Boston Strong

 

 I’m not done yet. 

In the past year, many people have congratulated me on winning NJ State Teacher of the Year.  My usual response was, “But I’m not done yet.”  In many people’s eyes, I had reached the pinnacle of the teaching profession, but I was just a teacher and now I was expected to either return to my classroom to teach and ignore everything I had learned, or leave the classroom and become an administrator.  I refused to accept that there were only two options, and I refused to accept that I was “just a teacher.”

My travels broadened the lens through which I viewed education and as a developing policy wonk who speaks "teacher," I have a unique perspective and big ideas. However, in the policy world I am still seen as “just a teacher” and it is frustrating.  I feel a responsibility to the profession and believe that if we are going to do what is best for kids that we need to bring all the voices involved in educating our students to the table.  I am learning by leaps and bounds, but have found that you are only an expert as long as you are fifty miles from home.   

In January, I decided to apply for the Holy Grail of fellowships, a White House Fellowship. If I was going to make a difference I was going to need to broaden the lens of my perspective even more than I had already.  Gaining this kind of experience would be invaluable, but this would not be an easy fellowship to attain because I would be competing against people in all fields, not just education,  for one of these coveted spots.  I was thrilled that I made the first cut and would be interviewing as a regional finalist in Boston.  How cool would it be, as a history teacher, to arrive shortly after Patriots Day which celebrates both  the battles of Lexington and Concord and the marathon, named after the run of the ancient Greek Phidippides to deliver news to Athens about the defeat of Persia? 

Then terrorism reared its ugly head.

I arrived in Boston two days after the marathon.  Boyleston St. was still shut down, as was the Copley T stop, and the first thing I saw when I exited the train station was the tents that were erected to cordon off the area because evidence was still being collected from the blasts.  There was a tense atmosphere and people were demanding answers to this cowardly and heinous act that dared to destroy Patriots Day and the famous Boston Marathon. 

 

Needless to say my mom was not very happy about me going up to an area that was an active crime scene of a terrorist act.  She asked if I would be anywhere near the blast site while I was there and I lied, but it was for her own good.  The original hotel suggested for the interviews was the Lenox, which was located in between the two blasts and was shut down.  I assured Mom that I was nowhere near the blasts, when in truth I was only about three blocks away in another hotel. My argument was that Boston would now be the safest city on the planet for a while… and it was.

 

There were lots of people in Boston, including an army of media, and while many were tense, they were not scared.

 

Things were fine on Wednesday when I arrived and Thursday the sun came out as I sat in the park and watched the ducks and the swan boats paddle around in the park.  I understood the ducks that glided effortlessly across the surface while paddling like hell underneath.  They seemed to fit in Boston, a city full of grit and determination that would not be shaken, which was evidenced by the memorial service that took place earlier in the morning.  I needed to channel that vibe for my White House Fellows dinner that night which would be the first time I met my competition and the judges who would be interviewing me the next day. 

 

I can’t tell you how impressed I was with my fellow candidates.  Many were from the Boston area and they are the best of the best at what they do. If you looked up the word overachiever in the dictionary, you would see their pictures.  The bombings were a topic at dinner, especially since they had just released pictures of the suspects, but it didn’t control the conversation.  There was something in the room that evening that just would not allow fear to stand in the way of higher ideals like civic responsibility and democracy.  Clearly, the terrorists had picked the wrong city to mess with. 

 

Dinner was great and we said our goodbyes until the next morning’s interviews.  Just as I was drifting off to sleep there was something on the news about a shooting at MIT.

 

By the time I woke up the next morning the city was on lockdown.  Being a teacher, I am used to lockdown drills every month, but preventing a million people from going anywhere was impressive.  I got the call early that the interviews had been cancelled, many of my fellow candidates and the judges lived in the area that was now being searched block by block for the terrorist.  With the busses, subway, taxis and Amtrak shut down, I wasn’t going anywhere.  The streets were empty and there were no restaurants open except for the one at the hotel, so I hunkered down to watch the coverage on TV, but it was weird to hear sirens and helicopters both right outside your window and on TV at the same time.  You could hear the cheers outside later in the evening as the second suspect was caught and every time a police/fire/security vehicle drove by. 

My interview will be rescheduled, and although I have been given the option to go to other panels in NYC and DC which are closer, I will be returning to Boston.  I like the city and the toughness of its people because as a Jersey girl, I identify. I want to make a difference for our students, and that means growing and learning while also keeping that idea of civic responsibility and social justice as the goal of my actions.  I need students to not only learn content, but to build relationships and be the absolute best that they can be, whether it is as a cosmetologist, chef, nurse, firefighter or law enforcement officer.  Whether they are defending our country in the military, designing the roads we drive on, building the planes we fly in, or composing the music that inspires us, I need them, whatever their calling, to remember that we all have a responsibility for each other and a common humanity.  I want my students, like the people of Boston, to run toward the danger and help when it is needed and organize supports to help people recover because it is the right thing to do.  I need them to do all this because some day my students are going to be in charge of you and me and I need them to be resilient, determined and exemplify perseverance. I need them to see the big picture beyond their own circumstance and realize what they do matters.

