Mrs. Bonnie Bracey-Sutton recognized early on in her teaching career that the town she grew up in had not offered students the level of support they needed to thrive. This realization inspired her to implement change in the education system. Two decades of diverse experiences taught her how to pioneer creativity in the classroom to bring high-quality education to each of her students. Mrs. Bonnie’s success in the educational world has earned her many awards, an induction to the Alexandra African American Hall of Fame, and appointments to exclusive committees by both President Bill Clinton and Star Wars legend George Lucas. In today’s episode, host DJ D-Rich sits down with Mrs. Bonnie to discuss the evolution of teaching in America.
Early on in her career, Mrs. Bonnie’s experience teaching in a German school developed her into the teacher she is today. Working with no resources, no supervision and a diverse group of international students forced her to get creative and think quickly on her feet. When Mrs. Bonnie came back to the US, she became one of the first teachers to promote the use of the internet in the classroom. Despite the backlash she continuously received from parents, other teachers and administrators, she never stopped fighting to better the American education system.
According to Mrs. Bonnie, it doesn't take much to be an innovative educator. It just requires a little creativity. Tune into this week’s episode of Southern Soul Live Stream to hear about Mrs. Bonnie’s journey as an educator. Learn more about the role that technology played in her career and how you can evolve your teaching techniques to better educate America’s youth.
Quotes
• “It was just a community effort to change things.” (12:33-12:36)
• “And then I found out, I didn’t have to buy stuff because if I connected with the museum, I could use their stuff. So I learned to use museums as a learning place.” (16:19-16:27)
• “If you taught special ed, and if you taught gifted and talented, you could pretty much make your own program.” (18:48-18:55)
• “I learned that the kids who memorize stuff and blurt it out are not the smartest kids in your class, so I learned to pay attention to the ones that didn't say very much.” (23:10-23:22)
• “The vendorization has two parts. One is when they started making mandates that every kid had to pass a test at certain times, and you know they're not cookies. Even when you put cookies in the oven, they don’t all brown the same way.” (26:32-26:49)
• “What I really want the audience to understand is the history of education in America. In addition, in the age of technology, teaching needs to evolve, teachers need to evolve and parents need to understand the possibilities.” (01:18:42-01:19:01)
Links
Connect with Mrs. Bonnie Bracey-Sutton:
Alexandria Va Digitalization Project at Charles Houston: https://www.alexandriaafricanamericanhalloffame.org/?p=1568
Digital Equity Network - Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/48769444884
Director of Digital Equity Resource Research And Dissemination: https://www.digitalequity.us/
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