Jan. 2, 2025
A Teacher's Tale of Resilience and Innovation
Kelly Brychell, a seasoned educator with 25 years of experience, shares her inspiring journey from teaching kindergarten to nurturing gifted students in Madison County Schools. Discover how Kelly’s passion for integrating technology into her curriculum translates into remarkable progress for her students, especially those learning English and gifted fifth graders exhibiting extraordinary analytical skills. Kelly’s stories paint a vivid picture of her teaching experiences, highlighting the joy and fulfillment she derives from witnessing her students unlock their potential and shine brightly in their educational pursuits.
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Welcome to American Book Company's Spotlight for Success.
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We are here at the Georgia Educational Technology Conference with Kelly Brychell.
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She is a teacher at Corbett Elementary Schools in the gifted program and I understand that's part of Madison County Schools.
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Yes, yes, it is.
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All right, Kelly.
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Well, welcome to the podcast, thank you.
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Okay, I'd like to just let us know a little bit about yourself and what brought you here.
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This is my 25th year of teaching.
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I've taught kindergarten for eight years and then transitioned into gifted, so I work with kindergarten through fifth graders and I'm always looking for new ways that I can bring technology in in a meaningful and purposeful way.
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Wonderful and what led you to work in the gifted program.
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I had taught kindergarten for the eight years and after a while you want to try something new, and I had several things that were going on.
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I had changed districts, I had moved homes and I said why not just try something completely brand new?
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So I moved into the gifted spot.
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That's wonderful.
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Can you share with us some of your golden moments, as in teaching?
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Okay, well, definitely in kindergarten you see a lot of them because they are learning so much.
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They're just little sponges.
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I worked with a lot of students who were learning English and they would come into my classroom not knowing anything and seeing them grow throughout the year and finishing the year, being able to read, being able to speak with anybody who came in.
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It was amazing to see their growth.
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And then, working with the older grades, like the fifth graders.
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This year we just finished this book and there were a lot of twists and turns in it and I knew at the end it was going to wrap it up, but they were able to figure out those connections way earlier than expected.
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They were able to read all the clues, all the small little pieces and put it together.
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It was amazing to watch.
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That's wonderful being part of the gifted kids and seeing what you can do with them to help them to really shine as they go through their career and become productive citizens.
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Yes, and they're really eager to learn.
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It doesn't matter what you give them, they just want to take it and run with it.
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That is wonderful.
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Now I understand you're in Madison County, is that right?
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Yes, so can you explain?
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I understand that you mentioned that it's a rural environment.
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Yes, it's a very rural school.
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It is only about a half hour outside of Athens, so University of Georgia, But it is a very different environment than a large suburban, even urban school.
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We have a lot of agriculture, in fact the high school they have many programs that are agricultural-based.
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Well, that's wonderful.
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Is there anything else you'd like to share with the education community regarding the things that you do and what you've seen?
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I've seen education go through lots of different waves, but in the end the teachers really are just trying to do what's best for students and for their community.
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Wonderful.
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Well, thank you very much Again.
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This is Kelly Brychel with Madison County Schools.
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Thank you so much for participating today.
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I hope this is a wonderful, excellent conference for you.
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I'm looking forward to it.
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Thank you.
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Thanks.
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