by Mary Jo David

First grade teacher Corinne Clouse is new to Smith Elementary and new to teaching, but she already feels she’s right where she needs to be.

“I love my students at this age. They’re still in love with school and it’s wonderful to see the light in their eyes when they have one of their lightbulb moments as they’re learning something new,” Clouse said.

It wasn’t that long ago that Clouse thought she was destined for a career in a medical field. But five years of working at a day care reinforced what she’d known for a long time: She really loves working with kids.

After growing up in Chelsea and attending Chelsea High School, Clouse attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College and then Western Governors University.

If she seems to excel at juggling a classroom with 20 six- and seven-year-olds, it might have something to do with the years she spent as a baton twirler, beginning with when she, herself, was attending elementary school. During middle school, she branched out to join the track team, but in high school, most of her extracurricular time was spent in color guard with the marching band.

“I think my students would be surprised to learn how many states and different stadiums I performed in across the country thanks to that color guard opportunity,” she said.

In first grade, students must adhere to a pretty rigorous curriculum, so the opportunity to work on fun projects and play silly games is always a welcome break. As she works at inspiring them, they do the same with her. Clouse likes to think there’s never a day when she doesn’t get at least one big smile out of each of her students.

First grade teachers are accountable for teaching the basics in reading, writing, and math. But they also spend considerable time helping students recognize and manage their emotions and getting daily routines down pat.

As a result, what might seem like pint-size wins to others are big wins to a first grade teacher.

“For example,” Clouse explained, “we have days where students are allowed to bring something in from home and tell us about it. I have a student who really struggles when it’s time to put that object away. Today, I only had to remind him once to do that. That was huge, so I made sure to let him know how great that was!”

On a more academic note, Clouse conveys how thrilled she was after she administered her first math test to the class this fall. Being a new teacher, she admits it wasn’t just the students who might have been feeling some trepidation with that first test. 

“I found myself wondering if I had taught the module well enough. Seeing the results boosted my confidence tremendously—the overall scores were really good!”

Clouse works with a great team of first grade teachers. She thinks they all benefit from multiple perspectives, including input on some of the newer education techniques and strategies that she’s brought with her, fresh out of college.

“Our first grade team helps me learn strategies for getting through my first year, but they’re also open to the ideas and enthusiasm I bring to the table as a new teacher,” Clouse said.

Clouse isn’t afraid to let her students know when she’s made a mistake, and when she does, she teaches them you just take a minute to sit with that mistake to figure out how you’re going to get past it. Her advice for parents is that it’s OK to let kids struggle a little bit and watch them try to figure it out before the parents jump in to help.

Her biggest challenge isn’t being new. It’s classroom management. Clouse contends that you can take all the book learning there is out there on how to be a teacher, but when you step into your own classroom it’s a completely different ballgame.

“Learning how to transform that class into a community … learning how to instill a sense of belonging for the students and the teacher … turning it all into a well-oiled, functioning engine is a huge challenge,” she said, but it’s one she feels she’s conquering.

Throughout the fun times and the challenges, Clouse says, “Teaching is one of the coolest jobs in the world! I love it, and I know, this is where I’m supposed to be.”

All photos provided by Corinne Clouse.