Education
Alumni
Portland Magazine
June 17, 2019
WHEN EDUCATORS Bonnie Robb (’95, ’01 MEd, and ’16 EdD) and Dylan Hite ’19 want to set expectations in their second-grade classroom, they often draw a picture of those expectations. If they want their students to be kind, for instance, they sketch what kindness looks like. If they want students to be seated and still, feet on the floor, voices quiet during story time, they draw students in chairs with thoughts in thought bubbles. Beyond classroom management and expectations, they also draw new concepts and ideas.
They don’t draw pictures because they’re artists. They do this because, as they say in near unison, “It works.” The visual cue not only equalizes expectations for students who may each have learned different definitions of kindness, but the visuals also give students a symbol for their brains to gain a foothold on new concepts—from reading and literacy to science and math.
The practice is tied to the neuroeducation classes they both took at UP with Ellyn Arwood, EdD, whose groundbreaking work focuses on the role of language in the learning process. This particular area of neuroscience looks at how the learning happens in the brain—UP is involved in this research right along with neuroeducation leaders in the field at Harvard and Johns Hopkins. And these teaching practices aren’t just for kids. The “realtime visual flowcharting” Robb uses in her “Creativity in the Classroom” course for UP’s School of Education stems from best practices in neuroeducation.
This past year Robb, a 24-year veteran teacher, has been a mentor to Hite as she completes her studentteaching requirements. They have worked together at Portland’s Duniway Elementary since the fall, and this last semester Hite took over the class full-time.
Hite feels she could not have asked for a better mentor. Among other recognition by the Oregon Department of Education, Robb has been named the Oregon Teacher of the Year by the Milken Family Foundation.
“She is a great role model,” Hite says, clarifying that she means both in and out of the classroom. Robb juggles being a teacher to 23 students, a mom (to one of those students this year), a wife, an active member of her church, and an adjunct professor at UP.
During their time together, Hite has learned how to juggle her classes, teaching, and her track seasons. Hite’s event is the steeplechase, a two-mile endurance race that involves 35 hurdles, seven of which land the runner in a water pit. Yes, you read that correctly. Hurdles and water pits. To be competitive, she has to be prepared and mentally tough, qualities that will no doubt help her in the classroom.
Next year Hite will be a teaching assistant in France for a year, and then she will return to be a part of University of Portland’s PACE (Pacific Alliance for Catholic Education) program. Robb will switch to a first-grade classroom. She’ll also continue mentoring a UP student, adjunct teaching at UP, and paying it forward.
PHOTOS: Karl Maasdam — 1) Dylan Hite; 2) Bonnie Robb
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