2006 Teacher of the Year - Region V

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Nancy Smith - Region V

Biographical Information

While earning a Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice degree from Florida Atlantic University, Nancy Smith’s primary research interests included juvenile justice concerns with regard to education. These interests inspired Smith to leave her job in advertising and become a teacher. She is currently working with secondary school students as a certified English teacher, and is working on a math certification as well. Smith teaches both boys and girls at the Broward Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

Smith is primarily interested in finding and fighting the reasons that bring girls into the justice system and the studying the special challenges they bring with them. She also has a great concern for the transition difficulties students’ face educationally as they move between schools and institutions.

Originally from North Carolina, Smith has lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for more than a decade. Her hobbies and other interests include reading, photography, gardening and spending time with her husband of nearly eleven years.

Teaching Philosophy

“Education means different things to different people. For Mark Twain, there was a distinction between education and schooling, and he suggested that people not let the latter get in the way of the former. From his perspective, I suppose, state schooling would be to indoctrinate students in overall societal principles, thus generating productive and skilled workers. For students, schooling would provide the necessary grades, diplomas and other certifications for attaining desirable jobs or careers. Education, though, would then describe the sort of life-long learning and quest for answers, academically-nurturing parents and well-rounded humans.”

“I relate my teaching philosophy to working in an emergency room. I sometimes joke that what we often do at the detention center should be called “triage teaching.” We know, sadly, that we can’t save everyone, but we do our best with the students we get while we have them, and hope they’ll make it once they leave our hands. I believe that all children who have a desire to learn can learn something. That does not mean I believe they can all achieve the same level of external success, but that they all have talents and gifts they can choose to use. Some students can perform Shakespeare and some, advanced calculus. Each should be encouraged to continue learning.”

“Our classroom is filled with quotes, many along the lines of Twain’s, encouraging students to think for themselves, to work toward an education they can take with them in their heads and not just “schooling” that resides on a paper or electronic transcript somewhere. I like to encourage them to think critically about things and to “entertain thought[s] without accepting [them],” to borrow another class quotation. Too often, I am told that I should “just tell [them] the answer” because that’s the job of the teacher. I don’t believe that’s the role of a teacher, though, and I refuse to “tell” answers. I feel it is my job to help them find answers for themselves and that is what I spend each day doing. As I frequently point out, they are neither programmable robots, nor empty vessels I can fill simply by prying the lid off their skulls and dumping in a few gallons of “knowledge.” They have to join me on the voyage toward education or it won’t work.”

“Some of my “unorthodox” teaching methods likely stem from my exposure to many advanced classes as a student. While that does not mean I expect all my students to perform at levels beyond their capabilities, it does mean that I try to integrate subjects and topics, to encourage collaboration and to work with students individually as often as possible. I also like to bring in the creative projects, debates and research (with assistance when needed) in lieu of simple worksheets. I think most of them learn more without realizing it when they try to figure out a real-world problem like halving a recipe.”

“Last year, I took some of the boys back to Troy by assigning each a character from The Iliad. One student, in particular, stood out for his understanding of the story. This student rarely did anything productive and was often disliked by students and staff because of his drug problems, attitude, and disturbing statements. I pulled him in by assigning him the role of Achilles. As I read aloud (since we only had one copy of the book, a personal copy I brought from home), I would pause every few paragraphs to ask each of the “characters” in the room to tell me what, if anything, had happened to them and how they felt about it. “Achilles” was quite astute about what was going on and why, and his “street” interpretation was entertaining enough to draw in students who had previously been ignoring the proceedings.”

“I try to engage students in learning in any way possible: by encouraging a love of science, by demonstrating the use of manipulatives to figure out division and fractions, or by appointing them nearly-invulnerable warriors of ancient Greece. Recently, I encouraged a student by showing her a class-library copy of a Rising Stars of Manga volume and pointing out that all the stories in it were winners in a contest sponsored by TokyoPop. I did that because the student had spent more than a week working on a script after finishing her other work. She is a very gifted artist who specializes in manga-style characters she imagines. I suggested she finish editing and tightening her story—about a group of female street racers—and consider submitting it in TokyoPop’s next competition. I definitely believe she could one day be the cartoonist she wishes to be.”

“I have mixed feelings about competition when it comes to education. It can be destructive or inspiring. On the latter end, I am working on acquiring some backpacks and school supplies (to be put with the winners’ personal property) to use as prizes in an essay/poster contest on the theme of “Education is Freedom.” The theme has sparked much conversation in class, about subjects as varied as Malcolm X, Eric Hoffer, Vickie Stringer (who turned her life around after serving time in prison by publishing her own novels and heading her own publishing company), careers, politics and even poetry.

The discussions are one of the things I like best about having a classroom of students from different schools at different proficiency and grade levels, who are assigned different subjects, with different life goals. The diversity leads to a lot of enlightening and entertaining debates and they learn a lot from one another even though they think they are not “working.” Of course, real-world math does not exist in a vacuum, cut off from arts, science and geography—just like passing the GED requires more than just reading a book labeled “GED Test Prep.””

“Some students, though, need classes divided so they can be conquered. One had failed algebra before and was convinced it would keep her from graduating high school. She whined and fought nearly the whole way, but passed with a slightly-higher-than-average grade. She also gained enough confidence in herself and her math abilities to earn the highest grade in the math class at her program after leaving the detention center. She proudly showed me her certificate and report card, upon returning for court and release. She told me something I never expected to hear: “I could do this because of you. You made me believe I could do math.””

Coincidentally, a boy she is very close to just might be my greatest accomplishment from my time working with the boys. He studied for and passed his GED during his time with us at the detention center. I say “us” because I believe he had at least four different teachers during his time at the detention center. The last time I saw him, he wanted to go to college. I hope he makes it.”