Fourth-grade Teacher, Mrs. Alyssa Swantner, Molds "Little Minds"

Even at a young age, PA Distance fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Alyssa Swantner, knew that she wanted to be a teacher. She grew up “playing school” with her young cousins and had looked up to her second-grade teacher, who always made the class fun. Through her past experiences and her love for “little minds,” Mrs. Swantner had pursued her career path as an elementary school teacher when she went to college at Clarion University. She earned a dual bachelor’s degree in early childhood education that covers pre-K to fourth-grade as well as a special education degree that covers newborn to 12th grade.

“I’ve always loved the ‘little minds’ and how they think,” she said of teaching elementary-aged kids. “It’s awesome to see their ‘wheels turning’ when I show them something new. This age group has a special place in my heart.”

Mrs. Swantner began working at PA Distance as an elementary special education teacher in the fall of 2015. Last year, she started co-teaching as the special education teacher with the fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Kayla Hanavan. As the very first PA Distance teaching duo, Mrs. Swantner, as the special education teacher, and Mrs. Hanavan as the general education teacher, worked together to uniquely provide personalization and innovative teaching techniques for their students.

“My biggest job is creating a relationship with my kids to make sure they’re comfortable enough to talk to me and let me know when they need help,” she said

However, as PA Distance’s enrollment grew, so did the need for an additional general education fourth-grade teacher. To fill the need, Mrs. Swantner stepped up and applied to begin the 2019-2020 school year. Again, she was able to co-teach alongside Ms. Hanavan to mold the minds of 50+ students.

Together, they share and split daily instruction for the four core subjects: language arts, social studies, math, and science. Mrs. Swantner teaches social studies and math, and Ms. Hanavan teaches science and language arts. Every week, all fourth graders enter class with the same live learning link where both Mrs. Swanter and Ms. Hanavan welcome them. Fourth-graders meet for math and language arts classes daily, science class two days, and social studies class three days a week.

They take advantage of the extra help by incorporating “breakout rooms” during live classes with their students. “If a student is struggling with a topic or lesson, we will ask them to join either myself or Kayla, depending on the subject, in a breakout room while the other keeps teaching the lesson to the rest of the students,” Mrs. Swantner explained. Inside the breakout room, being an individual chat room, they will work through content with a student in a more personalized way that won’t disrupt the rest of the class.

Mrs. Swantner noted that she and Ms. Hanavan also work closely alongside the rest of the PA Distance elementary team, including principal, Mrs. Aubrey Ploesch, music teacher, Mrs. Elisa Carpenter, health & wellness teacher, Mr. Kevin Hughes, special education teacher, Ms. Hannah Bevington, and school counselor, Mr. Brandon Payne.

They meet with special education teacher, Ms. Bevington, once a week to make sure they’re all on the same page for their kids with individualized learning plans (IEPs). “We have lots of kids to teach, and it’s a lot easier, as teachers and for the students, when we work together,” Mrs. Swantner explained.

From science to health & wellness and from math to music, Mrs. Swantner and Ms. Hanavan consult with other staff members and incorporate cross-curricular lessons to keep things interesting.

“We teach a lot of fractions in fourth-grade math, so there’s always chances to incorporate cross-curricular lessons with PA Distance music teacher, Mrs. Carpenter when she teaches about dividing measures into four beats,” Mrs. Swantner explained. “The kids get excited when they realize that some of our lessons connect to ones they have in other subjects,” she added.

“I love all the staff members here,” she notes. “They’re all supportive and are there so we can bounce ideas off of each other. We all build upon each other with our respective grade levels. We want to make sure that we work together well.”

Another important aspect of teaching “little minds” is the parent engagement and interaction necessary for student success. “Parent interaction is so important,” she described. “We communicate with their parents as much as possible so that they know what their kids need to be successful.”

Mrs. Swantner and Ms. Hanavan collectively keep a contact log to make sure they know who speaks to each parent, noting their conversation. “We have some parents that we talk to every single week,” she said. “Kayla and I often hand the phone off to each other when we’re updating a parent about their child’s progress.”

Mrs. Swantner also noted that student-to-student interaction is not lost in a cyber setting. “The friendships between students are pretty genuine because they don’t judge each other based on their home life, backgrounds, or what type of clothing that they wear,” she explained.

“However, they interact with each other and get to know kids from other areas of the state under the “roof” of one elementary school,” she said. “It’s a pretty cool experience that you don’t get anywhere else.”