Q&A with Megan Rice, NCE alumnae honored with 2021 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching

Meghan Rice, '13 M.A.T. Urban Teaching, a Kindergarten teacher at Willard Elementary School in Evanston, recently received a 2021 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching. The annual award recognizes ten outstanding teachers who demonstrate a significant, lasting, and positive impact on the lives of the students they serve and within the school community.

Rice joins a distinguished group of NLU graduates honored with the prestigious award. Read the following Q+A to learn more about the University's latest Golden Apple teaching award recipient:

At what point in your life did you decide you wanted to be an educator? 

I was a senior in high school when I knew I wanted to be an educator. As a child, I developed an autoimmune disease, lost the ability to walk, and was out of school for several months. The following year, my family moved us out of state, and the new school placed me in special education. While it was a struggle for me to go from being a typically developing, high-achieving student to a student in a special education classroom, the experience opened my eyes to the strengths of the other kids placed in special education. Despite their challenges and issues, they accomplished, achieved, and conquered challenges with heart and grit. Eventually, I split my time between general and special education, and I found great value in the meaningful experiences I had in both spaces. Later, in high school, I worked at a camp for students with special needs, and I realized, "This is it. I want to support students with special needs for a living."

Tell us about your career path and your current school/district. 

While studying at NLU, I was a part of the residency program and taught at Tarkington School of Excellence. After graduating, I taught Pre-K for four years at Carter School of Excellence, a CPS turnaround school in Washington Park, where I helped build the Pre-K program. Five years ago, I moved to the northern suburbs and started teaching kindergarten for District 65.

Describe your classroom environment. 

In my classroom, the overarching theme is that we function as a family. We have a lot of structures and supports in place that I build out with my students. For me, it's important for my students to have ownership of what we do because then it extends beyond me. So, if I'm not in the classroom or my students are in a different setting, because the structures are normalized, they are transferable. As a teacher, I describe myself as a "warm demander." There are high expectations in my classroom, but there's also high engagement, lots of physical movement, lots of bodily kinesthetics. We're dancing, singing, playing, and students have tactile experiences, even during remote teaching online.

It's very relational. I also want my students to be aware of social justice. When there's a disagreement, we use a framing that considers ways to bring the other person in instead of pushing them out. I'm big on providing my students with opportunities to engage in discussion and think critically about what they are learning. My classroom is a busy space!

What do you love most about teaching? What are the challenges?  

I love building relationships, and one of my other favorite aspects about teaching is seeing children take risks. I try to normalize failing forward. When I make mistakes, I model what it looks like to get back on the horse. I encourage my students to stretch themselves. We are all stretching. I want to teach children how to build endurance—they will be in school for a long time, so I want to help them develop behaviors and attitudes that will support their long-term success. 

Some of the challenges are navigating systems that don't benefit all children and families. It can be challenging to ensure that each little one is receiving an equitable learning experience, especially if it's something outside of my locust of influence. I try to figure out ways to build connections, access resources and have difficult conversations with adults about ways to view or engage with different families or children. It's challenging and it takes a lot of energy to ensure each child is really seen, heard, and receiving the appropriate support they need, but it's something I don't back down from. 

When did you hear about your Golden Apple Award and what was your reaction? 

I heard about the nomination in late November 2020 after receiving an email from Golden Apple that someone in my community had nominated me. I was surprised because it was in the middle of the pandemic and touched that someone had the time and energy to write that letter of recommendation; it humbled me. I had about four weeks to get in three letters of recommendation, five essays, video footage of myself teaching, and fill out an application with tons of information about myself and District 65. At the time, I wondered if I had the capacity to invest in the selection process while I needed to finish grades and conferences. But I felt that since someone went out of their way and took the time to nominate me, the least I could do was go for it with the nomination. Then, in January, I found out I was one of thirty-two finalists, which was really exciting. Finally, my school asked me to join a hiring committee and to come in for a virtual panel interview. When I entered Zoom for the interview, my colleagues instead told me I had won the award and I was totally surprised! My husband and son were on the call too and were so humbled  I cried. I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that we are in a pandemic, and it's been a challenging year in so many ways. It's such a high honor. To have people see me and say there's something special about what's happening in my classroom, it meant a lot. My teaching journey has not been a walk in the park most of the time. People see the results and don't see all the legwork to get here. I'm just excited and thankful.

Can you identify a specific lesson you learned while studying at NLU that you apply to your classroom today? 

I learned a lot about data analysis and implementing developmentally appropriate practices to meet students' individual needs. Before my NLU coursework, I didn't clearly understand how to aggregate and analyze data and look at things on a granular level to identify gaps in a child's learning and know what a child needs. Data analysis is paramount, and I keep it at the forefront as I develop individual, small, and whole group learning plans that are always formative, changing, and expanding. I can't give meaningful instruction if I can't pinpoint and then communicate to my team or the student's family what I am doing and how it will move the child's learning forward. 

I also learned about racial predictability in test scores and learning environments, which was eye-opening for me. For the first time, I was able to identify the systems and structures that I knew existed, and had experienced myself, but didn’t have the language to articulate why these systems and structures remain in place.

What are your biggest motivators as a teacher today?  

A big motivator for me is seeing kids take risks, build bridges with families, and creating partnerships in the community. I'm the vice-chair for the Childcare Network of Evanston. We help families with early childhood support, whether it's medical, dental, early head start, bringing in home-visitors so parents can learn how to be their child's first teacher, supporting job placement resources, etc.. When I'm able to build relationships with families where they can tangibly gather the things they need so their family can be successful, that motivates me to no end. At the beginning of the school year, I say to families, "if you will have me, I'd like to partner with you this year." And I mean that.  We exchange cell phone numbers, I will stop by after school, I can buy clothes on the side without people knowing about it—I want to partner with people so they feel supported and respected. When you see those bridges, build trust with families, then see the children thriving and growing, it means so much to me. When you look at the data, and your students go from being unable to identify letters and numbers at the beginning of the year to proficient readers and writers at the end of the year, exceeding the goals we set for them, that gives you wind in your wings to push through.

I want to make sure my students have a rich learning experience right out of the gate. I also want my students to develop a sense of self, to be able to advocate for themselves and to know that they are valuable. I tell them, "you don't have to do anything, you don't have to be anything, because you are here, you matter." When I was in kindergarten, I didn't know how to do that. I had to learn it in adulthood. Offering a sense of value to my students and then giving their families the things they need to achieve whatever goals they have—for their kids or themselves—really inspires and motivates me.