Engaging Teachers: Megan Riva
One of the joys of working at the Wellington Initiative is the honor of interacting with high engaging teachers who come from many different places and in many different kinds of schools. We recently had the chance to talk with high engaging teacher Megan Riva at Berry Intermediate School in Lebanon, Ohio, a mere 84 miles from our home base at The Wellington School.
Lebanon’s catch phrase is “Historic Charm Reimagined.” Megan’s classroom has classic moments I experienced in my education, such as teachers who read aloud every day. But Megan’s classroom is also a classroom reimagined. She is constantly looking to redefine students’ roles, curriculum and pedagogy. Please enjoy our visit with Megan.
Rob: How long have you been teaching and how long have you been teaching at Lebanon?
Megan: This is my seventh year teaching fifth grade here at Berry Intermediate. I teach language arts and social studies.
Rob: What led you to teaching?
Megan: I remember wanting to become a teacher originally in preschool. It was Gingerbread Day, or something like that, and the gingerbread was moving around the classroom. I wanted to be a teacher so that I could figure out how the gingerbread was going to move around the classroom. Because I knew the teachers knew what was going on and were doing it, but I wanted to know how they were able to trick us all. That feeling never left me. I loved school as a little kid, and fifth grade was my favorite year, so I'm really excited that I get to teach fifth grade now.
Rob: Why do you think your students find your classes so engaging? What's your secret?
Megan: I want to teach content, but I just want kids to have fun in my class. And that's really what I set out to do. I get super excited when I find fun activities to do. I try new things all the time. I did ask both of my classes today about this today, and the running theme of their answers was that I give a lot of choices and a lot of freedom. I try to do as many critical thinking projects as possible. So, for example, one of the projects this year deals with the skill of finding multiple main ideas within a text. That can be boring—just to read and find multiple main ideas.
So I broadened it to say, I want you to pick any topic and find at least two articles about it, and you can read five articles. Ten articles. It can be about multiple topics, and you find a way to show me that you understand how to create multiple main ideas, and then distinguish key details from minor details. What they selected was entirely up to them. Some kids created posters, some kids created their own currency, there was just no limit. I really just try to control as little as possible and say, “This is your fifth grade year. This is your project. This is your learning. You decide how you want to show me what it is that you're learning.” Another thing they brought up was that I get them to make major decisions about their work. There is almost always choice.
Rob: Student autonomy is one of the things that The Wellington School has focused on. We hear frequently is that it's hard to give students autonomy, particularly because students are too young to have the responsibility that comes with autonomy. Also, there are so many restrictions on what you have to do to satisfy those who oversee teachers. Has your school been supportive of your efforts in emphasizing autonomy?
Megan: I am 100% supported. The administration here at Lebanon, all the way up, is fantastic and super supportive of anybody who wants to try something new. I’m very lucky in that regard. I’m not afraid even to say to a class, “Hey, this is not working. We need to try something different.” But I start with the assumption that everybody can design their own projects and their own learning and be creative and make decisions. And then those who struggle, I support appropriately. I just start with the assumption that everybody can do it and then go from there.
Rob: Anything else you'd like to add about your teaching philosophy?
Megan: I try really hard to learn each kid—who needs a more sensitive approach, who I can joke with, who likes to be called on in a group setting and who doesn't, and respect those things about each kid.
Rob: I'm wondering if there's some particular, very specific thing you get to teach that you love teaching. It's your favorite thing to do. When you wake up that morning, you say, “Ah, I get to do that one today!”
Megan: I have really loved to learn teaching essay writing, which is bizarre because it is so teacher directed, right? When I teach essay writing I get to meet with every single kid in a mini, individual conference, which I've learned to love. And then the growth in writing from the beginning of the year to the end of the year is just amazing.
Specifically, it’s about structure. I love when they are learning to write a paragraph, how to set up a premise, evidence and justification. And when that clicks—because it's really difficult for most fifth graders at the beginning of the year—that is my favorite part, to see them get it.
Rob: How do you lead them to love that?
Megan: I asked my kids why they like the class even when we are doing silent reading. So when they are reading, I am also reading, modeling a love of reading. I'm not doing anything else. I genuinely love kids books. So, the students give me recommendations on books to read and I take those recommendations and read them through the year. They love to see me reading books they recommended. I love it, they love it!
When I was working on my masters, I learned that kids in fourth and fifth grade have to work together. They miss out on so much if they're not learning from each other. That just really resonated with me. When it's time to work, get up and move wherever you want and work with other people as long as you're getting your work done. I think that helps a lot of kids, too, especially kids who are intimidated by reading and writing.
Rob: Do you have favorite books from when you were that age?
Megan: Yes, Harry Potter. I'm still obsessed with Harry Potter. Oh, the Series of Unfortunate Events. And the Among the Hidden series by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
Rob: And could you say a word more about setting high expectations? How do you do that?
Megan: If they're in the middle of a project and they think they're done, I ask what else can you do? What can you add? Or asking questions like, okay, I kind of see your main ideas here, but how do I know that those are the two main ideas from these two articles? Can you provide evidence for that? Are there key details versus minor details? Can you send me the articles and I'll print them out for you, and you highlight where you got these things from? So, trying to constantly push them further.
Rob: Are you aware of your own engagement data? And is there any use you make of any of it?
Megan: I look at it once a year, only because I am a perfectionist and it kind of stresses me out. So I'll look briefly at trends. I was really excited because I felt kind of negative about my dots until you invited me for this interview. They’re not perfect. They're not all like way up here in this corner.
Rob: What do you see as obstacles in your work?
Megan: Perhaps over testing kids. But I have to say, I feel like I'm in the dream position right now because our administrators are just so supportive. When I said I want to try standards-based grading, they said “great, let us know if you need any help. Let's see how it goes.” Anything that I want to try is just supported. Obviously I'm teaching to the standards, but however I teach to the standards and however I grade those standards is up to me, which is just really, really nice.
Rob: And, finally, what makes you hopeful about education?
Megan: The kids. That might sound kind of cheesy, but that’s it. They get so excited about things and they're full of great ideas. I had a kid today who told me how I should improve the bathroom pass system and it's like, oh my gosh, it's brilliant. I wouldn't have thought of that. I love that.
Rob: Thank you so much, Megan. I would love to be a student in your class!