Chelle believes that every student has something meaningful to contribute to her classroom. As their teacher, it is her job to help guide them so that they can share their thinking with everyone. She believes that when students are able to communicate their ideas to each other, they become the keepers of knowledge; then students and teachers can build a learning community together. Chelle firmly believes that every student can succeed in math. Chelle is intentional about building her classroom community. She implements random seating in her classroom, so every Monday, students get a random card that tells them where they will sit that week. Students do so many activities in groups. Sometimes, they are working together with their table to solve problems, and sometimes, they are up at the white boards solving problems with partners. Students can see each other's work at the whiteboards and she helps students build confidence in asking others for help. Chelle has implemented EFFL lessons (experience first, formalize later), so students are always experiencing and playing around with math before they get lectured at. She does a lot of games to help students review for tests (Connect 4, Bingo, Blooket, etc.) to keep the classroom engaging. As a class, students raised money for Ralston Valley's Make-a-Wish Week. Her students are always moving around and helping each other to be successful. Chelle engages in her own professional growth and development. She was recently able to attend a Thinking Strategies workshop which was powerful because it illuminated how important discourse is in a classroom. Additionally, she was able to go into other teacher's classrooms at multiple schools and see what strategies they were using to get their students to communicate with each other. She learned that discourse has one of the highest effect sizes of any teaching strategy in a classroom. She was also able to see in action how powerful student metacognition can be in helping kids get unstuck with problem solving. This professional learning affirmed a lot of things Chelle was already doing in her classroom, but also pushed her to consider how to take her teaching to the next level. She gained a clear vision of how to push her students to name and retain the thinking strategies they are using in problem solving, which helps them become more reflective learners. In turn this is evidence that Chelle is a reflective practitioner. Student recognition is important to Chelle and her colleagues. They give out Mustang Awards for students who show significant growth in their classes. Chelle nominated two students that do not have A’s in math class, but work really hard. They were both students who sought help during office hours at least once a week and tried really hard to understand. They were recognized by our principal and were given a donut breakfast at an award ceremony. They were both so grateful for the award. It made them try all that much harder in Chelle’s class because they realized that their hard work was recognized and that their thinking was important. It is for all these reasons and numerous more that the CCTM board is pleased to shine a spotlight on Chelle Hambleton for her hard work, dedication, and outstanding teaching at Ralston Valley High School. |
