Laura Ann Pratt has been teaching science and math to seventh and eighth graders at Barre City Elementary and Middle School in Barre, VT, for four years. Her classrooms are part of a two-teacher team effort. Mrs. Pratt serves as the Seventh Grade Team Facilitator at the school, acting as the liaison between the administration and the other grade level teachers. She is also part of a team of teachers who will begin piloting curriculum mapping. Previously Mrs. Pratt served as the Girls Field Hockey Coach and Girls Lacrosse Coach.
Fellow teachers and administrators describe Mrs. Pratt as a teacher who is liked by all for her positive, friendly, and humble manner; she provides a safe, supportive learning environment for all children. Students at all skill levels participate in classroom activities. As students become enthused with the subject, they take their newly learned science skills home and share them with their parents. She uses a variety of methods to engage students, including starting with student conceptions and observations about a topic and then exploring these individual conceptions through reading, inquiry, and discussion. Mrs. Pratt displays an infectious enthusiasm for science. She works to increase her own science content knowledge and science teaching. Her peers consider her a highly professional teacher.
Mrs. Pratt received the 2006 Vermont Outstanding Teacher Award.
Mrs. Pratt has been certified by the State as a “highly qualified teacher.” She holds State licenses for middle grade mathematics and grades seven through twelve science. She has a B.S. in biology from Saint Michael’s College and an M.S. in education from Lesley University.