Written by Nate Firetag and Melissa Nunez-Martinez, Staff Writers
Mrs. Bernard, the Riverside native, Lord of the Rings loving, English teacher is new to Poly High School. Poly Spotlight visited her classroom-version of Middle Earth to conduct an interview for the first edition of Teacher Features.
Mrs. Bernard had always been passionate about reading. Her family “didn’t grow up with a lot of money” so her mother always looked for free things to do. This is when Mrs. Bernard was introduced to the library. “I was reading Anne Rice and Tony Morrison at like eleven and twelve,” she says. “I’ve always been into literature.”
When asked how reading has changed her perspective on life, she answered “I think it made me a better critical thinker, able to problem solve better, and it made me more understanding and open to other people’s experiences.”
Current literacy statistics show that nearly half of American adults read below a 6th grade level. Teachers have been tasked with what seems to be an impossible task to fix. When asked how she plans on attacking the literacy problem, she answered, “In my classroom, currently, it’s low tech. So we hardly ever use the chromebook. They are writing, they have work packets that they do every week, and then I’m just into them writing on paper with pen and pencil.” She also mentions how reading out loud just ten minutes a day can help improve reading skills.
“I’m trying really hard to get the chromebook out of the classroom.”
“There was a study done, I think about 2 or 3 years ago, maybe a little longer than that. This generation is the 1st generation in modern history to be less cognitively able than the generation before. And it’s not necessarily your generation’s fault. There’s a one-to-one tie to when they introduce tech into the classroom. So I’m trying to get tech out as much as possible.”
However, she doesn’t believe that removing technology completely is possible. It will “[leave] out students like EL students, students who need extra support and they need that technical classroom to be able to be successful.”
When asked about her favorite book, Mrs. Bernard gestured around her classroom, decorated with a fantasy theme. “Lord of the Rings! I’ve always loved Lord of the Rings. I read The Hobbit in 5th grade…and I’ve just kind of been in love ever since.”
Mrs. Bernard is an exciting new addition to the Poly family and we are so lucky to add her to our fellowship.