Washington DC Recognition Week

President Obama with Tony Mullen, 2009 National Teacher of the Year

All State Teachers of the Year are being honored this week in Washington DC and the highlights have been the private reception at Vice President's Joe Biden's home hosted by his amazing wife, Dr. Jill Biden. She "gets teachers" as she is a current teacher and actually returned to her classroom just 4 days after the election. WOW!!! (The STOY's are now big fans of Dr. Biden as you can see when you watch the video of us when she comes out for our recognition at the Rose Garden). So...that brings me to the BIG EVENT - The White House!!!

Getting ready for a group shot with the President and his wife

We were individually recognized in the Rose Garden and then President Obama introduced the National Teacher the Year, Tony Mullen from Connecticut. It was a surreal experience meeting and shaking the hands of Michelle Obama (who got almost more of a welcome than her husband), Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Dr. Biden, and of course, the President! We stood on the steps behind the President and Tony as they addressed the crowd, media, and STOY's. You can barely see me, but if you look closely, I am standing directly behind Arne Duncan - over his right shoulder at the very end of the second row. Good luck finding me. It was broadcast live on C-Span.

The President took the time to personally thank us and shake each of our hands.

I was amazed how much media were there that follow the President around plus some memories such as the security, social secretary (who was very gracious), Secret Service, waiter wearing white gloves who brought out bottled water for the President on a silver platter, the teleprompters, the Oval Office, one of us falling off the steps into the bushes, one of us losing a button (and using gum to hold the jacket together), and one of us tripping as we walked out.
However, all of that will fade from my memory but Tony's message must continue with all of us: Passion, Professionalism, and Perseverance. The one that continues to resonate with me is Perseverance. In the times of budget cuts, teachers having to take on more work, more students without lowering expectations, we must persevere. Teachers must never give up on students, seek out the students that need us most, be THEIR voice, THEIR advocate and PERSEVERE - it is what Tony challenges us to do. Do you accept his challenge? I do!

Me on the steps of the White House with the Oval Office behind me.

Tigers and Redskins

The Team with the FHSU Tiger!

The KTOY Team visited Fort Hays State University and were excited to visit with a group of future teachers. During one of our activities, I circulated around listening to their excitement and fear about becoming a teacher. There are many commonalities in their answers at all our college visits. Their excitement is usually getting the opportunity to make a difference in student's lives...usually followed by an apology for being so cliche. No need to apologize - if that isn't your number one motivation for becoming a teacher, you are probably in the wrong profession. So say it with pride, with excitement and with passion. YES - you will make a difference because you WANT to! (left: Mary Martha talking to a FHSU student)


That evening I was invited to speak at the Academic Banquet for Little River High School students. The night was great as I got to see some old friends there and some of my wonderful friends and colleagues drove to Little River to hear me speak (or at least that is what I am telling myself....they might have made the trip as grandma works there). The food was great (can you say cheesecake?) and the students were amazing! They sat on the FRONT ROW of the auditorium without even be asked to! High school students are "my people" - who I am comfortable with. They were great sports about getting involved and gave me such energy being around them. Man, I miss my students! I drove home thinking "I love high school students!" No matter how tired teachers are, when we get around excited, energetic students, we get to "feed off" their energy. We have the BEST JOB ever as teachers.

Me with Principal, Dawn Johnson, and LRHS Honor Students

I was pretty pumped afterwards when Dawn Johnson, principal at Little River, gave me an IPodNano in K-State Purple as a gift for speaking! I lost all sense of composure and did my "happy dance" that I usually reserve for only my students (it isn't real pretty to watch). I don't have an IPod of any sort and have been wanting one for a long time so this was like Christmas....but it gets better! My name is on the back of it AND it is pre-loaded with some incredible books to listen to while I travel. Some I have read and loved so much I will listen to them again but most I have not had the chance of reading and look forward to getting to "read" them. Ms. Johnson, YOU ROCK!!! And so do your students!!!!!!
Now, if I can just get my next presentation group to give me a running strap thingee for it.... :-)

Manhattan-Ogden Visit

I graduated (twice) from Kansas State University, so visiting the Manhattan-Ogden school district was like revisiting some of the best days of my life. Living in a college town is incredible and has so many opportunities for education, entertainment, and partnerships. Dr. Shannon shared with the Team about those great partnerships, the support of the community, and commitment to education everyone has in the area. The community just recently passed a bond issue for schools, a tax increase to support an education center at the Sunset Zoo, and just last week voted to support improvements on their public pools!!! Coming from a district that the community has failed to pass a bond issue, this really spoke volumes to me. Dr. Shannon said it all when he stated, "This community values education." At this reception, I got to visit with the 1987 KTOY, Chris Chalender. After being named KTOY, she decided teachers needed more recognition and raised the money to create the Hubbard Foundation. Thanks to her vision and perseverance (and quite a bit of charisma), the 2009 KTOY Team is able to have the opportunities serving as spokespeople for educators that she never had. So, thank you, Chris! (Chris and I pictured to the right)