The best way I know how to do that is to lead by example. 

 

I’m not done yet.  Boston proud, Boston strong. 

 

 

 

 

Getting It Right: Teachable Moments and Education Policy

I was very happy to help out the National Network of State Teachers of the Year recently by giving a teachers point of view on education policy for the EdWeek blog, Rick Hess: Straight Up.  The original can be found at

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2013/03/getting_it_right_teachable_moments_and_education_policy.html

 

Getting It Right: Teachable Moments and Education Policy

By Guest Blogger on March 12, 2013 6:20 AM

Note: Rick Hess is on sabbatical through May 6th. If you're missing him, you might try to catch him while he's out and about discussing his new book Cage-Busting Leadership (available here, e-book available here). For updates on when he might be in your neck of the woods, check here. Meantime, a tremendous lineup of guest stars has kindly agreed to step in while Rick's gone and share their own thoughts on the opportunities, challenges, implications, and nature of cage-busting leadership.

Guest blogging this week are members of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY). Today we're hearing from Jeanne DelColle, a social studies teacher at Burlington County Institute of Technology and the 2012 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year.

As a teacher, it is my job to take complex information, find ways to break it down for my students so that they understand it, and help them develop connections and discover how the content they learned fits into a broader perspective. There are many methods to doing this, but some of my best lessons have been occasioned by what we call "teachable moments." These lessons are often student driven and organically manifest themselves because of a particular catalyst. In trying to help students understand the world around them and their place in it, we make a slight detour from the day's planned lesson in order to grasp a larger concept. I see the opportunity to address cage-busting teacher leadership as just such an experience.

Writing education policy is like writing a lesson plan. As a high school history teacher, I strive to keep my lessons fresh, trying new ideas in the classroom to help my students maximize their learning. Sometimes, you spend all weekend designing a lesson that you are really jazzed about, then come into class on Monday morning, roll it out, and find that it all tanks, regardless of how much time it took you to prep, how much research you have done, or how much you have aligned the plan with the curriculum and tried to make it rigorous, relevant and fun. You know it has all gone wrong when you see the quizzical expressions as the kids just tilt their heads and say, "Ms. D., I just don't get it." Worse yet, they simply disengage. From that point you have a very small window of time to recover before you lose the class.

Failure. It's not a matter of if but when. It doesn't matter that failure happens, because you can't grow if you always do what you have always done; it is what you do when failure happens that is important. When a lesson fails you have three choices: 1. Proceed with the lesson anyway and force it down their throats. 2. Blame the students when they don't get it, give up and give them a worksheet as you retreat to your desk in exasperation. 3. Talk to your class, explain what you are trying to accomplish, get some feedback from them, adapt the lesson and try it again.

I don't suggest the first two choices because they create a bad classroom climate full of distrust and hostility and promote the idea that failing means you are a failure. Number three is always the best option for both sides, although it is not the easiest. You risk losing face because you have to admit that something is wrong. The good news is that if you are sincere, your students will often take up the challenge and help you, which creates buy-in from your students who now feel that they have a stake in the success of the lesson.

So why do lessons fail? More often than not it is a failure in communication, so you need to develop a common language with your class that everyone understands. Sometimes a step is missing; we need students to be able to crawl and walk with information before they can run.

Sometimes there is something within the lesson that touches a nerve and shuts students down. Great teachers build a classroom environment that provides a safe place in which it is okay to try something new and fail without being berated. In order to do this, good teachers need to know more than content; they need to know their students and what factors influence their perspective. More importantly, they must be aware of their own unique lens, too.

The reform policies being implemented around the country are like lesson plans in that they are crafted with research, procedure and a desire to improve education for our students. But sometimes, even with the best intentions, reforms tank, and once again you have three choices. Policy makers can force the reforms, blame it on teachers, or actually gather some feedback from educators and retool so as stakeholders, there is a shared sense of responsibility in the success of the policy.
Most states develop reform policies from the top down, and they neglect to engage teachers in the process of policy development, and gather feedback for course corrections. Any decisions made about teachers, without teachers, are doomed to fail especially if there is a lack of two-way communication, no common language, and little or no concept of the challenges faced by educators on a daily basis.

Too often, I have heard policy people across the country say, "Well it's going to be regulation, so they are just going to have to deal with it." To which my response and the response of many other teachers is, "Then change the laws." Just because something is in code is not a good enough reason for me to buy into the idea. The jam it and cram it method of learning is seldom successful and often causes much resistance; ask any student.

There are many obstacles, you can call them cages, that prevent two way communication between policy makers and teachers. Often cited are: lack of capacity, lack of time, difficulty finding a group of teachers that are willing to productively engage, lack of money and lack of trust. Instead, exemplars of a particular policy are paraded out and held on a pedestal for all others to aspire to and regulation is passed with little consideration from the field. This approach is certainly easier for those creating policy, but disingenuous at best as unequal schools are held to equal standards, and if you tried this in a classroom, the kids would call you out on it in about 30 seconds. If we want teachers to be respected as leaders, then they must be treated as such by policy makers.

