"I use different teaching styles to meet the individual needs of all students," says Artie Furlow, a fourth-grade teacher at Whiteside Elementary School in Camden. By using a cooperative learning approach, Ms. Furlow helps students progress academically as well as personally. By stressing independent task completion, she helps students develop a sense of responsibility and become more self-reliant. Ms. Furlow has also implemented the McRat (Multicultural Reading and Thinking) program, a program that helps students develop the analytic and interpretive strategies associated with higher-order thinking skills. The program's success is clearly reflected in the considerable improvement her students have shown - particularly in their writing. She is constantly seeking out innovative strategies that will benefit the students throughout her school. To this end, she is an active participant in professional development opportunities, including a satellite teleconferencing project that connects her with expert educators throughout the nation.
1978 Southern Arkansas University, B.S.
