Nettie Jeansonne

8th Grade Math Teacher
Avoyelles High School
Moreauville, LA
18 years working in education

Get to know Nettie Jeansonne

What do you love about working in education? What motivates you? 

My favorite part of teaching is when you can literally see a students “light bulb” turn on. You all know that moment. The moment when a kid really understands the topic you are teaching.

I also love when students from many years past recognize you in the grocery store or on social media and just have to come a give you a hug or friend request.

Why did you become a teacher? 

I hail from a family of teachers. My mother, uncle, aunt, and nanny were all teachers. I literally grew up in a classroom. My mother forbade me from becoming a teacher so I went to school for Biological Engineering. When I was in my last semester of engineering, I could not fight the urge to teach any longer. Much to the dismay of my mother, I switched and finished with a degree in education. Even at 41 years old, I can still remember every teacher that taught me from pre-K through high school. Being in a classroom is like being home for me.

What is your “Edulastic story”? 

I was sitting in a workshop after-school one evening and was pretty much bored out of my mind. I heard another teacher make an off-topic comment about some edu site where students could take their weekly test online. That was it, focus was blown. I then did a google search and signed up instantly for an account. I fell in love! That year, our state (Louisiana), was moving to computer-based state assessments. I thought, how cool would it be for students to be accustomed to testing online.

My next obstacle was computers. Being resourceful, I went to our computer graveyard. You know that room that houses all the outdated technology. There were mountains of laptops that were running an old OS, but still connected perfectly fine to the internet. Granted, most of them had a large portion of keys missing and none of the batteries held a charge. My students and I loaded a class set of them to my room. My husband and brother made me a large extention cord with outlets every so many feet that had to be snaked across the classroom for testing days. We became so used to our procedure (my kids called the cart Old Hotness) that I had a designated setup and tear down team of kids. The Old Hotness took about 20 minutes to setup and start each computer. Luckily, this year, I was upgraded to a brand new class set of chromebooks.

The most amazing part of all that hard work is the comments students made after our first computer based LEAP. All students commented that ELA and Social Studies was hard testing on the computer, but that their Math test simply felt like a weekly test to them. They were used to all the controls and testing types.

I have conducted several workshops in our district on Edulastic. I find many teachers love the program, but don’t want to take the initiative to find a way to get their hands on computers. I always tell them and my students that where there is a will there is a way.

Describe your favorite Edulastic “aha” moment.

After the first two assessments, I knew this was going to be how I gave assessments for the rest of my career. I know everyone love’s the reports and I do as well. Let’s face it, there are additional perks that no one mentions. First, OMG, no more carrying all these test papers home and flipping through page by page. My backpack is lighter than it has every been while teaching. Secondly, the ease of grading papers. When you are packed to the limit in your classes, grading papers can overwhelm both you and your family time. I love how quickly I can grade and even give students feedback on their questions. The redirect button hands down is my favorite option.

What are your teaching/learning goals this year?

At this time of the year, it is a final push for testing and keeping my sanity. My goal this year is the same as every year. I hope to give the kids the tools to be successful in high school math classes and in everyday life. I always strive to change a kids from the mindset of everyone in my family is bad in math to math is fun and easy.

Sum up your teaching philosophy in a few sentences! 

We are here to learn. I am not here to entertain you. You must work for your grade.

Favorite motivational idea:

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” -Albert Einstein

Tips for new Edulastic users:

I would tell teachers who are just starting with Edulastic, buy the premium. It is worth every penny! I would also tell them to start with just using it to give their students a few classroom questions so that students can become familiar with the design. My first two assignments I did with my students had no academic value. My “questions” were simply to mimic what I had done. This really works for helping students discover how to enter exponents in the equation editor.

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