Jamie Knight - A 2019 TRRE Graduate in the Classroom

Jamie Knight was featured in the December 2018 edition of Branches when she was a teaching resident in SAU 3 at Brown Elementary School. Jamie is now working as a second grade classroom teacher at Edward Fenn Elementary School in Gorham, NH, where she was formerly the Site Director of the after-school program. 

As a classroom teacher this year Knight said, "I am able to connect with the students and establish relationships to provide them with a comfortable learning environment where they feel safe to make mistakes and take charge of their own learning.” 

We checked in with Jamie to see how her first month of school has been.

Jamie and her daughter, Paityn

When asked what makes her community unique, Jamie reported on the many opportunities her students have throughout the year to experience the outdoors through school programming. Her students have already been on a field trip to a local park, have multiple trips to the AMC Center in Pinkham Notch planned, and can participate in the Winter Program which allows students to participate in a variety of outdoor programs, including skiing or snowboarding at Wildcat Mountain.

Jamie reported that her coursework in the TRRE program, especially the reading and math methods courses have been essential in her first month as a classroom teacher. She is also implementing what she learned in the assessment course and is actively using formative assessments to inform her instruction. She has also found it helpful that her residency took place in a second grade classroom, which is the same grade she is teaching in this year.

During the beginning of the school year, Jamie has reflected on her experience teaching
classroom routines to her second grade students. She noted that it is much different experience as the classroom teacher, and she has been sure to give the students the time they need to establish and understand routines in her classroom. She also reported to us that her classroom has housed three different animals as a part of their science curriculum: Dwarf African Frogs, Fiddler Crabs, and Millipedes. Jamie’s students have enjoyed wondering about these animals (though she admitted fitting the feeding and tank cleaning schedules of these animals into her day has been a unique challenge).

Jamie was originally interested in joining the TRRE program because she had worked with youth in her community in various capacities but wanted to become a classroom teacher in order to experience the school year with one group of students and grow together as a community. Looks like Jamie is on track to meet her goal of combining community activities with a caring classroom for her students! 

Jamie's classroom