"A true journey of discovery lies not in seeking new shores but in finding new eyes." ~ Marcel Proust
Today I secretly smiled as I saw the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens on the newsstand. Why? Because hiding inside on
page 172 is my back to School Tip for New Teachers! How fun to see myself in print. I am in the company of fellow TOYs from New York, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Well we missed out in round one, but Massachusetts (my home state) has come out on top in round two. We have joined the pack and agreed to the Common Core Standards. Happily teachers voices were included in the application conversation and rather than relying only on standardized test scores, thankfully we are beginning to look at student growth models when we think about measuring teacher effectiveness. It will be critical for teachers to continue to make themselves heard as we begin to implement the grant. Speak up! When asked to comment or get involved - please consider doing it! Sitting in the session on teacher evaluation at the recent ECS conference in Portland I was proud to be from MA as I listened to panel member Paul Reville, our own Secretary of Education. There is much happening in Massachusetts to improve teacher prep programs. Ideas such as longer programs which would enable students to get in the classrooms from the first year or mentoring programs that last beyond college graduation could go a long way to preparing our teachers to teach the students of tomorrow. We will need to watch the programs that come as a result of the RTTT funds closely to see what they bring to the education of teachers and students in the Commonwealth.
A surprise opportunity to attend the ECS Conference in Oregon allowed me to drive down the Pacific coastline with my son. The sights were magnificent on our way down to Bandon Dunes where Noah was to play golf and I was to attempt to walk the six mile course. Observing his interaction with caddy Josh I couldn't help thinking about how much better Noah's game was as a result of input from a course expert. Policymakers could learn something from golf. Those in the position to make decisions for our classrooms should listen to the teachers, those who know how to navigate the course best to
avoid the bunkers and stay on the fairway to insure those elusive hole in ones so similar to standardized test scores. Back in Portland I enjoyed grilled halibut and the incredible view from the windows at the Portland City Grill. I gazed out at the beautiful panorama of the Willamette River and all the bridges that connect the city. Education is full of bridges: the bridge between school and home, the bridge between the past and present, the bridge between grade levels and teachers and students. The purpose for the teachers of the year to attend the ECS (Education Commission of the States) National Forum on Educational Policy Conference was to create a bridge between the practical and policy. It was a chance for the commissioners to hear the classroom perspective only a teacher can provide. It is so important for us to seize every opportunity that presents itself to create this bridge. Policymakers must be aware of how their decisions impact our students and our teaching. I found them to be very open and willing to listen. It is clear that major changes are on the horizon for education in America, especially as it relates to teacher education and evaluation - we must stay in the discussions.
One of the highlights was a keynote by John Medina, author of
Brain Rules. He was fascinating. He highlighted how so much of the procedures and schedules of today's schools are not set up to jive with how children learn. I am coming away from this speech with much food for thought about my own teaching practice. It is clear that we cannot jam large bits of information into children in chunks. Students need to learn, relearn and practice what they learn if information is to make it into their memories. Teachers and policymakers could learn a lot from John Medina, I certainly did.
A big thank you to the NEA for sponsoring our travel expenses.
Today we heard from Story Musgrave, payload commander on the Hubble Space Telescope rescue mission and NASA aerospace engineer and author of
Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam. They took pictures with us and autographed their books. I have become so sad to know that space travel could be over in America. It is so disheartening to hear these men speak about the demise of our space program. We were treated to the Omni movie about the history of the Hubble telescope. The pictures are so incredible. I am awestruck by the scientific knowledge it took to create it and what we have learned as a result of the mission. Tonight was our graduation. It was very emotional. We each received our diploma and wings. I am thankful to the folks at the Space Camp for giving us this
unique opportunity and for a very special gift, one free campership. Next year I will be able to send a student to space camp! We have grown individually and as a group - this experience has changed us all.