Speaking of the Zoo, we spent an amazing morning there learning about the new center (model pictured below). The education and outreach programs the Zoo conducts are amazing. Last year, the staff reached 40,000 people in the community of 53,000. The summer programs, school programs, volunteer programs are teaching tolerance, conservation awareness, and how to protect our animals. We were fortunate enough to get to watch the chimpanzees. It was hard to leave the exhibit after watching the "baby" chimp with her mom. We will all be back I am sure.
KSU College of Education sponsored lunch for the Team and we got to hear more about the partnership between the college and the school district. KSU spends $400,000 placing faculty members full-time in the public schools supervising their student teachers and block students. This win-win partnership is preparing our future educators in "real" classrooms with "real" students. Dr. Holen, Dean of Education, and his committed faculty have led the Department with a vision of that is reaping its benefits with quality educators entering our profession (a little purple pride coming out there -sorry).

The Team with our gracious hosts, Dean Holen, Associate Dean Wissman, and Assistant Dean Burden

After lunch, the Team got to go observe those block students from KSU doing a lesson. WOW - talk about impressive!! I observed 3 students doing a probability lesson using the Price Is Right! games. They had technology, manipulatives, guided notes, a scripted lesson plan, and tied it to state indicators. It was humbling to take in how much time and energy went into this lesson and made me silently recommit to coming up with creative lessons. By the way, the students emailed me the entire presentation....they are already TEAM players and willing to share! (pictured at left are the KSU students in action)

Probably one of the most "moving" experiences we have had as a Team, came at Anthony Middle School. The advanced English students under the guidance of Leslie Pickler, created a Holocaust Museum. This has to be the best example of 21st Century Learning Skills I have seen. She gave her students the theme, "Remembering the Past, Protecting the Future" and let the groups decide their own topic related to that theme, decide how they would present it, and then create the display. They also have to write a research paper. If you have had the opportunity to visit the Holocaust Museum in DC, it was a similar experience visiting the room they created. Few of us talked during our tour, if we did, we whispered. There were some stories I read that made me cry and as I read, I thought of all the students that would come through this exhibit, how they would feel, and what they would remember. POWERFUL!

Kansas Wesleyan Got Me Thinking...

The Team presented to Kansas Wesleyan last week. It was great for me on two accounts: 1. It is only a 20 minute drive from my house 2. My parents got to come and listen to us. They both still see me as their little girl who needs directions, protection, and help fixing the shower head. And truthfully, I do NOT discourage that thinking! I love being spoiled and pampered when I am "home!" I think it might have been strange for them seeing me being "all professional," and I hope they still spoil me when I go home!

One of the students asked a great question after the presentation, "Why do kids hate math so much?" YEP - hot topic with me being a math teacher. I get comments like "I am horrible at math" or "I hate math" quite often in my classes. I find this VERY disheartening as my students are seniors in their FOURTH year of math - College Algebra and Calculus. They are excellent students but somewhere along the way have been convinced they are not. I wonder how those students that aren't taking any math their senior year feel?? I have asked students (not a lot- but a few) why they feel that way. Their answers are varied...some say "I have to work so hard at it" to "I used to be good at it until 5th grade" My youngest son already feels like he is "no good" at math. I know where his attitude comes from: timed tests. He used to think he was good at math but the timed test created a huge amount of anxiety which led to him not doing well which led to - well you see where I am going here. Oddly enough, he knows his facts (just not in 5 minutes - it is more like 5.5 minutes) and is a great problem-solver. I am not sure I will ever change his mind - but I am not giving up. My oldest son has done very well on timed-tests but really dislikes math too. It started just this year with long division. He did a long division packet of worksheets that become his arch enemy. Problem after problem of long division with decimals, repeating decimals...you get the picture. He would sit at the table in the evening asking "Why can't I just use a calculator for the last 6? I get it already." The math teacher in me came out quickly. I told him he has to know it so well that it just becomes instinct - like creating muscle memory.


All this has me thinking though. Are we creating Mathicide for students? There is a book about how schools are killing reading for students, it is Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. There are two great entries in my friend, Cindi Rigsbee's blog about the book. One about the book and one is an interview with Kelly himself. I read a few chapters of the book and it got me thinking...I wonder if I could write a book about Mathicide. I know I have unwittingly contributed to Mathicide in my room...assigning way more problems than needed, doing too many worksheets and not enough projects, and not individualizing the homework for the level of student. I am going to try to get better at it. I don't want students hating math or thinking they aren't good at it. It makes me sick knowing I have contributed to it. I think project-based learning would help but there must be a BALANCE between constructivist math and kill and drill math. An article about it can be found here. Finding the balance in the two theories - and in life- is the journey that I am on.

