Kelly Gaudet
English Teacher
Ms. Gaudet’s passion is engaging with her students and building upon the relational aspect of teaching to get the best from them. Her highest priority is creating a safe space where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
Ms. Gaudet’s passion is engaging with her students and building upon the relational aspect of teaching to get the best from them. Her highest priority is creating a safe space where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
English Teacher
Ms. Gaudet’s passion is engaging with her students and building upon the relational aspect of teaching to get the best from them. Her highest priority is creating a safe space where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
Impacting Students
One of my favorite lessons is facilitating Socratic seminars, where kids participate in a small group dialogue centered around a specific text. Having prepared a given text ahead of time, 8-9 students begin as an inner circle, observed by their outer circle of 8-9 students. Using the text to inform all of their wonderings, they question, observe, and connect information in a way that deepens their own understanding. What I value most is the way that, without exception, each seminar reveals observations and sophisticated ideas that exceed my expectations. In the post-seminar reflection, seeing what kids cite as their "favorite moment" is always one of the richest exercises I ask them to do. They see and believe that they can learn from one another, not just from their teachers. In addition, what makes these seminars impactful is largely the way they motivate more introverted students to take risks in a much smaller, seemingly less daunting space.
Lifelong Learner
Traveling with my team to High Tech High in San Diego was unforgettable. The energy within the school and all over campus was infectious; we could not stop brainstorming, reflecting, and wondering about what we can implement here at Graland. We talk and plan weekly about how to integrate some ideas and visions into our DC trip, as well as our Memory Box project. We are cohesive, collectively and individually driven, and fiercely committed to making the seventh grade experience the best it can possibly be for our students.
Favorite Teaching Moment
This year, one student led a Socratic seminar in a way that left me speechless. He was able to draw upon his own socio-economic background to relate to the protagonist and to initiate impromptu dialogue about different family structures. His fellow inner circle members listened attentively, and recalibrated some of their own ideas based on this boy's contributions. I would not trade that class period for anything.
Book I Can Read Over and Over
My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. That was true long before my career began, but it has become increasingly my favorite every time I am privileged enough to teach its historical framework and how that informs the trajectory of the story.
Feels Rewarded When ...
...a student who professes to have "never liked English before" shows up and invests himself fully in my class. I feel rewarded when my quieter students take risks and participate more as the year unfolds.
Fun Fact
I can read fluently in Italian.
Joined Graland in...
2014
Also Known As ...
Advisory Leader; DC Trip Leader; SEED Member (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity); Differentiation Cohort Participant; Diversity and Equity Cohort Participant; Peer Leader Co-facilitator; Co-creator of "Sunshine Committee" for Middle School
Hometown
Hanover, New Hampshire
Education B
.A. in English (creative writing), Italian minor from Middlebury College M.A.T. from Manhattanville College
Back
Ms. Gaudet’s passion is engaging with her students and building upon the relational aspect of teaching to get the best from them. Her highest priority is creating a safe space where everyone feels welcomed and valued.
Impacting Students
One of my favorite lessons is facilitating Socratic seminars, where kids participate in a small group dialogue centered around a specific text. Having prepared a given text ahead of time, 8-9 students begin as an inner circle, observed by their outer circle of 8-9 students. Using the text to inform all of their wonderings, they question, observe, and connect information in a way that deepens their own understanding. What I value most is the way that, without exception, each seminar reveals observations and sophisticated ideas that exceed my expectations. In the post-seminar reflection, seeing what kids cite as their "favorite moment" is always one of the richest exercises I ask them to do. They see and believe that they can learn from one another, not just from their teachers. In addition, what makes these seminars impactful is largely the way they motivate more introverted students to take risks in a much smaller, seemingly less daunting space.
Lifelong Learner
Traveling with my team to High Tech High in San Diego was unforgettable. The energy within the school and all over campus was infectious; we could not stop brainstorming, reflecting, and wondering about what we can implement here at Graland. We talk and plan weekly about how to integrate some ideas and visions into our DC trip, as well as our Memory Box project. We are cohesive, collectively and individually driven, and fiercely committed to making the seventh grade experience the best it can possibly be for our students.
Favorite Teaching Moment
This year, one student led a Socratic seminar in a way that left me speechless. He was able to draw upon his own socio-economic background to relate to the protagonist and to initiate impromptu dialogue about different family structures. His fellow inner circle members listened attentively, and recalibrated some of their own ideas based on this boy's contributions. I would not trade that class period for anything.
Book I Can Read Over and Over
My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. That was true long before my career began, but it has become increasingly my favorite every time I am privileged enough to teach its historical framework and how that informs the trajectory of the story.
Feels Rewarded When ...
...a student who professes to have "never liked English before" shows up and invests himself fully in my class. I feel rewarded when my quieter students take risks and participate more as the year unfolds.
Fun Fact
I can read fluently in Italian.
Joined Graland in...
2014
Also Known As ...
Advisory Leader; DC Trip Leader; SEED Member (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity); Differentiation Cohort Participant; Diversity and Equity Cohort Participant; Peer Leader Co-facilitator; Co-creator of "Sunshine Committee" for Middle School
Hometown
Hanover, New Hampshire
Education B
.A. in English (creative writing), Italian minor from Middlebury College M.A.T. from Manhattanville College
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
