By Ellen Braunstein

In classrooms of 30 or more first-graders, teacher Jeanne Rosen stood just 4 feet, 11 inches tall. Her son, Richard, thinks that mattered. “Part of the reason the kids liked her is that she wasn’t that much bigger than they were,” he said. “She told them on the first day, ‘If you listen to everything I tell you, you’ll become very smart — so smart your parents won’t believe how smart you are.’ It seemed to work.”

Rosen, a longtime Philadelphia teacher known for her energy and humor in the classroom, died on Sept. 16 in Bala Cynwyd. She was 96.

She had a knack for connecting with children. “She had total control, and she had a good time with them,” Richard Rosen said. “She came from a family that enjoyed good humor. She loved to dance. On Halloween, she’d come in cost

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