The Last Day in the Big "D"

Me with Dr. Rick Melmer, Dean of Education, University SD, and his beautiful daughter

I came up to my hotel room to review my notes from today and reflect on my learning (what every good student should do, right?). Perhaps because it is what is what is "freshest" in my mind but I think today was the best day I have had at the conference. The speakers touched and spoke to our hearts today and their passion resonated the room. Our first speaker, Dr. Rick Melmer, Dean of Education, University of South Dakota, spoke from his heart. I knew after the first 2 sentences came out of his mouth that we were in for a treat. He recognized his daughter and son-in-law who were in the audience and how special was that they were there. You could hear the love and pride in his voice as he teared up. He spoke of the 3 C's: Commendation, Communicating, and Challenge. We learned how to identify policy makers and how communicate with them. However, he spoke to me when he spoke about three qualities of his favorite teacher, attitude, ambition, and amnesia. I really like the last one, amnesia. It is vital teachers are able to forget mistakes made by students, to not hold it against them the next day or remind them of it daily. He closed with this poem. Please read it and ask yourself, as I have, at the end of the day, are you a builder or a wrecker:

A Builder or a Wrecker?

I passed one day through a lonely town,
and saw some man tearing a building down.
With a "heave" and "ho" and a husky yell,
they swung a beam and a side wall fell.

I asked the foreman "Are these men skilled?
The type you'd hire if you had to build?"
"Oh no" he chuckled, "oh no indeed,
the common laborer's all I need.

Why I can destroy in a day or two,
what builders have taken weeks to do."
I thought to myself as I walked away,
which of these roles have I tried to play.

Am I a builder, who works with care,
making his tools a ruler and square.
Shaping my peers to a well made plan,
helping them be the best they can.

Or am I a wrecker who walks around,
content with the labor of tearing down.

This story courtesy of
http://www.homeholidaysfamilyandfun.com

Dr. Melmer was like a rock star to us educators today...everyone wanted to talk to him and just be around him. He has a magnetic personality and South Dakota is lucky to have him. I hear he is good friends with Dr. Andy Tompkins,Dean of Education, Pittsburg State University....maybe we can work on getting Dr. Melmer to Kansas someday!
Next we got to practice our media skills!! This was fun (to observe anyway) as Doug Dooher, Education Minnesota, and Joe Lowethal, Past President, National School Public Relations Association, traveled the room with a microphone and asked us the "hard questions!" (left: Joe Lowethal drilling Rebecca Snyder, PA TOY)

After lunch, we were challenged by Mary Beth Blegen, 1996 NTOY. Jon Quam, NTOY Director, referred to her as "a force to be reckoned with!" And let me tell you, he is right on the mark. I have never spoken with anyone who LISTENS to you, CHALLENGES your thinking, and at the same time AFFIRMS you like Mary Beth can. She gave us Ten Lessons. Lesson one: Laugh often, long and hard at yourself. To make sure we knew how to do that, she had us up and being silly....LOVED THAT! If we take ourselves too seriously, children suffer because we become the focus- not the children. Another lesson: QTIP (Quit Taking It Personally) goes with lesson one. If you are so busy being offended, the students suffer because why??? You're getting the hang of it now: because it becomes about US not the the STUDENTS. The last few lessons were about relationships, culture in the building, and being positive. It really does matter how we talk to and ABOUT each other. We have all taken an oath to Mary Beth not to whine for the rest of the year. Can you do the same?

Me with my super star, Mary Beth Blegen, 1996 NTOY

Tonight we have a formal dinner where the 4 National Finalists will be officially introduced. The keynote speaker will be Michael Geisen, 2008 NOTY. More of that to come! Until then, I leave you with this quote. It can be translated to any business or home just change the word school to business and students to company. How are you treating your colleagues?

The nature of relationships among the adults in a school has more to do with the success of the students in that building than any other factor.

