Photos Mary Lahr Cain
GCCC Teacher of the Year Gwen Johnson shows a student one of the many math games she developed to assist them in learning.
Gwen Johnson has been a teacher for 25 years, 10 of those at Polenta.
Johnson did not start her career as a teacher, but rather a medical assistant in a pediatrician’s office in Morehead City, NC. She loved the children but they were always sick. She decided to go back to school to become an educator and earned her degree from Elizabeth State University.
Johnson’s style of teaching is very hands on and interactive where children work in small groups and learn from one another. She develops games that the children use to master math concepts taught to Kindergarten through 2nd grade students.
In 2011, Johnson was awarded the Outstanding Elementary Mathematics Teacher by the NC Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Winning this award prompted her to give back to her fellow teachers.
Gwen believes that as more and more states move to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) curriculum, it will be beneficial for teachers around the country to share best practices with each other. That is why she developed a website for teachers and parents called Primary MatheMagic.
She makes the games she develops available to other teachers through her website. The site also contains links to numerous topics such as the research, professional development and curriculum builders such as SMART Exchange.
It’s how she gives back.
Another way that Johnson gives back is by participating in the Teachers and Administrators in Partnership for mathematics, or TAP for short. In this course, teachers and administrators become familiar with what learning in the classroom should look like when implementing the new Common Core State Standards.
In the second part of the course, Johnson is becoming familiar with the content and how it fits into the CCSS. She will then go on to train the trainer where she will share what she has learned with others.
“Professional learning communities (PLCs) are trying to develop that culture of sharing and commodore and it’s all about what’s best for the children,” says Johnson. “It’s more about helping each other.”
This attitude for teaching and learning does not go unnoticed by her principal, Deborah Johnson. She nominated Gwen Johnson for the GCCC Teacher of the Year award because of her commitment to provide lessons that are informative and engaging for the students. “She will spend hours of her own time to make games and other activities to expand her first grade students’ learning,” says Principal Johnson.
Using her methods of teaching mathematics, Johnson sees that students learn more quickly and have fun doing it. Her motto, borrowed from Plato, is, “Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds…”
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