2010-2011 AT&T NC Teacher of the Year Team

From Left to Right: Vann Lassiter (Northeast Region) • RenĂ© Herrick (North Central Region) • Courtney Davis (Piedmont-Triad/Central Region) • Amber Alford Watkins (Sandhills/South Central Region) • Joy Jenkins (Northwest Region) • Dorothy Case (West Region) • Jennifer Facciolini (Southeast Region) • David Dahari (Southwest Region) • Stuart Miles (Charter Schools) For more information on any team member or on the AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year Program, please click the photograph below.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Thanks guys! Your timing was perfect!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have been a bit more busy than normal. I was losing my balance, losing my mind, and feeling as though I was not really doing a good job. Anyone who knows me well, also knows that I believe that all things happen for a reason. This week, I have received some very thoughtful emails, letters and kind words. I was not expecting them nor do I feel deserving of them, but I sincerely appreciate them. Thank you for taking time from your very busy lives to think of me and to share your kind, thoughtful, and encouraging words. I have always believed that most teachers possessed the gift of perfect timing. Thank you for sharing with me this week. I needed it! As I was rereading some of your emails and notes, I was reminded of a poem I heard earlier this year. Thank you for being builders not only with our students but with your colleagues as well.

Wreckers or Builders

I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled,
As the men you'd hire if you had to build?"
He gave me a laugh and said, "No indeed!
Just common labor is all I need.
I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do."
And I tho't to myself as I went my way,
Which of these two roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?
Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
Content with the labor of tearing down?

-- Unknown

Week of February 21

Monday morning found me in the office trying to dig a tunnel out of the stacks of "to-be-filed" papers. After I made enough room to at least put my computer on my desk, I worked on more research and surveys surrounded teacher effectiveness. I am so excited by the responses to the Teacher Effectiveness survey I have received. I sincerely appreciate the time and thought you all put into answering the difficult questions around measuring teacher effectiveness.
Monday afternoon I participated in a phone conference with Jessica Garner, 2009-10 NC Teacher of the Year and teacher in Union County, and Laurie Calvert, former Buncombe County teacher and current Teacher Ambassador Fellow in Washington, D.C., and Dr. Harrison from the State Board of Education. We were planning a panel discussion on teacher effectiveness and retention for the March State Board of Education meeting.

Tuesday was a very busy day! I spent the morning with Jan King, Principal of the Year, and Sonja Leathers, NCDPI, as we visited The City of Medicine Academy for another Principal of the Year site visit. Congratulations to CMA principal Elizabeth Shearer for being named the Region 3 Principal of the Year! Elizabeth has an amazing school and we truly enjoyed spending the day at CMA. The students were very engaged in their learning and Ms. Shearer is very dedicated to each and every student. Thanks for letting us spend the day with you guys!

Tuesday evening, I attended our weekly EPFP meeting. This week we talked a great deal about the budget. Wow! This was an interesting week. I know one thing for sure: There is no easy answer! Thanks to the folks from NCDPI and from the General Assembly for your leadership and expertise and great explanations.

On Wednesday, I worked a little more on researching ways to measure teacher effectiveness and attempted to look at more data from the survey I sent out. Again, I sincerely appreciate the time and thought you are all putting into these survey questions. You have such great points!


On Thursday morning, I was up early for a beautiful drive to Rowan County. I joined Joy Jenkins, 2010-11 Southwest Regional Teacher of the Year, in a panel discussion for the West Scholars at Catawba College. We were asked some great questions by these freshman education majors. I loved their energy and enthusiasm! After the panel discussion with the freshman scholars, we were joined by all West Scholars and education majors for a presentation. I know I am suppose to inspire future teachers when I am the keynote speaker; however, I must admit that these future teachers often inspire me more than I could hope to inspire them! I enjoyed my morning with you guys and I wish you all the best! Thanks for your enthusiasm during our session!

