Terry Lee Marzell holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cal State Fullerton and a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Cal State San Bernardino. She also holds a certificate for Interior Design Level 1 from Mt. San Antonio College. She has been an educator in the Corona Norco Unified School District for more than 30 years.
Here is a wonderful resource you might want to check out. Rachel’s English is a YouTube channel dedicated to helping non-native speakers improve their spoken English and listening comprehension.
Philadelphia teacher Rachel creates You Tube channel to share her ESL videos.
The channel is created by ESL teacher Rachel. Having taught off and on since 1999, Rachel became interested in developing a pronunciation-focused resource while she was living in Germany under the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program in 2008. Rachel, who is also a classical singer, studied with highly acclaimed vocal teachers and coaches and brings a body of detailed knowledge connected to the voice, placement, and the musical nature of speech to her work as a pronunciation coach.
Rachel lives in Philadelphia. She was born and raised in Florida. She went to college in Indiana where she studied applied math, computer science, and music. She also attended graduate school for Opera Performance in Boston. Then she spent eight years in New York City, where many of her videos were filmed, before moving to Philadelphia.
Rachel currently offers 625 videos through her channel, and she has 1,734,725 subscribers. Way to go, Rachel!
There are countless traits that make teachers great. I’ve narrowed in on fifteen unique behaviors I’ve observed in great educators over the years. Do you have one to add to the list? Write in your own!
1. Teachers can say everything without saying anything at all. Experienced teachers have perfected the use of the facial expression, and can say anything to a student with just a glance. With a unique eyebrow lift, a student (or an entire class) can understand “be quiet,” “be sensitive,” or “nice work.”
2. Teachers don’t accept failure. They try every angle and every strategy to help students learn and succeed.
3. Teachers care. Teachers love every student in their class, even the ones that are hard to love, and sometimes especially the ones that are hard to love.
4. Teachers are fabulous communicators. They love to talk and listen to students, to other teachers, and parents. They chose their words wisely and can say anything with a smile and a positive spin.
5. Teachers are adaptable. They can change a lesson or an entire class in a moment’s notice, which comes in handy when the fire drill or unplanned assembly interrupts.
6. Teachers are positive. They know the work is challenging, but they’ve accepted the task and know they can be an amazing teacher because their attitude is great and no one can tell them they can’t do something.
7. Teachers work hard. They don’t show up and sit behind a desk. They stand all day, talk all day, think all day, interact all day, and learn all day. The corporate world may not get it, but teachers are busy people. Returning emails and phone calls are luxuries our days may not afford. But the important stuff- the teaching- that’s getting done.
8. Teachers know how to take charge. Teachers have no trouble being the center of attention while making students laugh and learn. They know how to be the boss even using just a small movement or sound.
9. Teachers are creative. They can help students learn something a million different ways, with any object, at any time in any place. The hallway, the playground, and the even the lunchroom are places where important lessons and connections take place.
10. Teachers are humble. They don’t teach to be praised, but to make a difference.
11. Teachers are always thinking about teaching. They plan, they research, and they think about lessons all of the time. They write down lesson ideas on cocktail napkins or receipts when they think of something great to include in an upcoming unit.
12. Teachers are resourceful. They know how to make the most of a lesson with no money, no supplies and little time.
13. Teachers are organized. They plan lessons sometimes a year in advance. The room is organized, the desk is in order, and the plan is clear for the day because they’ve made sure of it.
14. Teachers stick together. No one understands or can relate to the inside of a classroom like another teacher. When teachers feel frustrated or challenged, they know talking to another teacher is comforting and helpful.
15. Teachers don’t take teaching lightly.They’ve been trained in a field with no pay and no tangible rewards. The emotional rewards of teaching? The satisfaction of teaching? Those are so great it makes up for everything else and then some. The joys of teaching can be so overwhelming that they know it’s one of the greatest professions on Earth.
Mandy Manning of Spokane, Washington, named the 2018 National Teacher of the Year.
Congratulations to exemplary educator Mandy Manning of Spokane, Washington, who has been named the 2018 National Teacher of the Year.
Mandy teaches English to newly-arrived immigrant students in the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane.
As 2018 National Teacher of the Year, Mandy says she would like to encourage educators to teach their students to overcome their fears and seek out new experiences. “Let’s teach our students to be fearless,” she declares. “Let’s teach them to be brave when confronted with uncertainty. Brave when they fail. Brave in meeting new people. Brave in seeking opportunities to experience things outside of their understanding,” she continues.
In her classroom, Mandy designs lessons that help her students process trauma, celebrate their home countries and culture, and learn about their new community.Mandy says she makes it a priority to create connections between her students and the community inside and outside of the school. She has invited district leaders, campus resource officers, community members of color, and professional writers to visit her classroom. These visits help her students learn cultural expectations and how to express themselves effectively. In return, her students teach these leaders where they come from, who they are, and the contributions they make to the community.
