Rotary presentation

I will be speaking at the Rotary Club of Bellows Falls at their weekly meeting on Thurs., Jan. 6th. I was honored to be asked to speak at their meeting and am looking forward to speak to them about my views on education and teaching, as well as my experiences throughout the past year as Teacher of the Year.

Cheers!

Happy Holidays

As we finish up the last few days of school before the Christmas break, I want to thank each and every one of you for such an incredible 2010. It has been such an honor to represent all of the great teachers throughout Vermont as the 2010 Vermont Teacher of the Year. I have been so impressed and awed by the teachers across the state that I have been able to meet. The passion and determination that you bring to the classroom on a daily basis is inspiring! Thank you for an amazing year!

Happy holidays and a happy new year to all of you!

Cheers,
Craig

BFUHS Cafeteria on Across the Fence

On Tues. Nov. 9th, Bellows Falls Union High School will be featured at noon on the WCAX television show "Across the Fence."

The episode, called "Locally Grown: Understanding Local Foods," will feature BFUHS’s food services provider Cafe Services, which partnered with the Windham Farm and Food Network this past summer to bring students farm-fresh food.

The Windham Farm and Food Network is a not-for-profit, farmer-owned, University of Vermont Extension-supported produce delivery service for wholesale buyers in the Windham County area.

It piggybacks produce from several local farms onto Westminster Organics’ local delivery truck, picking up and delivering en route, resulting in low-cost, fresh local products.

Check out the video on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj03pGQ_RL8

Thanks to John Ayer, the our food service director, for doing such an amazing job of offering local food to our students!
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Upcoming Presentations

I will be doing two upcoming presentations at Social Studies conferences:

-On Nov. 11-14th, I will be at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) annual conference in Denver. I will be presenting on topic of "Dissent and Opposition in Eastern and Central Europe (1945-1991)" at the International Assembly. I'm excited about this opportunity to meet other Soc. St. teachers from throughout the country and hopefully will learn a number of new strategies from the presenters.

-On Dec. 3rd, I will at the Vermont Association of the Social Studies (VASS) annual conference in Manchester, VT. I will be presenting on the topic of "Using the Smithsonian's Online Resources in Your Classroom." This presentation is part of my being honored as a Smithsonian Teacher Ambassador while I was in Washington, DC in April. I am excited to see so many of the great Soc. St. teachers from across the state and hear all of the wonderful things they are doing in their classrooms.

Cheers!

The Commons article

The Commons, an independent newspaper in Windham County in southern Vermont, published excerpts from the four student winners from Bellows Falls Union High School's Literary Kick Off Student Essay Competition.

The four winning students were: Jonah Bolotin, Tori Bissell, Rachel Greenberg, and Hayden Noyes.

Each student wrote about how Loung Ung's First They Killed My Father impacted them as students in Vermont and why it is important to read Loung's story.

The students were rewarded with a signed copy of Loung Ung's second book, Lucky Child, and got to have dinner with Loung Ung.

Congratulations Jonah, Tori, Rachel, and Hayden!

Read The Commons article here.

UVM Outstanding Teacher Day

Congratulations to all of all of the Vermont teachers who were honored this afternoon at the UVM Outstanding Teacher Day. The University of Vermont hosts this event annually in celebration of all the Teachers of the Year from each district throughout the state. Held in the beautiful Ira Allen Chapel on UVM's campus, the ceremony was a wonderful celebration of teachers, chaired by Dr. Faynese Miller, Dean, College of Education and Social Services and State Board of Education Chair.

Sen. Bernie Sanders was on hand to offer up his congratulations to all of the deserving teachers who were being recognized, as well as to highlight what a great job Vermont teachers are doing nationally with their students.

I had the honor of being the keynote speaker at this great event, and it was inspiring to be able to meet and speak with so many of Vermont's finest educators.

What a great event. Thank you to the University of Vermont, and congratulations to all of the 2010 Outstanding Teachers who were recognized today for all of their hard work and devotion to teaching.

Smithsonian's SHOUT! project

I took part in an online brainstorming session for teachers this afternoon for Smithsonian Education's new SHOUT! project. Shout invites educators and students to take an active role in global environmental issues. In the field and online, teachers and students can interact with experts, share ideas, and collaborate with people around the world committed to solving environmental challenges.

Shout is a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, Microsoft Partners in Learning, and Taking It Global.

This is an exciting opportunity for not only science-based classes, but also for any teachers looking to add a science component to their cross-curricular units, and it offers up great project-based connections.

Check out the website to find out more about the new Shout project.

