Blog Post #1
Imagine you just won Teacher of the Year for not just the 1st time but the 3rd time in a row, like John Taylor Gatto. What would you talk about with a national platform in regards to education?
Blog Post #4
Quote your favorite line from this Justin Sung’s TED Talk. What does this mean to you? How will you apply this idea in your professional life?
If I won for a third time in a row and had a national platform to speak from, I would focus on how school should not be a "one size fits all" model. The way school is set up now is not working and students learn in a variety of ways. The importance of relationship building and allowing students to have say in their education would be part of my speech. I am a firm believer that if students don't feel like they belong and they don't like their teacher, no learning will take place. I would also give the example that my own children did not strive in a public education system because they aren't built for a typical "sit in a classroom and learn" type setting. They were told many times throughout their education to "play the game" (by their parents) because they didn't fit the mold, weren't allowed to learn using hands-on methods, didn't build many relationships with their teachers, and were forced to learn things that they could care less about. (Side note: they are thriving out in the real world as we speak). Also in my speech, I would encourage families and community members to get involved in education because it takes a village and it's important for stake holders to know what is going on in and around school. I would mention that the heavy emphasis on standardized testing needs to be minimized and that we need to find other ways to access students' learning.
ReplyDeleteI would take the opportunity of a national platform to suggest that if there are teachers out there who are doing A-MAZ-ING things, it is in spite of the system not thanks to the system. For there to be any systemic change or positive evolution, we need to completely rehaul the system, first making sure to prioritize smaller class size. The only way you can get the majority of teachers doing great things is by making sure that the number of students they serve is smaller. It is the #1 point my students always cite when I ask them what has the greatest effect on whether or not they are engaged/learning. In addition, there is no way all teachers of all the different disciplines should have the same number of student contact hours. As a French teacher, I can have a full course load, however English teachers should have a four-day work week with a 5th day devoted entirely to feedback, conferencing with students, etc. The number of hours you spend with students in the classroom should depend on what your content area is. Fair does NOT mean equal.
ReplyDeleteIf I had a national platform after winning Teacher of the Year three times in a row, this is what I would focus on.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, education should help students discover their interests, strengths, and sense of purpose, not just prepare them to sit down and listen. I believe this is especially true. In Elementary School students need to learn the fundamentals so I think we just need ways of delivering the messages differently. We should be teaching students how to ask good questions, work with others, manage their time, think critically, and advocate for themselves. These skills matter long after they finish high school or even college. School should help students become capable, and confident adults, not just good test takers who can follow the rules. Students don’t give up because learning is too hard. They give up because it feels meaningless. Classrooms should look like workshops, studios, and laboratories where students are able to explore. But in order to do this, we need to train our teachers better and expose them to different ways of teaching. This would also be more realistic if we had smaller classes.
Imagine you just won Teacher of the Year for not just the 1st time but the 3rd time in a row, like John Taylor Gatto. What would you talk about with a national platform in regards to education?
ReplyDeleteIf I won Teacher of the Year for not just the 1st time but the 3rd time in a row I would talk about how school is and can be a positive environment for students when teachers and students feel respected. Along with that, comes with relationships. In my classroom, I value all the relationships that I have with all my students. If students feel comfortable and a sense of belonging in their classroom, they are going to want to learn and be a learner. With that, it comes in students buying in, but also students buying in to their teacher and school.
If I won for a third time in a row and had a national platform to speak from, I would talk about how education is not a cookie cutter one size fits all and we need to make it more focused on the students creating their critical thinking skills and exploring their interests. If we could inspire the students to form a passion for real learning they will succeed more in life. Every day as an adult I am constantly learning new things and finding tools to help my self succeed. We need to stop teaching to the tests and start teaching our students to continue to learn. Yes they need to learn the fundamentals, but some students are so creative and have amazing critical thinking skills they just do not perform well on tests.
