mrs. Alison VanOverbeke
My Teaching Time at
Prieto
Prieto Math & Science Academy is Title I, dual-language school (pk-8), located on Chicago's west side. While statistics may claim the underserved students at this school are falling behind other students in the state in terms of test scores, it should be noted that these scholars are making strong academic progress as a direct result of the strong leaders, collaborative efforts, and ambitious instruction of the teachers and staff at Prieto.
Health & Wellness:
2022 - Current
Following the pandemic, the need for Social Emotional learning was at an all-time high across the country; particularly at my school since our neighborhood of Belmont Craigin was one of the hardest hit with Covid during the Pandemic in terms of loss; loss of jobs, loss of homes, and loss of lives.
In turn, with the support of my administration, I created a Health and Wellness class that focused on the topics of mental, social, and physical health and safety in an effort to address the upheaval. Each lesson in my holistic class incorporated some aspect of the CASEL competencies, in addition to wellness activities that teach emotion regulation and help kids be the very best version of themselves no matter what circumstances.
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My administration was able to further assist me in this endeavor by sending me to the Breathe for Change program where I became a certified yoga teacher and SEL Facilitator. They also asked me to be on the Culture & Climate Committee and offered me the chance to become CASEL Lead Certified.
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Check out some of the photos from class on the right! This class is definitely one aspect of teaching I am MOST PROUD of.
6th Grade ELA:
2019 - 2022
There was an sudden need to fill a math position, which resulted in an ELA opening. My principal had been aware of my education and experience teaching this content area and asked if I would finish out the year as an ELA teacher. I loved it, so I chose to stay in that role.
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As an ELA teacher I met my students where they were academically and worked towards immense growth. We structured my classes into three parts: 15 minutes of skills practice, a 20 minute mini-lesson (I do, we do, you do), and reading or writing workshops. During these workshops, my young scholars worked on digital notebooks to collect and present their learning. They chose the novels they read (guided by the their lexile level and the "five finger rule"). My scholars also chose topics they wanted to write about. I strongly believe that offering student choice is how to foster a true love of reading and writing.
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During this time, I worked with an amazing team of teachers whom I will remain life-long friends. We made it through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The first months of the pandemic and the final months of the 2019-2020 school year, our entire district went online. School year 2020-2021 was almost entirely online until the final months in which we provided a hybrid model (several students sat in classrooms with teachers while they taught to the masses online).
By the end of that year, most of my teacher team had decided to leave the teaching profession, simply burnt out for going above and beyond. We also had a change in leadership at our school. In turn, I felt like I needed a change, so I attempted to reinvent the health class our school had to better coincide with the changes in the field and the education our scholars needed now.
Physical Education:
2016 - 2019
I was asked to interview and higher quickly. Much to our surprise, the state of Illinois did not accept my MI teaching license and I needed to complete additional college classes to be fully hired. In turn, I worked as a full time teacher, but was listed as a sub for the first year.
