TEACHER'S CORNER: SEEING STUDENTS LEARN GIVES TEACHER ENJOYMENT

Debbie Schlitt, a first-grade teacher at Guardian Angel school in Oran, enjoys watching people learn. The wife and mother of two says children express an excitement when learning that is never seen in adults.

"It's so gratifying to watch their excitement as they learn new things," said Schlitt, who is in her ninth year of teaching. "You just don't see that kind of excitement in adults."

Schlitt has several activities that help her students learn without using a textbook. Probably her most popular exercise is the "ticket out." This is a vocabulary exercise that helps students learn new words. Before students can leave the room for recess, lunch or another destination, they have to identify one of the vocabulary words on a list near the door. If they correctly identify a word, they are allowed to leave; if not, they have to go to the end of the line to try again.

"This gives the students five or six times a day to practice their vocabulary words, something we wouldn't have time for otherwise," Schlitt said.

Teaching first-graders often makes Schlitt laugh because they often use words incorrectly. For example, one student told her class she was going to be in a "python" soon. What she really meant was she was going to be in a" math-a-thon" soon.

When she isn't working, Schlitt likes to spend time with her husband, Don, and her two children, Tyler, 3, and Brooke, 1. She also enjoys gardening and reading.