2015-2016 Blackboard Award Honoree: Debra Goodstone

Editor’s note: To read profiles of all 2015-2016 Blackboard Awards honorees, click HERE!

Debra Goodstone
Grade 4
Manhattan Day School/Yeshiva Ohr Torah

Tell us about some of the special joys and challenges you’ve experienced as a teacher. 

Helping a child to develop a positive approach to him/herself is both a special joy and a challenge. The greatest joy is to witness the once poorly motivated, under-confident student become an enthusiastic and self-assured learner. In the short period of an academic year, I have seen many of these miracles occur. Children don’t always realize the talents and special potential they possess. Every child has a spark that needs to be ignited. One of my greatest joys is to decipher how to motivate the child so that he/she can realize his/her potential. Whether this talent is found in arts, music, dance, or technology, as the child performs he/she will reach his/her potential in all dimensions of the curriculum.

Please share a special project or achievement (or two) that you are particularly proud of from this year.

As a culmination of our social studies work, we presented the fourth grade play, “Coming to America.” Throughout the production, we spoke and sang about New York State’s history but focused heavily on immigration. Many of our students are first-, second-, or third-generation New Yorkers, so it was particularly pertinent to them. Each family was asked to send photographs of relatives who came to America. Students were able to relate to their ancestors by learning who they were and where they came from. I collated the information into a PowerPoint presentation allowing two slides for each child. Some children featured in the slides were now watching from the audience as grandparents. All the slides were printed and form a huge display in the lower lobby of the school. This is a focal point of the school’s history and heritage.

Over the course of your career, what do you consider one or two of your greatest accomplishments?

I consider helping fifth- and sixth-grade students develop an appreciation of Shakespearean literature as one of my favorite activities. As we discuss a particular play, we contemplate how to transform it into a comprehensive production for our audience. Preceding this, with the help of many talented colleagues the school holds an annual Shakespeare Day. Multidisciplinary activities range from calligraphy, to Elizabethan cooking, to Shakespearean code breaking, to creating illuminated letters, to name a few!

What drives you? What keeps you motivated and committed to being a dedicated and hard-working educator? 

I’m constantly driven by the need to learn new methods of teaching and improve my own performance in the classroom. Children are so quick to criticize themselves with comments such as, “I can’t do math.” Seeing that child’s face light up when they succeed is golden and the challenge of making that happen continually drives me. A few years ago, I read a passage in a book that has proved invaluable in my teaching. It said there is no point trying to show a child the same task numerous times. The child does not have to change his/her way of learning. You as a teacher have to change your way of teaching to adapt to the child. When I completed my training 20 years ago, my mentor told me if the day came when I thought I knew everything about teaching, then I should leave the profession. I carry this advice with me at all times.

Any special advice for parents on how they can best support their children academically at the grade level you teach? And more generally? And how they can have the most productive relationship with their children’s teacher and school?  

As parents you are the ultimate role models for your children. Modelling good behaviors such as reading, writing, conversing, and enjoying cultural experiences will help your children engage in all areas of the curriculum. The world of technology moves at an incredible and exciting pace. We have advanced in ways that would have been unimaginable even ten years ago. There are so many positive aspects to furthering a child’s education this way. However, we must ensure that we still spend time engaging with children through conversations and practical tasks. Take them to the store and ask them to pay for an item and work out the change they should receive. Count steps as you walk in twos or threes starting with a different number each time. Next time, try it backwards! Validation is crucial to a child. Listen to your child. Validate his/her feelings. Children have so much to offer and we can learn so much from them. Let them know that people make mistakes and that’s how we learn. Show them that you, their role models, make mistakes. Encourage them to learn from mistakes and failures so they will grow to be risk takers. Together as teachers and parents, we can teach children how to start taking the appropriate amount of responsibility for themselves. As teachers, we have the same goal as parents. We want the best for the children. That’s why I say it’s a partnership and we are on the same team. As I always tell parents, we both want what is best for your child and no one knows your child like you do.