Profile: Myrna Dyson, Teacher/LG2G Advisory Board Member
Myrna Dyson remembers the moment several years back when she was running a store with her husband, but feeling like something else was calling her… LOUDLY. "I realized it was time to make a change because I was paying someone to work for me at the store . . . so I could go volunteer at the school!"
So after raising her kids and running a business, Myrna decided at the age of 38 to embark on a new career as a teacher. She started out teaching reading, but soon switched to her real passion - math. "I love math," Myrna says. "It's like a puzzle, and I can't put it down until I figure it out." These days, she shares her excitement about math with about 600 seventh and eighth graders at the Stephen Decatur Middle School (in Berlin, MD) where she runs the school’s new Math Lab.
One of several educators on the LG2G Advisory Board, Myrna has a clear idea of how she'd like to contribute the project. "I'm here to look at things from a teacher's eyes," she says. And what does a teacher want from a video game? "It has to be something that motivates students and makes them want to compete," she says, "and teachers need to know that the game incorporates the standards of their curriculum. They need to know that it will help their kids on the [standardized] tests."
A strong advocate for using technology in the classroom (see her website), Myrna knows from experience that there's something else games can offer students: encouragement to persevere, even when things get tough. She regularly draws parallels for her students between solving math problems and succeeding at video games. Myrna explains: "When kids have a hard time at math, I'll ask them 'Did you win your video games the first time you played them?' I tell them the fun is in the challenge. If it were too easy, then it wouldn't be fun!"
And what keeps Myrna having fun in her work? "It's the kids," she answers quickly. "They keep you young at heart." Although she came to teaching later than many, Myrna Dyson sounds confident when she describes the teaching vocation by saying "this is where I belong."
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