Education instructor brings much experience to CEU

This archived article was written by: Caitlin Wright

With an abounding love for teaching and the outdoors, Anne Mackiewicz shares her talents with the faculty and students at the College of Eastern Utah.
Mackiewicz is on the faculty for elementary education and family life department. This is her first year teaching full time at CEU, as she has been an adjunct for the past 10 years. When teaching, she tries to give her students a taste of what it is like to be a teacher and encourages them to be advocates for children. “Children don’t have a voice so we have to be it for them.”
Mackiewicz recalls an experience when she was five years old and her sister wanted to be a teacher. She set her up at a little desk to teach her what a noun was, and Mackiewicz got so excited that she could repeat back the words that she ran into the kitchen and yelled, “Mom! I know what a noun is!” Being five years old, she memorized the definition and didn’t really know what a noun was, but nevertheless had a love for learning.
As she grew up in Ohio, Mackiewicz always cared for the outdoors. She always wanted to learn more and find out new things. This planted the seed for her future career in teaching. She states that to be a teacher, you must always want to learn more. She has that constant desire for knowledge, which she has helped incorporate into her students.
On defining what is involved in teaching and being a good teacher, Mackiewicz responded with, “You have to have a love for teaching, learning, and most importantly the students. There is a needed amount of patience as well. Often people believe that children should be in desks, in a classroom reading out of a book or being lectured to learn. This is not so.” She believes children should be able to see and touch what they are learning about, more of a hands-on approach as opposed to sitting at a desk all day. When they are young, “They learn through play.”
With the younger students in the elementary setting, bonding and friendship is a strong factor. Along with the children, Mackiewicz is willing and eager to help her students. She wants to help them know if teaching is what they really want to do and if so, wants to help them achieve that goal.
Mackiewicz attended college in Indiana and is working on her doctorate degree at Utah State University. In her spare time she loves to be in the outdoors. Because of her schedule, she is unable to get out as much as she would like, but when she is able, she loves to hike, bike and just spend time outside. She also enjoys reading, preferably when it is for pleasure and not for academic purposes.
Mackiewicz truly appreciates the students at CEU. She acknowledges all the hard work they put into making this not only a good school with a good environment, but also a fun school with activities that enable the students to get involved and experience all the opportunities that going to college can offer.