The Grossmont Union High School
District has named El Capitan math teacher Kay Thalman as
its Education Innovator of the Month for May. Superintendent Terry
Ryan said, "We are honored to have Kay Thalman
as
a teacher in our District. She exudes enthusiasm and displays
a passion for student learning."
An El Capitan High School math teacher for twenty
years, Kay Thalman has been the driving force behind innovative math
programs that don't allow students to fail. Principal Bill Sullivan
said, "Kay
is an individual who can teach everybody, from the top
student to the most struggling. She looks at the whole picture
of the school and does what is in the best interest of students and
the school."
Kay is always looking for a better way to teach students and replaces
the traditional, static style of learning with a new, more
dynamic and contemporary model of highly interactive, discovery-based
instruction. Students who claim to hate math, say that her
teaching "makes
it enjoyable," and "I actually understand it." It's
no wonder that she's seeing a doubling in the number of A's,
B's and C's in her AP Calculus and Foundations for Algebra
classes.
Kay spearheaded a highly successful math support intervention class
for students struggling with Algebra I. By enlisting the skills of
peer tutors to assist struggling students, the end result has been
more than simply providing math support. These freshman students benefit
further from the connection to their school that the upperclassmen
provide.
Kay Thalman believes wholeheartedly in the need for
inter-departmental collaboration and pioneered that effort
on El Capitan's campus. She is an amazing teacher who has
taken collaboration with her colleagues to a new level to
ensure that students at El Capitan receive the most effective
math program possible.
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