Inside the Classroom: Fern Spasic - Roanoke Elementary

Inside the Classroom is a series that visits Northwest ISD campuses throughout the year and highlights the magical moments that happen between teachers and students each and every day across the entire 234 square miles of NISD.

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It’s Hispanic Heritage Month, and the newest edition of Inside the Classroom takes you to Roanoke Elementary where Fern Spasic and her kindergarten students are celebrating their heritage, smiling throughout their learning and “spraying excellence” on all they do.

We visited Ms. Spasic’s class on a Friday during phonics time when they played a fun, interactive review game to recap the week’s lessons. Ms. Spasic’s teaches dual language, so a large portion of their time is spent speaking Spanish. Throughout the week, they had been learning about syllables pa, pe, pi, po, and pu.

For their review game, students sat in pairs with the five syllables written on cards between them. The game was designed to test the students’ understanding of the syllables, but also their ability to listen closely to Ms. Spasic.

Once everyone was ready, she would say "boom” (students clapped on their legs) and “clap” (students clapped) and the class would have to repeat what they heard. After a few claps, Ms. Spasic would say a syllable and the students would race to see who could grab it first.

The students were very focused and their smiles were infectious, even when there was a tie in the race.

Once the game was finished, students one by one came to the front of the class to share their Hispanic Heritage Month project. Ms. Spasic tasked students and their families with making small posters that highlighted their culture.

Some students celebrated having multiple nationalities in their heritage, like being Mexican and Guatemalan or Puerto Rican and Dominican. They also celebrated all of their favorite things from their countries and many drew their county’s flag.

After each presentation, Ms. Spasic and the class encouraged their presenter by “spraying excellence” on them. Ms. Spasic counted down (tres, dos, uno), the whole class grabbed their imaginary spray bottles and let the excellence fly with an audible "fssst…fssst…excelente!"

Just like with the lively review game, you couldn’t resist a smile coming to your face as kindergartners sprayed excellence on their friends. Plus, the imaginary mist had a very real effect on the presenters as their eyes lit up with confidence when their classmates praised them.

Throughout our visit, Ms. Spasic exuded positive energy, and her students very much followed that lead. Between the laughter they shared, the friendships they’ve formed and the knowledge they’re soaking in, it is very clear that the excellence spray is working.

Check back regularly all year as we continue to visit students and teachers throughout Northwest ISD and offer a rarely seen look Inside the Classroom.