Roland Barth

Dallas Day Three

Left to right: Nancy Flanagan, Alice Williams (from CTQ) and in back, Jon Quam (NTOY Director)

We started our morning today hearing from Barnett Berry, Nancy Flanagan (MI TOY '93), and Alice Williams of the Center for Teaching Quality. This was extra special to me as they also run the Teacher Leaders Network which I belong to. It was so great to get to put a face and personality to the names I have been following on the TLN blogs. If you have never visited their websites, I urge you to do so. In fact, if you click on the TeacherSoutions 2030 video, you will see Cindi Rigsbee, North Carolina TOY and one of the four National Finalists this year, and the work she and eleven other teachers are doing. I am so proud to "hang with her" this week! They presented us with their Wacky Ideas for education which most of us loved! Here are some:

1. New teachers should only teach a 60% load the first year and an 80% load the second year.
2. We should have high stakes accountability focusing primarily on small teams working with the SAME students over time.
3. Every professional educator teaches students at least some of the time. That means EVERY educator including administrators. (I guess this would help number 1 take place)
4. The highest paid ANYBODY in any district should be the teacher.

A couple from my table group, Chantelle Herchenhahn (Mississippi) and Cindi Rigsbee (North Carolina)

As you can see, they really forced us to think "outside the box" on problems and solutions. It is why I love reading their blogs - especially Nancy Flanagan's. And while I am recommending blogs to check out, follow Cindi Rigsbee around on her TWO blogs (she is one busy lady) at the Dream Teacher and nctoytreks08-09 It is ironic that they were forcing me to challenge my beliefs and philosophies and think outside the box as it ties into what I am reading right now: Leadership and Self-Deception: getting out of the box by The Arbringer Institute.

Me with Andrea Peterson (2007 NTOY) during break-out session

We also got to have a break-out session in the afternoon to reflect on our learning for the day. Our leader was Andrea Peterson, 2007 National Teacher of the Year. She did a phenomenal job keeping us on topic. She spoke to the entire group earlier in the morning and reminded us what we have been doing our whole lives has prepared us for the job at hand.
I am excited for tomorrow as I peeked ahead at the agenda and we get to hear from Mary Beth Blegen, 1996 National Teacher of the Year. I have been fortunate enough to sit with her and Nancy Flannagan a couple times and they definitely leave me speechless. I can't wait to hear from her. Also, we will close our Dallas Conference out tomorrow with a formal dinner and listen to Michael Geisen, 2008 National Teacher of the Year. I go to bed each night tired but professionally inspired and personally motivated.

Teaching, Leading, Learning: Effective, Practical, Sustainable
2009 NTOY Program Conference

Dallas Day Two

Betsy Rogers, 2003 National Teacher of the Year

My mind and stomach are full tonight as I reflect on today. We got to hear from Lois Adams-Rodgers from the Council of Chief State School Officers who gave us a new challenge: "to educate children to levels higher than any time in history, to reach each and EVERY one of them and to carry out Mr. Veatch's challenge of NO EXCUSES, ALL THE TIME, GET IT DONE." This year is critical and historical in so many ways. The nation has new leadership and we have a new Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. We are facing an economic crisis like many of us have never witnessed. However, the one thing that is constant is public education is about zero-reject, to welcome each child, and to prepare them for learning in a global community. It is an exciting time to be an educator in America!

Next, we were inspired by 2003 National Teacher of the Year, Betsy Rogers. She shared with us her experience in helping to turn around a school in Alabama. The teachers and administration took a "throw away school" on Improvement for not meeting AYP to getting them to 100% at proficient or above. It was a moving story of caring and finding her "teacher voice" and no, I am not talking about the loud voice!! She found her student advocate voice! I have learned this week that is your "teacher voice." We can all be advocates and it doesn't matter if you are a parent, grandparent, aunt, or teacher. The students who need us most are the students we must advocate for daily. Her oath "Do not deprive HOPE" (Rick Stiggins) spoke to my heart as did her guiding question, "What can I do to make it better?" Can you imagine if every person asked themselves that question every day and then ACTED UPON their answer? Let's try it!

