"I’m incredibly honored to be recognized among teachers of the caliber we have in our Putnam City. I love my school and our district, and am excited and proud to be part of both," McMullen said in accepting the award.

McMullen is in her ninth year of teaching in Putnam City, all at Lake Park Elementary. It’s nine years that have been a model of excellence in teaching, says John Lunn, Lake Park principal.

"Her instructional skills are extraordinary. Even more than that, though, it’s her relationships with students that make her an exceptional teacher. She really works hard to understand and provide for her students’ academic, social and emotional needs," Lunn says.

To make sure she know her students, at the beginning of each year McMullen sends home a questionnaire to parents asking for information about students’ likes, dislikes, family, friends and more. The information she gets back, as well as the information she gathers from being an alert and interested teacher, isn’t just put in a file. When planning and presenting lessons, she keeps in mind students’ abilities, life experiences, cultural differences and friendships.

"I’m not just teaching a curriculum – I’m teaching a child," McMullen says.

Effective teaching requires more than knowing what students are like.

"I use frequent assessments throughout the year to I know what students need. I use ‘high-yield’ strategies that help my students learn to be thinkers and problem-solvers. And I have high expectations, because I believe students rise to the level of expectation," McMullen says.

McMullen is an enthusiastic advocate for the use of technology in the classroom.

Today’s students were born into a world of technology and naturally gravitate toward it, McMullen believes. That’s why her students use technology for all kinds of projects, including keyboarding original stories and preparing book reports in PowerPoint.

"Students learn best when they are engaged and learning is relevant, and using technology accomplishes those things. When students use technology, they are more motivated to succeed and take responsibility for their own learning. Technology also levels the playing field for students. It’s amazing to see a student who struggles with pencil and paper create a digital movie in our i-Mac lab," McMullen says.

Her commitment to technology is complete. She is a graduate of a 30-hour district training program that teaches teachers how to engage students in technology and create technology-rich lessons. She chairs Lake Park's technology committee, helping make decisions about technology purchases and training. She presents technology workshops to colleagues.

"Technology literacy is essential in the information age and has a positive impact on student achievement," she says.

When she’s not involved in learning or teaching technology, McMullen is hard at work on other tasks. She is a team leader at Lake Park, helping make decisions about long-range planning, budgeting and purchasing. She serves on the school’s site improvement committee and co-chairs a committee that targets remediation and enrichment. She’s a member of the district’s Social Studies team and assisted in the creation of district benchmark reading tests. She also took part in the district’s Master Teacher Project and also earned National Board Certification following an intense and in-depth process certification process.

McMullen is as busy outside the school as she is inside it. As chair of the education ministry board at her church, she’s helping introduce active, hands-on instruction that includes technology, art, drama, music, science and physical fitness. In recent years she has accompanied her church’s youth group to Chicago, where they provided meals, games, crafts and mentoring to children in the inner city. She’s also been involved in "Afternoon in the Park" summer programs in Oklahoma City.

McMullen gives much of the credit for her desire to teach to Mrs. Hendricks, her fifth-grade teacher in Canoga Park, Calif.

"It didn’t matter to her that my family didn’t have money, that my mom was a single parent or that I was tall and awkward. To Mrs. Hendricks, I had talent, charm and potential. I still remember the way she smiled when she read my poetry and ‘oohed’ admiringly at my artwork. She taught me I could do anything. I knew I wanted to be a teacher just like her," McMullen says.

In her years as a teacher, McMullen’s goals have never varied.