It's no secret classrooms these days are so different than what many of us knew, with teachers doing anything and everything to grab and hold students' attention.
In Kelly Chinske's class at Herfurth Elementary in the Garland Independent School District, it's kind of the opposite.
Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are
WATCH HEREChinske isn't in front of the room dishing out instructions. They follow a Montessori method here, each child has their own individual lesson plan, with their own goals, and learning the way each one of them prefers.
"I like using markers but I don't like using them on paper because they bleed through," said Evelyn Moser, a student.
Get top local stories delivered to you every morning with NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP And so, Moser does all her math on a dry-erase board, where she can capture what she loves and eliminate what she doesn't. The chart her teacher gave her on the board helps her do the problems faster too.
"So that lets you take those numbers and quickly add them together, so you don't have to use your fingers and go 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 so you don't have to do that," said Moser.
Herfurth adopted the Montessori method several years ago.
Carter In The Classroom
Focusing on unique things school districts are doing to help children succeed.
Teacher Kelly Chinske has kids from three different grade levels working in one classroom, each doing their own thing and growing at their own pace.
"You're not relearning a child and their learning style and the things they're capable of every year because you have them for that time," said Chinske.
She goes from student to student, subject to subject, and while Moser is working on place value, Elena Moncada is figuring out vowel sounds.
She might do vowels one minute and move to measurement the next, but says she has to be organized and focused.
"Our class is very calm, very good at things," said Moncada.
The method has not only helped this school improve test scores and earn the blue ribbon honors but has impacted long-term learning. The first kids to complete to program are now in middle school and word on the street is they're thriving.
"They have binders, they have work plans, they have tasks, they have to restore work," said Chinske. "The executive functioning of this classroom was high level so for her going to middle school was a breeze."
Moser's love for markers has helped her become a whiz in math, she's come up with a plan for reading too.
"I like to keep my book on my window sill and when my dad leaves, I just go (she motions of opening a book) I'm not going to bed," she said.