Digital Video Project in NYC

On Monday, the Teachers of the Year were in New York City with the Pearson Foundation working on creating videos for the Digital Video Project. We were asked to film and edit short videos on the topic of "Why I Teach." You may think this would be an easy topic for teachers, but it was difficult to say everything you want to in under two minutes. I had a script written, but we were encouraged to record it off the cuff as it would capture our passion and emotion much better. After three takes and hours of editing, I was really excited with how it came out. All of our videos will be posted on the Pearson Foundation website, and I'll put a link to it here when they are uploaded and ready to be viewed. Hopefully these videos will inspire future teachers who are thinking of entering the profession!

Cheers!

National Teacher Forum -- Day 3

We heard from two more incredible teachers and leaders this morning:

Mary Beth Blegen (1996 National TOY - from Minnesota)
Sarah Brown Wessling (2010 National TOY - from Iowa)

All I can say is WOW! These two women are so passionate about teaching, and are such powerful voices in the profession. Getting to know them, as well as the other state and national Teachers of the Year, has been the best part of this experience because I have come away with such a positive outlook on teaching and education in this country because these incredibly creative and determined people are in every state. Education in the US is in good hands and it will improve with these people taking leadership roles and leading teaching and America's schools into a new era.

In the afternoon, we went into the town of Princeton and I got the chance to walk around Princeton University. An absolutely beautiful campus with such a rich history and tradition, but what those old brick buildings taught me in my short afternoon stroll was that I never want to stop learning. I am a lifelong learner. Learning is fun and exciting and I wished for this afternoon that I was a student at Princeton, which made me think of the incredible professors that these students have in their courses -- true masters in their fields. Tying it together, I want to keep learning better ways to make my classroom, and the learning it it, more fun and exciting, so my students have this same attitude about learning.

Next it is off to New York City for the second part of our conference!

Cheers!

Teacher of the Year cookbook

Kevin Grover, the 2010 Maine Teacher of the Year, compiled favorite recipes from the states of all the Teachers of the Year, and put them online, so check them out:

http://ntoycookbook.wikispaces.com/

National Teacher Forum -- Day 2

We had the honor to hear from three National Teachers of the Year today:

Michele Forman - 2001 NTOY (from Vermont!)
Betsy Rogers - 2003 NTOY (from Alabama)
Mike Geisen - 2008 NTOY (from Oregon)

All three spoke about what direction they took in their professional lives after their year as Teacher of the Year. What I am finding out is that I am not alone when it comes to question what to do next after this. All of us want to reach the most people and influence and advocate for education and teachers the most, but how do we do that? Some are thinking of working in educational policy, some of being a consultant, some a university professor, some working in their state Dept. of Ed., and some going back to their classroom. Each of these former Teachers of the Year took different paths and followed their passion, and it caused us to start think about what we want to do next. For me, that is still completely unknown, but I'm sure it will make itself known to me somehow.

We then had an amazing dinner/wine tasting at Rats Restaurant in Hamilton, NJ, an incredibly nice restaurant with a sculpture park on its grounds. The Grounds for Sculpture included very unique works, included several Manet and Renoir paintings brought to 3-D through sculpture, and the dinner was phenomenal!

Cheers!

National Teacher Forum in Princeton, NJ

I am currently in Princeton, NJ at the National Teacher Forum for all of the 2010 Teachers of the Year from throughout the country. The goal of the conference, which is being held at ETS' campus in Princeton, is for us to reflect on the experiences we have had this year as Teachers of the Year and to plan how we will continue to have an influence in our school, district, community, and state even after our "reign" ends. We can continue to be strong advocates for teachers and our profession, and we are learning strategies on how to be educational leaders in our states. This is also the last time all of us Teachers of the Year will be together, so it is definitely sad to know that I won't be around these energetic, positive, and passionate people again, but we will stay in touch via a ning we have created, as well as other social networks.

One of the mentors for us at this conference is Michele Forman, the 2001 Vermont Teacher of the Year, and the 2001 NATIONAL Teacher of the Year -- the only time a Vermont teacher has been honored with this recognition! I met Michele for the first time last night and she is such a strong advocate for teaching. Michele teaches World History at Middlebury Union High School and has done some revolutionary things with World History in her classroom and in the state. It was an honor to meet Michele, and it will be great to work with her over the next couple of days.

Cheers!

TEACH Campaign

I took part in a conference call with US Sec. of Education Arne Duncan this afternoon as he was looking for ideas on getting more people into the teaching profession. The Dept. of Education just launched the TEACH Campaign and the TEACH.gov website with the goal of trying to inspire and engage people to become teachers.

