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: