第一堂课:来自南方的老师在达芙妮东小学开始

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Posted on October 10, 2023

Thomas Becnel

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At the end of his second day at Daphne East Elementary School, coming off duty at 在公共汽车站，查兹·麦吉和一个路过的学生碰了一下拳头.

“嘿，嘿，”新老师说，仍然充满热情. “See you tomorrow.”

McGhee read academic studies about the overstimulation of elementary students, so he decorated his first classroom in muted shades of black, white and gray. Then he added a blue rug and green sofa, along with lamps and a string of outdoor lights.

麦吉说:“这些灯只卖10美元. “我马上就明白了.”

At the University of South Alabama, where he graduated this spring, McGhee learned about TBL – Team-Based Learning – so he arranged the desks of his fifth-grade student in groups of six. Instead of fighting human nature, he wants to harness it for learning.

“They’re going to be talking, anyway, so why not do it for our benefit?” he asked. “让他们谈吧，但要谈科学和社会研究.”

The smart board in his classroom wasn’t working during his first week, so McGhee had 把教案和他的笔记本电脑同步. No problem. On Canva, a graphic design 平台上，McGhee制作了一个幻灯片介绍.

Pages are labeled “Mr. 麦吉的房间”和“我该怎么办??” A photograph introduces “My brother and sister.另一个说:“我是印第安人。.”

McGhee is from Atmore, Alabama, and is 克里克印第安人的Poarch部落的成员. For his Commencement at South, he wore a tribal sash over his graduation gown. He plans to show students a ribbon shirt and deer-hide moccasins that he made himself.

“We’re going to learn a lot about Native Americans in two weeks,” he said. “We’re learning about First Nations and I’m also going to take some time to talk about the 阿拉巴马州的印第安部落.”

At the J.U. Blacksher School in nearby Uriah, Alabama, McGhee led the percussion section of the marching band. 他还在印第安人博物馆工作过，在那里 他教孩子们部落文化和历史. 他和年轻人一起做志愿者 阿特莫尔第一上帝教会大会的成员.

So McGhee had a great deal of teaching experience even before he began studying education at South. He started off in secondary science education, but discovered he didn’t 喜欢数学的程度几乎和他自以为的一样深. 他转到小学教育 并获得了南方优秀学生教师奖.

Dr. Kelly Byrd, assistant professor in the College of Education and Professional Studies, taught McGhee and watched him become an intern and now a full-time teacher. He was 始终对教育充满热情. 他总是想接触学生.

“从我第一次见到查兹起，他就是一个领袖，”伯德说. “When I observed him doing 在机器人课上，你可以看出他和学生关系很好. I’m a little sad because he’s not teaching math and science, which is my area, but he’ll be an asset no matter what he does. 他是那种你希望你的孩子拥有的老师.”

A Puppet Named Sandy

McGhee’s father is assistant fire chief for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. His 母亲是执业护士.  

给他取名查兹是她的主意.

“我也不知道为什么，”他笑着说. “我想她只是想让我有一个独特的 name.”

In the youth program at Assembly of God, McGhee helped produce educational skits and 配上基督教音乐的舞蹈数字. 他学习了美国手语. And he did 一个名叫桑迪的木偶的舞台表演.

“他的目标受众是幼儿园到三年级的学生，”他说. “I created him for 一个叫做“沉船岛”的节目.“他是船长的得力助手，但他使 从错误中吸取教训. 他会说话，但我不会口技. I tried. Not for me.”

On Sunday nights, McGhee returns to Atmore for work with youth ministries. He grew up in the church program. 这仍然是他生活中很重要的一部分.

“Love it,” he said. “Still love it. Every minute of it. Every time is different and 孩子们可以表达自己.”

McGhee did his student teaching at Dawes Intermediate School, where he had social 在一个模拟政府中，学生写一份法案成为法律. The students chose a referendum to get taquitos added to the menu of the school cafeteria. It passed.

McGhee的灵感来自不同的来源. 在南方和同事上课 at school. Also pop culture and anything else that might grab the attention of 10-year-olds.

“我在社交媒体上得到了很多教学资料，”他说. “Honestly, TikTok has some good ideas.”

McGhee has learned that he prefers teaching older elementary students. He enjoys watching his fifth-graders progress.

“我一直很喜欢和他们聊天，”麦吉说. “I’m not teaching them how to read and write. 我在教他们如何思考，如何使用他们拥有的工具 learned in the real world.”

开学前，麦吉从莫比尔搬到了达芙妮. He has an apartment 在他买冰意式浓缩咖啡的咖啡店附近. 他在达芙妮东街穿得很随意 Elementary and often has a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses perched atop his head.

While teaching full-time, McGhee has started online courses at South in pursuit of a 基础教育硕士学位. The 优秀教育工作者奖学金 帮助符合条件的学生获得高级学位. 作为一名学生和专业人士， McGhee is re-learning the importance of work-life balance and the discipline of getting 在有限的时间内完成事情.

Seven weeks into his job at Daphne East, McGhee also is still learning there. The experience has taught him the importance of soft skills such as building relationships 赢得五年级学生的信任. 课程计划很重要，但更好 态度带来更好的结果.

“I’m realizing how valuable it is to build a rapport with your students,” he said. “If you set expectations high, once you have that relationship, they’ll try to meet them.”

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