There is going to be a "huge teacher shortage," as Sec. Duncan said, and we will need over one million new teachers over the next 4-5 years. Getting committed, talented people to help transform education in the country is the goal of the TEACH Campaign, and not just motivating teachers to get into the classroom, but also to get them to stay in the classroom.

The website is a great resource for both current teachers and people thinking of entering the teaching profession. It has job openings, information on teaching, success stories from teachers, and traditional and alternative paths to becoming a teacher.

I will be in New York City this weekend working with the Pearson Foundation and the Mobile Video Institute to create "Why I Teach" videos. Together with the other state Teachers of the Year, we will each create a video as a way to get our excitement and passion about teaching out to the public. Please check out the 2009 state Teachers of the Year's videos here.

Cheers!

And the 2011 Vermont Teacher of the Year is...

Congratulations to Jennifer Lawson, who was announced today as the 2011 Vermont Teacher of the Year! Jennifer is a middle school language arts and social studies teacher at Vergennes Union Middle and High School. I got the chance to meet Jennifer in the spring and was blown away by how passionate and dedicated she is. I had the honor of being at the State Board of Education meeting this morning where the announcement was made, and the entire school was invigorated with one of their own winning this prestigious honor. Her students love learning from her, her fellow teachers love working with her, and the community loves having her around.

Congratulations Jennifer...you are an amazing person and teacher, and Vermont's educators are proud to have you representing us at the state and national level!

Local TV appearance

I was asked to be on a local show on FACT-TV, a local community TV station in Windham County, Vermont, this week. Mary Barber, host of the On the Rockingham Board Walk, interviewed me about my experiences over the past year as Teacher of the Year and about my views on education. It was a great experience to speak to the local community and I really was honored being asked to be a guest on the show.

Check out the show online on their website here: http://www.fact8.com/e107_plugins/autogallery/autogallery.php?show=On_The_Rockingham_Boardwalk

Cheers!

Back-to-School article

The Commons, an independent newspaper in Windham County in southern Vermont, asked me to write a Back-to-School article, and so I gladly jumped at the chance to express my excitement and anticipation of the new school year and the opportunities it gives to teachers and students. It was an exciting article to write.

Check it out on their website here: http://www.commonsnews.org/site/site02/story.php?articleno=2095&page=1

I hope everyone has a great start to the new school year!

Cheers!

National Forum on Education Policy - Aug. 18-20

I hope you all had an enriching summer full of new experiences.

My summer ended with an invitation to the 2010 National Forum on Education Policy in Portland, Oregon. The forum was put on by the Education Commission of the States (ECS), and it was because of the NEA that the Teachers of the Year were invited to take part in these discussions.

I just returned from this forum, and I came away with many new interesting ideas. Just to be able to have a teacher's voice at a policy forum like this, where governors, state congressional members, and other key state and national policy makers were present, was a step in the right direction. Teachers need to be part of these discussions so that policy makers know if their ideas will actually work in the schools and what teachers think about these ideas. So for us to be at this forum was a success.

There was a lot of discussion on the Common Core standards and how they are progressing with implementation, what 21st Century learning is and why it's important, what "college and career readiness" actually means, expanded-time schools, improving teacher preparation and teacher effectiveness, and overall, how to improve the education system in the U.S.

One of the most interesting speakers was Dr. John Medina, author of Brain Rules, about the importance of being active in getting the most retention out of the brain. He is a very respected molecular biologist and really presented some excellent research on the brain and how it works.

The success of the forum was the teacher's voice that these policy makers got to hear. Hopefully it will stay with them as they go back to their organizations, states, and universities and push forward education policy.

Picture with Pres. Obama

Summer Plans

As summer approaches, it is amazing how quickly this school year has gone by. It seems like a dream as it is hard to believe that I have had the tremendous honor of representing the great educators of Vermont on the state and national level. I have thoroughly enjoyed this honor and felt very proud to showcase the great education that our Green Mountain State offers. From the ceremony at Bellows Falls Union High School where I was named the 2010 Vermont Teacher of the Year all the way through meeting President Obama in the Oval Office, it has been a very busy year that has seemed to have gone by in hyper-speed, but such a memorable and rewarding year. I have been able to meet incredible and inspiring students, teachers, and policy makers around the state and country who have given me faith that we can turn education around in this nation.

Thank you very much for supporting me throughout this journey. I drew from your energy and support many nights while still up at 1am trying to do actual classroom work instead of writing speeches or preparing presentations.

