Teacher Mary Jane Patterson: From slavery to classroom

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Mary Jane Patterson: From slavery to classroom. Photo Credit: Pubic Domain

Here is the story of a truly remarkable educator: Mary Jane Patterson. Mary Jane was born the daughter of slaves in Raleigh, North Carolina, on September 12, 1840. Her father, Henry Patterson, worked as a master mason. After Henry gained his freedom in 1852, he relocated his family north to Oberlin, Ohio.

Oberlin was a favored destination for free Blacks and fugitive slaves seeking an education because it boasted a college that was integrated and co-educational. When Mary Jane earned her Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in 1862, she became the first African-American woman to receive a degree from an established American college.

After earning her degree, Mary Jane taught for a short time in Chillicothe, Ohio, before moving to Philadelphia to work at the Institute for Colored Youth, a college preparatory school for African Americans. She taught there for five years. In 1869, the young teacher moved to Washington, DC, where she eventually became the principal of the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth. That school was later renamed M Street High School, and today the facility is called Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School.

Mary Jane was the first African-American high school principal in Washington, DC. She is still remembered today for her strong, forceful personality, and for increasing her school’s enrollment from fewer than 50 students to 172 students. During her tenure there, she also initiated high school commencements and a teacher-training department.

In addition to her accomplishments in the school, Mary Jane was a part of the Colored Woman’s League of Washington, DC, an organization committed to women’s rights. The group focused on training women to become kindergarten teachers, rescue work, and classes for industrial schools and homemaking.

This remarkable educator passed away September 24, 1894, at her home in Washington, DC. She was only 54 years old. Her home at 1532 15th Street, NW, is part of the Washington, DC’s historic walking tour.

To read more about the remarkable Mary Jane Patterson click on this link to BlackPast.

Elem teacher, Drama Director Joshua Chard named Maine’s 2024 State Teacher of the Year

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Elementary teacher and Drama Director Joshua Chard has been named Maine’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Maine State Department of Education

I always enjoy sharing the story of an exceptional educator who has earned recognition for his work with young people. One of these is Joshua Chard, an elementary school teacher and Drama Director from Portland, Maine. He has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year by the Maine State Department of Education.

Joshua teaches second and third grade loop at East End Community School, one of the most diverse elementary schools north of Boston. “I was really excited to discover that I’m really good at teaching kids how to read,” says Joshua. “It’s pretty exciting to watch kids go from being word readers to being story readers. It’s a pretty amazing thing to be a part of,” he continued.

Joshua decided to pursue a career as an educator when he was only in the fifth grade. As a young student, he confesses, he was a struggling learner. But it was his fifth-grade teacher, Mrs. Breau, who made a special connection that changed everything. She was an amazing teacher, Joshua declares, and she “convinced me that I could be a learner. She saw me for who I was,” he says.

In addition to his young students, Joshua also serves as the Drama Director at Deering High School. “The thing about my drama club is that we are a place that is a strong community where everybody is welcome to come as they are,” explains Joshua. “The word got out that it is a really safe place for kids who often feel they don’t have another safe place to land in high school,” he continued. During the four years he has led the club, he has built a community of young actors from nine to forty.

Joshua earned his Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Theater from the University of Southern Maine in 1996. He also earned a Master’s degree in Education from the University of New England in 2009. He completed the requirements for a certificate in K-6 standards-based mathematics from the American College of Education, and he is certified as a K-12 teacher of English to speakers of other languages. His career as an educator spans 31 years.

When he’s not working with students, Joshua is a freelance theater director. This year, he and his husband will direct a show at the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine.

 

What strategies did “miracle-worker” Annie Sullivan use to teach Helen Keller?

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Helen Keller, left, with her teacher, Annie Sullivan Macy, right. Photo Credit: Public Domain 

Anne Sullivan: This teacher’s name is synonymous with Miracle Worker. Anne is the remarkable teacher who worked with Helen Keller, an extremely intelligent blind and deaf child from Tuscumbia, Alabama. The relationship between the teacher and the student is explored in the play The Miracle Worker by William Gibson, an iconic piece of American literature that is frequently taught in public schools. This award-winning play depicts the exact moment at which, due to Anne’s expert instructional efforts, Helen was able to grasp the concept of language. This knowledge unlocked a world of isolation for the little girl, allowing her to connect with her fellow human beings, and making it possible for her to earn a university degree at a time when educating women was rare. The scene is sweet. But what strategies, exactly, did the miracle-working teacher use in order to achieve this breakthrough? After extensive reading on the subject, I think I may be able to identify a few of them.

First of all, Anne read every bit of published material available in her day about the education of handicapped students. Knowledge of pedagogy is the first step to effective practice. In addition to this, Anne had the “advantage” of personal experience, as she herself had wrestled with severe vision impairment as a result of trachoma. I’m sure at one time or another, we’ve all met an educator who is particularly effective at working with students who are facing the same challenges the teacher himself faced as a youngster.

Second, Anne was a keen observer, and she made it a point to watch the normal processes of language acquisition. She then replicated those processes as best she could to fit the particular circumstances and needs of her student. Today, we would probably call this strategy recognizing brain-based learning, and coordinating teaching strategies to fit the way the brain naturally learns.

Also, experts generally agree that much of Anne’s success in teaching Helen language was attributed to the fact that the teacher always communicated to her student with complete sentences. Concrete nouns such as water or spoon, verbs such was pump or run, or adjectives such as hot or smooth,  may be easy to convey. But abstract ideas such as beauty or truth, or certain parts of speech such as pronouns and some prepositions are much more difficult to impart to an individual unable to see or hear. Yet Annie always used these words in her everyday communication with Helen anyway.

Fourth, Anne was especially adept at incorporating experiential learning into her lesson plans. The effectiveness of “learning by doing” has been well documented, but in a day and age when most instruction consisted of rote memorization without necessarily comprehending, Anne’s insistence on teaching through constructed experience was truly innovative. Wading through the creek water, climbing the tree, holding the chick as it hatched from the egg—experiences like these were the staples of Anne’s instructional program.

To learn more about Anne Sullivan Macy, I have included an abbreviated but concise biography of this amazing teacher in my book, Chalkboard Champions: Twelve Teachers who Educated America’s Disenfranchised Students, which can also be found at amazon.com at the following link: Chalkboard Champions.

Message from NEA President Becky Pringle to kick-off Teacher Appreciation Week

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It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! Teachers all over the country change the lives of millions of children every day. And in yet another year of challenges, our teachers’ immense work, creativity, and resilience have provided a much-needed sense of community and connection to our young people. Educators across America are working hard to ensure every student has the tools they need to reach their full potential.

The history of Teacher Appreciation Week dates back to the 1950s when a teacher named Mattye Whyte Woodridge began the movement to establish a national day to honor teachers. In 1953, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded Congress to set aside a day to recognize teachers. Back then, it was just a single day of recognition.  However, due to the overwhelming support for honoring teachers, the National Education Association (NEA) successfully lobbied to turn it into a full week in 1986. Today, Teacher Appreciation Week is celebrated annually during the first full week of May, with Teacher Appreciation Day falling on the Tuesday of that week.

This year, in 2024, Teacher Appreciation Week is celebrated from May 6—10, with Teacher Appreciation Day falling on May 7. To celebrate this year, here is a message from Becky Pringle, President of the NEA. “Educators, you are leading the way. Guiding and protecting; nurturing and supporting our precious students all across this nation. Every day, all day, you provide our students with the tools they need to build a future that will help them live into their wildest dreams,” Pringle says.

Teachers, know that you are loved and appreciated! Have a wonderful day, this week and every week!