This is my fourth year as Columbian’s second grade ELA-T teacher. I absolutely love the students, staff, and parents. I really can not see myself working anywhere else. In second grade the students learn about many things through hands-on experiences. In math we continue practicing adding/subtracting and begin two-digit adding/subtracting. We also continue with becoming more proficient with fractions and measuring. All of this is done through daily math lessons that focus on critical thinking and incorporate the use of games, which the students love. We are starting a new science program called Tracks. This program provides more hands on learning through observations and experiments. Students will learn about earth materials, plants, animals, sound, and other science related themes.  Of course, we do a ton of reading and writing. In reading the student’s love the Accelerated Reader program. This program allows the students to read books that are on their level and then quiz on the computer to check comprehension. My last year’s class was one of the top classes in books read for second graders in DPS (in Accelerated Reader). We quizzed on over 4,000 books. I hope to challenge my students this year to exceed last years books read. I have high expectations for this year, but most of all I hope it is a memorable year for the students. A year filled with learning, laughter, and fun. Jessica Dickerson-Barrios Teacher Columbian Elementary (720)329-6798 "People don't care how much you know--until they know how much you care."               --John C. Maxwell