I will have several more Teacher of the Year events in the first part of the 2010-2011 school year, including events in Portland, OR, Princeton, NJ, New York City, and Denver, CO, as well as a number of events throughout Vermont. I will continue to keep you posted on these events, as well as to where the process of ESEA Reauthorization goes throughout the summer and fall.

This summer, I am off to Peru for a graduate course and then will be taking students to China through the Governor's Institute on Asian Cultures, so I will have an incredibly enriching summer of new experiences and adventures!

Have a great summer. See you in late August!

Cheers!

Town Meeting on Education - Mon., May 10th

Join us on Mon., May 10th for a Town Meeting on Education, hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders, to discuss educational reform and re-authorization of the ESEA with fellow educators and the public.

WHERE: Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School, South Burlington, VT
WHEN: Mon., May 10th @ 7pm

Along with Sen. Sanders and myself, the other panel guests will include:

Armando Vilaseca, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Education
Martha Allen, President, Vermont NEA
Ken Page, President, Vermont Principal’s Association
Jeff Francis, Executive Director, Vermont Superintendents Association
John Nelson, Executive Director, VT School Boards Association

Join us for a good discussion on what education reform should look like.

Vermont Education Town Meeting.pdf
Blueprint for Re-authorization of ESEA.pdf

Cheers.

President Obama's Rose Garden speech to the National Teachers of the Year - April 29, 2010

Thurs., April 29th -- the White House

Our final full day in Washington, DC was a very busy one indeed, starting at the Department of Education, then the White House, followed by a visit with Sen. Bernie Sanders, and ending with a beautiful tour of the city sponsored by Target.

Our visit to the Dept. of Ed. was centered around a Q&A about the administration's blueprint for the re-authorization of ESEA. It was disappointing that Sec. Duncan was not able to be there, and the meeting was frustrating as it was too much the policy makers telling us what they were doing instead of asking us what we think needs to be done. It was a great opportunity for the Dept. of Ed. to hear from some of the country's best teachers from every state and territory, and we know what is working and what isn't, and we have a lot of ideas about what needs to be done to reform education. I came away with more questions than answers about the re-authorization of ESEA.

We then headed by bus to the White House. This is still a little difficult to write about since it is still so surreal that we were in the White House, but I'll try my best. After getting off the bus, we had two ID checks at different gates and checkpoints, followed by an airport-style security check before even entering the actual premises of the grounds of the White House. We were then allowed entrance into the White House itself, which was a long red-carpeted hallway with historic paintings of US history adorning the walls, followed by images of President Obama and his family at the White House. Going down a second hallway, past several Secret Service members and White House staffers, we finally made our way outside to the Rose Garden. We lined up in order of our state in alphabetical order in preparation for entering the West Wing and meeting President Obama in the Oval Office. In between getting to meet and play with the First Dog -- Bo --, taking pictures in the Rose Garden, and getting the chance to walk through some of the ornately-decorated entertaining rooms, we waited for about 20 minutes before we slowly started into the West Wing. Passing by images of the President and his Cabinet, we passed by another Secret Service security desk and eventually to the Oval Office. Seeing the President's desk and the Oval Office -- President Obama was still out of sight -- was awe-inspiring. Knowing the history of the people who have worked in that office and the decisions that have been made in there was extremely moving and left me even more nervous and speechless. As my name was called to enter the room and meet the President, it was in slow-motion as I was suddenly shaking hands and standing face to face with President Barack Obama! Wow! Regardless of how you feel about his policies, meeting the President is such a powerful moment. We spoke for a few moments and then I walked out of the Oval Office into the Rose Garden, greeted by TV cameras, reporters, and our invited family and friends. On a warm and sunny Spring afternoon, with the birds chirping and the sky a perfectly clear blue, we sat and listened to President Obama's speech about the importance of education and teaching. Again, having watched many of the President's speeches on TV, it was surreal to be sitting just a few feet from him in the Rose Garden. Flanked by Sec. of Education Arne Duncan, President Obama then announced the 2010 National Teacher of the Year -- Sarah Brown-Wessling, a high school English teacher from Iowa. Sarah gave a great speech which showed what a powerful voice teachers in this country will have throughout the next year. Congratulations Sarah!

I was then asked by the White House press official to go to a different part of the White House to speak to the press, which was quite an experience to see about 6 TV cameras and microphones facing you as you are just getting over the fact that you shook hands with the President. What an overall amazing experience!

After leaving the White House, I headed off to a meeting I had scheduled with Sen. Bernie Sanders, which went really well. We spoke about the positives and negatives of the administration's re-authorization of ESEA and Sen. Sanders was very receptive about my ideas and concerns over it.

