LEWISTON — As Cyndi Polisky’s kindergarten class learned their numbers, Polisky had an extra student watching her teach.

Thirteen Thomas College students spent the day at Montello Elementary School on Wednesday, observing veteran teachers.

On the fifth day of the school year, Polisky’s kindergarten students counted to 100 and played “the missing numbers.”

“Mohamed, would you like to come up?” Polisky asked. Students closed their eyes as Mohamed smiled, picking up cards with the numbers 3, 4 and 7.

Eyes opened. Mohamed hid his cards. Kindergartners began figuring out which numbers were missing. When their attention began to drift, Polisky asked students not to proceed “until everyone is ready to learn.”

She said, “criss-cross applesauce, meatball in your lap,” a cue for students to sit up, put their hands in their laps and focus. It worked.

Thomas College education professor Philomena McPhee said she’s brought her students from the Waterville campus to Montello for three or four years.

At Montello, her students “see learning the way it should be.” The school provides an authentic learning experience where college students watch “teachers apply best practices to individualize learning to meet the needs of each one of these students,” she said.

McPhee, of Turner, is a former Lewiston High School teacher before becoming an education professor.

What Polisky did right, McPhee said, was use different kinds of teaching — showing numbers in sequence and taking numbers out of sequence — to ensure students understood what was being taught. “That’s best practices, using a variety of strategies to make sure they understand.”

Polisky’s voice was compassionate, McPhee said. As the teacher called on students, she made sure everyone was sitting comfortable and practiced self-control, a critical skill in early education.

Spending time in real classrooms “is a life-altering experience” for her college students, McPhee said. “They leave here having a clear perspective of how challenging education is. It’s long hours, not 7-3. It’s not 175 days a year.”

McPhee said she reads newspaper stories about below-average test scores at schools like Montello. “Little does the public know how hard these teachers work” and make a difference in children’s lives.”

Thomas College senior Michelle Dumont spent the day in first grade where she learned about “classroom centers,” a way to teach large classes.

“I’ve read about them, today I got to see them in action,” Dumont said.

Classroom centers are when a teacher breaks a classroom into small groups to teach subjects such as reading and math. Each group can offer different learning styles. That allows more individualized learning, “and no one slides between the cracks” Dumont said.

“My class was amazing,” Dumont said. The Montello teacher “had a handle on her class.”

Allen said she watched how Polisky managed her class without being critical, to say “criss cross” instead of telling students to pay attention.

“Use five positives for every negative, the teacher says that,” Allen said.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

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