GILROY
– When Barbara Wells started her teaching career 21 years ago,
she took the well-tested suggestion of a friend in order to
maintain control of her class. The advice was
”
Don’t let them see you smile until December.
”
GILROY – When Barbara Wells started her teaching career 21 years ago, she took the well-tested suggestion of a friend in order to maintain control of her class. The advice was “Don’t let them see you smile until December.”
Wells tried that her first couple of years in the classroom, but two decades later she has a much different approach. Inside her Antonio Del Buono kindergarten class, Wells’ motto is “If they love you, they’ll do anything for you.”
“It’s just natural for me to smile and chuckle,” Wells says. “It was so hard not to laugh and have fun with the discoveries these children are making.”
Now a seasoned veteran, Wells uses “consistent, soft and quiet discipline” to keep high-energy, short-attention span kindergarten students on task.
And it’s seen by more people than just Wells’ students.
“I had the privilege of working with Barbara (Wells) for five years at Rucker (Elementary School) and three years here at ADB, and I’ve never heard her act impatient, and we’re talking about being responsible for 5- and 6-year-olds,” Principal Pat Midtgaard said. “Her classroom is a model of organization, and she has such a calm demeanor. She sets a good tone for learning and that is so important at the kindergarten level because it can carry through in all future years.”
In her career, Wells has taught the gamut of elementary grade levels from kindergarten through sixth-grade. The only level she hasn’t taught is third grade, ironically one of the most desirable for a teacher.
Teachers love third grade classes because at 8 years of age children are able to stay on task for longer periods of time. Also, third-graders are years away from developing any of the pubescent baggage that can interfere with learning as middle school age approaches.
“I haven’t avoided third grade. It’s just never worked out that there was an opening there for me,” Wells said.
Finding a teaching job almost didn’t work out for Wells when she entered the education field 20 years ago. The climate following Proposition 13 – which reduced tax revenue statewide – did not create vast opportunity in public schools, so Wells took work at Sacred Heart Catholic school in Hollister.
A couple of years later, Wells heard there were openings in Gilroy Unified School District, applied for a job, got hired and never looked back, moving to Gilroy six years ago.
Wells is not just known around her campuses as the happy, smiling and easy-going teacher, she has a reputation for having one of the most “print rich” classrooms around, Midtgaard said.
“There are signs of literature everywhere. Anywhere a child looks there is something they can read,” Midtgaard said.
This is no accident. As an English literature student at San Jose State University, Wells was enthralled with the written and spoken word. She took drama classes and wanted to pursue a career in theater as a singer and actress.
“Maybe when I retire I’ll get involved in a community theater,” Wells said. “But I don’t feel like I gave up a dream. It feels natural to teach and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing a child learn.”
What probably makes teaching feel natural for Wells is her creative use of theater in the classroom. Wells admits she finds opportunities to “sing a lot” to the kids and incorporates puppet shows into her lesson plans.
Wells’ classrooms are rife with creativity, but lessons – even at the kindergarten level – are not all fun and games.
“It’s amazing how much more is expected nowadays from kindergartners,” Wells said. “They’re expected to leave kindergarten as readers and some of the work they do now is what I used to do with my first-grade classes years ago.”
While most GUSD kindergarten classes are held over a half day, Wells said she would support going to an extended day format.
“There’s just so much of a time crunch given everything we need to do,” Wells said.
Wells does not limit her role in the GUSD to the classroom. She has served on district committees, too, including the group that recommended switching from magnet to neighborhood schools, a major GUSD reform.
“I wasn’t convinced it was the best format at first, but I went into it open-minded and all the data supported neighborhood schools as being the best for students,” Wells said. “It makes it easier to offer an equal curriculum districtwide.”
Another change in education welcomed by Wells was class-size reduction, where schools can only place 20 students with every teacher.
“When I had 32 kids, I felt like a lot of time was going toward class control. When there were 20 kids put into my class, I finally felt like I really could teach,” Wells said.
Wells is no stranger to change.
Born in England, Wells emigrated to the United States with her family as a child and moved to the Almaden Valley area of San Jose. Today, she is a naturalized citizen with no semblance of an accent.
Married to husband and National Parks ranger Jay, Wells has a 16-year-old son, Erik, at Gilroy High School. Erik is in his senior year and once he gets established at a university, Wells plans to head north with her husband, who also is preparing to retire.
“We’re getting ready to build a home near the Cascades in Washington state,” Wells says with smiling eyes.
It isn’t hard to imagine the easy-natured Wells enjoying a good book inside a mountain-surrounded home. And if her theater bug kicks in, it’s no stretch to picture her performing, especially in front of kids.