In the evening, Target, who is a main sponsor of the National Teacher of the Year program, took us on a bus tour of the city's monuments and memorials, which was a great end to an incredible week. Target is such a great sponsor of education and teachers, offering numerous grants for teachers and their classrooms. Check out all of their educational grant opportunities and classroom resources they have at Target.com/education.

What an incredible end to a truly surreal week!

Cheers!

Capitol Hill

On Wednesday, our 3rd day in DC, I got the chance to meet with two of Vermont's congressmen, Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter Welch. I wanted to speak to both of them about their thoughts on the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and give them some of my opinions on the positives and weaknesses of the administration's blueprint.

I won't go into the detail right now, but it was a good meeting with both congressmen. I feel like Sen. Leahy and Rep. Welch heard what I was saying and were going to take my comments with them when they speak with Sec. of Education Arne Duncan about the re-authorization and onto the floor when they vote.

The fact that our elected officials were willing to take time out of their busy schedules -- financial reform, immigration, etc. -- to meet with me and discuss education reform was a huge positive. They not only wanted to hear what I had to say, but they seemed to value what I had to say and were going to take action on it. It was a great feeling to be an active participant in our representative democracy.

In the evening, we had a gala dinner event which was phenomenal! We heard from a number of the key sponsors and were formally announced the 2010 National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown-Wessling from Iowa. Congrats Sarah! Sarah is am amazing person and educator, and will be such a strong and powerful advocate and voice for education and teachers throughout the country over the next year. We as teachers have an amazing representative in her. Sec. of Education Arne Duncan also spoke at the event, and we will get to speak to him more at the Dept. of Education on Thursday before we go to the White House.

Cheers!

SMART Technologies training

Today, our second day in DC, was a full day training on the SMART boards that we all received as an award from SMART Technology. We received some training in Dallas back in January but it was definitely good to get a refresher. It is truly remarkable all of the functions and capabilities that a SMART board has, and today we learned more about SMART notebook, SMART sync, and SMART response systems. I definitely need more practice with this as I am new to all of this equipment and software, but it is great just to see all of the ways that you have to make learning fun and interactive for your students.

Thank you SMART Technology for supporting education.

Cheers!

Smithsonian and the Vice Presidential Mansion

What an incredible first day in Washington, DC! All of the 2010 state Teachers of the Year are here for the week for a conference called the "2010 National Teacher and State Teachers of the Year Washington Recognition." The week is full of conferences, trainings, meetings, and recognition ceremonies, so it is definitely going to be a fun and busy week.

Day one started off at the Smithsonian Castle where we were honored as Smithsonian Teacher Ambassadors, which basically means that we were going to learn about what the Smithsonian has to offer for teachers and classrooms and then get the word out amongst our states about these resources. We split up into groups with each group heading off to a different Smithsonian museum. I got to go to a section of the Museum of American History that dealt with archives and inventions -- the Lemelson Center. We got to see and take an active role in what an archivist at the Smithsonian does, which was great to see, especially as a History teacher. We learned a lot about the process of reading and using primary sources in the classroom and how to get students engaged in the process. Seeing the "behind the scenes" part of the Smithsonian was amazing, and we got an idea of all the hard work that goes into a museum.

The Smithsonian Institute has a great educator database of all of their museums. Check out their educator website: www.smithsonianeducation.org. They also have great live online conferences for educators that you can see live or watch past conferences because they are all archived. Check out these Smithsonian online conferences on their website: http://expert.si.edu.

After leaving the Smithsonian after this amazing collaboration that we now have, we headed out to the Vice Presidential Mansion, which is actually in the US Naval Observatory. After having a member of the Secret Service board our bus as we got into the compound, we then had to show our IDs, go through a metal detector, and have the Secret Service and explosive-sniffing dogs go through our bus. After all of that, we were allowed to drive to the Vice Presidential Mansion, which is s rather small two-story home, nothing like the White House at all. We walked in the front door and were just in awe of standing in the foyer of the Vice President's home! There were drinks being brought to us, there were hors d'oeuvres for us (with special Vice Presidential seal napkins), and we were even allowed to walk around in a number of the downstairs rooms, which included a sun room, dining room, and two sitting rooms. There were a lot of family photos of the Bidens and a number of honors that Vice President Biden has been given, which even included an actual G.I. Joe action figure of him. Even the phones were interesting, as we were told they were off limits since they were secure lines but they had a speed dial label for the Oval Office on them!

