Henrico's Top Teachers – Carey Smithson

Carey Smithson is a history teacher at Moody Middle School, but in reality, she’s a friend, confidant, mentor, leader and role model.

“I make sure that kids know that I care about them and what happens to them – not just in the classroom but outside the classroom,” she said. “That, I think, has made me a better teacher.”

Smithson changed her approach to teaching several years ago after learning during a workshop that adolescents misunderstand as much as 70 percent of what adults say or try to express to them – often because the message isn’t clear, or it comes with confusing intonation or body language.

“They often process things in a way that you don’t mean,” she said.

The change came naturally for Smithson, who is unabashedly forthright with her own emotions and thoughts.

“I can’t teach a class all year without them knowing a lot about who I am as a human,” she said.

The result: Students who feel particularly connected with her and, therefore, to what she teaches them. Her classes – which involve students in Moody’s International Baccalaureate program and others who are not – often become thought-provoking discussions about how various figures in history might have felt during critical moments.

At other times, discussions blend the present and past, such as during a recent class when she asked students to write about existence of an Instagram account that was posting daily passages from the journal of a girl detained at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Germany in the 1940s.

“I asked, ‘What do you think about this as teaching tool?’” Smithson recalled. “‘Is it. . . inappropriate to turn someone’s private thoughts in a terrible moment into a social media account?’ Kids who don’t do a lot of writing wrote a lot about that.”

The class, she said, was split. But the topic helped students engage with each other, communicate their thoughts effectively and visualize history in a different way.

In order to reach students in a multitude of ways, Smithson works with teachers from different subject areas on collaborative lessons and helps them integrate resources and technology into their curriculum, a colleague wrote in a nomination letter.

“I have worked with Mrs. Smithson since 2011, and I believe that she is one of the most talented, innovative, and driven teachers with whom I have worked in my 20-plus-year career,” the colleague wrote. “Not only does Mrs. Smithson integrate research and information fluency into content-specific curriculum, she also incorporates all of the 21st century skills into class instruction through a variety of creative activities. She is up-to-date on the current trends in educational technology and is always willing to pilot new tools to utilize with students. “

Smithson hadn’t felt particularly moved by her history courses in high school, but a history class at VCU with professor Ted Tunnell caused her to reconsider.

“He was a storyteller,” she recalled. “I liked the idea of being a storyteller.”

Tunnell also directed Smithson toward an internship tutoring middle school students in civics, and that solidified her interest in teaching.

At Moody, she serves as the history department chair, as a member of the school’s leadership team, as a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) team coordinator, as supervisor for the International Studies Club and in other roles, too.

In her PBIS role, she and fellow teacher Megan Madden regularly help analyze student behavior data to determine when and how students might need a boost. From such analysis this winter came “Moody Loves You” – a day during which students and teachers enjoyed some of their favorite things – playing instruments, knitting, cooking, watching movies, completing puzzles, among other activities.

“We asked the kids, ‘What are some things that you would like to do?’” Smithson said. “We asked the teachers, too. We wanted to connect kids with school during winter, when no one is feeling personally connected to anything.”

It was another example of the impact Smithson has on Moody students.

“She connects with them on emotional and intellectual levels,” her colleague wrote. “Her students rely on her as a constant and positive force within their lives. [M]any times it’s the small things that truly matter. She never hesitates to stop and say hello to a student or ask them how they are doing.

“She is genuine in all of her interactions with her students, and (what’s most important), they know it.”