(photo: http://www.catawba.edu/news/archive/2011/02/24/facciolini.aspx)

After a great lunch with Joy and the wonderful education faculty at Catawba College, I traveled to Greensboro for the North Carolina Council for the Social Studies annual conference. I had a great time on Thursday evening meeting some new smiling faces and catching up with old friends. I also met a good number of student teachers. I know you guys will be amazing teachers next year!

On Friday morning, I facilitated a session around current educational trends and issues. I had some things in mind that I wanted to talk about and we did. However, I truly wanted this to be an opportunity for teachers to share, ask questions and so forth. I learned a great deal from the dialogue and I appreciate the time, thoughts and comments of the amazing educators who attended. After my session I attended a few more fabulous sessions and talked with various vendors. Then, much to my surprise I found out I was elected to the NCCSS Board. How exciting! This is such a dedicated, hard-working, and creative group and I am honored to serve with these outstanding teachers. I am already looking forward to our next meeting!

My head is swirling with so many thoughts! What a great week!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Week of February 14

After a great day at home with my family on Sunday, Monday began another week of travel, school visits and meeting some amazing teachers!

On Monday, I was excited to spend some time with the Teacher Cadet students in Ms. Jennifer Carr's class at Midway. I love any excuse to be back on Midway's campus and I had so much fun with Ms. Carr and many of my former students. I have no doubt you will all grow into accomplished teachers. I think I was suppose to show up and inspire you; however, I think that you guys were much more inspiring to me than I could ever be to you. Thank you for your genuine energy, your love of life, and your openness to talk about some pretty tough issues facing education today.

After I left Midway, I went to Raleigh to meet Governor Perdue and First Gentleman Bob Eaves. I enjoyed the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the Governor Perdue's State of the State as one of her guests. For more details regarding the State of the State, check the blogpost for Monday, February 14.

Tuesday morning I was up early and drove to Wilmington to spend some time at Murray Middle School. These teachers were wonderful to give up their planning time to attend the mini professional development sessions. We talked a great deal about the myths and realities of differentiated instruction. They asked some great questions and I learned so much from them. What a great group!

After leaving Wilmington, I went to our weekly NC EPFP meeting in Raleigh. These are always such interesting and informative meetings and tonight was no exception. Eddie Goodall and others spoke to us about Charter Schools in North Carolina and about Senate Bill 8 that is currently in the NC Senate. They provided a great deal of information regarding Charter Schools and a great dialogue continued between my fellow classmates and the Charter Schools panel. Lots of controversy = lots of questions and this mean the little hamster in my head turned the entire drive home!

On Wednesday, I spent the day in the office attempting to dig out from underneath a stack of papers. Though I made some progress I still have lots of work to do!

On Thursday, I traveled to Currituck County to prepare for another Principal of the Year visit. On Friday our team had the opportunity to visit Ms. Diane Newbern at Currituck County High School. What a great school! We enjoyed our day with the Region 1 Principal of the Year and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk with some inspiring teachers and talented students. Both the chorus and the band performed for us and they were great! Thank you guys for letting us spend the day with you.

Happy Teaching!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Losing my Balance ....and my mind!



Have you ever had one of those days where you just can't get it together? Okay so maybe some of us experience this feeling a little more often than others. There is little to no food in our pantry. The kids are plundering through laundry on the sofa hoping to find socks that match. The only exercise I have had in a couple of weeks is leaping over the piles of dirty laundry on the floor. And that's only at home. I am no longer sure there is a desk in my office as all I see are stacks of paper! I just want to fall into the recliner, eat ice cream, and rotate between movies that make me cry till it hurts and those that make me laugh until I cry. I daydream more than any middle schooler in math class because that brief lapse of reality is sometimes what gets me through the rest of a very long day.

