Nancie Atwell is an American educator who in 2015 became the first recipient of the Global Teacher Prize,[3] a $1 million award presented by the Varkey Foundation to "one innovative and caring teacher who has made an inspirational impact on their students and their community".[4][5][6]

Nancie Atwell
NationalityAmerican
OccupationEducator
Years active1973–2013[1]
SpouseToby McLeod[1]
ChildrenAnne Atwell-McLeod[1]
Awards
Websitec-t-l.org

Career

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A teacher since 1973, Atwell started her career in western New York, but found traditional teaching methods constraining.[7]

In 1990 Atwell founded the nonprofit Center for Teaching and Learning, a school at Edgecomb in rural Maine where students read an average of 40 books a year, choose which books they read, and write prolifically.[8][7][5][3] She donated the $1 million from her 2015 Global Teacher Prize to the upkeep, development, and scholarships of the school, which is also a demonstration school for developing and disseminating teaching methods.[8][9][10]

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.[8][3]

Selected books

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  • 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

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Kristoff, Lisa (June 3, 2013). "CTL founder retires". Boothbay Register. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize". Modern Language Association. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Coughlan, Sean. "Global teacher prize winner to give away $1m". BBC News. 15 March 2015.
  4. ^ "About The Global Teacher Prize". Varkey Foundation. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Nancie Atwell Of Maine Wins $1 Million Global Teaching Prize". NPR. 16 March 2015.
  6. ^ Batrawy, Ana (March 16, 2015). "English teacher from rural Maine wins global prize worth $1 million". Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction, Colorado). Associated Press. p. 4. Retrieved August 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Gambino, Lauren. "The world's best teacher lives in rural Maine and doesn't care about test scores". The Guardian. 23 March 2015.
  8. ^ a b c Associated Press. "Maine Teacher Wins $1 Million Global Teacher Prize in Dubai". New York Times. 15 March 2015.
  9. ^ Marsh, Sarah. "US teacher wins $1m for developing reading and writing skills". The Guardian. 15 March 2015.
  10. ^ "10 Incredible Facts about Prize Winner Nancie Atwell" Archived March 19, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. VarkeyFoundation.org. 19 March 2015.
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