Dr. Jill Biden, the Vice President's wife, then came out and formally said a few words to us about her teaching career and her lifelong involvement in education. She then graciously came up to each one of us and shook hands with us and spoke briefly with us, took pictures with us, and just was such a kind woman. She was very easy going and just easy to talk to, especially since she knows what teaching is like. Then the Vice President surprisingly came into the room, too! It was a surprise because he wasn't supposed to even be there tonight, but he showed up, said a few words, and then greeted each of us personally to his home and thanked us for teaching. Wow! He was very down-to-earth and easy to talk to, and he had a funny story about every state -- the perfect epitome of a politician. It was just one of those moments where, regardless of your politics, you have to almost just pinch yourself because you are there speaking with the Vice President as a guest in his home. He even told me that he has Vermont maple syrup in his kitchen!

Then it was a big group picture on the steps of the mansion before he walked us out to our buses and actually got onto our buses to say goodbye. Wow! Truly a once in a lifetime experience!

I am just so proud to be representing all of the great teachers in Vermont this week in DC!

Cheers!

Week of April 26th

I will be in Washington, DC during the week of April 26th for a Teacher of the Year conference. We will get to speak with members of the Department of Education, become Smithsonian Teacher Ambassadors, and of course the highlight will be going to the White House and meet President Obama. I will be blogging every night during the week about these incredible experiences, so check back during next week for updates, and well as hopefully some pictures, too.

University of Phoenix's Teaching It Forward Scholarship

What an amazing experience! This week I had the incredible opportunity to offer a graduating senior a full-tuition scholarship to college. When I found out from the University of Phoenix that all of the state Teachers of the Year were going to have the opportunity to nominate one student for a full-tuition scholarship, I was very emotional because I understood that this was going to completely change someone's life.

The Teaching It Forward scholarship is one of several programs established by the University of Phoenix to increase access to education for promising students.
The program enables nationally recognized Teachers of the Year from each state, U.S. protectorate and the Department of Defense schools to nominate a deserving high school senior for a full-tuition scholarship toward an undergraduate degree at University of Phoenix.

I selected senior Kayla Coburn for this full-tuition scholarship. I was so excited that Kayla applied because she clearly has a desire to continue her education and this scholarship is going to allow her to do this.

Read an article online about Kayla receiving this scholarship.

I will definitely be following Kayla's college career as I know she will fully utilize this incredible opportunity. Congratulations Kayla!

Texas textbook controversy news clip

Check out this video on the Texas textbook controversy:

Shocking events in Texas

I just read a shocking article about what Texas is discussing in terms of revamping their Social Studies curriculum and for their textbooks. As a Social Studies teacher, it is appalling that a specific political agenda would influence what is essentially revisionist history.

Check out the article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1253

Conference call with Gene Wilhoit

Just got off of a conference call with CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit. He wanted to discuss the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) and answer questions that teachers had over it. I know I have said this many times before, but it is great to know that those who are creating and pushing for these reforms are reaching out to teachers and want their input. Having never had an audience with people in the position of Gene or Sec. of Education Duncan before this, it is comforting to know that teacher's opinions are still valued when it comes to national educational policies.

The Common Core Standards, as of right now, are just for Language Arts and Math. Science, Art, and others are currently meeting and Social Studies, according to Gene, "will be the trailer to this," merely because there is a lot of disagreement over its content. The CCSSI came out of the very different state standards that are currently in place in terms of proficiency. The goal was to determine what states can agree upon in proficiency and content standards and come up with "common" core standards amongst all states. It was great to hear from Gene that what was agreed upon was the outcome, not the process. "We are not proscribing how one teaches," Gene said.

These new standards are set on what Gene called "a new bar -- college and career-ready expectations." The key questions they kept asking throughout this process was, "What is important to be able to do to be college and career ready?" What they were seeing is that what we currently are teaching and focusing on was not preparing students for college and the career world. It just wasn't applicable to what students needed to be leaving high school with. So it is based on changing the standards to be aligned with the following:

-What is the essential content?
-What are the applications of this content?

It seems like we are going to be moving away from facts in our content areas and in the direction of focusing on specific skills that are more applicable and adapted to the jobs that today's students will be working in. Gene said that it "is not about memorizing facts, but about using it and applying it."

With Language Arts, it was interesting to hear Gene speak about how right now, we are seeing a tiering-down of reading materials starting at middle school, and high school's are currently reading middle school-level material. So the expectations will be increased.

