Selena Chamblee, 7th Grade Math Teacher at Berkeley MS, is Teacher of the Month – January 2014
Mrs. Selena Chamblee, 7th Grade Math Teacher at Berkeley Middle School accepted her Teacher of the Month award from Sherry Phipps owner of School Crossing. Voting took place WilliamsburgFamilies.com
Read below to learn more about this wonderful local teacher:
How long have you been teaching and teaching at Berkeley Middle School?
This is the start of my 23rd year of teaching and I have been very fortunate to complete all the years at BMS.
What drew you to teaching, teaching at Berkeley Middle School and was there any particular reason you chose to teach 7th Grade Math?
When I was in middle school I had a bad experience with a teacher and I decided in that moment that I wanted to be a teacher so that none of my students would ever feel the way that particular teacher made me feel.
Can you mention a project that you were able to engage the kids outside of the classroom?
This year my advisory class participated in a pen pal project with my sister, Tina Turner’s, third grade class at Kiln Creek Elementary School. Our students wrote each other weekly and on Fridays we Facetimed. We were able to take a fieldtrip to Kiln Creek to have lunch with our pen pals. I was so proud of my students. They treated their pen pals with so much respect and attention. I wish everyone who has ever thought a middle school student only cares about themselves could have seen my kids!
What perspective have you gained from being around teens daily?
I love this age group! They are funny, sensitive and caring people.
What do you want your students to be able to do when they leave your classroom – that you know will prepare them for further education and life in general?
I want them to able to persevere. Life is hard and you don’t always get the right answer the first time, but if you keep trying and keep working hard you will eventually meet with success.
If you could ask parents to do one thing to help their children’s academic success what would it be?
Give education value in your home! If students know that their parents value education and have an expectation of success then they will seek out the help they need to meet those expectations.
Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you and/or your class that you find you post, read, share or just meditate on?
If you always do what you’ve always done then you will always get what you have always gotten. Students want to do well in school, but they often don’t know how. I use this quote often to point them to trying a different method if their first method was/is not successful
Do you have any life lessons that the students in your class have taught you – maybe a short story about kindness, sharing or just a 7th grader’s perspective?
Many years ago I taught a student whose class decided they were not going to participate in an activity that a teacher assigned because they didn’t think it was fair. Their thinking was they wouldn’t get in trouble if they all refused to do the assignment. This child completed the assignment and went against what all of the other students were doing. She came to me and told me her friends were upset with her but that she had to do what was right and that meant doing what the teacher asked. This child had enough confidence in herself to go against her peers and do the right thing. I thrive every day to give my students the confidence to make decisions that might not always be comfortable, but are the right thing to do.
We think that Williamsburg is lucky to have Mrs. Chamblee as one of its teachers!
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