Linda Lewis-White, whose students can all quote her mantra "Good
teaching is Good Teaching is GOOD TEACHING," is being recognized
for her "good teaching."
Lewis-White, professor of teacher education, is the 2007
recipient of the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty
Teaching II Award, given to faculty with five or more years
of teaching at EMU. She received a plaque and a $3,500
honorarium.
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TEACHING CROWN: Linda Lewis-White,
professor
of teacher education, was the recent
recipient of
the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished
Faculty
Teaching II Award, given to faculty with
five or
more years of teaching at EMU.
|
"I was shocked. I had been told that rarely do people
win the first time their nomination is submitted," said
Lewis-White. "I had no expectations. I was just pleased
to be nominated."
Lewis-White submitted an impressive nomination portfolio,
including numerous, unsolicited thank-you notes handwritten
by former students.
"It was really fulfilling to create the portfolio," said
Lewis-White. "It represented 31 years of teaching. I felt
that, even if I didn't win, the portfolio was my award."
Lewis-White began her teaching career as a bilingual educator,
teaching Spanish-speaking students in Texas. Though she
received her bachelor's degree in home economics, she changed
her focus after being invited to a master's program in
bilingual/bicultural studies at California State University.
"There was a great need for bilingual educators," said
Lewis-White. "A colleague once said that regular teachers
are a dime a dozen, but bilingual teachers are a dollar
a dozen."
After receiving her doctorate, Lewis-White made the move
to teaching at the university level. She currently teaches
both undergraduate and graduate reading courses for elementary
education majors and minors.
"When you receive your Ph.D., you have three options:
stay in the classroom, go into administration or teach
at the university level," said Lewis-White. "I felt I could
reach more students by moving to the university. If I have
100 students who stay in the classroom, and they have 25
students each, that's a lot of kids I impact each year."
Although she's been out of the elementary classroom setting
for a while, Lewis-White has found that not much has changed
in 11 years. She constantly receives letters from former
students telling her about how they use the material they
learned in her class.
"A (former) student wrote to me. She was upset about having
to do her language and culture project on Albania. She
thought she'd never need to use that information," said
Lewis-White. "When she started student teaching, there
was a little girl from Albania in her class. I said 'see,
I do know what I'm doing.'"
One project that is a favorite of her students is the
final for the "Word Study" course. Students create games
based on children's literature, something practical that
they can take into their own classrooms.
"You can spend a whole lot of money on teaching materials
and still have a whole lot of nothing," said Lewis-White. "I
teach students not to be afraid to create their own materials."
Lewis-White strives to improve her teaching by making
an effort to see through her student's eyes.
In order to become a better adviser, she volunteered to
work as an intern in the Office of Academic Advising for
an entire semester. When she was creating an advising workshop
for students preparing to take the teacher certification
exam, she actually took the exam herself.
"She is often seen engaged in conversation with a student
as she walks to her office after class," said Margo Dichtelmiller,
one of Lewis-White's nominators. "She respects students
and their real-life struggles, and is supportive of their
needs, both in and outside of class."
Lewis-White's future plans include looking at gaming in
the classroom. Lewis-White and colleague Marina McCormack
are working on computer simulations that integrate storytelling,
economics, history, science and mathematics into a problem-solving
game for students. Their goal is to create templates that
teachers can easily change to accommodate their lesson
plan.
"I don't want students to be afraid to use technology
in their classrooms," said Lewis-White. "I try to set a
good example. When the computer freezes up, I pop out the
battery myself, restart and keep on teaching."