The questions I had were about whether schools were going to be able to hold students back until they show "mastery" in the standards and whether we can actually have the same expectations for students in every part of the country. It seems like a great plan, but in reality there seems to be flaws in its application and enforcement. Can a student in every rural, urban, wealthy, poor, small, and large school, and from different socio-economic backgrounds and communities, really achieve the exact same levels of mastery? We'll see.

Interesting Newsweek article

I read an interesting Newsweek article online and think that it brings up some great points. Check it out:

Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers

Town Meeting Day

Tuesday was Town Meeting Day in many towns across Vermont, and in my town of Grafton, a hot button issue was education spending, which I'm sure was being discussed across the state. The voters are looking for any way to lower their taxes, and I completely see their point, but where some wanted to start was with the school budget. There was a healthy discussion on the costs of education and the declining enrollment, and it centered around the fact that taxes keep rising. There are serious issues at stake here, but the place to start cutting back should not be in education.

One gentleman said that he was willing to see the education in the school drop from "exceptional to good" if it meant that taxes would be lowered. The fact that some people are comfortable with decreasing the quality and standards was a shock. It was good that this gentleman saw the connection that the quality of education was going to decrease if you slashed its funding, but this is not at all where we should be heading when thinking about education.

Another woman made the argument that larger class sizes would lead to better education. This is just proof of what people will say and believe when they are completely fed up with rising taxes.

One gentleman even argued for the so-called Doomsday Budget, which was a completely slashed budget down to the bone, eliminating almost everything, including a literacy coach, and lumping up to three grades together. It is scary when people start to support these type of cuts to education. They are clearly thinking of the present and not at all about the future.

What many of the people who made these proposals need to do is come in to the schools and classrooms and see what is happening on that level on a daily basis. It is easy to talk about these cuts, but it is quite different when you see the role that smaller class sizes play in the quality of education or the essential role that technology needs to continue playing with our students. Supporting education is supporting our students and communities. It is making sure we prepare our students for a world that they will be entering, and that needs technology. We can't hurt the future of our students and communities because our taxes are high. Education needs to be the last place where cuts are made, and then to aspects of the budget not so vitally important to our student's futures like literacy and technology. If voters would come in and see what is happening in our schools, I am sure they would less willing to see these cuts as potential solutions and would fully support their schools and students.

Conference call with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

On Wednesday evening, I took part in a conference call with the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Sec. Duncan wanted to discuss the administration's plan for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind.

Many educators are very vocal about their opposition to NCLB, so it good to see that the Obama administration recognizes this and wants input on how to change it. Sec. Duncan focused on some of the main points of what he and the administration want to see in the reauthorization of ESEA, including:

-focus on teacher-leader programs, including collaboration amongst teachers and more effective professional development
-focus on "educating diverse learners," like special education students and ELL students
-revamping accountability, including incentives to raise state standards, and incentives to teachers who show growth with their students

The part about "growth" was great to hear, and Sec. Duncan talked about this many times. Instead of having a specific number or score, the administration is "focusing on growth and gain, with a focus on improvement." Stressing "growth models" as a better way of accountability of teachers and schools is much better than the current way of assessing education. Part of this is to have districts develop better assessments, what Sec. Duncan called "the next generation of tests," which will hopefully include more critical-thinking questions rather than bubble sheets. Sec. Duncan feels that these new tests will be able to tell us the growth of schools and students.

I was able to ask Sec. Duncan about states likes Vermont's ability to compete with others over competitive state and school grants. Sec. Duncan said they are looking for a focus less on a "fancy approach" and more on vision. He also said he has plans for a focus on a "rural competitive advantage" so rural schools have an opportunity for these funds. It was good to hear that he recognizes the need for small and rural schools to have access to these grants.

There was also a great question about including Social Studies in the Common Core standards, which will initially just include Math and English. Sec. Duncan said that they are starting with these two, but definitely want to include Social Studies in the future. As a Social Studies teacher, I would like this to be in the initial standards, but it is great to hear that Sec. Duncan sees its importance and plans to include it in the future.

It was great to get to hear and speak with Sec. Duncan for about an hour about where the administration's plans for education are. Just the fact that the Secretary was willing to take questions about their policies is definitely a step in the right direction. He recognizes, and said, that any type of change in education is not going to come from a Washington policy, but from educators.

Now lets see if the reality of the policy meets the vision.

UVM Presentations

On Thursday, I had the honor to speak with students in the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont. It was great to speak with students on both ends of the spectrum, from first-year students who are just getting an idea of what teaching and the education field are, to Juniors and Seniors who are currently Interns in the classroom. I could easily look out and see myself in both groups from when I was an Education major at Miami University.

