Week of December 6

Observations, intellectual discussion and surprise announcements made this an extraordinary week! On Monday, I attended the NC Public Schools Forum meeting. Our committee meetings were held first followed by a meeting of the full board. Our committee meetings are always full of interesting and thought provoking information. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs, I have the opportunity to participate in Study Group II and focus on Quality Teacher Retention. We broke into two groups - one looked at issues surrounding teachers and the other group looked at issues surrounding administrators. Everyone contributed so much to our discussion. We talked about leadership and its importance and of course teacher salary. One of the ideas that was tossed around was paying teachers based on simple supply and demand. Math, Science and Exceptional Children's teachers would be paid on a different scale. Now before you start yelling at the computer screen....take a deep breath and think through it. First, this is only an idea that the committee brought to the group. Second, look at our budget. Salary changes of any kind in the near future are doubtful. I encourage you to study up on this and submit your comments. I would really love to have some teacher input on ways to revamp our teacher salary scale. We also talked about salary differentiation around teacher leadership roles as well. Of course we tackled other topics related to teacher retention such as quality professional development, leadership opportunities and so forth.

Tuesday morning, Brandon Patterson (Assistant Director of Recruitment and Development), traveled to Carteret County to make a special announcement. Callie Smith, a teacher at Bogue Sound Elementary School, was named the new Southeast Regional Teacher of the Year. Congratulations Callie! I wish I could have attended also, but my schedule just did not want to cooperate! Enjoy all of the fun and excitement this brings!

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to meet with the Beginning Teachers from Knightdale High School before my weekly EPFP meeting. What a great group! Leigh Ann Alford and I teach together with the Global Initiative Program with the FuHsing school and she was kind enough to invite me out. I was greeted by an amazing lady, Ms. Vernestine Kent. I was so impressed by her love of education and her dedication to Beginning Teachers and their success. I then found out she was a former NC Teacher of the Year! I really enjoyed talking with this group about facilitive instruction. Knightdale High is fortunate to have such amazing BTs and such an inspiring BT coordinator. Thanks for having me attend guys! I really enjoyed it!

Following my visit to Knightdale, I hurried to my EPFP meeting. I always look forward to attending those, but I was exceptionally excited this week! Our speakers were Dr. Dudley Flood and Dr. Gene Causby. What a dynamic duo! They talked about their work across NC as school systems faced the task of desegregation. I could have listened to these two all evening. Their stories were full of humor and lessons to be learned.

On Wednesday I spent time in my office and observing teachers.

On Thursday I spent the morning at Millbrook High School so that I could see some great teaching and NC FALCON/formative assessment at work in a Mathematics class. Mr. Jason Sinquefield was kind enough to allow me to observe his Algebra II class. I feared being in over my head as math was never my best subject, but I survived and much to my relief, I actually remember this stuff! The students worked in cooperative groups and formative assessment was as it should be...painless, simple and informative! The students were truly engaged and Mr. Sinquefield is a dynamic teacher!
Following a brief opportunity to talk about RttT and its impact on teachers I journeyed to Alamance County to make a surprise announcement! I love surprises, don't you? Congratulations to Mrs. Tyronna Hooker from Graham Middle School (Alamancel-Burlington Schools) as she was named the North Central Regional Teacher of the Year. She is truly an amazing lady! Congratulations Mrs. Hooker and enjoy every moment!

On Friday, I had the opportunity to join my son's 4th grade class at Midway Elementary School as we toured various places in Raleigh. We visited the Governor's Mansion, the old State Capital, the Legislative Building, and the museums. It was a fun, informative and busy day!

Week of November 29

After a weekend of reflection and rest, I was ready for another busy, but exciting week. On Monday, I participated in a conference call with NCCAT. Dr. Mary McDuffie is retiring and the search committee has a difficult job to find someone to fill her shoes!

