Teacher of the Year thinks in multiples

     She teaches with him nearly every day, even though she is not an employee, and is not paid a cent for it. He refused to attend the Dallas program for state-level teachers of the year without her. He won the award, but he says she’s the best teacher he has ever seen. She said, “His class is their favorite, even if the subject is not.”
     After 39 years in the classroom, George Goodfellow, Scituate High School chemistry teacher, is the latest teacher to join the list of the highest acclaimed educators in Rhode Island. This teacher of the year’s unique approach involves his wife, Cindy, also a chemistry teacher. Both are retired from teaching jobs in Massachusetts, but not nearly done giving of themselves to their students.
     “I teach,” he laughed. “It’s what I do. And I’m not done yet. I don’t think I’ll ever be.”
     Goodfellow delights in helping students discover their strengths and build their self-confidence, using Harvard educator Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory. Basically, Goodfellow unearths each student’s learning strengths – one or more of the nine Gardner has identified – and gives the student the opportunity to apply his/her strengths to chemistry.
     It sounds trickier than it is, said Goodfellow, who is so well versed in the technique that he instructs graduate courses in it every summer. He starts off the year with basic interpersonal activities, getting to know his students while they get to know him, and each other. Cindy factors in with introductory exercises that help the two of them begin to evaluate each student’s strengths and interests.
     Each subsequent assignment assesses what students are learning in chemistry, but also focuses in on the different intelligence areas. At the end of the first quarter, he said, 20 percent of the students’ lowest grades – their weak areas – are dropped, and their strengths start rising to the surface.
     One of his 105 students, for instance, can learn anything if it relates to cars. Another has proved herself to be a talented cartoonist. The point, said Goodfellow, is to get every student to realize where his/her brilliance lies. If a teacher can tap into a student’s personal motivation, then the student will learn from his/her own perspective. In the end, the overall idea is to celebrate every individual.
     According to Goodfellow, teaching through multiple intelligence theory works particularly well with special needs students. “Once you prove to them that they are not inferior, just different, they can soar in ways you never expected,” he explained.
     “We are providing students with the opportunity to believe in themselves, and become adults who give back. They can’t give back unless they believe in their own worth.
     “When I first heard about this research,” recalled Goodfellow, “I felt like I had spent 22 years in the classroom blowing it. Then I spent the next 17 proving that teaching to multiple intelligences really works.”
     What the students like most about having the two Goodfellows as teachers is how they interact with each other. It’s all done with a purpose, he said – modeling behavior is one important way young people learn how to work in teams (that’s the “intrapersonal” intelligence).
     This is Goodfellow’s first time as Teacher of the Year, although he was named district teacher of the year once in Massachusetts. He also has received three nominations for Disney Teacher, a Sigma Psi award, and an Outstanding Inspirational Teacher Award from Clarkson University, among other honors throughout his career. He now will be Rhode Island’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.
     Goodfellow has discovered already that his new celebrity status presents opportunities to spread his wisdom in a different arena. Take, for example, a recent audience with Governor Carcieri. When asked how he might improve public education, Goodfellow advised, “Governor, if you cut class size in half, or put two professionals in every classroom, you’ll get it done.”
     And, “In service occupations, the key to productivity is morale.”
     Goodfellow chuckled, “I’m fortunate he took the time to ask – now it’s up to him to do something with it.”