At Jones County Pre-K, the Deer Classroom has been engaged in many learning activities this school year with Teacher Shannon Briscoe and Paraprofessional Stefanie Cannon.
Recently, the class has focused on learning about self-talk and how to regulate their emotions. The students regularly practice following directions and using confident and respectful voices with classmates and adults by passing around a bean bag with each other and saying, “Can you pass around the bean bag, please?”
The students have also been excited to learn about rhyming words. Briscoe engages the students in a fun and interactive activity with their class rhyming basket, filled with small items and trinkets that rhyme, such as a “clock” and a “sock.” The students sing “A Tisket a Tasket - I got my rhyming basket!” and then work with Briscoe to learn which items in the basket rhyme and which do not.
Another exciting thing the Deer Class has been learning about is traditional tales such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Three Little Pigs. Briscoe read the stories and engaged the students in learning by acting out the events.
The students took a deep breath with the little piggies when they hid under the chair from the Big Bad Wolf, puffed their chests and blew when the Big Bad Wolf blew the piggies’ houses down and clapped when the little piggies outsmarted the Big Bad Wolf.
The students could make thoughtful comments throughout the reading, demonstrating their understanding, “The piggies look scared,” one student said, or “The Big Bad Wolf would never mess with them again!” another said.
The class practiced singing and dancing while recapping the story of The Three Little Pigs by watching an interactive song on YouTube, “The Three Little Pigs’ Blues.” The activity was an enjoyable and entertaining way to reinforce what the students learned.
This school year is Briscoe’s twelfth year of teaching at Jones County Pre-K. Her husband’s name is Jarvis, and they have two children together. Briscoe has a fifteen-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son. She is originally from Hahira, but moved to Jones County with her husband’s family. She loves to hunt, fish, shop, and do crafts in her free time.
The teacher’s favorite classroom activity is to act out stories using silly voices and fun props such as puppets to engage with her students. She always reminds her class not to give up and to try their best at everything they do. As a teacher, Briscoe says watching her students grow is the most rewarding aspect of her job.
“You see them blossom throughout the year - whether it’s their social and emotional development or their language, literacy, or math - it’s great watching them grow,” she said.
This school year is Cannon’s first year as a paraprofessional. She has been in Jones County since she was a sophomore in high school. She also has two children, and her favorite hobbies and activities center around her children. She has a six-year-old son and a threeyear- old daughter.
Cannon loves the excited faces students make when they learn something new.
“I applied for the paraprofessional job to help students on their growth journey. When students learn that they can do anything - that is the most rewarding part of my job,” the parapro said.
Briscoe and Cannon say they look forward to an excellent year of growth in the Deer Classroom.
