“You are unique; there is no one else like you.” - Marva Collins by Trisha Stragand “You are unique; there is no one else like you.” - Marva Collins

Personal Born in 1936 in Monroeville, Alabama Attended Escambia County Training School Attended Clark College (Atlanta, Georgia) Married and had 3 children First Teaching Job – Teaching typing, shorthand and book keeping at a local high school Taught 14 years in her neighborhood school

Westside Preparatory School

Westside Preparatory School Her Theory: “ Inner city children should be taught the same way other children are taught because all children want the same things out of life.”

Westside Preparatory School Goals and Beliefs: * Teach the WHOLE child * All students are teachable * Motivate the students to make something worthwhile of their lives

Positive Slogans “You are unique, there is no one else like you.” “Success doesn’t come to you… you go to it.” “The world moves aside to let you pass only if you know where you are going.” “You can do it!” “Say good-bye to failure. Welcome to success!”

What do YOU do on the first day of school?

Westside Preparatory School Classroom Management * Worked the room * Praise * Classroom Rule: “Behavior contributing to the learning process or benefitting another child is acceptable, anything that took away another’s child’s right to learn is not.” * School Creed

Westside Preparatory School Curriculum Used classical literature like Shakespeare to learn to read for values, morality and universal truths Taught daily phonics lessons Helped students write daily compositions about what they read

The students’ accomplishments Each child made progress Reading levels for each child improved Test scores were higher Students became more motivated, confident and determined

Her Accomplishments She started five schools using her teaching style. She appeared on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America and 20/20. Warner Brothers made a television movie about her life. She was presented with the Jefferson Award for Benefitting the Disadvantage, the Humanitarian Award for Excellence, and the Legendary Women of the World Award.

Her Accomplishments She received doctoral degrees from many universities including Amherst, Dartmouth, Notre Dame and Clark University. In 1980, President Reagan considered Collins for the post of Secretary of Education (but she declined). She was awarded the prestigious National Humanities Medal from President Bush in 2004. She has written several books about her teaching style.

The Critics

Tools to Remember A teacher must excite students about learning. Good teachers learn along with their students. Remember to teach the whole child. It is important to develop the right attitude in a child. Praise is essential in building up students’ self esteem. Every child can learn.

References Collins, M. & Tamarkin,C.(1990). Marva Collins’ Way. New York, Penguin Putnam Inc. Dweck,C.(2006). Mindset the New Psychology of Success. New York, Ballantine Books Marva N. Collins-Biography. (n.d.)retrieved April 8,2011, from http://www.marvacollins.com/ biography.html. St. Pierre, S. (producer).(1979). Marva Collins 1979 Part 1.retrieved April 8,2011, from http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=vu3QIVDEgO5Q&feature=related