Nancie Atwell is an American educator who in 2015 became the first recipient of the
Global Teacher Prize
The Global Teacher Prize is an annual US$1 million award by the Varkey Foundation to a teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession.Brain, Rondinelli"Now There's A Davos Of Education And A $1 Million 'Nobel Prize' For Teacher ...
,
a $1million award presented by the
Varkey Foundation
The Varkey Foundation, initially the Varkey GEMS Foundation, is a global charitable foundation focused on improving the standards of education for underprivileged children. It was formed in 2010 by Indian businessman Sunny Varkey, the founder and ...
to "one innovative and caring teacher who has made an inspirational impact on their students and their community".
Career
A teacher since 1973, Atwell started her career in western New York, but found traditional teaching methods constraining.
[Gambino, Lauren]
"The world's best teacher lives in rural Maine and doesn't care about test scores"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. 23 March 2015.
In 1990 Atwell founded the nonprofit Center for Teaching and Learning, a school at
Edgecomb
Edgecomb is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,188 at the 2020 census. It includes the villages of East Edgecomb, North Edgecomb, and Pools Landing. The town was named for George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgc ...
in rural
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
where students read an average of 40 books a year, choose which books they read, and write prolifically.
["Nancie Atwell Of Maine Wins $1 Million Global Teaching Prize"](_blank)
'' NPR''. 16 March 2015.[Coughlan, Sean]
"Global teacher prize winner to give away $1m"
''BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
''. 15 March 2015. She donated the $1million from her 2015
Global Teacher Prize
The Global Teacher Prize is an annual US$1 million award by the Varkey Foundation to a teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession.Brain, Rondinelli"Now There's A Davos Of Education And A $1 Million 'Nobel Prize' For Teacher ...
to the upkeep, development, and scholarships of the school, which is also a demonstration school for developing and disseminating teaching methods.
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
"Maine Teacher Wins $1 Million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai"
''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. 15 March 2015.
. ''VarkeyFoundation.org''. 19 March 2015.
Atwell has authored nine books on teaching. ''In The Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning'' (1987) has sold more than half a million copies.
Selected books
*''In The Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning'' (1987).
*''Side by Side''
*''Lessons That Change Writers''
*''Naming the World: A Year of Poems and Lessons''
*''The Reading Zone''
*''Systems to Transform Your Classroom and School''
See also
*Hanan Al Hroub
Hanan Al Hroub is a Palestinian teacher who in 2016 was the second winner of the Global Teacher Prize, which specialises in supporting children traumatised by violence.
Career
She grew up in the Dheisheh Palestinian refugee campDaud AbdullahEd ...
2016 winner.
References
External links
Center for Teaching & Learning
Living people
American educational theorists
Educators from Maine
People from Edgecomb, Maine
20th-century American educators
21st-century American educators
American women non-fiction writers
American education writers
Women educational theorists
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century educational theorists
21st-century educational theorists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Recipients of the Global Teacher Prize
20th-century American women educators
21st-century American women educators
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