In a renowned school system that attracts families and students from across the country, it’s not easy to stand out. However, Ryerson Elementary School’s Rene Chin has built a reputation as a dedicated and passionate educator beloved by students and staff.

Rene is Madison Public School’s Teacher of the Year for 2023-’24, but as you might expect, though she appreciates the honor, she is far more focused on her students than on awards. Rene currently teaches second grade at Ryerson but has taught in several grades and has a background in instruction with students diagnosed with autism.

“I became a teacher in my late 40s, so this is my 10th year of having a classroom. I became a teacher much later, obviously. My background was in the autism field. I worked in New Jersey at a nonprofit school with kids with autism, and then I worked for a state organization,” Rene explains. “There, I was not only guiding parents who had just received a diagnosis for their child, but then I was doing presentations, helping parents advocate to get what they needed for their child’s education in New Jersey. I really enjoyed that.”

Rene says she worked in autism education when data and information were difficult to parse and when many theories abounded regarding the causes of autism and the best educational process options were being formulated.

“We did so much disseminating based on research. This was at a time when there was all this controversy as to whether vaccines caused autism. That organization really presented research that said it doesn’t,” says Rene. “So, we did a lot of work on behavioral intervention, giving families an idea of how parents could make their child’s schooling better. It was really an incredible organization; it still exists; it is called COSAC [Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community, now called Autism New Jersey]. They do incredible work.”

As for why she chose education as a profession, Rene says it took time to develop into a clear path for her, but it was a career that she felt a strong connection to.

“I think I fought it [being a teacher] for a long time. For me, it’s always been about kids. Even when I was doing advocacy work in the autism field…I think I have always wanted to be an adult who can empower kids. I want to be an adult that helps a child see what they are really good at, and for them to celebrate that, and then to be okay with the areas that they need to grow,” says Rene. “I really just love everything about teaching. The kids are amazing. Every child brings their own gift, and I love teaching the joy of writing.”

Rene says that invaluable experience in New Jersey helped inform how she conducts her classroom as a public school educator.

“The thing that I carry from that early part of my career into teaching and into my parenting is the whole work and learning I did with Applied Behavior Analysis,” says Rene.

This method has proved successful across a wide spectrum of student aptitudes, according to Rene, and has helped shape her strategies for success in her Ryerson classroom.

“You are reinforcing what you want to see. Of course, you are looking for ways to decrease behaviors you don’t want to see, but to me as an educator and a parent, I am always looking at a positive. That part of my life has greatly influenced how I raised my own children and how I teach in the classroom,” says Rene. “For example, in this room, the students are constantly being given specific praise because they’re going to want to do it again. In this room, it’s all about compliments and behavior-specific praise, so when we have to say a ‘no,’ they understand, ‘Hey, wait; I need to listen to this.’ It really influenced the core of my teaching, to focus on kids in the positive and to provide that constant feedback that what they are doing is what we want to see more of. It really empowers them. It makes them feel really good. It seems so simple, but it is hard. It’s hard even in parenting because so many of us were raised where we weren’t talked to until we did wrong. Now, I am flipping that, and I use praise, praise, praise. It is really upsetting that and focusing on the positives,” she says.

Rene has taught at several elementary grade levels in Madison and says she doesn’t have a favorite, as each class has its own challenges.

“What’s really amazing in this district, in particular, is the curriculum is so deep and rich that you can have profound conversations with first graders. You just have to allow yourself to do that. Each grade is a little different developmentally, but they’re not that different. It’s the same strategies, it’s the same patience, it’s still looking at all the goodness they have,” Rene says. “We are so lucky here. I want to be that adult for these kids who really sees them for who they are and celebrates them, and gives them the tools, not just the academic tools, but the tools that they can use to feel good about themselves. That’s what drew me into teaching.”

Though she appreciates her recent Teacher of the Year honors, Rene lauds not just her students but her colleagues and the system for her classroom successes. Collaboration with her colleagues is something Rene says is critical to her ability to make a difference in her students.

Rene says a particular concept of math problem solving presented by her coworker and district math specialist Jen Maxwell has been instrumental in her overall approach to the class as a whole.

“I worked with our district math coach, Jen Maxwell, who provided me with the concept of Productive Struggle in Math. She asked me to read this, and I was impressed. I said, ‘Jen, you know what I’m going to do with this?’ There’s one section in the book on getting unstuck and I have a feeling that what this book is teaching us about math can apply to our whole day,” says Rene. “Because of what Jen did and what our principal, Kelly Spooner, encouraged me to do, there are teachers throughout the district now that are asking our math coaches for this coaching cycle, and that just inspires me to keep going and do right by our kids. This district is absolutely amazing. With the support we get and with the money our PTOs provide, I definitely, as an educator here, feel so supported by the entire district and the Board of Ed. It feels lovely to be part of it.”