There is one more reason that a lesson can fail: if the students don't do their homework, which leaves them unprepared to engage when the lesson begins. Students cannot be passive when it comes to their learning, and neither can teachers when it comes to crafting policy. It is not the responsibility of policy makers alone to bridge the gap that exists; teachers must do their research, be prepared to discuss and not complain, build some consensus among their colleagues and other stakeholders, and propose solutions that will work beyond their classroom. We each have our own particular lens of experience, but we must all be prepared to broaden our perspective if we are going to find some common ground and work together.

When a lesson tanks, there are lessons to be learned both by the teacher and the students, who, with the proper growth mindset, learn that to fail does not mean you are a failure. Policy makers should use this teachable moment to engage educators and learn with them because now more than ever, failure comes with very high stakes attached. In order to bridge the gap so policy works, both sides must make the effort. Teachers need to step beyond their classroom and examine policy from a district or state perspective, while policy makers need to become good at doing what they espouse most highly: effective teaching. It's not as easy as it looks, but it will save a lot of time and energy if policy makers view teachers as partners in crafting education policy.
-- Jeanne DelColle

Not a Peep...

I hate Easter.

I cringe every time I see a jellybean, Peep or Cadbury egg and it has nothing to do with the religiousness of the holiday.

In 2006 my step dad, Stan, was finally going to retire from his job as an assistant manager at a restaurant that worked him too much and cared too little.  It was the night before Easter, and just hours before his shift was to end, he had a massive heart attack and died at work.

The weeks that followed were a blur of funeral arrangements, legal and financial paperwork and the emotional toll of sudden and tragic loss.  It was horrible, but what struck me most was that Stan had so many plans for after he retired, it was as if he had put his life on hold until that day.  He even had a countdown calendar to mark each day until his retirement, his freedom.  Little did he know...  Countdown calendars still unnerve me.   

Less than a month later, just as we were starting to redefine "normal", my grandmother died.  My mom, still reeling from the loss of her husband now had to deal with the loss of her mother as the cycle began all over and it felt like a little cloud descended and followed me around for the next year. 

The day I found out about my grandmother, it was too late to call a sub to cover for me at school, so I went.  The kids in my first block class had cut me a break since hearing about Stan, but when the principal came to my classroom that morning to tell me to go home, the kids heard why.   They were a tough group of juniors and seniors and we had good days and bad days as a class, but even they understood how deeply these tragedies affected me.

When I returned a week later, the class very cautiously presented me with a lovely silk flower arrangement and a card they all signed. I say very cautiously because they were unsure how to approach the topic, and me, in my very fragile state.  What do you say when someone has experienced that much loss?  Their empathy and compassion were so overwhelming that as they asked me questions  I broke one of the commandments of teaching, Thou shalt not cry. I lost it, and they surrounded me in a group hug that left many of them crying too.

I try to be the tough love teacher, and I am usually all business in the classroom, but the kids see right through me.  They know I have high standards and expectations, it is rumored I am one of the hardest teachers in the school, but it usually only takes a week or two before I hear one of them say after they have been reprimanded, "Yeah, but you love us Ms. D." I never deny it, because it is true, but I often wonder what it is that gives me away.  How do you teach without love?

From that point on, the class kept a close eye on me. There were times when I came to school with that cloud hanging overhead and just wanted to get to class without talking to anyone.  I couldn't get through the hallway without a "Good morning, Ms.D." just like I had done to them all year. The kids refused to let me ignore them.  If I wasn't standing at the door when the kids changed classes, they wanted to know why.  If I looked sad, I was hugged.  Even if I wasn't sad, I was hugged.  I can honestly say that they were the reason I made it through the rest of the school year.  They pulled me out of my funk and helped me to remember that when you teach, you have to leave your problems at the door. 

Was that my best year of teaching? Certainly not.  However, that year my students learned more about empathy, compassion and grit than they would have learned in one of my normal classes.  They realized that education is a team sport that requires both students and teacher to be invested and responsible for each other because teaching and learning are fluid concepts and on any given day students and teachers could be doing both.  However, before any content is taught, you have to deal with the other issues that may prevent teaching and learning from happening.  That year, my class learned that family is more than just DNA, and I was reminded that people often have much more going on underneath the surface than they let on.

Thank goodness for my students and their early intervention, because five months after losing my grandmother, right after the start of the new school year, my grandfather died.  Three deaths in six months left me wondering how much sadness a person could endure, but I realized that life was short and that I had a choice, stay miserable and let the cloud keep following me, or get busy living.  I loved my job and the kids, and couldn't imagine a more important and fulfilling profession, but I knew I was in a very comfortable rut and hadn't grown in a while.  I needed to challenge myself, because I didn't want to die without squeezing every drop out of life that I could.  That meant growing, so I went back to school so that I could continue to learn and explore.

The story has a somewhat happy ending, or maybe I should just say that we all learned some valuable lessons.   Even though it was years ago now and they say that time heals all wounds, I always feel a profound sense of sadness at this time of year and wish I could just hibernate until Easter is over.