Awards for Students

This week was a fun week being around students - specifically my students! I got caught up on all the things going on in their lives. And let me tell you, they have A LOT going on. Some are expecting babies, some are going sky-diving, some are moving out on their own, and some are wondering how they are going to get to school the next day because they got kicked out of their home. It is hard to listen without jumping in and trying to solve their problems. I often want to take them home with me to try making everything alright for them. Our lives are all complicated and seldom are there black and white answers....maybe that is why I like math so much?! I like absolute, undeniable, provable ANSWERS! Life isn't like that.

My Teachers Choice Awardee, Calley!

Enough philosophy...on to the AWARDS!!! Today was a great day as my high school had the annual Teacher Choice Awards. Each teacher gets to choose one student who exemplifies great character, self-discipline, outstanding work ethic, and respect. This is not based on grades - although many students have a 4.0 - but on my definition of "being a great person." When I was explaining it to a parent I told them, "I select a student that I would be honored to have as my own child." It is a hard decision and every year I have about 15 students that I would love to choose. We invite the family to come to school at 6:30 (yep-that is AM) to eat breakfast and follow a great meal with a short presentation of the medallion. We take pictures and do our best to let the students know how much they inspire us to do our best as instructors. It is a great program!
Today I also awarded a student a 4 year Teaching It Forward Scholarship from the University of Phoenix. Every state teacher of the year gets to pick a senior to give a free education to. It is amazing...it could literally be life changing for a student. I let my student know today. I hope he is as excited as I was to give this wonderful opportunity to him. I will write more about him when I "officially" present him the $40,000 scholarship! Ahhhh - not bad for a day's work! Plus I even managed to teach arithmetic sequences AND slope fields today.


My mind is pretty full but I put more good stuff in there after school at our Team Leaders meeting where I learned about Moodle! I don't understand it fully yet but I am sure I will (thanks to some great technology folks) and keep reminding myself "baby steps, Cindy." It seems like once I learn about something it starts appearing EVERYWHERE....I had never heard of Twitter and Moodle and now it feels like I turn around and see Twitter and Moodle all over the place. Was it there before and I just didn't know what it meant?
Hope everyone has a blessed Easter.

KNEA Representive Assembly

I have a confession. I have never been very politically active or even really watched legislation that was taking place that would directly affect me, my classroom, and instruction.....until this year. Being named KTOY has thrown me into a world that I never knew existed -ok, maybe I knew, but chose to ignore it. However, now that I have that awareness and understanding how the policy makers (Board of Education, KSDE, State Legislation, etc) influence what I do in the classroom, I can never go back to burying my head in the sand. Teachers have a powerful voice...through our voting power, our position in our communities, and influence with parents. We tend to not use it...shying away from controversy or conflict. This is where the KNEA comes in. NEA is an advocate for children and for teachers. I have grown this year; in my knowledge of "the system of education," my political philosophy, and even my educational philosophy. Knowledge really is power - and you can never go back. NEA has helped me tremendously in this growth and I owe them a big THANK YOU. I spoke Saturday at the KNEA Representative Assembly. I wish I would have thanked them for all they do for education - teachers and students - and what they have done for me in my journey this year. I didn't. Next time I get a chance I promise I will.

I really enjoyed being there with all these educators that are shaping policy, arguing their beliefs, and passionately discussing trends in education - from ELL to scripted lessons. Educators don't always agree with each other - I like that. The dialogue that is exchanged is where the real learning takes place. I enjoyed listening to them challenge each other on issues and realized I need to be more pro-active in everything going on in education. I am getting better at it and have even written a few letters to legislators and the State Board of Education. I promise to do more!

KNEA President, Blake West, with me after accepting the award.

After I spoke, KNEA announced that I was the recipient of the State Award for Teaching Excellence. I looked out upon these amazing educators that had given up their weekend to make our profession better and was extremely humbled they chose me to represent them and everything they are committed to. THANK YOU.

Miss Kitty Would Be Proud!

Some of Cindy Venard's students welcomed us with signs and a CHEER!

