Congratulations Emily Fenner, ORIGO’s Teacher of the Month for February 2021!

For over 19 years Emily Fenner has dedicated her professional career to teaching. Having spent the last three years as an instructional coach in mathematics, she returning to the classroom after missing her students only to find herself in the midst of the global pandemic with the immediate need to find a new way to connect to her students.

A third-grade teacher at PB Smith Elementary, Emily has managed to keep her students connected and engaged throughout the very challenging year thanks to her dedication, experience and ability to engage her students, and with the help of ORIGO’s core mathematics program, Stepping Stones.

“Emily is a rock star teacher,” said Angie Ashley the Instructional Supervisor for Mathematics at Fauquier County Public Schools.

“She has figured out a way to connect with her students through this crazy pandemic and continues to make math meaningful and fun.

“She does a daily number sense routine and just loves it when her students use one of the strategies from the Stepping Stones program (think double, double!). if I could clone Emily so that every student could have the math experience Emily provides, it would be phenomenal.”

It’s for the reason and more, and Angie nominated Emily for the ORIGO Teacher of the Month award for February 2021 and despite being an exceptional mathematics teacher, maths wasn’t always something that Emily was drawn to.

“I wasn’t a math kid growing up because I wasn’t fast,” said Emily.

“As a teacher, it makes me really happy that math now allows for kids to take their time, problem solve and keep trying even if they don’t get it on the first go; ORIGO Education is a wonderful resource to use when teaching with this mindset.”

Emily used Stepping Stones and other ORIGO products as both a mathematics coach and a teacher finding the lessons to work well in both small and large groups.

“I love Origo and use it with fidelity. It has been such a lifesaver with the strange year all of us are having in education and I can safely say that I feel that my students are on track and on pace.

“The students love Stepping Stones and it has been a great way to keep them engaged.

“Parents also seem to really appreciate it and all of the real-world application.”

ORIGO Education is thrilled to present the February Teacher of the Month 2021 award to Emily Fenner for her outstanding work and commitment as a mathematics teacher and we are sending Emily a Fractions Think Tank for Grade 3.

Starting in January 2021, ORIGO Education will recognize a teacher every month in our newsletter and website. The teacher selected will be recognized from the Stepping Stones Pre-K through Grade 6 family of educators. We are looking for educators to share a story, activity or tip that has made an impact in their classroom. Click here to learn more.