TEACHER'S CORNER: STUDENTS LEARN BY DOING IN JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SECOND-GRADE CLASSROOM

Benita Daniel believes children learn best by doing. So her second-grade students at Jefferson Elementary School do a lot.

"We do a variety of activities in the classroom that involve the children doing hands-on activities, which may include cooking, planting, experiments and making projects," Daniel said.

"I believe children need to do in order to learn. They seem to grasp and retain the tactile experiences more readily than the visual or auditory things," she said.

Providing the students with activities that allow them to succeed is important, Daniel said, especially for second graders.

"Young children need very positive experiences in their early childhood years so they can form an overall positive attitude toward school and learning from the very beginning," Daniel said. "They need a variety of materials and teaching techniques available to them to spark individual interests."

Daniel said she uses a whole language approach in her classroom. The approach includes thematic units that involve several different subjects and interests.

And Daniel said she can see the payoff from her students.

"It is very gratifying to watch their reactions as they remember specific things we learned in a unit or activity as it is later presented in another lesson or book," Daniel said.

Daniel earned a bachelor's degree in home economics and child development in 1984. She then earned a bachelor's degree in early childhood education in 1986.

She enjoys jogging and reading. She is a member of the Missouri State Teachers Association and the Community Teachers Association.