Tuesday was a very exciting surprise! Along with Dr. Atkinson, Jan King, Brandon Patterson and many others, I had the opportunity to attend the surprise announcement of the 2010 NC Milken Award winner! The award was given to Ms. Kimberly James, a teacher at Triangle Montessori in High Point. Her face was priceless! She was so honored and humbled by this prestigious recognition! Congratulations Kimberly! Following Kimberly's announcement I attended our weekly NC EPFP meeting in Raleigh. We talked a great deal about strategic planning and policy making. I always look forward to our weekly meetings! I learn so much!

On Wednesday and Thursday, I attended the December SBE meeting in Raleigh. Many interesting things were discussed and you can always find more information from the monthly SBE meetings by clicking the highlights link on the right!
Thursday afternoon was the first committee meeting for our Governor's Education Transformation Commission Teacher and Leaders group. We had interesting presentations regarding quality teachers and the recruitment and retention of such folks. It was an interesting conversation! We also talked about the proposal from the SBE to provide incentives for hard to staff schools. I would love your input regarding teacher incentives and so forth!

I spent Friday in the office attempting the sort through the mounds of paperwork on my desk!

Week of November 22

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

For many of us, this has been a "short" work week! I hope each of you had a wonderful and relaxing time with your family and friends over Thanksgiving.

On Monday evening, I enjoyed speaking with the NC State Teaching Fellows! This was one of the largest Teaching Fellows groups I had the opportunity to meet with so far! Mr. Michael Clinkscales does an excellent job with this group of future teachers. After a great seminar and some wonderful questions by the group, we had a very yummy dinner. Mr. Clinkscales and I sat with some freshman Fellows and they were very impressive!

There are so many negative stories that exist about education. I sincerely think that we are not looking at the big picture however. Yes, we have some issues, but what profession does not? For those who only focus on the negative in education, I invite you to travel with me anytime this year. I have encountered some amazing teachers and some very promising future teachers. It is a great time in education! If you don't believe me, come see for yourself!

Everyone knows how much I have missed the classroom this year and on Tuesday, I spent the morning at Midway HIgh School observing some teachers. It was great to be back in a classroom setting and to see some great teachers in action!

We all know that Thanksgiving marks the beginning of Holiday madness. Remember to slow down and enjoy the beauty around you! Be sure to leave the chaos at the mall and enjoy a relaxing time at home with friends and family!

Week of November 15

On The Road Again could be my theme song over the past few weeks. I put over 1000 miles on the car in three days! Whew!

On Monday, I visited Appalachian State University in Boone. The Teaching Fellows group here was great! I loved the energy, excitement, and knowledge they had....even for a chilly, rainy Monday night. They asked great questions and were very engaged during our seminar. Thanks for having me attend guys! You will be such an impressive group when you graduate! Keep up the good work! A few ladies stayed after and talked about the difficult week they just had. Hang in there ladies. It does get better and all of your hard work will pay off when you are in your own classroom!

On Tuesday, I drove back home to Sampson County to speak to our Chamber of Commerce Adult Leadership group. This is a group of local business folks and educators who spend the year learning about our schools and local businesses and how we can work together for our future!

On Tuesday evening I traveled to Raleigh for our weekly NC EPFP meeting. This week our speaker was John Dornan, Executive Director of the NC Public Schools Forum. As I have stated before, I could listen to him speak all day! He is so knowledgeable and his passion for education is truly inspiring.

On Wednesday I traveled to Murfreesboro to spend the morning at Chowan University. It was a day to celebrate teaching and four local high schools had Teacher Cadet classes attend. The college students working on the program were truly dedicated, professional, and very energetic. I enjoyed spending the morning with these students! The Northeast and Southeast parts of NC often struggle with the recruitment of teachers. Having days like this day at Chowan will hopefully help as areas like this continue to grown their own future teachers. I had a great time with this group!

I spent Thursday and Friday in the office filing papers and working on future presentations! What a great week!

And the results are.....

Today is the day that all National Boards candidates have been anxiously awaiting. The scores have been tallied and the results are in. Tears of joy and tears of disappointment fill the eyes of teachers around school. Good Luck to all of the candidates throughout NC! But remember, your most important evaluators are the students in your room everyday! Don't give up if you were not successful this year. Cry, reflect, and move forward! You do have what it takes and you can become a NBCT!

