Time For KID'S-EYE VIEW

December 30, 2003

Sitting Down with a Top Teacher

In 2002, Linda C. Gunsaulis was named the best social studies teacher in Oklahoma. Then, in 2003, the National Council for Social Studies named her the best elementary school social studies teacher in the whole country! Gunsaulis was one of four winners, and the only elementary school teacher who won the 2003 Teacher of the Year Award.

The NCSS held its award ceremony for excellence in social studies teaching at the 83rd NCSS annual conference in Chicago. We attended the awards ceremony and interviewed Linda Gunsaulis to find out what makes her a great teacher.

Ms. Gunsaulis, who teaches at Arnett Elementary School in Okalahoma is energetic, inquisitive and motivated. She uses lots of interactive projects to get her students involved in learning. "We are a very active group - doing a lot of kinesthetic activities, hands-on, moving about the room." For example, in one of her projects, students build a model of an adobe-style house. She says that she is always amazed by the creativity of her students in completing their projects.

Thinking about her 27 years as a teacher, Ms. Gunsaulis says she always knew that she wanted to be a teacher. Social studies was not her favorite subject, though! She loved reading and today often brings in good books to share with her own students in hopes that they, too, will love to read.

Ms. Gunsaulis teaches everything from social studies to science to handwriting to her fourth graders as well as American history to her fifth graders and world history to her sixth graders. Overall, Ms. Gunsaulis and her students seem to have a lot of fun while in class. "We laugh and make jokes. We know when to be serious and when to laugh."