10,9,8,7,6,5 Days to Space Camp!

Steamy Alabama days, dorm rooms with plastic twin sized mattresses?  What could make this attractive?  Space Camp!  I am getting so excited to blast off on Friday.  Stay tuned for the details of my mission...

Courage to Teach: A Little Introspection is good for the soul!

"We cannot hope to reform education, if we fail to cherish and challenge the human heart that is the source of good teaching." Parker Palmer 

Most of you already know that I came to be Teacher of the Year by way of a letter of recommendation written by my fine student teacher, Joe Feintuck. Joe and I have many parallels; we live in the same town, he changed careers later in life, he went to graduate school with a spouse and two young children and like me Joe was part of a cohort from Lesley University.  The University gave me a voucher for a three credit course as a thank you for being Joe's cooperating practitioner, although having Joe was gift enough.  The voucher sat around until this summer when I decided to participate in the Lesley Institute: Courage to Teach based on Parker Palmer's books Courage to Teach and A Hidden Wholeness.  It feels as though this is a good time to take stock of myself and my career and I have spent this past week doing just that.  I agree with Palmer, "When I do not know myself, I cannot know who my students are. When I do not know myself, I cannot know my subject – not at the deepest levels of embodied, personal meaning."
Yes Jae, a little introspection is good for the soul.

This week I have searched my soul examining everything from the gifts I bring to teaching to the challenges that get in the way.  I have entered the learning through art, music and movement and I am increasingly more "mindful" of my thinking, behaviors, and even my eating.  This week has gifted me with a sense of renewal.  Thank you to Dr. Sharlene Cochrane and my fellow retreat members who gently prodded me along, opening my heart with their open and honest questions.  I will always be grateful...

ISTE 2010

So many things in life have their origins in serendipity. Last fall when my friends at DYMO/Mimio learned that I had been named the MA TOY they asked me whether I would join their teacher team at ISTE 2010 in Colorado. Of course I said yes and this week I headed out west with my good friend Cheryl. What a whirlwind in Denver! I met teachers from all across America and abroad and each had one thing in common - a thirst to bring their students into the 21st century. So many teachers shared their stories of making do with shower boards from Home Depot in lieu of whiteboards, endless grant writing over the summer in hopes of snagging a paltry amount of money to obtain a projector or begging local businesses to donate old laptops for classroom use. Teachers are not proud, they WILL go the extra mile to obtain what they know will increase learning for their students. On the other side I also met administrators waving their checkbooks with cries of, "I have money to spend." I couldn't help but wonder why this couldn't be the case for all states and school districts. The air at ISTE was charged with possibilities. Vendors offered a myriad of tools to increase learning in our schools; it was impossible not to be swept along in the wake of potential for our students. Alas, much will have to change to make this a reality. Schools will have to prioritize technology and the training teachers need to be successful. In the meantime, those of us that are comfortable can commit to easing our colleagues into the fold by partnering with them for just one project - just imagine the possibilities... 

Thank you to all my friends at Mimio for giving me this unique opportunity! To answer your question... If teaching was more engaging for our students, more affordable for our budgets and easier for teachers we could prepare students to be college and career ready at the pace necessary to create digital citizens of the 21st century!  Thank you for all the hard work and dedication you have given to make this a reality.

Finally The Proof!

Who would have thought that a young girl from Long Island, New York who everyone advised not to go into teaching because it was too hard to get a job would one day grow up, change careers at mid-life and become not only a teacher but the 2010 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year? And who would have thought that this same teacher would one day be honored at the White House in the Rose Garden? But... that is exactly what happened on April 29th and here is the photograph to prove it! What a thrill it was to stand in the Oval Office with President Obama!

Buena Suerte Wilma, la professora del ano

Today was a surreal day, it is hard to believe that almost a year has passed since I was named the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year but today I was privileged to attend the luncheon honoring the 2011 Teacher of the Year, Floris Wilma Ortiz!
Being Massachusetts Teacher of the Year has been a journey along a road that was sometimes wide and straight, and sometimes narrow and crooked. The road often diverged and I was constantly deciding which one I should take. The well marked road or the dusty unmarked path? This year I chose to follow Ralph Waldo Emerson’s advice, “Do not follow where the path might lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” It takes courage to go off the path but I learned that if you do your voice gets stronger. I have become a better teacher this year.

Wilma, I hope you will treasure every minute of what lies ahead of you. Today as you begin your own journey I hope that you, too, will make a new path because despite all of the stress and pressures placed on teachers, there is still room for imagination, creativity and innovation because you and I believe, as do all teachers of excellence, that each and every child can and will learn and grow. Poverty, hunger, broken families, disabilities, language barriers - all are challenges to learning, but all of these challenges can be overcome by effective teaching. I hope our paths will cross in future travels. Leave your own trail, Wilma, make a new path. Buena suerte!

FTA Annual Meeting - Commit to Just One

After spending almost a year traveling around the state and the country I have been looking forward to the opportunity to speak on my own soil and it was especially fun to have the opportunity to speak with my colleagues at the annual meeting of the Framingham Teachers Association. I have already challenged my colleagues to stand up and be counted, to speak out when they feel strongly and to advocate for their students and our profession but tonight I wanted to challenge them to do even more.

Everyday the chasm between the teachers that integrate technology and those that don’t grows wider. Teachers can do something to stem the tide. Tonight I asked my fellow teachers to join me in a campaign I call Just One. Today I asked Framingham teachers to commit to inviting one colleague who hasn’t yet begun to use technology to join them in a project they are already doing with their students, invite one colleague to learn to use an interactive whiteboard with them, show one colleague how you use a document camera to improve their instruction, share a way technology helped enhance a lesson, or suggest a useful website to just one colleague. I challenged them to partner with a colleague’s class for a webquest, share an article or an interactive game with a colleague, or help just one colleague to build a basic webpage. Imagine the power that could result from every technologically savvy teacher in Framingham mentoring just one colleague for just one thing? This kind of viral campaign could have tremendous impact on our profession and our students.

I have been so proud to represent all my colleagues this year as the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. Not as the best but as an ambassador of all the best teachers I have had the pleasure of working with and alongside here in Framingham

Pay it Forward Fernanda!

As Anne Lindbergh once said, "One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay 'in kind' somewhere else in life. Tonight I had the opportunity to participate in the single most gratifying opportunity I have had since becoming the 2010 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. In December I learned that the University of Phoenix was gifting each teacher of the year with the opportunity to help a high school graduate realize their dream of a college degree. The program enabled me to nominate someone who would benefit personally or professionally by earning a bachelors degree of their choice through a program called the Pay it Forward Scholarship.

I asked Mark Goldschmidt at Framingham High School to find me a person who really wanted to go to college. Someone for whom the traditional campus experience wouldn't work and he found me the perfect person, Fernanda Caixeta. He told me that she had worked really hard in school and that this semester her grades were higher than any other.That she took care of her young daughter, came to school every day and worked part time.When I met her I knew Mark was right. Fernanda told me that she wanted to be a psychologist.She knew that if her daughter Keane was to have a better life she would need to have a college education. I was impressed by her maturity and eagerness. Then I had the pleasure of meeting her family. They are all so proud, supportive and loving and they are all anxious to do everything they can to ensure that Fernanda will fulfill her dream - and so am I.

Fernanda, I wish you ,much success as you learn and grow. I know that someday in the future, you too will have the chance to pay your successes forward to someone else.