Yesterday morning I woke up early (as if there is any other option) and I gave myself the "put on your big girl pants" talk. I spent a moment reflecting about all of the amazing people and events in my life and I realized that all of my whining was just a momentary lapse in perspective and balance. Please understand that I am most grateful for this amazing opportunity and I have met some amazing folks and participated in numerous once-in-a-lifetime events. But I am human and I think we all have those days where we let life overwhelm us. I am so there! So after good conversations with close friends, I decided to take a deep breath and step back to see the big picture of my crazy, wonderful, and very full life.

Another friend suggested that I needed to reclaim my balance. Sounded good to me. I spent some time thinking about the idea of balance. It sounds so easy to say things like: set boundaries, eat dinner together, and spend only a set amount of time at work. But it is so difficult to put that into practice! In part, I think the nature of our jobs as teachers does not allow us to leave “work” at work. We go to see our students perform in productions, perform in concerts and play sports. Because our work is about children, we often blur those lines and let work become a part of our “personal” life. We all enter teaching with the desire to change the world and the passion to do it. Our students become our children and our colleagues become our family. It is easy for some to walk away from the office, actually take a sick day, or even go on vacation. As for teachers, many of us feel as though taking time to even get sick is not an option. Therefore, we continue to blur the lines.

Secondly, I can’t speak for everyone but I know that I personally set myself up for failure in the category of balance. I was talking with a friend a few months ago about the struggle to keep it all together and the sheer chaos of my life at times. When she asked what I was going to do about it, I responded with my typical answer “I will make a list in priority order.” I am so good at lists! The problem is that I want to build Rome in a day. I want to change the course of my students’ lives for the better, provide wonderful professional development for my co-workers, make people laugh, organize my desk, clean my house, exercise, cook dinner, eat with my family, play outside, do laundry, pack lunchboxes, watch a good movie, go to bed on time with my entire “list” checked off. I realize now more than ever that I struggle with the fantasy that I can wake up one morning and be a more balanced person. When it doesn’t work out like I planned, I seek comfort in daydreams, my friends Ben &Jerry, and continuous over-committing. Rather than being realistic about balance, I set myself up for continued chaos. Anyone else struggle with this?

This past week I had a night at home and I took the kids out to eat dinner. We came home and we all piled in the recliner to watch The Karate Kid (Old School version as I feel the need to culture my children). Though I have seen this move numerous times, I think I may have learned more from Mr. Miyagi than Daniel-san this time.

Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?
 - Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid

There is that word again…balance. It is easy to say but difficult to practice. Just like Daniel's skill development on the beach, this will take time and practice. Daniel did not develop this kind of balance over night. I wish there were an easy answer or a product on late night infomercials that could solve my balance issue. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for balance in our lives. I must learn from Mr. Miyagia and Daniel-San. Balance will take practice, patience and most importantly, my desire to make it happen! And if all else fails....the "crane" position will deliver a great front kick to take out Johnny:)

To my fellow teachers who often struggle with over committing and losing balance, I understand. Teaching is a difficult, stressful, and emotional job. We all struggle with keeping all of the balls in the air and smiling all the while. Just remember to take a deep breath and reflect on the amazing work you have done and the great things you have yet to accomplish. We can all achieve balance one step at a time.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Governor Perdue's State of the State


Wow! I still cannot wrap my mind around this incredible evening. Governor Bev Perdue invited a group of us to be her guests at her State of the State Address to the General Assembly this evening. What a special honor to be invited! We were able to meet with Governor Perdue and the First Gentleman, Mr. Bob Eaves at the Executive Mansion prior to the joint session. Then we were escorted over to the Legislative Building for the State of the State. She focused her speech on economic improvements, business growth and education. I was so honored to have our school named in her speech! Pardon me for sounding like a middle school girl who just saw Justin Bieber - but that was so cool!

