Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bullard retiring after 32 years as math teacher

Its been 32 years since the first time Linda Bullard stepped into a classroom as a teacher, and as the school year winds down so does her career.

After spending her first three years as a teacher in the Texarkana School District, Bullards transition to Gurdon came on a bit of a short notice. While talking one day with the Gurdon Middle School principal, Bullards mother and Gurdon High School business teacher, Louise Davies, found out there was a position open for a middle school math teacher.

Although Bullards degree was in elementary education, she had enough math hours to qualify for the position, so she took it only weeks before the start of the new school year.

I told them I would take it until they found someone, Bullard said. I guess they never found anybody.

A lot has changed in teaching math over the years. Bullard said one of the biggest changes in teaching eighth grade math is the technique.

When I first started, I was teaching how I was taught, she said. Now everything is hands on. A lot of students need to see it or feel it.

Bullard has also changed her classroom structure in an effort to better assist student learning. She said her classroom was once filled with traditional classroom desks that all faced the front. It is now made up of tables so that students can face each other. She said this allows students to teach each other.

Many times kids learn best from other students, she said.

Advances in technology have also altered the way Bullard has taught math in recent years. She said calculators were unheard of when she first began teaching, but the devices are now a common tool used in the classroom.

By the time they get to the eighth grade, we assume they know how to do the arithmetic, she said.

Bullard said students seem to be more welcoming of math class today than they were in her earlier years. Instead of having 45 minute class periods, students are now in class for 80 minutes. She said this allows the students to do some of their work in class and allows them time to ask questions of the instructor.

Bullard has not spent her 32 years confined to a classroom. For 17 years she coached the Gurdon High School cheerleaders. This was an experience unlike any other.

Although she was never a cheerleader, she said she enjoyed the competitions she took the teams to and the energy level they provided.

One of her cheer teams was once ranked seventh in the nation.

Bullard has also become active in the Destination Imagination program. This is a creative problem solving competition for high school groups. She is now the instant challenge master.

Those who compete in Destination Imagination have a general challenge that they have worked on for a long period of time. Once at the competition, they are given instant challenges. They do not know what the instant challenges will be before they get to the competition.

It will be more fun when I have more time to do it, she said.

Bullard also hopes to have more time to spend with her husband, who retired last year from International Paper, and her mother, who lives in Gurdon, after she retires.