The Team has been in Dodge City the past two days visiting colleges and touring the Dodge City School District. I must admit I had some preconceived notions about Dodge City and what the school facilities and district would be and I was SO WRONG! This school district is pretty incredible. Some things that struck me are the teachers and staff who work tirelessly to meet various challenges that some districts in Kansas don't have to face. At one of the elementary schools we visited, there is a 75% ELL (English Language Learner) population and 80% Hispanic population. And yet, this school met AYP and continues to improve test scores. The Dodge City district has put in programs and has support staff that make enrollment smooth, gang prevention education successful, and a system that builds community among the diverse population. The drop-out rate is very low (3%) and is a real tribute to the commitment the administration has made to making the school an inviting place for students and family. It is no wonder the State Board of Education along with Dr. Posny will soon be visiting this district. We all could learn from visiting this innovative and successful community.
Here is a very unique fact about Dodge City...they built a 13.5 million dollar elementary school (Ross Elementary) WITHOUT a bond! The school will be paid off in 5 years! What progressive, creative planning! The technology we saw was being used to enhance learning and assist teachers in being even more effective. The Mimio Interactive Whiteboard device, the laptop docking stations, and the Elmo (document camera) really engaged students in their learning. The Learning Center that houses the enrollment center, a library, and a make-n-take area with die-cuts galore (see picture to right) is almost as impressive as the meeting room that is attached to it. (pictured to the left)
After hearing Superintendent, Alan Cunningham, speak passionately about the "grow your own" program, I am convinced that all schools should be doing this. The support this district gives their staff to continue their education and get ELL endorsements along with the Principal Interns is a testament to the district's commitment to keeping staff.

At Dodge City Middle School. we learned about the Haliburton Project that Principal, Mike King developed. Gifted Instructor, Bill O'Brien, and Erin Schaffer, a team leader, mentor, and science teacher demonstrated how they use this project in their curriculum. The project has students create a digital story they post on teacher tube that follows Richard Haliburton on his journeys. This is really using 21st Century Skills! For coverage of the Team's visit check out the Dodge City Globe.

On a personal note, I coached Erin (Bruce) Schaffer in Concordia. And although she obviously is a respected instructor and has two adorable daughters, she is frozen in my mind as a junior in high school with her beautiful auburn hair running up and down the basketball court. Seeing her totally in her element was probably the best part of my trip to Dodge City...she has definitely "bloomed where she was planted."

The Journey not the Destination

I learned Kinsley is half-way between New York and San Francisco!!

I was invited to speak at the Central Prairie League Banquet. What a great thing this League does. Most Leagues recognize All League athletes but this one not only recognizes All League Honor Students but holds a banquet in their honor. This year, Kinsley hosted the banquet which was great for me as I have a good friend who lives in Kinsley so I got to visit her while there! At left is the LaCrosse Crew (4th from left is Olivia Keeley, whose parents are both adminstrators, and "officially" won the airplane contest)




The communities are all so closely tied together with most students knowing each other, and connections that go back to kindergarten. There was a definite sense of family and community at this League event. Being in Kinsley reminded me of my hometown- where "everybody knows your name - and they're always glad you came" (read that by singing it). My goal in my speech was to make them feel appreciated and honored but it was I who felt that way by them! I got to know a few students while there and each of them has a story. EVERY person has a story and it is such a great experience to get to hear them. (pictured left is Kayla King who "unofficially" won the airplane contest)

These two gentlemen, Marshall Musil (playing football at OU next year) and Jeremy Garcia (playing football at HCC next year) helped me with my card trick!

Quite a few students have full rides to play football, one has a dad as her superintendent and a mom as her principal (can you imagine the conversations at her house?). I bet she doesn't get away with too much! I got to laugh and be my crazy self for the evening as I encouraged everyone to "Fly Outside the Box." I even got a few administrators to act a little silly in a picture.

The whole evening was special as a friend, Jan, rode with me to Kinsley and we got to hang out after the banquet with Carol who lives there. Carol spoke about most everyone at the banquet, filling me in on all their stories, talking about families, tragedies, and triumphs. I hope someday I get invited back as I am starting to feel like I belong in Kinsley too!
The evening ended perfectly with Jan giving me the book "Is There Really a Human RACE?" It has great illustrations and a message that fit perfectly into my evening. I am thinking I will read this book to my seniors this year.

Private Colleges = AMAZING!

Me and faculty members at USM: Sister Mary Pat , Sister Frances, me, and Gretchen Wilbur

The KTOY Team visited 2 private colleges on Monday. Our first stop was at the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth. This Catholic college has a great group of faculty who care deeply for their students and they are sending some really fun students into education. The 3 gentlemen to the left chose the poster "Teaching will be like having a baby because..." and we had a great time hearing about how! We were treated to some great food and got to relax and enjoy the faculty and students after our presentation.

(Below: Jennifer sharing some conversation with students)

We drove just a little north to visit Benedictine College in Atchison. This is another Catholic college that has an amazing campus with wonderful hills and historic buildings. The students were full of energy - especially the two pictured to the left. Just like in teaching, the Team just feeds off this energy and enthusiasm. A special thanks to the College (and Matthew) for providing us a t-shirt or hoodie to remember BC with! In fact, we were such on a great high from the presentation, we hung around Atchison and did some shopping at the book store and even went downtown. This is one historic town and features the Amelia Earhart Museum.

The Team pictured with Matthew Ramsey, Asst. Professor and Director of Special Education