What this time of year does is remind about the importance of building relationships, because those who take the time to really see you, and not just the façade you present to the world, are priceless beyond measure.  As a teacher, I know that my students face challenges outside the classroom that are difficult to deal with no matter what your age, including divorce, homelessness, abuse, illness, death and hunger.  As adults, we need to remember that kids brains are wired differently, and for teenagers whose brains aren't fully developed with hormones that are running rampant,  these issues are magnified.  Poverty and tragedy are not disabilities and we should have high expectations for all of our students, we just need to remember that some of them are just going to need a little more help to get there.  You can't teach them until you reach them.   



    

The Elephant in the Room- CCSS

 

 

      This week in NJ, new regulations were rolled out concerning teacher evaluation, which caused great angst across the state.  Districts are attempting to put new evaluation tools in place this year and give them a "test drive" before they become official.  This involves a lot of professional development time, in some districts all of the professional development time, in order to understand the evaluation tool and data management system and become well versed with them before state wide implementation in 2013-14.  All this work on evaluation takes time away from other valuable professional development and causes stress over the implications of evaluation outcomes.  Adding to this stress is poor communication, caused by the the lack of a shared language and limited understanding, which has put both teachers and administrators on edge. 

 

      Let me say here that I believe new evaluations are necessary, and if implemented properly, can help guide teachers in their development as practitioners. They are a good thing, and it is about time someone gave me some real analysis of my teaching and not just a narration of what they saw in class.

 

     However, evaluation reform has received so much press because of the high stakes attached to it that the flash-bang created by media coverage has blinded people from seeing the elephant in the room, Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and their implementation. 

 

     I like the CCSS and think there is merit in mastering the skills needed to be proficient or advanced proficient in any standard.  In NJ, we have rolled out CCSS implementation this year and not in a gradual way.  We didn't adopt the standards grade by grade as some states have, or even by subject area.  We went whole hog, and therein lies the rub.  With so much time spent trying to learn the new evaluation systems, we are seriously lacking in professional development for CCSS.  How many media centers have sufficient non-fiction resources to be able to have 30 students at a time compare several texts and identify central ideas?  How many math departments have enough manipulatives to give each class member enough so they can demonstrate their answers through modeling?  How many districts have reading specialists (an area of shortage) to help teachers in areas like social studies, science and CTE teach their students close reading strategies?  How many districts have looked at vertical articulation between grades to determine what your students should know when they get to you and what they will be learning in the next grade level?

      CCSS implementation with fewer and deeper standards require a shift in the way we teach, the curriculum we use, the time we spend and the materials we need to be successful.  It is not something that can be mastered in a half-day inservice's worth of professional development. It takes time, collaboration, support and resources.  In a recent EdWeek article from February 27th, Teachers Feel Unprepared for the Common Core Standards,  by EPE Research Center, it finds that teachers are unprepared to teach some of our students who need the most help including, low income, English language learners and students with disabilities.  Our teachers have many of the same concerns. 
 http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/02/27/22common_ep.h32.html?qs=Teachers+feel+unprepared+for+the+Common+Standards

     In NJ, there is a belief that CCSS have been implemented and are being used with fidelity throughout the state, but that is just not true.  Teachers have questions and want to know in their content-specific areas what the CCSS look like when implemented cohesively and comprehensively.  Can you identify the level of work that makes a student proficient or advanced proficient in your content area?  How about proficient versus partially proficient?  I know at this point I cannot, and I am a Teacher of the Year.  Can your administrators tell the difference between the varying levels of proficiency in student work?  Do they know what advanced proficient looks like in physics, art, music, or physical education?  What about welding, auto mechanics, health occupations, cosmetology or entertainment technology?  Last time I checked, cosmetology and CNA licensing were not based on the CCSS.  Can your administration tell what it looks like to teach a CCSS aligned lesson where the students will need to work independently without the teacher directing all parts of the lesson,  or collaborate, which may often look like chaos in the classroom? 

Here is why I am worried. 

      Our new evaluations for non-tested grades and subjects are 85% observation and 15% Student Growth Objectives (SGO).  What is being observed and measured?   The answer is how well you are implementing the CCSS, because that is what the evaluation instruments are aligning to.  When you set your student growth objective, what is it based on?  Either students passing an assessment, which should be Common Core aligned, or the ability to measure how proficient your students are on a particular Common Core standard.

     If you are in a tested area, 50% of your evaluation is based on observation, 35% is Student Growth Percentiles (SGP) based on the NJASK,  and the final 15% is based on SGOs.   The NJASK will soon be replaced by the PARCC assessment, which is based on CCSS, your observation will be based on CCSS and your SGO will be based on CCSS. 

Do you start to see the problem?  We are measuring something that most teachers have not been adequately trained to do, and do not have the proper supports and resources in place to be successful. 

We have been so blinded by the flash-bang of evaluation that we are worrying more about how we will be evaluated than the content we will be evaluated on. Big mistake. 

Ready, fire, aim. 

