2009 National Teacher of the Year
June 11, 2009The influence of an art teacher
At the end of April Anthony Mullen from Connecticut was selected as the National Teacher of the Year. In a recent interview Mr. Mullen was asked several questions, one of them was “In your NTOY application you wrote about a “newly minted” teacher who was struggling and how you mentored her. In your early days of teaching, who mentored you?”
Here is his answer where he spoke about the art teacher Diane Rhoda, who impacted Mr. Mullen. “I had the great opportunity to visit the classroom of Diane Rhoda, an art teacher at Blue Mountain Middle School, a couple of times in my first year of teaching. I was doing inclusion and noticed that when I went to different classes with the same group of kids, some were complete chaos and others were productive. The one class that they excleed in was hers. She had this kind of magic chemistry with the kids.
Diane Rhoda not only gave me the organizational skills to be a good teacher, but she always talked to me about what it’s like for the students. I took her lessons with me when I went to the high school knowing that no matter how angry a teenager may seem there’s a story there. She taught me how to be a caring and effective teacher. I’ll never forget her.”
You can read the entire interview with special education teacher, Anthony Mullen, by clicking here. I recommend spending the 10 minutes it might take as you close in on your school year.
I teach art(K-6) in 3 mid-coast Maine schools. It has been an exciting year with many new projects. The most recent was a study of Mona Lisa, Blue Boy, Whistler’s Mother or The Scream by 4th grade. Mini versions of the students favorite books were created for the figures to hold giving a low-relief effect.
Thank you for your comment Anne! I had the privilege of seeing The Scream 4th graders artwork one day when I stopped in to see Anne and I can attest to how wonderful it is! If you have a picture please send it along and I can post it here.