Whew - I am not done yet....because we also heard from Amy Starzynski with the Education Counsel. She spoke about Federal Education Policy and Legislation that are hot topics and being discussed. Although nothing is official, she does anticipate NCLB being "mended, not ended." I would personally like to see the "mending" part of it be a growth model. NCLB seems to be punitive for many not meeting AYP right now. There are examples of a 5th grade teacher getting students reading at the 2nd grade level up to the 4th grade level in one year, but yet still doesn't meet AYP. Her students made GREAT gains in one year, but sadly, it is not about how far you take them - only where they end up. We must start measuring student performance by GROWTH each year.

If you look real close, you can see my name being flashed on the background. They had all of our names and states rotating through at the Museum!

We concluded tonight with a visit to the Women's Museum. If you are ever in Dallas, you MUST visit this place. It is in association with the Smithsonian Institution and is the first comprehensive women's history museum in the United States. Learning about the women who sacrificed so much to give me the right to vote, to work, to lead, to educate is humbling. A surprise given to us tonight was from the University of Phoenix. They have created a Teaching It Forward Scholarship Program. This enables me to nominate a deserving high school senior in my state for a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Phoenix for 2 years. That is right- I can give any senior this scholarship. So, now I am interested if there is a senior ready to go to sunny Arizona and get an Associate Degree for FREE!!!! This has to be one of the most exciting and rewarding news I have had in awhile. Getting to impact a student's learning with a gift like this is humbling and brings tears to my eyes.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

Dallas!!!

Wow! I have been in Dallas at the National Teacher of the Year Conference for only one day and am already amazed at what I have learned from other educators across our nation (and outlying territories!). We spent all day today learning about our SMART Board and the software that comes with it. My brain is so full and feel like it just might implode! I really think this technology will revolutionize the way we teach. Pictured at the left is Edney Freeman, Virgin Islands, showing us how to work the Board! There are over 700,000 SMART Boards in classrooms worldwide and I can see that number doubling quickly. Many educators are already pros at the technology and I have learned much from them - including my Calculus friends from Alaska (Bob Williams) and Tennessee (Luajean Bryan).

Bob Williams, Luajean Bryan, Cindy Couchman
math geeks and proud of it!

I also was blessed to meet the 2002 National Teacher of the Year, Chauncey Veatch. He spoke on "Leading the Leaders," and challenged us all to do that by example. Mr. Veatch has done that with such passion that we were all humbled and inspired. He taught at the high school level in California and realized he would be able to relate better to his students if he learned Spanish and is now bi-lingual. After teaching at-risk students at the high school level, Mr. Veatch saw a need for more males at the elementary level. So- what did he do? He led by example. He got certified at the elementary level and team teaches 4th and 6th grades (with previous students) and teaches PreK part-time. OH - and somehow he still does a high school class!!! He advised us to go after the opportunity to lead like "a heat seeking missile!" (Did I mention he did all of this AFTER retiring from the military?) Whenever I think I am busy, I will remember Mr. Veatch. I wish every educator could listen to him speak. INSPIRING!!! I must admit - he holds a special place in my heart as he knew where BUHLER was!! His mom was from Burrton and he was just here last summer. If he ever comes back to the area, I am going to do what I can to have him visit educators in the area!!

Mr. Chauncey Veatch (and ME!)

The KTOY Team will be visiting Central College in McPherson and Tabor College in Hillsboro tomorrow. I will miss out on that visit as I am in Dallas until Sunday. However, they will be posting pictures and some highlights. Since I am feeling a little disconnected with my family and friends right now, I thought I would share this quote given to me by a treasured friend.

"You can kiss your family and friends goodbye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you."

Time with the State Legislature

Tuesday, January 20th found the KTOY team visiting with the House and Senate Education committees about a topic that we are all passionate about: "Keeping Kids First in Kansas". Currently there is a lot of speculation regarding potential cuts to education funding in the state legislative budget. Given a 180 million shortfall, teachers, administrators, business leaders, and legislators need to work together to do what we can to hold "Education Harmless" in the upcoming budget decisions. We as a team were able to share stories from our classrooms regarding our passion for kids and teaching.