I Feel Good- James Brown

Well, it has been a while and I apologize for my extended absence.  The last you heard from me, I was helping with cleanup from Sandy and had just started a new adventure with a slight job detour for this school year.  I thought things would slow down from the frenetic pace of last year, but that is not the case.  Although I would not have believed it possible, my life has become busier.

 

Let's start with the aftermath of Sandy and the ongoing work of my friends and colleagues "down the shore." I am sad to say that things are far from fixed, and most of those displaced by the devastation that caused their homes to be ripped down to the studs, are still displaced.  The kids are still suffering both physically and mentally and it is evident in the schools. The teachers and counselors are dealing with much more of the soft skills as they address issues of grit, perseverance and growth mindsets before they can ever tackle content area information.  Besides that emotional support that schools and teachers can provide, the kids still need hats, gloves, coats, and will soon need new spring and summer clothes.  Just because a few pylons have been sunk to rebuild the boardwalk in Seaside does not mean that things are back to normal.  The people who make up the heart of these communities and live there year-round still need your help.  Thank you to my friends and STOY community for your generous donations to the schools along the NJ coast, they are much appreciated. However, major rebuilding needs to be done in people's homes and the recovery process will be ongoing.  If you would like to help, whatever your skill set might be, let me know and I will try to connect you to the schools or communities that need you. 

If you remember, this year I am on loan to my Dept of Education working as the Educator Outreach Coordinator.  I have missed the classroom and the connection to my students, but still hear from them often as they ask me for help with essays or advice or comment on my most recent adventure as they follow me on Twitter (@NJTOYMsD).  Working in a little pink cubicle is not the best setting for someone whose talents lie in working with people rather than computers.  However, things have been moving along in the world of educator outreach.  With a newsletter now going out monthly and Teacher Advisory Panels underway, communication is finally flowing and it is making a difference.

What the last year did for me, with the crazy schedule of speaking engagements, meetings and committees, was to get my foot in the door.  The question was, did I want to be brave and  pry that door open to go through to the great unknown, or was I comfortable and content where I was?  Well, it wouldn't be me if there weren't some adventure.  You never grow if you always do what you have always done.  I don't know what the future holds, but for now, I am going to go with the flow and see where it takes me. Can one person affect change on a different level in education? I don't know, but I am going to give it my best shot.

 

There have been a few speaking engagements since I began life in my cubicle.  After all, educator outreach involves being an ambassador of sorts who goes out to speak to people and put a human face on the teaching profession.  Two of the events had a profound impact on me.

 

The first was the Future Educators Association Conference that took place in January at The College of NJ.  I was the keynote speaker for a group of over 650 high school students who wanted to become teachers. What an opportunity!  The conference had been rescheduled because of Sandy, and on that cold January morning the students in that auditorium were bundled up against the chill like mummies after travelling across the state, many having left home in the very early hours of the morning to be there.  If I didn't connect with them quickly, they would soon enter the zombie-like state that happens when the temps are cold and the kids are tired.  I don't like to lecture when I speak, and find it is much better to have a conversation, although that can be difficult with 650+.  We laughed, sang, clapped, as we interacted and honestly got a little teary as I challenged them to find the person they considered to be their best teacher and say thank you.  We all need mentors who can serve as our Yoda or Zen master.  I never got the chance to thank one of my early influences who died before I got the chance to let her know the impact of the lessons she taught me in my earliest days of student teaching.  Not thanking her is something I regret not doing sooner, because thank you is a powerful statement.



With the NJ FEA state officers.

You don't often know the impact of what you do as a teacher, and when you do have those students who come back and tell you about the difference you made in your lives, it is like winning an Academy Award.  One thank you can provide the energy source to keep your batteries charged and make it through the tough times. I have a collection of  just such an assorted "love notes" from students including the first picture I ever received from a student while working as a substitute which cemented my decision to become a teacher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That cold January morning, I expected to give my speech, have some lunch and head back to my cubicle, but honestly had no idea the impact my "conversation" would have on the students in the audience.  I always make it a habit of posting my contact information on the last slide of my presentation, and these digitally connected kids reached out immediately.  My Twitter feed blew up as students thanked me, but the best part came later.  Letter after letter came in to my email account talking about how unsure they were before about becoming educators, but now they knew they could hold their heads up proudly as they proclaimed "I am going to be a teacher."  One young lady,  even called me her Yoda.  Back in my cubicle, I cried like a baby, and hung all of the letters to remind me on the difficult days when dealing with adults is not as easy as dealing with students, that educators make a difference. 

 

The second event occurred just this past week, but let me give you some background first. After a competitive application process, I am now one of twelve Hope Street Group National Teacher Fellows (HSG).  The organization strives to bring practitioners together with other policy makers and stakeholders to make the best decisions in areas such as education, health care and jobs.  http://www.hopestreetgroup.org/  While the fellows focus on education only, we strive to have teacher voice heard, especially in evaluation reform.  As a State TOY, I also belong to another teacher voice organization, the National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSOTY) www.nnstoy.org who advocate for career continuums and distributed leadership so that teachers can lead without having to leave the classroom.  I have found a new calling with these two groups, to get teacher voice heard from the local level to the national level and  to help teachers who are great teachers become great teacher leaders.  You would think that great teaching and great leading were synonymous, but sometimes teachers don't know what steps to take to develop as leaders because there are many obstacles. 

