TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
For the past seven weeks
we've been taking you inside the classrooms of local teachers who are
considered by their peers to be among the best.
Today, we take you to
Desert View High School, where Mrs. Casey has a way of getting her students to
step out of their comfort zone.
Most people cringe at the
thought of pronouncing a word wrong, out loud, especially teens, in front of
their entire class, but not Danielle Celaya, she actually doesn't mind being
corrected.
"If I say it wrong she'll
correct me, and then I'll understand how it's said," commented the
sophomore.
English teacher, Mae Casey
encourages her students to volunteer to read. She says as more and more kids
take part, others build up the nerve to do the same.
"They realize everybody
messes up, it's not a big deal and it also helps the classroom climb. The students help each other with
pronunciation, they don't' make fun of each other," Casey said.
"I actually get
embarrassed to read cause I don't want to mess up, but I see other people
messing up so I do get confident," said Noemi Caballero.
Casey even has her own
library, where students can check out books they are not assigned to read. It's her attempt at getting kids to love
reading again.
"What we find is, when
they're in elementary they love to read.
It's all fiction. Then they get
to middle school and it's a lot more expository text, they hate it, they stop
reading. They become really rusty," said
Casey.
And what makes Casey stand
out students say, is that she really makes sure they are comprehending what they
are reading.
"When you don't understand
something, she'll explain it better and if you still don't understand she'll work
with you and she'll keep explaining it," said Noemi Caballero.
"She actually takes the
time to make you learn. She's really
dedicated to what she does," said student Danielle Celaya.
Casey says she's on a
reading crusade this year, getting her students to enjoy reading.
She says it might be her
library that is making her goal happen. Casey says there are usually 20 books
checked out at a time.
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