Thank you to Governor Perdue and First Gentleman Mr. Bob Eaves for such a special invitation and for comments about education in North Carolina.
Flickr slideshow of Governor Perdue's State of the State


Watch Governor Perdue's State of the State Address

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Week of February 6

Here I go....on the road again! This has been another fabulous week! On Sunday, I had the opportunity to visit NCCAT and meet with the amazing folks on the search committee. I was so inspired by the dedication of this dynamic group to both public education and to NCCAT. We spent Monday and Tuesday meeting and talking with some pretty amazing people! I learned so much over these two and a half days!

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to spend the day with our State Superintendent, Dr. June Atkinson, and the State Superintendent's Advisory Council. It is always so inspiring to spend time with some fabulous teachers across NC. It was great to see some of my team members like Vann, Renee, Amber and Dot. We learned a great deal and enjoyed the time to talk with each other! Vann, I can't wait to read your book!

I drove home to find out that "snow was on the way!" Ok, we all know that it did not really happen, but it forced me to pack my bags and drive to Richmond County during the Duke vs. Carolina game. My radio station faded and I literally ran into the hotel so that I could catch the last five minutes. I am glad it was worth the run!

On Thursday Jan King, Sonja Leathers, and I spent the day at Richmond Senior High. What an incredible group of people. They truly want what is best for the students of Richmond County and all work together like a family to make great things happen! Mr. Cory Satterfield is the Region 4 Principal of the Year and we all enjoyed spending the day with you and your school!


photo: Mr. Carlos Rodriguez (Knightdale High's Teacher of the Year) and I at Knightdale High School

On Friday, I spent the day at Knightdale High School. They had an afternoon honoring newly named National Board Certified Teachers as well as the Knightdale High School Teacher and Teacher Assistant of the Year. What amazing folks! I loved hearing what the students and faculty had to say about the Teacher of the Year, Mr. Carlos Rodriguez. I am always so inspired by the great teachers across NC!

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to serve as a selection committee member for Region 3 Teaching Fellows Finalists interviews at NCSU. Ms. JoAnn Norris (NC Public Schools Forum) and Mr. Michael Clinkscales (NCSU Teaching Fellows Director) did an awesome job in coordinating this day. I met some great future teachers! For more information regarding the NC Teaching Fellows Program, visit www.teachingfellows.org


I enjoyed the opportunity to return to Midway High on Saturday evening to serve as the emcee for our annual Mr. Midway Pageant. We had five gentlemen vie for the title of Mr. Midway 2011. I had so much fun spending time with my friends and co-workers and my former students.

Monday, February 7, 2011

"Did y'all know that Sissy Spacek learned to sing like Loretta Lynn?"



My Dad's favorite movie was Coal Miner's Daughter. Without fail, if it was on TV, we all watched it. And without fail he would ALWAYS ask us "Did y'all know that Sissy Spacek learned to sing like Loretta Lynn?" "She's not lip syncing," he would continue, "She studied her voice and learned to sing just like her." I must confess that even now, I will watch this movie every time it is on television and I always laugh. The other night I heard Sissy Spacek singing like Loretta Lynn. I curled up in my Phillies blanket, enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and watched Coal Miner's Daughter for the gazillionth time.

As I watched, I started thinking about teaching and how important it is for each teacher to find his/her own voice. Just like Sissy Spacek, we need to study, model and learn from the legends in our profession. If we surround ourselves with great teachers, we cannot help but be inspired by them. As we are surrounded by great teachers, we will begin to learn what makes these educators legendary. As we study them, observe them, collaborate with them, we will begin to model excellence. As we grow, we will learn to sing with our own voice. Yes, there will be days we "lip sync" their lesson plans. However, just as Sissy Spacek made the bold move to sing with her own voice while paying tribute to the "lady of country music" ( while most other actresses were content with moving their mouths to someone else's voice) we, too, will make strides to use what we learn and make our own voice in education. As we surround ourselves with excellence in education we will grow more comfortable in our own voice. As you teach this week, remember to reflect on the mentors who have guided you and will continue to guide you. Pay tribute to them by using their example while singing in your own voice.

Photo: www.amazon.com

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Week of January 31




Wow, I can hardly believe we are in the month of February. Where does the time go? I am quickly discovering that my year is more than halfway over.

This has been another busy, informative and fabulous week! On Monday, I spent the day in the office catching up on emails, blogposts, and lots of paperwork. I also began reading a book about the Global Achievement Gap.

On Tuesday, I attended the Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Compulsory Attendance Age in NC. What a passionate, invested, and dedicated group. We are looking at research (both "official" and anecdotal) to determine whether to raise the drop-out age from 16. The overarching goal is to increase the number of students who graduate high school. Will raising the drop-out age from 16 increase the graduation rate? It was a very interesting discussion and I am looking forward to our work. I welcome your input on this topic. Please email me (jfacciolini@sampson.k12.nc.us) if you have questions, comments, or concerns.

Following the Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting, I attended our weekly NC EPFP meeting. I missed the week prior and I enjoyed talking with everyone again. Our presenters were research attorneys from the NC General Assembly. We received lots of good information!

The February State Board of Education sessions were on Wednesday and Thursday. I always learn so much from these meetings. For more information on the agenda and highlights from the meeting, please click the link to the right! The Teachers and Leaders committee (from the Governor's Education Transformation Commission) met on Thursday afternoon following SBE. We discussed a variety of things including our role as a committee. We also began discussion regarding teacher evaluations. Great dialogue!

On Friday I had the opportunity to attend a Teaching Fellows professional development seminar at Meredith College. I always get excited to visit Meredith and I love to work with Teaching Fellows! NC State, Campbell University, and Meredith College hosted a triangle area Teaching Fellows professional development conference on Friday and Saturday. How exciting for these future teachers to have the opportunity to network and grow as professionals. I enjoyed being around such inspiring folks! I am so glad that these folks will be in our classrooms very soon! We talked a great deal about having roots and true passion for our jobs. Thank you guys for having me visit. I had a wonderful time! Kerry Mebane, thank you for the new Teaching Fellows bag! I love it!

On Saturday, I visited Western Carolina for the Teaching Fellows finalists open house. I always love visiting WCU. Dr. Smith and the folks there always make you feel like you are at home. The hospitality was wonderful and I enjoyed visiting with the Teaching Fellows again and with future Teaching Fellows! To the WCU Backstreet Boys, thank you for your performance at the end of the program! It was classic!

Top Photo: I enjoyed visiting with these Teaching Fellow finalists. Good Luck ladies!
Bottom Photo: I am with current WCU Teaching Fellows. What great leadership I already see in them!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Teacher Evaluations and Test Scores


From in depth conversations in Dallas to casual conversations while traveling around the state, the idea of linking teacher evaluation with student test scores is certainly a "hot topic" these days. Student growth and performance are very important, but to what degree should this determine a teachers evaluation? Does using this narrow scope allow us to only focus on one element of an effective teacher while we miss the holistic view of the teacher? What is the right answer? States such as Florida have already began to make policy strides in this area. LEAs such as Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools have been piloting programs to measure teacher effectiveness. But the question remains: How can we accurately measure the effectiveness of a teacher?


For many, the answer is always "use the test data!" If a student shows growth and proficiency, then the teacher has been effective. But a couple of problems arise when this is used as the primary source to determine teacher effectiveness. First and foremost, do we believe our current assessments measure what we want in student performance? Don't get me wrong, I am a huge advocate for accountability and I am in no way suggesting that we do not test. I am simply stating that some of our standardized tests measure trivia and most measure the lower end of Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (RBT). I blogged earlier (August 3 - A Global Conversation...) about how testing trivia has taught students to "make a dark mark that completely fills the circle" and has unfortunately turned some teachers into "dispensers of fact" rather than facilitators of learning. We are graduating lots of students who can recall fact, but lack the ability to think critically, analyze information and move forward without a "hand-holder." As we move to Common Core standards, our assessments will be reevaluated and it is likely that our new assessments will truly measure student learning rather than a student's ability to retain fact. So in a few years, hopefully testing will be measuring the things we want in our future employees and citizens. But until then are we willing to label a teacher as effective or ineffective based on a testing system that may not measure what is important?

