Back to School: Getting to Know 3rd Grade Teacher Stephen Hughes

With the start of elementary school are almost here, Wrentham Patch had the chance to sit town with a pair of new teachers at the Delaney School. A first year teacher, Stephen Hughes comes to Wrentham to teach third grade after working at Heights Elementary School in Sharon.

Tomorrow we will profile fellow third grade teacher Courtney Tufts.

Patch: How has your summer been?

Hughes: It’s been great. I’ve been working in Sharon (Heights Elementary School) doing summer school stuff and trying to come in here as much as possible to set things up.

How have you gone about setting up the room?

I’ve definitely borrowed from teachers that I’ve worked with in the past. With our jobs and even our schedule I’ve learned from other teachers it’s important to have learning objectives on the board.

Definitely try to make it a personal space for the kids. I’ll have their self-portraits hung up for the first month so it’s a team mentality. I try to keep it simple; I try not to have too much stuff.

What are the kids going to be reading?

I like having the kids explore their own interests. Hopefully we’ll be doing a lot of reading workshops where they’ll find books that they want to read at their level and they’ll be able to respond to them on their own with some teacher guidances. Same thing with writing too, I like to have them take from their own experiences and really go with it.

There are a few books I am excited to read to the kids. I start off with the classic book How to be Cool in Third Grade. It’s a lighthearted book so hopefully it will have a good start of the year.

When did you know that you wanted to be a teacher?

I went to Stonehill for my undergrad and majored in communications and economics so clearly not in college. I actually did a year of volunteer work in San Diego, CA and that’s where I volunteered and taught gym and computers there and that’s where I kind of realize that I wanted to be in the classroom.

What’s the best part teaching third grade?

I’ve student taught in third grade and worked in third grade as an assistant. I think the best part of third grade is that the kids transition from the mentality of learning how to read to reading to learn so it’s more of a comprehension/focus sort of thing when they really dive into books to actually find information. How important are the low class sizes that are possible at the school? I think it’s really helpful in terms of classroom management and in terms of being able to make that connection with kids. It makes it a little easier and definitely helps foster that sense of community.