Julia Dwyers

From our country, to our children! Mrs. Julia Dwyers has done it all, as she served our country faithfully for six years she now serves our students in the classroom.
Mrs. Julia Dwyers is a 6th and 7th grade science and Apex stem teacher at Arlington Middle School. She was born in Greenville Tennessee and graduated from the United States Naval Academy.

Mrs. Dwyers served our country for six years as apart of the US Navy. Once she left the navy she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do or what she wanted to be. She decided to go back to school and get her masters in business, because she wanted to go into corporate America. She did not enjoy that very much, so she started having thoughts about being a teacher. Immediately she knew that teaching was what she wanted to do.In her 12th year teaching she decided to come to Arlington Middle School, but why? “I came to Arlington middle school because I had read a lot about the fantastic School District that Arlington is recognized as being. I realized that it was definitely a school system I wanted to associate with.”

Her teaching style is very student centered, she likes to take the needs of her students and realize what they need and how they are feeling so she can best meet there needs and make sure they have a good learning experience.To get closer with her students or to cultivate a positive relationship she likes to get to know them better, by sharing information about her self so they feel better and more comfortable about saying things about them and how they are feeling. “learning more than just their name, but what are their hobbies? What do they like to do? inside and outside of school? So I think just building getting to know them and building that relationship is really important.”

She is big on building a good relationship with each and every one of her students.She was asked what was the most rewarding part of teaching and she had two answers, “One is when you have the struggling student who is finally able to be successful” Mrs.Dwyers also said, “Most students come in with a I don’t like science attitude, So I try to makes science fun. Then by the end of the year they get to a point where they don’t hate science, and they don’t dread it, then I feel like I did my job. I made science fun.”

As far as what she is looking for in a student, she looks at body language, if someone isn’t having a good day, she looks for that, she wants to make sure every student has a great learning experience and feelings comfortable and happy in there environment.When it comes to creating class unity, she loves working in groups, it helps with class bonding and teamwork, she says. She thinks after a long and hard year getting teamwork and bonding skills are important to reteach.I also asked her how important parent involvement was with her students and she said. “ It’s huge. I only get to see my students for an hour a day. Parents see there child way more than I do, so it’s critical for me to have a strong connection with the parent and that child.”

I asked Mrs.Dwyers if she could only teach her students one thing what would it be. “School is fun, and your never too old to learn something new.”