With both groups, I spoke about "Effective and Successful Teaching." My goal was really to excite students about the journey that they are embarking on, give some advice about what works in any classroom, how to better reach today's students, and prepare them for the hard, hard work that the teaching profession brings.

There were some excellent questions from the students, with curious students wanting to know about using technology in the classroom to how do you balance reform and innovation with assessment and standardized tests.

I hope the students learned as much from what I said as I learned from them. It was a great experience to see what Teacher Education classes are like and what the students are learning. This is such an essential part of teaching, and I firmly believe that successful teachers need a Teacher Education program. There are skills learned in these courses that better prepare you for the classroom. From being able to develop better lessons to effectively using technology in the classroom, this is where quality educators are born.

When I was teaching at an off-site, urban alternative program in Ohio during my first year of teaching, I desperately could have used a course that helped me to understand the role that poverty and race play in a student. To see UVM has a course like this -- Schools and Society -- was refreshing, knowing that these students will be that much more prepared for the students they encounter in the classroom.

These are the students who will have the courage and innovation to bring new and fresh ideas as to how to better our teaching to students in an effort to better prepare them for their future. I hope to see one of these students being recognized at the Teacher of the Year in the next few years!

Upcoming speaking engagement at UVM

I will be speaking at the University of Vermont on Thurs., Feb. 11th to the College of Education and Social Services at 11:30am to a group of first-year Education students and then at 1pm to a group of Interns and Juniors. I will be speaking on leadership, the importance of the teaching profession, and the need for a globalized educational experience for all students.

2010 State Teachers of the Year introductions video

Check out this video made by Kevin Glover, the 2010 Maine Teacher of the Year, which introduces each of the 2010 Teachers of the Year:

2010 State Teachers of the Year introductions video

Cheers.

National Teacher of the Year Program conference

The first major conference as a 2010 state Teacher of the Year was the National Teacher of the Year Program Conference in Dallas, TX from Jan. 26-31st. It was an amazing experience to get to meet the other 55 Teachers of the Year from every state and territory in the United States. The National Teachers of the Year from 1996, 2006, 2008, and 2009 were also there as mentors and speakers to us. Being with such positive, passionate, dedicated, and innovative individuals makes me proud to be an educator. It was clear from this that education in the United States has powerful leaders and advocates and that it is heading in the right direction with this amazing group of leaders. I felt very lucky to be amongst such leadership.

With teachers from every state and territory, I clearly saw that the same challenges are facing educators around the country, regardless of whether your school is urban or rural, wealthy or poor, public or charter, or the population of your school. Not only similar challenges, but I also saw that what works well in one school works well in most schools. Successful teaching is successful teaching, whether you are in Guam, Florida, or Alaska.

From numerous speakers, policy makers, and experts, we learned about a number of specific topics:

-educational reforms
-educational legislation up for reauthorization
-working with the media and policy makers
-leadership
-effectively using technology in the classroom

The highlights of the conference, in terms of speakers, was Gary Marx (President, Center for Public Outreach), Scott Palmer (Managing Partner, Education Counsel LLC), and Gene Wilhoit (Executive Director, CCSSO).

Gary Marx focused on where the world is currently at in terms of demographics and technology, and why our education needs to prepare our students for this ever-changing world. As Gary said, "change is inevitable, progress is optional."

Scott Palmer discussed educational legislation at the federal level. The Obama administration is supporting and funding educational reform at record levels, and it is great to see that the federal support is there for schools and educators, but it has to go to the reforms that will have the most impact on student learning. Scott talked about the Recovery Act (aka. the stimulus), especially the Race to the Top funds that are available to states if they agree to implement specific educational reforms. Teacher assessment and evaluation are a major part of this. The Teacher Incentive Fund is also part of these reforms, which includes paying more for teachers in hard-to-fill subjects and merit pay. No Child Left Behind and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act are also both up for reauthorization over the next couple of months, so change is possible.

Gene Wilhoit discussed the three biggest changes around the world that are affecting education: demographics, globalization, and technology. Gene talked about the need for educators to shift the focus from the teacher to the student, that we need to teach thinkers and innovators, and that we need to be transformational leaders. Teachers need to be facilitators of learning. These are not new ideas, but it was refreshing to hear and discuss.

The closing address on the last night was a speech by current National Teacher of the Year, Tony Mullen. What a passionate and powerful leader and spokesperson for education in the United States! Tony makes me proud to be a teacher, and knowing that he is representing teachers around the country, I know that education will be reformed to improve our schools and better prepare our students for the future.

Cheers.