Lithia, Florida - At Bevis Elementary in Hillsborough, teacher Pam Nance is teaching her students fractions.
Mrs. Nance says over the years the workload of second graders has multiplied. She reflects on her 18 years in the classroom by saying, “I have taught 6th, 7th, 4th and 3rd grades and the younger they are and the more they are exposed to challenging material and it’s preparing these kids more and more for what they will be doing later in life. “
At one time in her life Mrs. Nance thought she would be an accountant. It only took a couple of years in school for her to figure that was not going to add up. It was he own mother who reminded Nance of how, as a young girl, she would come home from school and play classroom teacher in the basement.
Now those accounting skills are coming in handy when she’s teaching her students about fractions. But it doesn’t end there. Nance says vocabulary skills are also crucial at this age.
On the day we visited her classroom the students were learning about crickets. Her students are familiar with terms like ovipositor and exoskeleton. That’s a mouthful for an adult but these are seven year olds.
Nance says what they learn now will carry over to high school and beyond. She has also introduced her eager student s to books that another generation enjoyed---the classics.
Second grader Avery says she enjoys reading the classics and her favorite so far is the Wizard of Oz. She likes it because the characters become friends.
Mrs. Nance says hearing that her students love reading outside of the classroom makes her happy because she wants them to look back one day and remember how much they loved second grade.
Ginger Gadsden, Tampa Bay's 10 News