Justin Minkel
Arkansas Teacher of the Year
Jones Elementary, Springdale
Grade 2

My teaching philosophy
I believe in the saying, “Our choices determine our destiny.” The first part of my job as a teacher is to expand the range of options of which my students are aware, so that they recognize the remarkable horizon of professions, cultures, literary and artistic works that lie before them. The second part of my job is to help them develop the capacity for critical thinking that enables them, in partnership with their families, to choose wisely among that range of options. By wedding high expectations with individualized instruction that meets the needs of each child, I believe I can make Thoreau’s words ring true: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now, put the foundations under them.”

My philosophy in action
I have the opportunity to see my students become accomplished writers, readers, scientists, mathematicians, and thinkers, in a remarkably short space of time. My students learn skills through projects that require creativity and critical thinking. Through mathematics activities based on the concept of ratio, my students constructed a giant – 24-square foot – reproduction of the Mona Lisa. Through engineering projects, my class built small parachutes and mini-skyscrapers that were judged on their height, stability, and aesthetic beauty. I taught my 3rd grade students to become proficient chess players, focusing on visualization, geometry, and logical thinking. My students also complete a monthly literary magazine containing their poems, stories, and articles, to share with their families, school staff, and other students. As a result of these projects, my classroom is a place where children are at the center of not only the physical space (where student work is displayed on every available surface) but at the center of our debates and discourses as well.

My greatest teaching accomplishment
I teach in a school where 90% of the students are English Language Learners and 97% of the students receive free or reduced lunches. When a University of Arkansas professor visited my classroom, she told me, “You are breaking every stereotype that exists about this group of children.” Any time one of my students proves by example – through an insightful comment, a wonderfully written story, or a creative approach to a difficult math problem – that lower-income children of color can not only achieve, but excel, I feel that I have accomplished something in partnership with that student and her or his family. Still, teaching is called “the hidden harvest” because the results of our efforts as teachers aren’t always immediately apparent. I don’t think I know yet what that greatest accomplishment might be. We may not know what we have achieved in working with a particular student until decades later, when that child goes on to become a happy and fulfilled adult, due in part to our influence on their lives.

The most critical issues facing educators today
The passage of No Child Left Behind has polarized the teaching profession and the public into two camps: those who feel that external measures for accountability are necessary to ensure teacher professionalism and student success, and those who feel that the emphasis on standardized test results shows a lack of respect toward teachers and a narrow view of children. I believe that the truth lies between these two extremes. Accountability, based on quantitative data of student performance, is essential. Yet the tools for evaluating student performance, the analysis of data, and the consequences of “high-stakes” testing, are often troubling, particularly when they are politically, rather than educationally, motivated.

Ways to resolve this issue
I believe that what is missing from the national debate on education reform is a teacher-led movement for accountability, a call for high standards of excellence coming from within the teaching profession, rather than from political forces outside it. For systems of accountability to be meaningful, they must be developed by those within the education system: teachers. Rather than simply opposing the prevalence and premises of standardized testing, teachers must offer coherent, educationally sound alternatives to replace or complement current systems. If we meet this challenge, I believe we will enter an era when teachers and policy-makers can truly be partners, rather than adversaries, bound by mutual respect and a common goal: doing what is best for the children we serve.

One thought to inspire teachers to succeed
Our job as teachers is to make children’s lives better. Every child in our care should leave school each day a more compassionate, more intelligent, and happier person than she or he was the day before. Part of the goal of making children’s lives better is immediate: making sure that children are excited every day to come to school, and that they experience joy, challenge, success, and safety each day while they are in our care. Another part is long-term: ensuring that children will continue to “think well and do good” years after they have left our classrooms. During the week, we spend more hours with our students than even their parents do. We can help to kindle and sustain that light within each child, which can never be fully explained by either “nature” or “nurture,” by making sure the child comes each morning to a place where he or she is in the company of caring mentors and kindred spirits.

One lesson every student should learn
Your choices determine your destiny.

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