Teacher of the Month - Mary Fielder!

Students in Mrs. Fielder's class certainly know and understand her expectations. As the bell rang on Friday morning starting school for the day, all students silently grabbed their IPads and started their work, only stopping to print or ask questions. Mrs. Fielder made her way around the room to check on progress and respond to inquiries. Thanks to Mrs. Fielder, the educational use of technology in the classroom is now second nature to this group of kids.

The teacher of the month for May is Mrs. Mary Fielder!

Mrs. Fielder was nominated by Matthew Cook and Michelle Rowe.  Their son, Cameron, is in Mrs. Fielder's 2nd grade class at Klager Elementary.

Q:  Why does this teacher deserve to be recognized? How does this teacher make a difference in his/her student’s lives?

A:  Mary Fielder is a wonderful second grade teacher at Klager Elementary school. Our son has the pleasure of being in her classroom this year. When we found out he was going to be in Mrs. Fielder’s room, we knew little about her. Mrs. Mayes had told us that Mrs. Fielder was a leader in the building. What an understatement.

In my role as Director of Technology for a Michigan school district, I was recently at a statewide conference. Thousands of educators were at this conference. Mrs. Fielder along with Mrs. Van Raden and Mrs. Tina Maly were presenting on the integration of technology. I was lucky enough to be in this packed room, and watched as teachers gasped aloud and got visibly excited. The woman in front of me exclaimed aloud nudging her neighbor with excitement gleaming in her eyes during one part of the presentation. Therefore, I can say with confidence that Mrs. Fielder is not just a leader in her building but well beyond.  

Technology integration is a part of all classrooms at Manchester Schools, but Mrs. Fielder takes it to a whole different level. Many of her lessons are prerecorded and posted to Edmodo, an online learning tool (think Blackboard for those of you who are recent college grads). Students can watch these videos at their own pace. They can back up and repeat a section if they aren’t sure they got it right. In these videos, Mrs. Fielder demonstrates a few math problems and then prompts students to pause the video and complete the next few on their own. While they are each listening and working she is free to move about the room giving individualized attention to those who need it.  My family took a break from the winter weather this February to travel to Florida. Having her recorded lessons online we were able to log in to Edmodo and have our son keep up with his work while we were away. This has also helped during the many snow days we have had this year as Mrs. Fielder sends us an email asking us to log in to Scoot Pad, Moby Max, Spelling City or one of the other online resources she integrates. This helps students to keep their minds fresh with the latest lessons and not fall behind.

I admire her commitment to education. As she sees the differences some of these tools make for her students she is willing to augment her budget by paying out of pocket. Mrs. Fielder is organized and has a group of parent helpers who she arranges to join the classroom helping with projects and allowing parents a glimpse of their students’ world at school. This helps to build community and gives parents a chance to engage with small groups of students.  

Communication is also great as we receive newsletters, emails, iDiary pages, and recordings created by our students. Each time we receive one of these it brightens our day and we race to tell each other to check email!

This year the elementary classes were told that due to budget constraints each grade would only be allowed one field trip. Knowing the value that their field trips add to their lessons, the second grade team organized a weekend field trip to Alber’s Orchard and an evening field trip to the Jiffy plant in Chelsea. They gave of their time in going above and beyond to plan and chaperone these trips. Each trip was well organized and the sense of community that we felt as we connected with other parents and students was an embodiment of why we love living in Manchester.  

Thank you Mrs. Fielder for all you have done for Cameron and the many students in your class this year and in the past. You truly make a difference in the lives of our students.

Cameron Cook watches closely as Mrs. Fielder demonstrates a problem on a student's IPad.

Meghan Somerville works on her IPad while Mrs. Fielder keeps an eye on her learning.

Mrs. Fielder reviews work with Emma Paxton on her IPad as part of their morning routine.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by News News