ReplyDeleteOK. How cool to win Teacher of the Year just even once. But, if I did win three times, I would use the power to talk about individualizing learning. When I'm sitting in an IEP meeting, I always think, "Now wouldn't it be great if every student had this much attention given to their learning experience?" I have observed a school where traditional grade levels didn't exist. Age didn't matter. The students introduced themselves as 1st year, 2nd year, etc... not grades. I was fascinated by this standard-based education using mastery. The student went at their own pace. If they were good at math, then they accelerated through the standards once mastery was attained. Maybe their aptitude wasn't as high in ELA, so they were at an entry-level standard. Small groups of students, with all ages, were dispersed around the school. Each with a teacher (facilitator) that helped them with the lessons. Students responsible for their own schedules & learning. If you topped out of a subject, there was room for more exploratory depth in areas and real-world problem-solving. One group of students created a way for recyclable cardboard lunch trays to be used for their school while their kitchen was under construction. This idea became patented and others now use it all over the country. I would talk about this. I want students to be able to learn at their own paces and celebrate their strengths. Now what is important to learn? What are the standards? That's a whole other animal! Students shouldn't be herded cattle in one classroom going though curriculum. That's what would be my platform.
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ReplyDeleteIf I won Teacher of the year for a third time and had the national platform to speak from, I would focus shifting education from end all be all “state testing driven world” that we have fallen into. Unfortunately, we have lost sight of real life and how our education should build up our students to be who they want to strive to be. I have a son that dreams of being a welder. He is very creative and takes his CTE classes very seriously. He does okay in his core classes. School has always been hard for him. However, in his school, they the handout color coded progress notes… “He’s in the red in his projected success on the state test.” He’s projected to be a failure! Well, isn’t that a way to build a student’s self-esteem or drive them to be successful. It is discouraging for a teacher that understands the education merry-go-round; and it’s absolutely devastating for parents that don’t know the BS expectations. They think that this report is somehow going to make or break their child’s success in life. I want to shout from the roof tops: “This test does not define your child!” We have lost sight of who these students are as humans, and they have been replaced by a number or score that supposedly reflects the success of our teachers and our schools. This test has taken away so much from everyone involved in the actual education going on in our classrooms and has made the education that our children receive worse!
There are two things I would talk about:
ReplyDelete1. Rapport: I cannot stress this enough. In the beginning of the year I let the students choose their seat assignments. They get one chance to keep these seats ( they think this is pretty cool , and it helps them respect me a lot). If they cannot handle choosing their own seats, I assign seats for the rest of the year- and ultimately this is up to them as a class.
2.Story telling- Teaching through storytelling has done wonders for my students. They really understand where I am coming from, because they see me as a human , not just as their teacher. Students seem to be more open to learning and listening when they are super interested in what I am saying.
If I had a national platform like John Taylor Gatto, I would talk about the need to rethink and reshape our education system. Too often, schools prioritize compliance, people-pleasing, and grades rather than true learning. I would advocate for flipping the system on its head and focusing more on curiosity, exploration, and meaningful learning experiences. Students should be encouraged to ask questions, follow their interests, and develop skills that help them think critically and solve real-world problems. Education should inspire students to love learning, not just teach them how to complete tasks or earn grades. By prioritizing curiosity and authentic learning, we can create classrooms where students feel motivated, engaged, and empowered to grow.
ReplyDeleteIf I had a national platform, I’d focus less on big abstract reform and more on what we can actually do differently. The first shift is giving students more ownership over their time. That doesn’t mean eliminating structure, but it does mean building in daily or weekly blocks where students choose what they’re working on, whether that’s a long-term project, independent reading, or solving a real problem. Even an hour a day of self-directed work can start to rebuild curiosity and responsibility, because students are no longer just completing tasks they’re making decisions.
ReplyDeleteI would also push schools to replace some traditional assignments with real-world work. Instead of writing essays only for teachers, students could write for local newspapers, create guides for their community, or present solutions to actual problems in their town. Partnering with local businesses, organizations, and mentors makes learning feel relevant and raises the level of effort naturally. When students know their work matters beyond a grade, the quality changes without needing more pressure.
Assessment needs to become more human and less mechanical. Instead of relying so heavily on tests, teachers can use portfolios, exhibitions, and one-on-one conversations to evaluate growth like it stated in the book. A student explaining their thinking, reflecting on their progress, and defending their work tells you far more than a multiple-choice score ever will. This doesn’t require eliminating grades overnight, but it does mean balancing them with richer forms of evaluation that actually capture learning.