With STOYs, Kristie Martorelli (AZ2012), Sarah Brown Wessling (IA and NTOY 2010) and Tim Dove OH 2011-12

With the HSG crew and Tim

With HSG Fellow and co-presenter Doug Hodum

 

I found myself at the Gates Foundation Conference Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers (ECET²) presenting a workshop on teacher leadership and representing both groups.  Our workshop was packed, interactive, and by all accounts went well.  My HSG co-presenter, Doug, shared personal stories, gave people a toolkit to help them get started no matter what their level of leadership experience was and had them all devise plans for their return to their districts on Monday.  We also had them exchange contact info with a neighbor who would hold them accountable and contact them in a week.

 

The next morning, I was stopped by a teacher from Pittsburgh who was in our session.  With her voice cracking, she was visibly choked up as she proceeded to thank me for the inspiration we provided the day before.  With tears in her eyes, she explained that the children of color in her district were not being heard, and although she could help them in her classroom, she had no idea what else to do.  She credited our session with giving her concrete examples of how to move forward and now she knew exactly what she was going to do on Monday.  The conversation went on, but now I was choked up too as I gave her my card and told her to keep in touch and let me know if I could help. As I wrote the story down at the airport, I am sure people were wondering why there were tears running down my cheeks. 

 

I realized that making a difference happens both in an out of the classroom and it is no less powerful coming from an adult than from a student.  I may not have had a physical "love note" like I often get with my students, the memory of that teacher is one I will always treasure.  In the words of James Brown, "I feel good"

 

 

My City of Ruins- Bruce Springsteen

    

        I left Princeton last Saturday with a smile on my face.   The Forum and the events that followed reinforced my belief in the role of teacher leaders and the importance of having teacher voice in discussions about policy.  We had joked a little about the impending "Armageddon" and how people would panic and there wouldn't be any bread, milk or eggs left in the stores. 

Then Sandy hit.

 

    For two and a half days the storm raged.  A state of emergency was declared, everything was closed, two million people in NJ lost power and people hunkered down.  When things finally calmed down, people warily poked their heads outside and looked around like turtles emerging from their shells.  For those that had power, the images on TV that now resembled a war zone seemed too incredible to be real. The majority of the Jersey shore was washed away, towns flooded, and life came to a halt while we assessed the damage. Even Halloween was cancelled. 

 

 

     My first concern was for my loved ones, and I made sure they were alright,  but as I watched the news coverage, my heart broke.  I travelled to so many of the areas I saw on TV this past year as NJ State Teacher of the Year, and I knew teachers in every county.  The boundaries of my "school district" had widened to include the entire state, and I felt helpless in the face of this disaster. 

 

      In 17 years of teaching, I have learned a few things about the role of schools in our students lives.  First, schools are safe havens for many students.  I have had students who are homeless or living in terrible conditions; some don't know where their next meal is coming from.  Others are subjected to home lives that are filled with violence, neglect or abuse.  Schools are the one place where students can go where they can forget about all the other things they have no control over.  There is a routine, there are adults that care about them and there are warm meals.  School not only feeds the intellect and shows us that there are choices in life, it provides some stability in an unpredictable world. 

 

      For many students here in NJ, the stability provided by school is gone, because their schools have been severely damaged or destroyed.   Many are being used as emergency shelters.  Like balloons set adrift, these students are without anchor.  No homes and no schools.  In the short term, they will be bussed to places that are unfamiliar to them and placed in classes where they are strangers and the other students have already bonded.  They will struggle to get by as they live in shelters or the homes of friends and family, their routine completely disrupted. It is going to take months if not years to rebuild, and that thought is daunting.

 

      Then I remembered that a small band of determined people can make a difference.  I am only one person, but with a little help from my friends across the state and country, we can help get these teachers and students back on track.  Surely, if anyone knows the value of schools, it is teachers.  Classroom supplies are needed and libraries need to be restocked.  Imagine not only losing all the belongings in your house, but everything in your classroom as well.  Think about all the money you have invested over the years for bulletin boards, craft supplies, books, technology, resources etc. and then imagine starting all over again.  Towns are going to need to rebuild homes and infrastructure.  In NJ, schools are supported by property taxes.  How can we ask those who have lost everything to pay more?   We are going to need to adopt classrooms and schools and help them in their recovery.  The NJEA and NJDOE are in the process of compiling a list of schools which should be available next week.  For those of you not effected directly by Sandy, how much do you value other children's education?  What are you willing to do to help?

 

       Within NJ, I have been hearing reports from all over the state from county and state TOYs who have been helping their neighbors.  There are schools all over the state being used as shelters which are full of people who need supplies and showers because the power has been out for a week already.  And then there are places where teachers live which have been devastated.  They are not going to be able to care for other people's children in their classrooms, until they take care of their own families. Donating to the Red Cross is great, but it does not help people pull up carpets and remove appliances and furniture.  It also can't be that familiar face that shows up to say you are not alone and give a hug to those that don't know how they will start over again. 

