Fab Educator: Megan Tracy
Meet Megan Tracy, a Visual Arts and Ceramics teacher at Madison Meadows Middle School in Phoenix. Tracy’s classroom is decked with examples of collaborative artist installations, and she is known to highlight student work via her Meadows Artists Instagram account.
How long have you been teaching? This is my second year as a Visual Art teacher, but I have taught in elementary since 2016.
What inspired you to be a teacher? My second grade teacher, Mrs. Fluckey. She is one of my education heroes, and I am still friends with her. She really inspired me to love learning and to use my creativity to make it fun. That is what I want for all my students.
What is your greatest joy in teaching? The moment when a student is proud of one of their accomplishments, there is a spark of joy that is just beautiful to watch.
What about your greatest challenge? To be totally honest, parents. Most parents are incredible, but there are parents who aren’t able to show up for their kids in basic and fundamental ways and it can make teaching challenging.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic altered your day-to-day as an educator? It has had a huge impact on how we teach. For starters, we had to learn new ways to connect to kids on a screen, learn new technology and address our own fears as well as our students about living in a pandemic. I will say, it is an incredibly bonding time for all of us because we worked so hard to connect to each other. One of my favorite days was having a show-and-tell of our pets at home!
If a student can have only one takeaway from time spent in your classroom, what would it be? That you don’t have to be an artist to create or be creative. Being creative is a mindset you can take into any profession and thrive!