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!
No comments:
Post a Comment