Pattie Brittan: Self-evaluations and open communication

Pattie Brittan of Harmony School of Innovation was never one of those “A+ students,” but she always wanted to teach. She was drawn to the teachers who loved to teach and empowered their students to learn and wanted to be that herself one day.

Pattie Brittan was in a unique situation in high school: she had a block class where she learned about becoming a teacher. “That confirmed it for me, that I wanted to be a teacher,” said Pattie of her experience. After graduation, she went to college to become a teacher and never looked back!

Though she’s living out the goals of her younger years, Pattie isn’t finished by any means. She stays up on current teaching trends and practices through books on education. “Those types of tactics help me process what [to do] as a teacher to help me be successful,” Pattie explained.

When she’s on the ground in the classroom, Pattie focuses on figuring out where her students are. She finds that games are a great way to see where her students are excelling or struggling. Beyond games, group whiteboard activities are efficient in pinpointing strengths and weaknesses. Pattie said this isn’t just helpful for her but is also beneficial for her students in knowing where they are.

Pattie’s classroom is an active and engaging affair. “The students are on their feet almost the whole class period. We get in and get to the whiteboards pretty quickly,” she said. There’s no one-way communication in her classroom. Pattie emphasized that she allows her students to provide her with feedback on how they feel they’re doing. On a scale of 1-5, her students rate their confidence in different areas, giving themselves an honest self-evaluation.

Math isn’t a spectator sport in Pattie Brittan’s classroom. Pattie’s classroom thrives on constant communication and self-evaluation with an engaged and standing set of students.