“All of us together make this world interesting and good. We must teach our students to overcome their fears and seek out new experiences. The only way to teach fearlessness is to show it. We must show kindness by getting to know our students, learning about them, and showing them how to connect,” Mandy asserts.
Mandy earned a Bachelor’s degree from Eastern Washington University, her Master’s degree from West Texas A & M University, and a second Master’s degree from Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. In addition, Mandy is a National Board Certified Teacher. This amazing educator inaugurated her career in the teaching profession when she worked for the Peace Corps in Armenia in 1999. She then spent several years working as a teacher and assistant teacher in schools in Japan and across the U.S. Mandy has taught for the past 19 years, seven of which have been in her current position.
In addition to recognition as the 2018 National Teacher of the Year, Mandy has earned the National Education Association Foundation’s California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence in 2017 and the Kim Plemons Leadership Award from the Spokane Education Association in 2015.
Many talented educators earn recognition for achievements outside of the classroom. This is true of science and math teacher Joseph Michael Acaba, who is also a hydro-geologist and NASA educator astronaut. This chalkboard champion is the first individual of Puerto Rican descent to become a NASA astronaut.
Math teacher and US astronaut Joseph Acaba.
Joe was born on May 17, 1967, in Inglewood, California, where his parents, Ralph and Elsie Acaba, had moved from Hatillo, Puerto Rico, during the 1960s. When he was an elementary student, Joe excelled in both science and math. He enjoyed reading, particularly science fiction stories. He also appreciated educational movies, and credits his interest in space to a film he watched in his boyhood depicting Neil Armstrong’s 1969 landing on the moon. During his senior year in high school, he became interested in scuba diving, and later he became a certified scuba diver through a job-training program at his school. This experience inspired him to further his academic education in the field of geology. In 1985, Joe graduated with honors from Esperanza High School in Anaheim, California.
Joe earned his Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1990, and his Master’s degree in Geology from the University of Arizona in 1992. Following his graduation, Joe enlisted as a reservist in the US Marine Corps, where he served his country for six years. During this time, Joe worked as a hydro-geologist in Los Angeles, where he was involved in the assessment and remediation of groundwater contaminants. He has also worked for the Caribbean Marine Research in the Bahamas and as a shoreline re-vegetation coordinator in Vero Beach, Florida.
Additionally, Joe spent two years in the Peace Corps, where he trained over 300 teachers in modern teaching methodologies in the Dominican Republic. “Once I did that, I knew that education was what I wanted to do,” Joe said. To fulfill this dream, after leaving the Peace Corps Joe taught one year of high school science and math at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida, and four years of science and math at Dunnellon Middle School in Dunnellon, Florida. Then, in May 2004, the veteran educator was one of three classroom teachers selected by NASA to be a mission specialist. “The only job that could take me away from teaching is being an astronaut,” he confessed. “Being an educator astronaut is the best of both worlds.”
In February 2006, Joe completed his astronaut candidate training, which included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Upon completion of his training, Joe was assigned to the Hardware Integration Team in the Space Station Branch, working technical issues with European Space Agency hardware. He was also a member of the Space Shuttle Branch, supporting shuttle launch and landing preparations at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Joe’s first space mission was aboard STS-119, which flew from March 15 to March 28, 2009. The task for this mission was to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station. Joe performed two space walks during this mission. His second space mission was Expedition 31/32, which was launched on May 15, 2012, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and returned on September 17, 2012. As a member of the Expedition 31/32 crews, Joe spent 123 days aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer. The intrepid educator has logged a total of 138 days in space during his two missions.
Joe once said that, as an educator astronaut, he hoped to reach out to minority students. On March 18, 2008, he traveled to Puerto Rico, where he was honored by the island’s senate. During his visit, Joe met with school children at the capitol and at Science Park located in Bayamon. Science Park boasts a planetarium and several surplus NASA rockets among its exhibits. Joe made a second trip to Puerto Rico on June 1, 2009. On that trip he spent seven days on the island and came into contact with over 10,000 citizens, most of them school children.
Joe is active in several professional organizations. He is a member of the International Technology Education Association, the Florida Association of Science Teachers, and the Association of Space Explorers. During his career, Joe has earned many honors. He has been given the Ana G. Mendez University System Presidential Medal and a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. In addition, Caras Magazine designated Joe as one of the most influential and exciting Puerto Ricans of 2012.
“As an educator,” this chalkboard champion once expounded, “I think the most important thing for me is to fulfill the goal of inspiring the next generation. Motivating kids to learn is as important as the subject matter.”
