The World’s Greatest Kindergarten Teacher

Ms. Mannall with her kindergarten class.

I know the world’s greatest kindergarten teacher, and I’ve been lucky enough to observe her teach several times, including this week. Ms. Mannall teaches at John Glenn Elementary School in Donahue, Iowa, and each visit to her classroom leaves me inspired and joyful.

She has mastered teaching practice

It’s amazing to watch her mastery of teaching practice.

She knows the proven science of brain development and how it influences pedagogy. Look around her classroom, and you will see students engaged in fun learning activities appropriate for their development. In fact, it looks like play as they count to 100. One student even read me a book, pointing out which words were difficult for him to learn.

Ms. Mannall understands classroom culture, moving about the classroom like a maestro conductor. She makes a small hand gesture here and stands closer to a student there. This physical presence maintains a learning environment without squelching kindergartners’ natural exuberance.

And she’s kind, listening to each student, treating their questions with respect, and gently but firmly guiding them toward learning with love. The children are learning this behavior in the community Ms. Mannall has created with them. I watch kindergartners solve problems with one another when differences arise in their learning group. They apologize when necessary and show respect as they take turns and help one another learn.

It's obvious by the feel in the room that these children know Ms. Mannall cares about them deeply and that they are doing important, meaningful work together. 

Her competence and confidence came by sheer luck

She makes teaching look easy despite it being one of the most difficult of human experiences.

Ms. Mannall was able to become competent and confident as a teacher because of critical supports she had in place as a new teacher - much of it by pure luck. 

When she entered the profession 21 years ago, she did so with her best friend and college roommate. They taught in the same school district and were able to provide each other with emotional support

She received “school culture” support from a mentor, the school librarian, but she didn’t have a content-level mentor. If a lesson plan wasn’t working the way it “should”, she struggled. It took a long time for her to differentiate lessons based on a student’s abilities/needs.

Ms. Mannall was also lucky to have a principal at her first school who embraced her curiosity and passion and bent over backwards to support her. She had small class sizes (and still does), and thanks to years of coaching sports, classroom management came easily to her.  

We cannot leave mastery to chance

We cannot leave this kind of mastery to chance. And that’s exactly why we created ELP’s professional support model for New Teachers. We provide New Teachers with coaching to help them master the science side of teaching. And we provide them with mentoring to help them acclimate to their school and build relationships. 

Our unique professional support model was designed by teachers, led by their unions, and done in partnership with school districts. Our focus is helping new teachers start stronger in their profession and stay longer in it. If this was her first year teaching, Ms. Mannall admitted that she wouldn’t stay in the profession.

Ms. Mannall may be the world’s greatest kindergarten teacher, but you should know I’m biased in this assessment. She’s my oldest daughter. But I also know what I’ve seen and experienced firsthand in the classroom she leads, and every student deserves a teacher of her caliber.  

If you’d like to bring ELP into your school district, please reach out to us at info@educatorsleadingtheprofession.org.