Beth Pattavina bounces between the nine freshmen in her Study Skills class. One is working on note cards for a math test to be taken later in the day. She asks two students to quiz one another on Civics. Another is using Quizlet, an online tool, to develop his own quiz that will help him prepare. A student heads to the board to work on a math problem. She runs through the problem for the student, then sets him up to do it on his own.
“Mrs. Pattavina,” calls out one student. She leaves the board, helps him out, and heads back to the board. Before you know it multiple students are at the board working on their math skills.
It is akin to watching a pinball machine. And if she is the machine, her students are the players, and all she wants is for them to achieve their highest scores possible.
“Students need to learn how to learn,” Pattavina said. “They need to learn organization, they need to learn time management, they need to learn how to prepare for assessments. So it is a class that teaches them to learn how to learn.”
Pattavina, Mercy ’86, has been a guidance counselor and the school’s academic support specialist since 2015. Prior to that, she worked for the Middletown Board of Education as a Special Education tutor and case manager for 14 years, helping students with learning differences in the city’s parochial schools.
The first half of the year Study Skills class for freshmen is more about organization, developing good habits in regards to homework, filling out a planner to ensure the student has a good sense of not only what needs to accomplished that day but down the road.
The second half is more about being prepared for quizzes and tests. On this winter day Pattavina hands out test/quiz tracker forms on which the students will record various items: What was the test or quiz, what was the grade, how many days and how much time was spent preparing, and what methods were used to prepare. That way Pattavina can see trends develop. For instance, reviewing notes might work in one course but not another.
“We can see a disconnect, where a student has not quite learned how to study for that particular class,” Pattavina said.
She also gives the students an extra help log, in which they are expected to meet with their teachers eight times throughout the term and document that in their logs to earn points. Students can meet with teachers before or after school with each session lasting at least 30 minutes. It’s for reasons that go beyond extra help.
“The goal is after they get out of Study Skills class they’re on their own, so how are they going to access help?” Pattavina said. “They have to learn, ‘I have to build relationships with the teachers.’ ”
For those students who need more study skills after their freshman year, a class for sophomores, taught by math teacher Kelly Shiring, is offered.
Pattavina preaches organization, so she has to practice what she preaches.
“I go in with a plan every day,” Pattavina said. “I know what the students need to accomplish.”
She regularly reaches out to the teachers so she knows what each student faces in regards to quizzes, tests, projects, etc.
“During the class I assess who is OK working by themselves and who needs the most help,” Pattavina said. “And, yes, I can be all over the place. It’s about figuring out where the most help is needed on that day.”