The National Teacher of the Year Award
Congratulations to Monika Ann Unwin for winning the The National Teacher of the Year Award. Certainly, Mrs. Unwin has faced a tremendous amount of challenges this past year, but she has proven to be a beaming light among a constant stream of darkness. "Mrs. Unwin, is the best teacher I ever had. She helped us kids get better grades and her class was fun." Zach Conner, a sixth-grader at Campton Middle School. "We went on fun field trips and got to meet different artists from New York."
Students visited the University of New Mexico and collaborated with new and up-coming artists in the field. "I think it's imperative that students are taught that collaboration happens all the time in a working environments. Mrs. Unwin is not only teaching our future citizens about art and it's content, but her students are gaining invaluable, essential life skills." Sue Thompson, an Associate Professor of Electronic Arts. "The students were able to personally engage in new and upcoming advances in electronic arts." One example her students did for their collaboration was visit UNM's Arts Lab and watch on the Planetarium Full Dome electronically produced artworks. Students screened 3-D images and animations and were taught the process of creating digital music and images to create art.
Mrs. Unwin, along with her busy work schedule, offers after school art club where the students engage in various art projects, but are also facilitated with caring instruction with their homework.
"The students were really discouraged about their class. Fortunately we finally found the right fit." says principal Claudia Whitman. "The students were really taken back when they discovered their previous art teacher was leaving in the middle of the school year to pursue a career of belly dancing in Bali."
The dedication and efforts to win over her students made the job a difficult one: "If I would have let these type of situations affect me, I think that It would've made a huge difference going into this job. I tried my very best to remain positive on a daily basis and brought humor in my instruction. I think by my consistancy and positive outlook, I feel like I was finally able to break the ice with my students." Mrs. Unwin reflects, "I feel that by becoming immediately involved with my students eventually I gained their respect. I knew that I couldn't just come into that situation and "take over". It had to be a more gradual process, a more organic process."
We need more teachers like Mrs. Unwin. With her pursuit of excellence, she is inspiring and uplifting. It's no wonder the kids find success in her class. Her enthusiasm catches on like wild fire and one could tell she truly cares about her students!
This article was pure fiction published by the moderator as practice for future SUCCESS! All names, with the exception of the moderator have been made up. This was only a fun example of future endeavors of the moderator.
"The students were really discouraged about their class. Fortunately we finally found the right fit." says principal Claudia Whitman. "The students were really taken back when they discovered their previous art teacher was leaving in the middle of the school year to pursue a career of belly dancing in Bali."
The dedication and efforts to win over her students made the job a difficult one: "If I would have let these type of situations affect me, I think that It would've made a huge difference going into this job. I tried my very best to remain positive on a daily basis and brought humor in my instruction. I think by my consistancy and positive outlook, I feel like I was finally able to break the ice with my students." Mrs. Unwin reflects, "I feel that by becoming immediately involved with my students eventually I gained their respect. I knew that I couldn't just come into that situation and "take over". It had to be a more gradual process, a more organic process."
We need more teachers like Mrs. Unwin. With her pursuit of excellence, she is inspiring and uplifting. It's no wonder the kids find success in her class. Her enthusiasm catches on like wild fire and one could tell she truly cares about her students!
This article was pure fiction published by the moderator as practice for future SUCCESS! All names, with the exception of the moderator have been made up. This was only a fun example of future endeavors of the moderator.
Your love and dedication for teaching definitely can definitely be seen through this article! I think it is important to provide students with life long skills while incorporating your content area, making it more relatable to the students. I also love your idea about providing the after school art club. So many times students are not able to get the support and help from home they need, so this is a wonderful way to provide them with the one on one attention that will help them succeed.
ReplyDeleteHow unfortunate that the students current teacher had to leave to pursue belly dancing- but it sounds like they only benefited from having you as a replacement! In all seriousness, having a high turnover of teachers can be very problematic to students as it causes them to really shut off and not trust the new teacher. Your idea to remain positive and break the ice by using humor can only benefit you, and them. It will create an open environment where the students feel respected and can begin to trust you and your intentions.
Art class was always my favorite class because it allowed individual students to show their creativity apart from a structured curriculum. Through art programs students sometimes find a voice that is unspoken. Your incorporation of art and collaboration is reflective and inspiring. Often times art classes may be seen as a time for students to draw and mess around, but if you are able incorporate the necessary skills for students to be successful in a working environment, through the means of art education, you will be giving them more than just a space to develop their creativity. Sometimes through art you are able to see what is oftentimes unspoken.
ReplyDeleteCollaboration is an important skill for students to learn and it sounds like you have some unique ways of incorporating it in Art class! I'm not the most creative person in the world, but I always enjoyed Middle School Art because of the variety of mediums with which we worked, but we sure didn't get to do 3-D images or animation! We also didn't get a chance to take field trips and visit Art Museums, which was a real shame, because I went to school in the D.C. area where National Art Galleries and Museums are plentiful. Sounds like you will be a gift to education!
ReplyDeleteCollaboration is definitely key in the Arts. With your program for Middle School, and mine for high school, it would be ideal to get the two age groups together! Through mentoring and creating their own lessons, the older students can apply a deeper understanding of the material. The younger students can find inspiration from the big kids. Maybe another project to keep us busy. ;)
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