Oh boy - today is THE day... The helicopter rescue and the parachute zip line. There is a lot of electricity in the air this morning. After breakfast we were off to the lake. We could see the towers from afar and my stomach was in knots. As we walked closer to the lake and the "dunker/lifter" I was beginning to have doubts about the whole thing but when would I ever get this chance again? Team Kibo they called. I donned the life jacket and climbed into the helicopter fuselage. It fell into the lake, the water filled up over my head, I pushed myself out the window madly swimming to the meeting spot in the lake where we awaited the rescue helicopter. Swimming to the basket lowered in the water was no
easy task, it is hard to keep going with the jacket weighing you down and blocking some vision, Approaching the basket water was spraying in my face from the propeller and I had to hoist myself in. It was hard and scary but I eventually managed to get in. We were so proud of ourselves. Armed with some new found confidence we climbed the tower to the parachute zipline. Here you don a harness under your arms high above the lake. The counselor pushes you off and you fly backwards towards the water as if you jumped from a helicopter. It was awesome!
I am so proud to have gone way out of my comfort zone and accomplished this. I ask my students to take risks and I cannot wait to share this experience with them. Today I modeled what I teach - BIG TIME! Later in the day we had a lovely luncheon sponsored by our new sponsor, Target and welaunched our rockets. My rocket took off like lightning! Our Endeavor mission was successful to spite a fire in the cockpit which we in mission control handled like pros. Tonight we had a
lovely reception with some well needed relaxation time to reconnect with each other and catch up.
Today our team, Kibo, was charged with creating a mission patch. Each NASA mission designs their own patch. They are often symbolic of the participating astronauts and mission purpose. Thanks to the artistic talents of team member Franklin from Costa Rica, our patch looks great! We worked in teams to experiment with thermal protection and learned about the history of early space flight with Ed Buckbee before we were off to train for our second mission on Endeavor. This time I am in mission control - one stressful place! We toured the Davidson Center Museum filled with many artifacts including space capsules,rockets and even the vehicle that the astronauts lived in while they were quarantined after returning to Earth from the moon. It looked suspiciously like the bookmobile that used to come to my neighborhood when I was a child. Today we made and launched bottle rockets. I cannot believe how high they went - it was great fun! Later in the day we played with some toys in space and after dinner we began working on our rockets which we will launch tomorrow. Again a very exhilarating but tiring day. My plastic mattress is calling my name...
Tater tots, again? Oh boy, I am having major college deja vu! Our balloon launched beautifully. It was terrific to see it soaring gracefully into the hot, steamy Alabama sky. It was a great start to the day! We were off to our Mission aboard Discovery. The launch was perfect, the docking well timed. I climbed through the docking hatch and entered the Space Station to perform my experiments. To spite my constant checking of the time, I almost missed my ride back to Earth! The commander opened the hatch and bellowed my name and I crawled through just in the nick of time. After another southern lunch where I discovered that I do not like okra but quite enjoy banana pudding, it was a treat to meet Ed Buckbee, the first director of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and author of
The 
Real Space Cowboys. He shared stories of early space travel. Then we learned a bit of what it is like to live and travel in space. I modeled the sleeping bag astronauts wear that is velcroed to the wall so they can sleep. We learned that coke floats out of a cup and looks like bubbles in space. It separates into a fizzy half and a syrupy half so astronauts use a straw in the middle part to get a drink! Freeze dried food does not look at all appealing and using a toilet is quite an adventure. Think bulls eye! Tonight we left Space Camp for a home cooked meal at the homes of a local woman's
group - Ladies of Dumidi. I enjoyed a delicious dinner at the home of Gertrude and Max Nein. Max , an original Rocketeer, was one of the engineers recruited by the US government from Germany after World War II. He worked on the Hubble Telescope. It was quite interesting to see some of Huntsville and to learn that the town really grew up around the NASA Marshall Space and Rocket Center.
A surprise opportunity to attend the ECS Conference in Oregon allowed me to drive down the Pacific coastline with my son. The sights were magnificent on our way down to Bandon Dunes where Noah was to play golf and I was to attempt to walk the six mile course. Observing his interaction with caddy Josh I couldn't help thinking about how much better Noah's game was as a result of input from a course expert. Policymakers could learn something from golf. Those in the position to make decisions for our classrooms should listen to the teachers, those who know how to navigate the course best to
avoid the bunkers and stay on the fairway to insure those elusive hole in ones so similar to standardized test scores. Back in Portland I enjoyed grilled halibut and the incredible view from the windows at the Portland City Grill. I gazed out at the beautiful panorama of the Willamette River and all the bridges that connect the city. Education is full of bridges: the bridge between school and home, the bridge between the past and present, the bridge between grade levels and teachers and students. The purpose for the teachers of the year to attend the ECS (Education Commission of the States) National Forum on Educational Policy Conference was to create a bridge between the practical and policy. It was a chance for the commissioners to hear the classroom perspective only a teacher can provide. It is so important for us to seize every opportunity that presents itself to create this bridge. Policymakers must be aware of how their decisions impact our students and our teaching. I found them to be very open and willing to listen. It is clear that major changes are on the horizon for education in America, especially as it relates to teacher education and evaluation - we must stay in the discussions.
