I want to start with an apology. I have been incredibly absent from my blogging lately. My last post was in January... when it looked like this outside:
Now it looks like this:
The past few months have been an absolute whirlwind of travels, meetings, speeches, and exciting events (like meeting the President of the United States of America!).
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| Selfies in the White House |
I have not had much time to breathe, much less catch up on my blog, but what I do have are hundreds of photographs and several half-written blog entries that I never finished. As my year starts to slow down, I am committed to going back and filling in the gaps. I want to share my year with others, so I am about to begin a blogging blitz! Expect a couple of blogs to be posted each week, post-dated to reflect when they occurred during the year.
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| Hoping to Find Inspiration for Blogging with Coffee and Shakespeare |
I'd like to start with my "farewell letter" that was recently published in the May Superintendent's Bi-Weekly Newsletter. I actually wrote it at a coffee shop on May 4, and it references Yoda, hence the title "May the Fourth Be with You."
As my year of service as North Carolina Teacher of the Year 2013-2014
comes to a close, I find it difficult to put into words this humbling year of
conversations, debates, collaboration, introspection, inspiration, and personal
growth. It is the recursive process of
teaching, reflecting, listening, learning, and sharing that best describes my
year. Yoda, the sage guide in Star Wars, explains my experience and
what I think we as a profession must consider as we move education forward. As Yoda guides young Luke Skywalker, he tells
him, “You must unlearn what you have learned.
Teach yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”
A few
weeks before my official journey as teacher of the year began last summer, I
attended the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching Seminar
“Daring to Lead” with other teacher leaders.
In one of our culminating activities, we wrote our biggest fears and
barriers to personal success on a wooden board, and with a great deal of
visualization, grit, and determination we broke through the boards and our
fears with our bare hands. I have not
shared with many what I wrote on my board.
That day I stood on the precipice
of beginning my new adventure out of the classroom as a teacher
ambassador. My biggest fear and personal
barrier was the fear of the “unknown.” I
was frightened about the weight of responsibility that the title of North
Carolina Teacher of the Year placed on my shoulders and was incredibly
cognizant of the need for a voice to represent our 95,000 public school
teachers in conversations with all the stakeholders in education. I knew I needed to be a strong representative,
and I needed both to convey what we need in North Carolina to improve education
for our 1.5 million students and to share all that is great about public
education. I took my role very seriously,
and the “unknown” of how others would react, what it would be like to meet with
government representatives to discuss education, and how to best represent our
profession was a barrier for me. In the
moment that I thrust my hand toward that board, I thought about my students
over the years whom I have constantly encouraged to take risks in their writing
and analysis. When my hand pressed
against the hard, wooden surface and pushed through the splintering pieces, I
made a commitment to “let go of everything [I feared] to lose.” I vowed to listen to others so I could
unlearn and learn what we most needed in our state. I found my voice as the North Carolina
Teacher of the Year and as your representative.
During my travels to North Carolina
schools and universities, meetings in Raleigh with legislators, out-of-state
conferences on education, and my most recent travels in Washington, DC where
other state teachers of the year and I discussed education policy at the United
States Department of Education and with the White House staff, I have seen the
faces and heard the voices of the teachers and students in North Carolina. You have all impacted my life so much—the
teachers who taught me in Rockingham County, my colleagues in Guilford County,
the teachers from the numerous counties I have visited this year, the
pre-service teachers who have shared their infectious energy with me, and the
students who touch my heart as I dream of the futures they will have. When I shook President Obama’s hand on
Thursday, May 1, I was proud to proclaim that I am from North Carolina. I took all of you into the White House with
me. You were there when he told me to
“continue [our] service to our nation.”
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| Positioned between Presidents Obama and Washington |
All of the educators in North
Carolina do exactly this every day. You
give so much to our country and to our state by teaching our future. This year has been frustrating for many, but
as my term as your representative comes to a close, I hope that you too will
“let go of what you fear,” so we can become a collective voice for what our
students need in our state, and we can move education forward. Thank you for all of your support and for all
you do for North Carolina.
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| Just a Few of Our Great Teachers in NC |
