Joslyn Rohwedder – Samuel Bissell Elementary, Twinsburg City Schools

2021 George B. Chapman Jr. Teacher Award for Excellence in Mathematics Education

          “Mrs. Rohwedder’s classroom is fun, engaging, and student-centered. She offers opportunities for students to challenge themselves, learn from their mistakes, and show growth in their learning.” ~ Misty Johnson, Principal, Samuel Bissell Elementary School

      Joslyn Rohwedder is passionate about education and works diligently to support her students. She sets high expectations and continues to seek creative ways to accelerate their learning. She creates opportunities for students to extend their thinking and, impressively, third graders in her classroom can explain the how, the why, and the steps it takes to solve algebraic problems.

     “To be an exceptional teacher, you have to be flexible and really understand your students,” she remarks, adding that two questions continually guide her work: How do I create rich environments where all students learn at a higher level? and How do I provide rigorous learning experiences? “Reflecting on and examining my own teaching are some of the best ways I become a better teacher.”

     Mrs. Rohwedder has been teaching at Samuel Bissell for seven years. She consistently designs rich, rigorous lessons that challenge her gifted students to achieve at a high level. While integrating the academic content standards, she also plans activities that require collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. She believes it is important “to be fun in the way you approach mathematics” to help young learners better understand abstract concepts they tackle in third grade. Using manipulatives, she explains, is a way to do that.

     “In third grade, there are a lot of abstract concepts like understanding fractions and computing elapsed time. Students learn better when they are touching and manipulating things,” she remarks.

    Mrs. Rohwedder uses the Hands-On Algebra and Equations curriculum, which exposes students to ways simple computations that can be understood using visual and kinesthetic approaches.

Students in her classroom currently use manipulatives, but she hoped to expand on the quantity and sophistication of what they have to work with.

      With funds from the award, Mrs. Rohwedder ordered class sets of “new, innovative, and fresh” manipulatives and visual models for all 13 third grade classrooms at Samuel Bissell, which will impact more than 200 students each year. The goal of the project is to support all third graders’ understanding of number sense, problem-solving, and the use of legal moves (moves that follow the “rules” of algebra), allowing them to fully engage in the hands-on algebra curriculum. “I thought about my whole team when applying for the award,” she says, “because we all collaborate, no teacher here is alone.” 

     Outside the classroom, Mrs. Rohwedder shares best practices, offers support to colleagues, and serves as a role model. “Mrs. Rohwedder is an outstanding teacher,” comments Principal Johnson in an endorsement letter for the award. “And the way she delivers math instruction is just one example of the exemplary work she is doing in her classroom each day,”

     The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation recognizes one exceptional Ohio mathematics teacher each year with the George B. Chapman, Jr. Teacher Award for Excellence in Mathematics. The award honors the late George B. Chapman, Jr., former President/Chair of the Jennings Foundation. It is presented at the Foundation’s annual Educators Retreat.