If I can help any of you in any way, please email me! Look for NBPTS workshops in your area! Embrace this opportunity for further reflection and move forward!

To those who are now NBCT, congratulations! Continue to be the amazing teachers you already are! Now, go celebrate!

Week of November 8

On Monday, I had the opportunity to travel back to Wilmington to visit the Teaching Fellows at UNCW. I arrived early to have dinner with the director, Amy Rottmann, and two outstanding students, Taylor Lee and Jeren Hernand. We had a wonderful dinner and great converstation! I was very impressed by the leadership shown by these future teachers!

Our weekly NC EPFP meeting was held on Tuesday. Although I am always excited to attend our EPFP meetings, I was especially excited to hear Judge Howard Manning, Jr. this week. You can say his name....and the controversy begins. He has many strong supporters and many who question his presentation. Personally, I have to say that I agree with his overall point. Though his presentations are often colorful, he has a great point...our students deserve great teachers who are knowledgeable and caring. Often people get the idea that he is all about the negative, but I have to disagree. For every school where he talked about the need for improvement, he shared about schools that had overcome obstacles and had shown tremendous growth. Regardless of how we may feel about his word choices, at the of the day, I don't feel that any of us will disagree with his overall message.

On Wednesday, I spent the afternoon at Midway High School for our half-day staff development. I really enjoyed the opporunity to spend time with my school friends. I truly miss them so much! The CTE department provided lunch for all of us and it was delicious! Thanks for letting me spend the afternoon with you all!

My family and I spent Veteran's Day at home enjoying time with family and close friends. We took the time to reflect on Veteran's Day.

On Friday I traveled to Asheville to visit with the Teaching Fellows of UNC-A. We had a great time! Dinner was fabulous and the conversations were great! What dedication of these Teaching Fellows to attend professional development on a Friday night! There were some really amazing future teachers there! Every time I meet with a group of future teachers, I get so excited about the energy and passion this group will bring to the profession!

I drove as long as I could and crashed in Burlington for a few hours. Up early, I drove to Wilmington on Saturday morning to meet with teachers in the Teaching American History grant. (Yes, my scheduling abilities leave something to be desired!) This is a group of teachers from New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick Counties who spend a great amount of time studying American History in order to increase their own personal knowledge and implement new strategies for teaching parts of the NCSCOS. This was a great group of energetic, dedicated teachers. We spent the afternoon looking at ways to teach Reconstruction and its impact in the US. I can hardly wait until March when I get the opportunity to work with this group again!

Week of November 1

I spent Monday in "recovery" from the travels over the past week and spent some quality time with my family. Tuesday was Election Day! Regardless of your political preferences, Election Day is always exciting! Yes, I voted and I hope you did the same!

Wednesday and Thursday I attended the November SBE meeting. The agenda was full and both days provided great insight. One of the most interesting points for me personally was the opportunity to learn more about the new Social Studies course changes. I absolutely love the new curriculum. Thanks so much to Dr. Garland and Angela Quick for their leadership in bringing these changes to Social Studies in North Carolina. When the first draft of the new standards were released, the general public was not so excited and much talk of what was "left out" occurred! The NC Department of Public Instruction really worked with teachers and the general public to create the new proposals and I think most of us are really excited about the changes! Thank you to the many teachers and community members who worked with Dr. Garland and her team to create these new standards!
As a reminder, all highlights from the SBE meetings can be found on the NC SBE website. I link to the highlights page is located on the right of this page.

On Friday I was excited to attend my first Governor's Education Transformation Commission meeting. This was my first appointment by the Governor and I am very excited to have the opportunity to meet and work with so many knowledgeable and well-respected folks in education. We listened to presentations about breakdown of Race to the Top and the College and Career: Ready, Set, Go! initiative. It was a very informative meeting. This group will meet the first Thursday of each month. The meetings will alternate between whole group meetings on one month and subcommittee meetings the other month. For more information, please visit www.ncpublicschools.org/rttt