2013 Champion - Beth McCallum

Teacher committed to learning new techniques and technology

Beth McCallum has seen major changes in the classroom since she started teaching more than 20 years ago. The Simcoe resident, a Grade 4 teacher at Doverwood Public School, is committed to bringing new technology and teaching techniques into her classroom.

The students Beth is teaching will be adults in the 2020s and 2030s. Understanding that jobs of the future will be different than jobs today, she wants to help prepare them for that world, whatever it may bring. The introduction of computers has already changed the way she teaches and students learn. She is committed to teaching herself about new technology, to stay ahead of the game.

Implementing new technology, she said, “takes a lot of reading and researching to stay in front, but these new tools have helped students learn.”

Aside from technological changes, Beth is interested in seeing and understanding other approaches to education. “A lot of things have changed about how I teach, because of the new things I’ve pursued.”
“Part of my own curiosity is to see how people are educating in other places, and the Internet has been a boom for this,” she said. Even before the Internet, Beth was interested in different viewpoints. “I always took additional courses away from my home board to see how others did it.”

Beth’s international travels have also shown her what a difference access to public education has made to people.

Education is important to Beth because she knows the impact a supportive attitude can bring. “I have seen a lot of students; students who need someone else to believe in them, and when a teacher can connect, you can make a difference.”

Story by Rob Rombouts

Photo by Blackbird Photography