We are thankful for the legislative support in the past, and it was nice to see that the support from our legislators is still there. However, some tough decisions appear to be eminent. We are thankful for the opportunity to answer questions and add our insight to the funding issues. We hope and pray that our state political leaders use wisdom and "Keep Kids First in Kansas".

We as a team were also very honored to be recognized in Kansas Senate. Each of our district Senators were able to recognize us individually as the Senate passed a resolution honoring the 2009 KTOY Team and our Kansas Teacher of the Year, Cindy Couchman from Buhler High School. We look forward to more opportunities to dialogue with the Senate and House committees and invite any questions that you have to our team.

If you would like to listen to each one of our Team member's address to the legislature, click on the "posts" under podcasts. You can then select which team member you would like to listen to.

Thanks,
Walt Cochran, KTOY Finalist
Gardner Edgerton USD 231

Cruisin'

What an exciting day! Enterprise Rent A Car has graciously donated a car for me to use for the next six months as I travel across the state learning from educators, talking to future teachers, and visiting districts. It has only 79 miles on it and by the time I return it, it will have over 15,000 miles. All of those will be KANSAS miles...that will be roughly 300 hours in the beautiful Chrysler Sebring. Many will call me crazy, but I am looking forward to the traveling and enjoying the varied Kansas landscape. Adding to the excitement was tv news coverage of the event. I have never had 3 different cameras pointed at me with microphones to talk into. CRAZY! I made the reporters promise to make me sound more intelligent than what I really am - they did a great job. Click here to watch one of the clips!

The contribution Enterprise and the Kansas Corn Commission (who is paying for all that gas!) has given to the KTOY program is a real testament to their commitment to education. I do believe Enterprise has gained some life-long customers in educators and I will definitely be looking for that Ethanol gas wherever I go.

Happy Trails!!!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The KTOY Team spent today (and yesterday) learning about education from all different perspectives. We have heard from elementary, middle school and high school principals about the issues facing each level in our K-12 system. We also were wowed by Dale Dennis, our Deputy Commissioner of Education, and Dr. Alexa Posny, Commissioner of Education. It was a fitting message on this historic day. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream and so do I. After hearing all the issues facing education in light of the budget issues, I, too, have a dream. I have a dream that someday everyone will put kids first. That everyone would begin their day with a simple question, "So how are the children?" I have a dream that someday the first question that will be asked at press conferences will be, "So Mr. President, how are the children?" That every meeting, every budget hearing, every conference would begin with "So, Mr. Chairman, how are the children?"
What would our society look like, feel like, and become if every person put kids first? The possibilities are endless. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would have realized part of his dream tomorrow as Barack Obama becomes President. It is exciting to witness history taking place. It will happen tomorrow.
How long will it take before I get to realize my dream?

Newton Visit

(Debate presentation by Philip and Katie)

Visiting Newton was enlightening in so many ways…their professional development in teacher-leaders came through loud and clear. Touring the Newton District Office we were inspired by the passion of their TWO curriculum directors and the work they do with instructional coaches and team leaders. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to discuss teacher recruitment, legislative issues, and professional development with the Human Resources Director Michael Clagg. He shared with us how difficult it is to get the state of Kansas to recognize other states’ highly qualified licenses. There is some proposed legislation that may ease those requirements.

We visited South Breeze Elementary School and Chisholm Middle School where Mary Bradshaw teaches ELL. All of us really like the way the school uses pods and teacher teams. Each pod houses four content area classrooms with a flexible space in the center with a computer lab. Mary then showed us her classroom and overflow area when she has larger groups of students who are all Latin American with a geographic range from Honduras and El Salvador to northern Mexico. Chisholm will be entering a huge change in two years when they transition from a 6th-8th middle school to a 7th-8th center. The support of education is evident in this community as their bond issued passed and will reconfigure middle school to an intermediate 5th-6th model with a 7th-8th middle school. As we were leaving Chisholm, a Sara Lee bread truck forgot to close its back door. It deposited bags of bread and bread trays all over the road for a couple hundred yards in front of us. Check us out “cleaning up!”

