Week of February 28

And into March we go!

On Monday I had the opportunity to attend the NC Public Schools Forum Board meeting in Raleigh. I also love any opportunity to engage in conversation with members of the Public Schools Forum Board. We were able to hear from Dr. Ross, President of the UNC System, and the Honorable Howard Manning, Jr. Judge Manning talked a great deal about the consequences of House Bill 48 (NC General Assembly) which bans testing in areas not mandated by the Federal Government. As always, he proved to be an interesting speaker. I also encourage you to read his response to HB 48 as it is a very interesting and thought-provoking argument. I also enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy conversation with Judge Whichard. I always learn something new each time I talk with him. I finally met someone who knows more quotes than I could every hope to know!

Tuesday was spent in the office and at my children's school. I have spent a great deal of time on the road this year and I enjoy any opportunity I have to spend lunch time with my children at school. It was also my daughter's 8th birthday and having lunch and cupcakes with her class was extra special!

The State Board of Education monthly meetings were held on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, the committees met and great information was presented. I enjoyed the opportunity to be on a panel with Jessica Garner, 2009-2010 NC Teacher of the Year, and Laurie Calvert, a former Buncombe County Teacher and current Teaching Ambassador Fellow in Washington, DC. We spent time talking about what exactly is an effective teacher, how do we measure effective teaching and how do we keep good teachers. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk about effective teaching and to answer questions from SBE members. It was a wonderful opportunity to talk about the great teachers in our state!

On Thursday morning, we had two incredible presentations during the SBE session. The first was from the Friday Institute regarding student learning conditions surveys. How informative for us as teachers to really look at our student's input! A special thanks to AT&T for funding this project! We are excited to see this in NC! I think we will find the student learning conditions surveys to be as valuable to our classroom instruction as the Teacher Working Conditions survey has been to our school improvement process. The second presentation was from Verizon. It is funding Thinkfinity for use by North Carolina Public Schools. It is such an amazing tool and I am very excited about using this! Thanks to the Friday Institute for the amazing SLC survey and to both AT&T and Verizon for your continued support of North Carolina Public Schools.

On Thursday afternoon, the Governor's Education Transformation Commission met and each subcommittee reported on its work from the previous month's meeting. We also talked a little about the impact of pending legislation on our public schools. It is always interesting to hear different perspectives! I have said it before and I will say it again, Dr. Bill Harrison always speaks with such passion for the students in North Carolina Schools. He is truly an amazing leader in public education in North Carolina.

On Friday, I found myself filing papers, researching and catching up on a few odd and end errands!

I hope you all had a great week!