Equally important is protecting unstructured time. Not every minute needs to be optimized. Giving students space to think, talk, and even be bored allows ideas to develop. Some of the most meaningful learning starts in those unscripted moments, but our current schedules often eliminate them entirely.
Finally, I would emphasize trust. Teachers can start by involving students in decisions about classroom norms, and even how they demonstrate learning. When students feel respected and heard, behavior improves and engagement follows. This isn’t about giving up authority it’s about sharing responsibility. Over time, classrooms shift from places where students wait to be told what to do into places where they take initiative.
None of these changes require a complete overhaul of the system. They require a different mindset: treating students not as passive recipients of instruction, but as active participants in their own education. That shift, practiced consistently in small ways, is where real transformation begins.
Wow! If I won Teacher of the Year for a 3rd time, everyone else should really be watching and learning how I am teaching! LOL Two things I would talk about while using this national platform would include school funding and the fact that just because we have always done education this way, does not mean we should continue.
ReplyDeleteWithout adequate school funding, it is harder to get and keep qualified teachers. Without qualified teachers, our students have less chance at succeeding in school. Qualified teachers pay attention to student needs, are willing to change up the structure of the classroom to make sure all students are learning and engaged, and realize that there is so much more to kids learning than to pass a test at the end.
Too many teachers teach to the test. Students do not care about the test. They care about how they are going to use what they are learning out in the real world. What benefit is it to them ? Teachers need to work at giving students options for how they are going to show the teacher what they have learned, such as a written test or maybe creating a PowerPoint of information or poster/drawing to show what they know. We all know that some students are poor test takers so requiring them to take a test at the end of every unit is setting them up for failure. Find ways to help them succeed that still show they have learned something.
Teachers are so busy all of the time. Change is hard. I think that giving teachers more time to make some changes in their classrooms that will engage their students is important. I also think that it is beneficial to ask students what they may like to do/learn or how they might want to test. We need to value their opinions in helping shape our new way of thinking in the classroom. Allow them to think for themselves.
I would have so much to say as Teacher of the Year. First, I would start by stating that after teaching for 30 years, I, just like my students, are continually learning. I have seen the swing in education from all paper/pencil to 1:1 initiatives with every student having a device such as a Chromebook. And now a swing back to paper/pencil due to the complications with AI, students inability to read and comprehend and to write complete sentences without using text lingo. Teaching has become extremely difficult. Students want learning to come on a silver platter. They want the easy way out. They don't want to have to think for themselves. With cell phones and access to the internet students want the instant gratification. If they can't complete a math problem or understand the concept of a story, their first reaction is to look it up, NOT to stop and think about it to see if they can come up with their own solution. In my classroom, I have switched from teaching mostly content, to teaching critical thinking and analytical skills. People will probably always have the internet to look up information, what they won't be able to do is USE it. That is where my focus is now in my own classrooms. Teaching my kids to think for themselves. To become problem solvers.
ReplyDeleteIf I had a national platform to speak, after winning teacher of the year for the 3rd time. I would certainly take the focus off of me and put it back where the credit is due - on my students, the ones putting in the work and responding in such a way that highlights what I am trying to provide for them. The current model of education, I agree 100% needs to change - having been in the classroom off and on now for the better part of 26 years - it isn't working anymore and I truly believe Ana Fabrega is on to something. We need to be questioning everything we are doing and be open to refining this model and asking ourselves why and how? Why do we do the things we do? and How can we meet the needs of our students in ways that allows them to express who they are and build upon the strengths that God has blessed them with and stop trying to make everything so cookie cutter? Education and Educators need to be recognized on a grander scale, funding and pay with greater benefits. The value of education has been lost on society. Expecting our students to sit in classrooms for the better part of 8 hours a day until they are 18 years old isn't necessary. I am not entirely sure of the solution, but something I've begun to seriously ponder even as my own kids - late high school and early college years are in the middle of. Learning needs get back to being more authentic and drive the curious mind to explore and ask more questions.
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