One of the highlights of our day was a brief visit to Walton Rural Life Center. Walton is a unique agricultural/technology charter school located in a small, rural town that is part of the Newton school district. We toured the building followed by two exemplary presentations by the fifth grade students. We heard 2 proposals on a worm-composting project and about the aphid problem they discovered last week in their greenhouse. This group of eager learners quickly brought us up to speed on the many different ways to dispose of aphids in your garden! They are using the scientific method to discover which of five remedies will cure their problem. We’re putting our money on the ladybugs (literally—we were so impressed by this group’s professional presentation and the need to raise money for their science experiments that we took up a small collection to donate to their cause). We ended the tour by visiting the greenhouse which is powered by a wind turbine. The students showed us the aphids on their pepper plants as well as the white flies that are infesting some of their tomatoes. Knowing these fifth graders, these little garden pests don’t stand a chance against their horticultural ingenuity.


The Kauffman Museum was our lunch stop. This museum highlights the history of the Mennonite community (the Mennonites form a large constituency of the Newton area). We had the chance to discuss higher education with several staff members associated with Bethel College’s Department of Education.

Newton High School was next on the agenda. Barb Umschied is the math department chairperson designing a math program and getting results! Cindy C. truly enjoyed this conversation, and developed a great colleague with whom we are sure she will keep in contact. It was very impressive to find out Newton garners the Standard of Excellence status in math consistently and that almost 100% of Mrs. Umschied’s AP Calculus classes of 30 plus students get college credit through the AP Calculus exam. We were then treated to a visit by the nationally ranked Newton Robotics team. This is a great application of math, problem solving, and teamwork. Newton is definitely exposing students to 21st Century Skills. Some of us wonder if Pixar consulted with these great students while creating Wall-E. National qualifying debate and forensics students then treated us to some fast talking. Mary’s son, Philip, and his debate partner, Katie, participated in the National Debate Tournament in Las Vegas last year. They taught us the difference between fast and slow debate styles. When we say fast, we mean faster than an auctioneer fast. Katie’s speech was amazing, and we can hardly believe that people can become accustomed to understanding the fast speech style! Jimmy then demonstrated the poetry/prose event of forensics with a touching poem about teachers and their contribution to society.

Our day ended with a Chamber of Commerce reception at the Carriage Factory Art Gallery. It was nice to see the community support that represents why both our very own Mary Bradshaw and the Newton Public Schools are so successful!

We look forward to our next visit to Gardner on February 2nd. In the meantime, we will be working in Topeka next weekend.

"Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without."

William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

El Dorado Schools

(pictured above is Mary Martha Good with a previous student)

I arrived in El Dorado on Sunday to meet the Team and within minutes we were off to visit a park that was built by the community so ALL kids could play on it - specially built for wheelchairs and even blind kids. That pretty much set the theme of El Dorado - COMMUNITY. Next stop was the YMCA which was built with funds from the community. They have exercise bikes for kids with game screens so they can race, this YMCA also has smaller sized weight machines for younger kids to lift. It made me want to move to El Dorado! The Team was honored at a reception where different community groups gave us a history and insight to this amazing town. We also enjoyed a talk by the Wildlife and Parks Ranger about El Dorado lake and how they work together with the school system to have students outside applying their learning. One very impressive program we heard about is the partnership with Frontier Refinery. They fund the Imagination Library where EVERY student from birth to age 5 gets a book a month. This is a Dolly Parton supported program. "Imagine" that!! The cost is $30 per student each year and last year, 375 families received books. COMMUNITY!!!

