COMBINATION CLASSROOM OFFERS TEACHER AND STUDENTS REWARDS

Teaching a class with fifth-graders and sixth-graders presents some challenges, but Guardian Angel teacher Sandi Hulshof believes it also offers opportunities for her students.

"I have twice as many papers to grade, lesson plans, and I have to keep one class occupied while I am teaching the other," said Hulshof.

"However, there are advantages for both the students and myself. The sixth grade gets a review of what they learned the year before, while the fifth graders are introduced to what is yet to come," she said. "Several of my sixth graders have told me that they remember something we talked about last year and then have been able to apply that knowledge to what they are studying now. That is my advantage -- knowing that I have done a good job teaching something."

Hulshof is currently in her fifth year of teaching. Guardian Angel School is situated in Oran.

Hulshof earned a bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University and is now working toward her masters.

She believes students should have a chance to express their individual creativity. This year, students have been involved in a science fair and geography bee.

"A few years ago, I was teaching American History to seventh- and eighth-graders. We were studying the Pilgrims' arrival on the Mayflower, and as a class project the students were to write and perform a skit based on that topic," Hulshof recalled.

"Some very talented and creative students presented their skit as a rap. The Pilgrims were rapping the story of settling the New World while the Native Americans were break dancing. The whole thing turned out so well that they performed it for their parents at the Home and School meeting."

Hulshof said the story illustrates why she enjoys teaching. "One of the most rewarding things about teaching is the satisfaction of knowing that your students have enjoyed a lesson or unit, and can retain the information and apply it to other areas of the curriculum."