Secondly, in most states, including North Carolina, the majority of our teachers do not teach grades/subjects that are tested. In NC, for example, 65% of our teaching faculty teach non-tested subjects. How then do we create a measure of these teachers that will compare to the testing data used to evaluate tested subjects/grades? Yes, test scores are the responsibility of everyone and our school truly embraces the team approach. I could not teach all that I need to teach about U.S.History, thinking, learning, and analyzing without my amazing friend, co-worker and team teacher, Ronda Jackson (American Literature teacher). We are a team. We plan together. We assess both formatively and summatively with the same goals in mind. Even though we all know she is far more cool, stylish and fabulous than I could ever be, our kids say we are very similar in our instructional style and practices. However, according to current conversations about measuring teacher effectiveness, we would be evaluated with two different tools.

The other argument is throw out testing data altogether. As exciting as this may sound (especially following first semester exams!) I am not convinced this is the answer either. This leaves us with very subjective measures to determine effectiveness. This then becomes the job of the administrative team to determine how effective a teacher is in the classroom and school community. That can then make us question the administration's effectiveness. I have always been fortunate to work for some amazing principals such as Richard Murphy and Stuart Daughtery. If we could ensure that all principals were as effective as these two, then subjective evaluation may not be so concerning. But let's be realistic, we can't ensure that in every building everywhere. I have also had evaluations from assistant principals (not currently working in adminstration - thank goodness) who had more grammatical mistakes in his/her report than my students do in their first draft of a paper. (CLARIFICATION: this only happened once or twice and this particular person is no longer a principal or assistant principal.) So what is the answer? How do we measure teacher effectiveness?


Teaching is both an art and a science. We need data to know and understand where our students are and how to help them grow. We also need to embrace the art of teaching. Teachers have a gift of reaching the unreachable and explaining in mickey mouse terms the unexplainable. To disregard the art of instruction in lei of the scientific data will not give us the big picture.
In order to effectively teach each child, we use data to understand our students, but not to define them. Think of education in terms of preparing runners for a race. It is a given that we want each child to run the race successfully and finish the course. To do this, an outstanding teacher gathers data on the runners’ current condition and begins an individualized training course to ensure each runner’s success. As the unique training begins, we form relationships with our runners so that we truly know who they are and what factors influence their lives the most. As we gain data and develop relationships, we become focused not only on how many runners finish the race, but also on how many runners grew in performance: did this year’s time show improvement? I set high expectations and do not allow mediocre work from my students. I use the available data to know where we begin the race and balance that with the reality of who my students are. It is a balance of art and science.

The general public seems to base accountability solely on standardized test scores and graduation rates. While important, focusing only on this data does not allow the entire picture to be seen. We must modify our current systems and develop a more sophisticated system of accountability. Schools across our state are as different as the students in them. Therefore, our models of accountability must meet the needs of the school the way teachers must meet the needs of his/her students. One of our primary purposes as educators is to ensure that student learning occurs. In order to ensure this is occurring, student achievement gains are important measures of accountability. However, we cannot look at student growth alone. We must look at the educator as a whole in order to create the most effective accountability. Is the educator a leader in the classroom and in the profession? Is the teacher knowledgeable in his/her content area? Does this teacher facilitate learning and embrace diversity?

