Name: Michelle Davis
Breakthrough Program: Breakthrough Atlanta Lovett Site
Subject Teaching: 8th Grade Social Studies
School Attending/Year: Recent Graduate of the University of Florida 

If your students have already arrived, what academic skills are your working with them on? Where are they succeeding? What are your biggest challenges?

As a social studies teacher, one of the main things I am focused on is improving my students’ writing skills. As I expected, there is a huge range in writing skills: for some of them had I just read their essays I would think they were seniors in high school and others are not quite up to grade level yet. Unfortunately, all these writing assignments make history one of the more unpopular subjects, but it must be done. I have to keep reminding myself that I am here to challenge them, not to give them easy assignments and let them breeze through the summer. I'm realizing that it is much harder than I expected not to let the complaints, groans, and mumbling get to me. I want them to have fun but they are here to learn as well. I try to be as fair as possible and give them plenty of time to get their essays done in class but to some 8th graders, I’m “evil” simply for asking them to write. One of their first major essays was due today, and I’m pleasantly surprised about the quality. I gave them a rubric to follow when writing and reminded them (several times) that grammar and spelling DO count. Some of them still have a long way to go but I’m hopeful about the progress we can make by the end of Breakthrough this summer.