TEACHER'S CORNER: RESPECT KEY IN FOURTH-GRADE CLASS

JACKSON -- Respect and responsibility are keys to survival in Nancy King's classroom. King teaches fourth grade at West Lane Elementary School in Jackson.

"With this concept I try to prepare each student to become a better citizen," she said.

Students work in groups to assist their classmates as peer tutors or teams. Occasionally the teams will have competitive matches or group projects. With the teams, students learn cooperation, she said.

But one of the most valuable classroom tools is the newspaper. "The newspaper has been a flexible, inexpensive instructional tool while teaching at the different grade levels," King said.

"The students are so excited about using the newspaper; it is so `adult,'" she said.

King starts the year with a unit on weather and used the weather maps and articles about world weather in the lessons. "My class also uses the newspaper for everyday math concepts, geography awareness and basic reading skills."

But field trips and special guests are often the most popular teaching tool with students. When the class studies Missouri history, King invites members of the Jackson Historical Society to explain history during a visit.

"A field trip can also be a learning experience," she said. "Each year the fourth-grade students travel to Ste. Genevieve. Three distinctively different homes are toured along with the museum and church. It is an excellent way for students to experience the past."

King has taught in the Jackson School District for 26 years. She has been a third, fourth, fifth and sixth-grade classroom teacher during that time.

She and her husband, Benny, have a daughter who attends junior high school in Jackson. They are members of St. Mary's Cathedral in Cape Girardeau.

King also is a member of the Missouri State Teachers Association and the Jackson Community Teachers Association. She is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University.