 

      Inactivity and I don't go well together; I never have been good at 'down time'.  After helping some friends in Somers Point earlier this week, I was anxious to get back out there and put some of my archaeology skills to work.  A friend and excellent teacher leader, Michael Dunlea the 2012 Ocean County TOY was hard hit in Stafford Twp.  Once he got power back, he started organizing and finding out which teachers needed help gutting their houses after the flooding that hit Manahawkin,which is just inland from Long Beach Island.  A few people turned into an army of volunteers.  One of the first houses that was gutted volunteered to be the meeting place for all the volunteers to come and have some food, get warm and use the bathroom.  Mind you, this neighborhood still has no power, so all the food is donated and getting warm simply involves coming out of the draft.  This morning, temps were in the mid 40's and the crowd was dispersed to multiple addresses that had been texted to Michael. Despite the gasoline shortages effecting 2/3 of NJ, I  had travelled to Ocean County to be one of the volunteers.  When we finished cleaning out the homes of Stafford Twp. staffers and their families, we freelanced and helped anyone who needed it. 

 

      The devastation I witnessed was horrible.  There are many people, including local teachers, police and firefighters who live in these towns year round.  Imagine everything on the first floor of your house that touches the floor or is lower than three feet having to be thrown out.  Dresser drawers are swollen shut with moisture and furniture is waterlogged.  Imagine the water from the bay soaking your home so that the carpets are still sopping wet and the sheet rock, floorboards and electric are destroyed.  Imagine having to throw out all of your appliances and food.  What if your home is only one story?  Where do you go and what do you do with the items you have managed to salvage?  After 5 days of water, imagine the mold. 



You can see the high water line.



Stuff we pulled out of a house.



That boat is not supposed to be there!



You can see the spray painted symbols.



The carpets still soaking wet.
 

 

      

      I saw houses with boats lodged into them, houses where you were able to look right through from front to back because walls had been washed away, houses that had been lifted off of their foundations with the deluge of water and had landed off kilter.  There were houses that had been spray painted with yellow symbols to show that they were condemned. These are not all summer homes of the super wealthy, there are a lot of shore dwellers who live there year round including teachers, police, firefighters and EMTs. I helped a widow who had lived in her house for 30 years who had no family nearby and had lost everything.  Despite the devastation in Beach Haven West where we were, the reality was that there was even worse waiting on the other side of the bridge in LBI.  A few folks were allowed closer today and they said that  besides all the water and wind damage, everything is covered in at least two inches of muddy sludge.  There are also two schools on the island. 

 

      I was back in a classroom this week doing some guest teaching so that I can complete my National Board Certification. My first day with my students was their first day back after the storm. Many were still without power and before I could even begin to teach, we had to have a discussion about what had happened and I had to make sure my student's basic needs were met. Empathy is an important part of teaching because you can't teach them until you reach them. I applauded the students who came to school despite having no power, but I understood exactly why they were there. But how do you learn when you are cold, hungry and don't know if you have a home to return to?  It reinforced the idea that you can't address learning until you address the other socioeconomic needs of our students. Students need wrap around services to support them so they can succeed. 
 

     I returned from my day tired, sore and smelling of stagnant bay water.  I took a warm shower, had some dinner and realized how lucky I am because there are so many people who are still doing without.  We are on gas rations up north, there are still 500,000 people without power and there are many people who have lost everything and had their lives changed forever.  In my travels this week, I saw several caravans of electric trucks on their way up north to help from Texas, New Mexico and Mississippi.  They were a beautiful and most welcome sight.  Everyone is good at something and has a special talent, which is why it bothers me to see others go on with life as usual when things are so desperate for others.  Get out and help!  If these people running marathons today would take their physical strength and go help clean out houses, we could get the job done much faster.  Time is of the essence, because the temperatures have dipped to freezing and there is another Nor'easter on the way for Wednesday.

 

I am one person and alone my contribution is negligible, but as a group of people working together we can make a big difference.   Everyone seems to be talking about the boardwalk, no one is talking about the schools yet, and they will be low on the list of priorities for these towns that have been hard hit.  But teachers all across the country know the role that a school plays in a student's life.  Let's do what we can.

We will try to fix you.     

A symbol of hope?

 

Defying Gravity- Wicked

Katy Smith...this one is for you!  Time for a change of music and attitude. Time to defy gravity!

 

 

Something has changed within me

Something is not the same

I'm through with playing by the rules

Of someone else's game

Too late for second-guessing

Too late to go back to sleep.
It's time to trust my instincts

Close my eyes: and leap!
 

It's time to try

Defying gravity

I think I'll try

Defying gravity

And you can't pull me down!

