格雷格•麦克福, MAED ' 07来自三代教师, 但他花了一段时间才找到自己进入教室的路. 当他这么做的时候, he was named California Teacher of the Year for his innovative and relational teaching style at public schools in Orange County.
“Once I knew I wanted to teach, I really tried to become a master of my craft,” says McFall. “I tweak and adapt things to make them interesting to myself and to the kids. I think that’s the trick … You have to look to non traditional ways, 无论孩子们在哪里，都可以带他们去上令人兴奋的课, 在每一次成功的基础上再接再厉. 这需要时间.”
麦克福尔的第一份职业是惩教. He earned a BA in criminology and started working as a deputy probation counselor at juvenile hall. “That was tough because by the time they get into the correctional side it’s really hard to make the changes in people’s lives,他说.
When a friend offered him a job selling insurance, McFall, disillusioned, took it.
“I was successful [in insurance] but there was something always missing,他说.
He reconnected with his teaching passion ten years later as a student at a martial arts school, 他最终是在哪里拿到黑带的. 其中一位老板建议他开始教书. McFall recalls the pivotal day when a mother dropped off two brothers for lessons.
“这完全是一团糟，”他说. “它们在墙上弹跳. I was just happy by the end of the day that I got them to kneel and talk to them one on one. As we slowly developed a relationship I learned there were family problems and they were not doing well at school. Through martial arts I was able to connect with them and create some discipline. That translated slowly into better grades, better relationships with their parents. My wife is a teacher and always had these stories about success and I thought, “我真的很想这么做.’ I felt like I could connect well with other people and motivate them.”
I’m willing to take chances, 愿意失败, 愿意看起来很可笑.
He sold his insurance practice and enrolled in three colleges simultaneously, 他在美国获得学位.S. history in two years by “driving back and forth” to different campuses.
“I’d always been goal-driven, but I’d never been that focused singularly on something,” McFall says. “我有一个目标，对上帝和我所做的事情的信仰.”
信仰也是他生活的基本组成部分. Along with his brother, he came to faith when he was 12 years old. “那是我人生的转折点，”麦克福尔说. “它奠定了基础.”
新职业
McFall found a job at a middle school in Orange County, teaching language arts, history and reading. “太美了。. 太棒了，”他说. “I was able to go into depth with historical thinking skills and connect it with language and reading standards, 传记, 创意写作, poetry. 它适合我擅长的东西, which is instilling a love for learning and getting kids to be more of renaissance thinkers rather than focusing on one subject.”
但他的第一天也带来了令人大开眼界的教训.
“我准备了一堂很棒的关于悬垂修饰语的课, anticipating that kids would know exactly what I was talking about,他说. “有很棒的视觉效果，头顶上的透明度. I looked out and nobody was talking and I thought, ‘What an engaged audience.然后一个女孩在我头顶上贴了一张纸条. 我大声读着，以为这是个问题. ‘Dear Mr. McFall. 你鼻子里有鼻屎.这是现实的冲击. They weren’t looking at me but at the booger sticking out of my nose. 我意识到你必须让它对孩子们来说容易理解和吸引人. 我马上就明白了.”
他的目标是激发天生的好奇心. “你不能强迫孩子学习. You’ve just got to make it interesting enough and create the desire to do it,他说. He developed what he calls “a bag of tricks” to make classroom learning engaging. 他用了很多音乐, 让孩子们起床并四处走动, 烹饪食物，并邀请客人来分享他们的经历.
冒险是一个重要因素:“我愿意冒险, 愿意失败, 愿意看起来很可笑,他说. “I try to get students to try as many new things as possible until they find something they are successful at and then carry that success to other classes.”
你不能强迫孩子学习. You’ve just got to make it interesting enough and create the desire to do it.
其中一个工具是冲浪，这是麦克福尔四十年来的激情和爱好. 没有得到学校管理部门的鼓励, 14年前他创办了一个冲浪俱乐部, scouring garage sales for wet suits and boards he could loan the kids. He used the process of learning to surf to teach kids how to overcome challenges in life.
“Some kids get it right away, and others have to go through each step,他说. “为了达到目标，你必须经历一定的挑战. 我试着灌输给孩子们. 我注意到好老师喜欢挑战. They are always challenging themselves to learn new things, not just in the classroom but in life.”
俱乐部越来越受欢迎，其他老师也加入了进来. 然后他们开始排除特殊教育的学生.
麦克福尔说:“这有点紧张.
让他们慢慢适应, 他从海滩上拿了一堆沙子进了教室, 还有蓝色的建筑纸来模拟海洋, 还有冲浪音乐作为背景音乐.
“I wanted to eliminate as many variables that would be new to them as possible. 这招奏效了。.
患有严重自闭症的儿童, cerebral palsy and other disabilities went into the water with McFall and an occupational therapist and “loved it. 这是一个巨大的成功. 他们抓着木板尖叫着. 海洋可以很有治疗作用. 这是孩子们最接近上帝的地方了.”
除了冲浪俱乐部, 麦克福尔还领导着田径俱乐部, 他有一个学生俱乐部，每天和他一起吃午饭.
“我们一边听音乐一边聊天，”他说. “孩子们有一种归属感. 它建立了一种联系. 他们在课堂上的注意力水平更好, 他们更专注于任务, 他们笑得更多, 是否更有礼貌，更想取悦别人.”
2000年代中期，麦克福尔进入了菲律宾十大网赌网站 教育学硕士:课程与教学 program.
“I loved doing the cohort and getting to know the same people for two years,他说. “What I liked about Concordia was it was a nice blend of pedagogy and practical application in the classroom. 它确实是为在职教育工作者量身定做的. All the instructors were former or current educators and knew what the everyday life was like. 它是为专业人士精心制作的. It was something I knew would further my professional growth and it certainly did.”
毕业后不久, McFall was one of five educators named California Teacher of the Year for 2008. He already had been named District Teacher of the Year and Orange County Teacher of the Year.
“Mr. McFall truly believes in his students and in their ability to succeed,州公共教育主管杰克·奥康奈尔说. “He is committed to finding what works for his students with limited social and cultural experiences and building upon their accomplishments, 一次成功一次.”
麦克福尔觉得“你长大了就能获得那个奖项. My goal is to continue making positive connections with students even as I age into my mid-50s, 做一个积极的榜样, showing kids there’s more to history that fits into the real world … I pray and always remember that life is fragile and to keep your eyes open, 张开耳朵去帮助别人. 如果你允许这种情况发生，相当神奇的事情就会发生.”