OKEECHOBEE — The Ohio U connection is making it happen. In their first week at Yearling Middle School first-year seventh grade ELA teachers Emma Falter and Ashlin Smart are working hard at developing strong positive conditions for learning in their classrooms. The duo who came to Yearling Middle School (YMS) together after earning degrees in teaching in the spring from Ohio University put skills learned during student teaching on full display.

Falter gently coaxed students who struggled to begin her assignment by investing in one-on-one conversations to create relationships and show support. The result was all students completing the task as assigned.

Smart modeled the task for her students before releasing them to complete the work themselves. Along the way, Smart showed the same ability as Falter, investing time to talk students through the task. Smart also teamed well with and was obviously on the same page with inclusion teacher Leslie Garcia in working with individual students to guide all to successful completion of the assignment.