Teacher of the Year WHAT DO YOU WANT STUDENTS TO EXPERIENCE WHILE IN YOUR CLASSROOM? The main goal I have for my students is that they leave Inman thinking that music is fun. If they don’t connect music with positive experiences or memories, then they will not want to continue pursuing music at the junior high and high school. When students step into my classroom, they are greeted with a smile, a high fi ve and they experience a high-energy classroom environment. If a student leaves a 25-minute class period in my room without smiling or laughing, I have failed them. Jokes are told, beatbox and rap battles happen, creativity is encouraged, and fun times can always be expected in Mr. Richter’s room. HOW DO YOU HOPE TO REPRESENT NIXA AND OTHER TEACHERS IN THE STATE? I hope to encourage teachers in our district and in the state to be creative. A lot of teachers dream up unique lesson plans but are too afraid to try them out. Go for it! See what happens! I also hope to encourage teachers to make every lesson fun. If students aren’t having fun in the classroom, they won’t want to come back. WHAT’S ONE TEACHING MOMENT YOU’LL NEVER FORGET? I have a student who does not speak up in class — not just my class but any class. This student is very intelligent but struggles socially. The fi rst day our students received their Chromebooks, I decided to show the student a cool music app called Chrome Music Lab, which could be used outside of class. The next day, a hand was raised by this student and said — I had never heard this student’s voice before — “Mr. Richter, I played Chrome Music Lab all afternoon until I went to bed last night.” That was one of two sentences that this student said in my class all year long. A simple little music app got this student excited about school enough to face his fear and speak up during class. I will never forget that moment. YOU’RE A NEW ADDITION TO THE CRAYON BOX. WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE AND WHY? One parent once told me that I am like a unicorn — I’m rare and magical. I guess I would be “Unicorn Fairy Dust.” It could be any color you can imagine, but it would defi nitely have sparkles. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE ’90S JAM? Any track off of the Shania Twain “Come On Over” album. Many road trips were spent screaming the lyrics with my brother in the back seat. PRETEND YOU’RE NIXA’S SUPERINTENDENT. WHAT THREE CONCERNS ABOUT THE DISTRICT’S FUTURE KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT? 1. District Growth — Nixa keeps growing, which is an amazing thing, but we might start running out of space in some of our schools. New buildings will need to be built and we will need to hire more faculty and staff. 2. Nixa is a very innovative district. We are leaders in the state. How do we keep this going so we never become stagnant? 3. As a fi ne arts teacher, I feel very supported in this district. Many school districts have cut funding to fi ne arts programs. I hope that as our Nixa fi ne arts department continues to thrive and grow, Nixa is still able to provide it the funding needed. HOW DO YOU THINK TEACHING WILL BE DIFFERENT IN 10 YEARS? I think we will see the “fl ipped classroom” concept used a lot more. The instruction will happen at home through a video or online resource and the application or “homework” will happen in the classroom. I also think more classes will be offered online districtwide. We are already seeing this at the high school, but I think I will spread to the lower grades as well. Summer 2017 THE NEST NIXA PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAGAZINE 15
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