Thursday, November 12, 2009

Teacher has a gift for making math add up - washingtonpost.com


Teacher has a gift for making math add up - washingtonpost.com:

"Woodbridge Senior High School freshman Tina Warner said math never came easily to her, until a unique teacher sent her in a new direction.

After failing the math Standards of Learning test last year and seeing her grades slip, Tina said it took educator Sharon Dravvorn and her somewhat unusual teaching techniques to help her turn things around."

"I was so surprised when I had an A in this class at first and now a B," the 14-year-old said. "This has never happened before in a math class. She is easier to understand because of the way she teaches, and her attitude is different. Some teachers are here just to get through the day, but she really cares."

Tina, along with some of her classmates, said Dravvorn's teaching methods include quirky sound effects and classical music. Dravvorn thinks outside the box, they said, and that is why it came as no surprise when the 19-year educator received a $25,000 award from the Milken Family Foundation during a school assembly last week.