Next on our visit was a private tour of Coutts Museum and a catered supper with many community people attending. The Team heard from the City Manager, Mayor, Superintendent, and even a former Kansas Teacher of the Year. Superintendent Sue Givens is a dynamic speaker with a vision for the future of El Dorado schools - I think we all sensed the schools are in good hands! The evening closed with each of us receiving our own "hand painted" apron that reflected what we teach, what we coach, or our passions. Check that picture out! (you see, Mary Martha is known for wearing an apron while teaching her adorable Kindergarteners)


The next morning (EARLY the next morning) we toured Mary Martha's school, Skelly Elementary. This is a PreK-2nd grade building and is filled with dedicated faculty and support staff. We watched Mary Martha along with speech pathologist, Nancy Basquez, instruct students using Sounds in Motion. It was awesome watching the students read words by doing each sound with motion, put the sounds together, and say the word! The love these children have for Mrs. Mary Martha Good and the staff was evident by their faces!



We also visited the brand new El Dorado High School. The staff moved in over spring break last year (ambitious!) and are rightfully proud of their new facility. I experienced "facility envy" touring the building! They have a 1 to 1 laptop initiative and these students are truly becoming 21st Century Learners. After visiting the high school, we toured the charter school, Extend. This educates approximately 40 students using project based learning that coincides with the state standards. Once again, each student has their own laptop and are supervised by 4 instructors. Very impressive!


Our last stop was at the El Dorado Correctional Facility (sorry - no pictures as no cameras were allowed) to observe the GED program along with their vocational programs. Each of the Team was impacted when we visited at length with two inmates who were put in prison at ages 17 and 18. Both will soon be released (one after almost 10 years) with a new vision, new hope, and a new life. Both now have their high school education - one will be getting a job as a mason. The other will be entering Wichita State University and hopes to speak to youth about avoiding gangs. We toured the entire facility - everything but the segragated block. It is something I highly recommend for anyone. It was educational and opened my eyes to the efforts, energy, and work so many people and volunteers are doing to reform the prison population. We were all thankful we received a "Get out of Jail Free" card from our very knowledgeable and kind tour guide, Jay Johnson!

We have a few comments from a couple of our team members on our podcast to the right. Please listen to their highlights of El Dorado by clicking on the play button! Tomorrow we visit Newton Schools with our host, Mary Bradshaw. It is another exciting day of learning ahead. Another team member will be writing about that visit....so be sure to check back!!

Look at everything as though you are seeing it for the first time, with eyes of a child,
fresh with wonder.
-- Joseph Cornell

Thank A Teacher

Teachers work without much recognition every day year after year. If you are fortunate, you occasionally get a student to thank you or write you a letter. I have been fortunate as I have students in class who make me feel appreciated. Sometimes it is a simple "thank-you" for staying during lunch to work through a problem or for staying after school to review for SAT's. (or even Beau telling me he likes my hair today). Sometimes parents can send an email that means just as much. I have received a couple this past week that made me wonder why I don't send more to my own children's teachers. So if you are reading this blog, take a moment to send a note, email, or simply thank a teacher who did something nice for you. It sure puts a "spring in my step" and helps me get energized each day to work harder and do more.

Speaking of recognition...Our Board of Education (I am not sucking up here -but our BOE is incredible) recognized me and two other amazing teachers at half-time of the basketball game tonight. Teresa Sindelar was recognized for the Horizon Award. This honors eight outstanding teachers in each region of the state who just completed their first year of teaching. According to the NEA, half of new teachers will leave the profession within the first 5 years. I think we need to do more "recognizing" and "thanking" good teachers and maybe that statistic would change. When Teresa left the court, she said to me, "I didn't realize this was such a big deal." Yes, Teresa it is a huge, awesome, you are great, kind of deal! :-) The other teacher is my mentor, Marilyn Bolton. She is the epitome of a life-long learner. She has a couple masters under her belt and still continues to learn with technology use (see what all she has done by clicking here.) Mrs. Bolton was recognized for being named the Kansas World Language Teacher of the Year. I really think more districts need to take part in the Recognitions Program KSDE offers (learn by clicking here)

Next week, our Team will be visiting two school districts, ElDorado on Monday and Newton on Tuesday. I am anxious to see the Team again. Be sure to check in next week on the blog for pictures and what all we learned as we visited these two outstanding school districts.