Page 12 - THE Journal, March 2017

KEYNOTE
Anthony Johnson Brings ‘Johnsonville’ to Life
NORTH CAROLINA ELEMENTARY TEACHER COMBINES STEM WITH INNOVATIVE, REAL-WORLD SYSTEMS.
BY RICHARD CHANG
Great things can come from humble beginnings. Anthony Johnson, a former high school dropout, is a teacher of the year winner in his school district and the southwest region of North Carolina. He is also a finalist for state teacher of the year.
At Isenberg Elementary School in Salis- bury, NC, he has transformed his science and social studies classrooms into “Johnson- ville,” a world where each student must find
high school dropout. The school coun-
selor made that decision for me. She said I needed to get a GED and learn a trade. That basically I was just wasting my time in high school. They didn’t tell me getting a job with just a high school diploma (equivalency) and without a college degree is hard.
I started working minimum wage when I lost my mom. Then lost my dad six months later. I thought, “Where did my life go wrong?”
THE Journal: Describe Johnsonville. Where did you get the idea?
Johnson: My whole thing is, when I decided to become a teacher, I decided I was going to do everything the opposite of when I was a student. I was going to have a classroom that’s engaging, with real-world experience. I wanted to make it interesting. I decided, “I’m the mayor. I make the rules.”
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a job, pay the bills, pay mortgage and taxes, and learn by doing projects. Johnson uses Defined STEM as his source for curricula for the project-based learning taking place in his fourth and fifth grade classes.
Johnson combines technology with his lesson plans and Johnsonville to produce positive, concrete results. His school district, the Rowan-Salisbury School System, is 1-to- 1, so all of his students have iPads they
can use for homework, class assignments and tests.
THE Journal: Describe your high school experience.
Anthony Johnson: You could say I was a | MARCH 2017
I decided to go back to school and to become an educator. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to make sure kids don’t have same experience that I have. So now, I’m in year 14 of teaching.
THE Journal: What was your first job out of college?
Johnson: When I first got out of college,
I was a technology facilitator at Isenberg Elementary. I was actually working with teachers to make sure they were using technology thoughtfully and constructively in the classroom.
But I missed working with students, and decided to go back to the classroom.
Working in my classroom, you get paid. You have a responsibility to pay the bills, pay mortgage, find a job. They have to pay taxes —10 percent of income goes back to the mayor. Kids can keep the room clean and start a janitorial business.
They can start a transportation company. Instead of directly giving them a treat, I have the students buy from me, then sell to classmates for a profit.
I’m still teaching the standards. The first job is not to become an entrepreneur. If you’re doing my work, then you get $100 a day. (It’s fake money.) I’m still teaching the standards, just adding the real-world compo- nent to them. Instead of teaching forces of motion, like the standard says, I explore how
When I first got out of college, I was
a technology facilitator at Isenberg Elementary. I was actually working with teachers to make sure they were using technology thoughtfully and constructively in the classroom.