Collaboration is key in Kari Stanley's fifth-grade class at Manatee County's Miller Elementary school

BRADENTON -- In Kari Stanley's fifth-grade class at Miller Elementary School, students don't don "thinking caps." Instead, they "put on their lenses."

That is Stanley's cue to students to shape up and pay extra attention to a key concept or vocabulary word, and they all do the motion of putting on their lenses together. The hands come up and over the ears, tucking the imaginary glasses into place.

On a recent day in the second-floor corner classroom, students need their lenses to find the "words of the wise," in a two-minute video clip from Disney's "The Lion King." It's the scene where Simba needs his father to rescue him after Simba goes looking for trouble with the hyenas. The children are trying to find the wise words offered to Simba from his father -- "Being brave doesn't mean going to look for trouble" -- and then explain how that may change Simba throughout the movie.

"Words of the wise" can often point to story themes, Stanley says. She splits the students into groups to work on writing out the words of the wise and how they might affect Simba's action. The students then try the exercise on their own, with groups of four or five students sharing a short story.

Her ability to foster the spirt of collaboration is what makes Stanley one of four teacher finalists for the Manatee County School District's excellence in education awards.

"My big thing about teaching is we all work together," said Stanley, 31. "If you can't challenge someone, you can't change someone."

Classroom expectations

Students in Stanley's class know the expectations and how to reach them. Stanley, who shares a total of 45 students with another fifth-grade teacher, creates a different grading guide for every standard the students are expected to know. This helps set the groundwork. Stanley works with the students on reading, writing and social studies, and they head to another teacher for math and science.

Students are now expected to read for comprehension and be able to explain, which is why Stanley says she won't give out multiple choice tests. Stanley said reading comprehension was never her strongest suit when she was younger -- it wasn't taught that way, but now it's expected.

"We're teaching that comprehension part now," she said. "That challenges me."

It forces Stanley to create more grading guides and to work harder on tests, but she sees the payoff in her students.

She also works to dive deep into certain data points, to help pinpoint topics she may miss or may need to review.

The school district has elementary school students work on i-Ready -- an online diagnostic tool -- for 30 minutes a day. This is the second year. After the first year, Stanley said she feels more comfortable being able to manipulate the students' i-Ready results in a way that will help her, and help the student.

"Let's use it the right way, and to its fullest potential," Stanley said. "Let's make it worth our while."

With the results, Stanley says she's able to better tailor instruction for individual students.

With the state heading toward all state-mandated tests being taken on computers, the 30 minutes a day on the i-Ready can also help the students with their computer skills. They may know how to do a number of different things with the latest technology that Stanley may not be able to do, but there's always more for them to learn.

"They don't know how to type though, the formal stuff," she said.

A family affair

Just down the hall from Stanley, Lindsay Gilman, a second-grade teacher, works in her classroom. Gilman was one of four teacher finalists last year. She's also Stanley's older sister.

"I knew from the first day I came home from kindergarten I wanted to be a teacher. Kari, not so much," said Gilman, 33.

Gilman remembers she used to play school with Stanley, and Gilman always got to be the teacher, with Stanley as the student.

Stanley originally pursued a nursing degree after graduating from Southeast High School, but after a few visits to her older sister's classroom, she realized she wanted to teach.

"I found I have such a passion for it," she said.

Gilman said she and her sister work together, even though the students they teach aren't the same age.

"For her, it's not a competition, but a collaboration," she said.

Stanley's bubbly and outgoing personality draw people to her, Gilman said, while the collaboration and clear expectations gains her respect.

"She has a 'tell it like it is' attitude," Gilman said. "She's definitely someone I look up to."

The respect is mutual, Stanley said.

"She'll help me," she said, joking that her sister is much more crafty than she is. "She'll give me some ideas."

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Collaboration is key in Kari Stanley's fifth-grade class at Manatee County's Miller Elementary school ."