Today we heard from Story Musgrave, payload commander on the Hubble Space Telescope rescue mission and NASA aerospace engineer and author of Rocket Boys, Homer Hickam. They took pictures with us and autographed their books. I have become so sad to know that space travel could be over in America. It is so disheartening to hear these men speak about the demise of our space program. We were treated to the Omni movie about the history of the Hubble telescope. The pictures are so incredible. I am awestruck by the scientific knowledge it took to create it and what we have learned as a result of the mission. Tonight was our graduation. It was very emotional. We each received our diploma and wings. I am thankful to the folks at the Space Camp for giving us this 
Oh boy - today is THE day... The helicopter rescue and the parachute zip line. There is a lot of electricity in the air this morning. After breakfast we were off to the lake. We could see the towers from afar and my stomach was in knots. As we walked closer to the lake and the "dunker/lifter" I was beginning to have doubts about the whole thing but when would I ever get this chance again? Team Kibo they called. I donned the life jacket and climbed into the helicopter fuselage. It fell into the lake, the water filled up over my head, I pushed myself out the window madly swimming to the meeting spot in the lake where we awaited the rescue helicopter. Swimming to the basket lowered in the water was no 
easy task, it is hard to keep going with the jacket weighing you down and blocking some vision, Approaching the basket water was spraying in my face from the propeller and I had to hoist myself in. It was hard and scary but I eventually managed to get in. We were so proud of ourselves. Armed with some new found confidence we climbed the tower to the parachute zipline. Here you don a harness under your arms high above the lake. The counselor pushes you off and you fly backwards towards the water as if you jumped from a helicopter. It was awesome!
lovely reception with some well needed relaxation time to reconnect with each other and catch up. 
Today our team, Kibo, was charged with creating a mission patch. Each NASA mission designs their own patch. They are often symbolic of the participating astronauts and mission purpose. Thanks to the artistic talents of team member Franklin from Costa Rica, our patch looks great! We worked in teams to experiment with thermal protection and learned about the history of early space flight with Ed Buckbee before we were off to train for our second mission on Endeavor. This time I am in mission control - one stressful place! We toured the Davidson Center Museum filled with many artifacts including space capsules,rockets and even the vehicle that the astronauts lived in while they were quarantined after returning to Earth from the moon. It looked suspiciously like the bookmobile that used to come to my neighborhood when I was a child. Today we made and launched bottle rockets. I cannot believe how high they went - it was great fun! Later in the day we played with some toys in space and after dinner we began working on our rockets which we will launch tomorrow. Again a very exhilarating but tiring day. My plastic mattress is calling my name...
Tater tots, again? Oh boy, I am having major college deja vu! Our balloon launched beautifully. It was terrific to see it soaring gracefully into the hot, steamy Alabama sky. It was a great start to the day! We were off to our Mission aboard Discovery. The launch was perfect, the docking well timed. I climbed through the docking hatch and entered the Space Station to perform my experiments. To spite my constant checking of the time, I almost missed my ride back to Earth! The commander opened the hatch and bellowed my name and I crawled through just in the nick of time. After another southern lunch where I discovered that I do not like okra but quite enjoy banana pudding, it was a treat to meet Ed Buckbee, the first director of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and author of The 
Real Space Cowboys. He shared stories of early space travel. Then we learned a bit of what it is like to live and travel in space. I modeled the sleeping bag astronauts wear that is velcroed to the wall so they can sleep. We learned that coke floats out of a cup and looks like bubbles in space. It separates into a fizzy half and a syrupy half so astronauts use a straw in the middle part to get a drink! Freeze dried food does not look at all appealing and using a toilet is quite an adventure. Think bulls eye! Tonight we left Space Camp for a home cooked meal at the homes of a local woman's 
