TEACHER'S CORNER: MATHEMATICS TEACHER GETS STUDENTS TO USE SKILLS IN REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS

WOODLAND -- Remedial math teacher Linda Whitener enjoys teaching her students to apply their skills to real life. All levels of math are embedded in everyday life, she said; students sometimes just don't realize it.

"I write tons of word problems and stories using their names and interests and career choices in real life situations," said the 24-year teaching veteran. "We use menus, sale bills and maps, and at the end of the year, my sixth-graders get to write checks for a few weeks in a checking account unit where we get paychecks and have to pay bills."

Whitener said she tries to give the students at Woodland Elementary School easy methods of learning math rules and routines. Slogans, catch phrases, recipes, games, puzzles and anything else that will reinforce a lesson is used, she said.

Whitener said she also likes to apply math skills to her many crafting hobbies. The wife and mother of two enjoys sewing, weaving, woodcarving and other crafts when she isn't teaching, and several of her crafts have been published in Country Woman magazine.

"I'm also a bleacher mom for the volleyball and basketball teams that my kids participate on," she said.

Old-fashioned values are important to Whitener. Students need to be respectful, obedient, courteous and must take responsibility for their actions, she said.

"I expect and demand that my students observe these values in my classroom, and I treat them the same way I expect to be treated," she said. "One of my goals for my students is to prepare them to be good employees, citizens and taxpayers. These values will stand them in good stead throughout life."

Because she gives students additional help outside the classroom, Whitener said it's important for her to have constant communication with classroom teachers. This allows her to individualize lessons for each student, she said.

"They tell me what skills the students are working on in the classroom," she said. "I then break these skills down into the smallest steps possible so that my students can understand them better."