By McCall Reeder
Intern
When Liuxi arrived in Hanna Barkley’s class, the young student from China could speak no English. So Barkley stepped in to give her extra lessons during the summer. Liuxi’s English began to improve with the added one-on-one time.
For Barkley, it was one of her most special experiences with a student, and demonstrates the dedication that earned the second-grade teacher at Wrightsville Beach Elementary School the honor of 2016-17 Teacher of the Year. Liuxi has since moved to New York, but the teacher and student still keep in contact.
“What I’m doing makes a difference,” Barkley said.
Barkley, a Wilmington native and graduate of University of North Carolina, is entering her fourth year as a teacher, with all but one coming at the Wrightsville Beach School.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else,” Barkley said.
Barkley first imagined becoming a teacher after her experience working as a camp counselor at Camp Trinity for four years. Since then, her reasons for loving and staying devoted to her job have only grown.
“I have a passion for working with children,” Barkley continued. “I like watching the lightbulb go off in their head, getting to care about them, and getting to have an impact on their lives.”
Barkley has some unique ways to make things stick with her students. On Friday, Feb. 5, her classroom was covered with napkins and projects from the special Super Bowl party that took place earlier that day. The class was learning money and budgeting. The projects seen are each students’ budget and plans for their very own Super Bowl party.
“It’s important to make learning relevant to what’s going on,” Barkley said of the projects.
Making learning relevant is just one piece of her teaching philosophy.
“Anything that’s out of the box that will make it stick,” Barkley said.
She includes songs, dances, and dress-up activities to help her learners apply the core standards to their lives and education, Barkley continued.
Perhaps the biggest piece she believes is getting to know them individually so their needs can be met.
“Every child is not the same,” Barkley said. “You have to differentiate what you do.”
When discussing what her advice would be for prospective teachers, she puts the positive things first.
“Be excited that you’re going to be loved on,” Barkley smiled. “Know that they’ll get to take a little piece of you with them.”
She then mentioned the importance of patience and establishing oneself and a routine for the kids.
“There is such thing as tough love,” Barkley said. “Sometimes children crave discipline.”
Barkley has formed ways for her students to be disciplined, but also encouraged. She has a behavior chart with a clothes pin for each student. Do something wrong, and it is moved down, but they can always redeem themselves by the end of the day. If they do something good, they can work their way back to the top.
“Giving them goals makes them do a better job,” Barkley said.
She also has a reward system known as “Banana Bucks.” Good behavior earns them, and a certain number of bucks can be redeemed for a prize of their choice.
Barkley has had some impactful teachers herself as a student, including Lauren Kefalonitis, who is now the principal for Bradley Creek Middle School. “Ms. K”, as Barkley called her, took a personal interest in her outside of school and made her love learning. The teacher stuck with her.
“I want all children to develop a love of learning,” Barkley said. “That’s what I try to do here.”
