Fox Teacher Wins $1,000 For Teaching Idea

Ann Asher, an eighth-grade teacher at Ridgewood Middle School, won $1,000 in December for a good teaching idea.

She entered a nationwide contest sponsored by A&E and the History Channel. The teacher was to submit a classroom idea based on a video from one of the two channels.

Her students watched a video called The History of Toys and Games.

“It tells the kids that toys are a reflection of the culture and the society that creates them,” she said.

“The students had to create a toy based on a positive societal idea or value they want future generations to look back at us for,” she said. That was the $1,000-idea.

She called her idea, “The Ideal Toy.”

Her students had to pitch their idea in front of the class, which included persuasive writing, along with a visual presentation.

One student presented a toy called The House of Friends, This Isn’t Your Mom’s Dollhouse. It was a twist on a classic dollhouse.

“Children can collect the different sets and build the dollhouse any way they want, so they can develop their own style,” Asher said.

The student said the idea was to boost creativity and imagination, because the dollhouse could be customized. The student also pitched that siblings would enjoy playing with the dollhouse together.

Another toy was called Professor Q The Knowledge Owl.

“It’s a game that rewards children for their knowledge, promotes intelligence,” she said. “Every time a kid gets a question right, it pours candy.”

The Knowledge Owl also feeds a student prerecorded messages like, “good job,” and “keep working.”

She said she’d probably spend the award money on her classroom.

“Because with the budget cuts, it always comes back to that,” she said. Also, “I have kids of my own that eat up a lot of my money. My own children will probably benefit from it as well.”

The lesson will be featured in the spring Idea Book for Educators, a teacher's magazine created by the Education Department at A&E Television Networks.