I know this is a delicate topic and one that has created much dialogue across our state and in many other states as well. As always, I welcome your comments, insight and questions.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Tell Me Lies...Tell Me Sweet Little Lies

Well obviously, I really need to take Dr. Fabrizio's advice and get some books on tape. I have now reached the point that all my examples involve random songs:)

I have done some thinking (yes, that is rare) over the past couple of days about the power of our words and the power of the truth. Like all good teachers (and people) we will always say that telling the truth is best, but in reality do we secretly hold on to the hope that people will not tell us the truth? Truth is powerful. Truth is strong. When we ask someone, "How are you?'' We expect nothing more than a "fine" or an occasional "fantastic!" If someone is actually bold enough to tell us the truth we either run for cover or know to never ask that person again!

We often talk about "truth" and "honesty" and as teachers we strive to model this for our students. But are we willing to sometimes settle for what we want to hear rather than the actual truth? For example, we are suspicious of a change in a child's behavior. Are we willing to open up that honest dialogue or do we rationalize that things are okay through all of the "Oh, I'm just tired" or the "I'm fine" answers we often get?

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Take Aways

It will take me some time to process all of the great information from our week in Dallas and I will try to capture a few of the key points this week. But I was reflecting on my trip as I drove to the SBE meeting today and I thought I should at least post a few key things I learned!

1. NEVER wear heels to the airport. It can make for a long, tiring walk to your terminal!

2. Though it pains me to admit this: NEVER pack 8 pair of shoes for a 6 day trip. Yes, I did wear all but one pair...but really probably not a smart move.

3. Teachers are nation builders! We are builders and not wreckers!

4. There are some pretty AMAZING teachers across the U.S.

5. If you laugh every night, you can skip your ab work-out!

6. If you want to be humbled, inspired, challenged and wowed, hang out with my fellow teachers!

Poker Face

I know. I know. Enough with the cheesy song references. Last one I promise! And then maybe on to movie lines:) I left a meeting today and realized that it was the third meeting within the past week where someone made reference to my facial expressions during conversation. Two folks even stopped the conversation and said, " Wait. I want to hear what she has to say. I can see it on her face." Clearly you do not want me to accompany you to Vegas as evidence by my lack of a good "poker face."

Growing up in the South, we are taught to be diplomatic, mannerly, and to speak our minds --oh wait, I mean think our thoughts and phrase them in a very nice way! I think I must be getting more opinionated or less able to wear a good poker face, because I have never been called on my facial expressions. Needless to say, it has been eye-opening for me to realize that though I may not say what's in my head, my facial expressions are a dead give away!

This new awareness made me wonder if I have always been an easy read? I began to think back over the last twelve years in the classroom. Did my facial expressions give away what I really wanted to say to the student who can't find a book cover even though he works at a grocery store that uses paper bags? Did my facial expressions give away the "I am so bored I would rather have a root canal" at that meeting? Our students are very perceptive and I have no doubt that I will have to improve my "poker face" upon my return to the classroom next year.

Should we have a "poker face" in the classroom and even with our colleagues?

"To the left...To the left"

Okay I realize this is my second entry involving a song in the title. This a true testament to the amount of time I spend in the car! So as I was navigating 40 yesterday, I heard (and yes was singing along poorly) Beyonce's song Irreplaceable. I began to think about teacher tenure. Is tenure a good idea or does it give some folks the feeling that they are irreplaceable? As with all things controversial, there are arguments that support tenure and arguments against it. Tenure can offer protection if the teacher is in a school with poor leadership and administration. On the other hand, if we do our jobs well, do we need that kind of protection? I have often said that tenure can allow teachers to feel entitled to certain courses and levels and allows some to hit "cruise control" and only do a mediocre job. Whether you support or oppose teacher tenure, I think we can all agree on one thing: We want the best education for our children! To my fellow educators who bring such passion and enthusiasm, I say thank you! Thank you for truly giving your career 100%. Most of us love our job and it shows. Our eyes light up and we wear our passion on our sleeves! We do not usually find ourselves in the midst of the tenure argument because our love for our job is often backed with excellent recommendations and evaluations.

Tenure is a tricky subject. I welcome your thoughts, comments and insight! To my fellow educators who bring your A games every day, thank you for the passion you bring to the profession!