 

The Educational Forum of NJ

       Here in NJ, the NJ State Teacher of the Year (NJSTOY) attends and speaks at many events throughout their reign, but one of the most rewarding for me has been the Educational Forum of NJ. Once tasked with this event, my historian training kicked in and I wanted to find out why and how this event came to be, so I started digging.  Begun by NJSTOY Katherine Bassett in 2000 along with a group of County Teachers of the Year (CTOYs), the event was organized for teachers, by teachers, in order to recognize our honored educators and give them the time to come together to discuss, learn, and creatively problem solve around some of educations most topical issues.  It has emerged as the capstone program for the Teacher of the Year and is sponsored by ETS, the NJDOE and NJEA.  Think about that; business, government and the union coming together for a day run for teachers, by teachers.  In NJ that is about as rare as Haley's Comet. 

 

 

        Anyone who knows me knows that I have a lot of big ideas, but for me the devil is in the details, and there were a lot of details associated with the organizing and running of this Forum. I have to say I called in major favors to get things done, and despite the obstacles and stress, it was a most amazing day. 

 

       Two people I could not have survived without were Dani Kovach and Katherine Bassett.  Dani helped me put the party favors together and actually came down a day early to help me set up for the Forum.  We were in the Barn at 10:00 on Thurs night stuffing folders and hanging posters.  Having run the Forum last year, she kept me sane and was a huge support throughout the event, helped organize registration, took over the dispersal of PD certificates and even got people to sign a poster for me.  Katherine, I can never say enough about.  Not only did she help me to see the vision for the Forum, she helped me focus when the stress seemed overwhelming.  By the time I came out of my 8am meeting with facilitators on Friday, she was already manning the registration table.  On top of registration and facilitating, she also managed a beautiful introduction of Charlotte Danielson.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      After returning from several of the big events I attended this year, people kept asking me how they went.  I remember telling people over and over that the awards were nice, but I wished that other educators could feel as honored, respected, and heard as I did, even if it was only for a day. There are so many teachers who are amazing at what they do and never get recognition.  My goal  for the Forum was to make these educators feel like the rock stars they are and give them the opportunity to meet other amazing educators and share ideas, thereby widening their perspective. Meeting other passionate and innovative educators was one of the best things about my journey this year.  Hearing what was going  on across my state and across the country opened my eyes, widened my perspective, and made me dream of what could be.  My hopes were that by promoting each other, we can begin to help elevate the profession by reaching out and pulling each other up.  We are stronger and work better when we work together. 

 

       I used the Singapore model of educators as gems to illustrate the theme for the day.  Tough, brilliant, multi-faceted, an inner heat and value beyond price, these were the ideas I wanted to get across.   I didn't have the money to bestow lavish gifts on everyone or have the ability to introduce them to the President, but I could allow them to network, be heard, valued, and gain a perspective wider than the four walls of their classroom. 

 

 

 

       So many PD days are spent simply lecturing teachers, and I didn't want that to be the case.  We began the day with an idea that I called evaluation speed dating.  The idea came from Peggy Stewart and so an idea turned into a vision and with a little help from NJEA in making the posters, came to fruition.  The idea was this, have people gather around 1 of 15 pictures of geographic features such as a beach.  The posters say, Evaluation is like a beach because.....  People gather around a poster, introduce themselves, exchange business cards and then brainstorm for three minutes about the poster.  After 4 minutes they switch to another picture that captures their eye and start all over again.  This was done three times.  It was refreshing, at 9:30 in the morning, to see everyone up and enthusiastically discussing the topic.  There was a palpable vibe of positive energy in the room.  The ground rules were simply this, positive gripes but no sour grapes.  It worked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

     We managed to get Charlotte Danielson to be the keynote speaker for the Forum, which was nothing short of miraculous.  She was simply wonderful, and had the group hooked with her humor and stories of when she was a teacher.  At the end, people lined up like groupies (me included) to get a picture.  Then it was off to the break out sessions.

 

 

NJSTOYs with Charlotte, L-R Jeanne Muzi 2009, Jeanne DelColle 2012, Charlotte Danielson, Bob Goodman 2006 Diane Cummins 2004

 

 

 

 

 

      So the one thing I neglected to say was that this Forum had about 140 people in attendance.  It was award winning or honored educators who were invited to bring a guest, preferably an administrator. With 140 people, that made 14 groups of 10 people each, but we only had enough room for 12 groups.  Details, details.... I needed some help from my friends.

 

        I called on all of the veteran CTOYs who would be attending, a few NJSTOYs and a committee member to be my facilitators.  I knew they were good, most of them had been facilitating forums with NJCTY for the last year, and I trusted them with not only my reputation, but the reputation of the Forum.  I was not disappointed.  More importantly, I needed their help.  In the past, training for the new CTOYs took place the day before the Forum and so the new CTOYs would facilitate.  It is important to give people a chance to lead, particularly outside of their own districts, where it can often be difficult.  I wanted to include them too.  So, I created a buddy system, a veteran facilitator with a new CTOY.  I designed the pairs as having something in common, but they were not from the same county.  The point was to get people talking to people they didn't already know.  Step outside their comfort zones.  In true teacher style, we did modeling.  The veteran ran the first session, the CTOY took notes.  In the second session, both the veteran and CTOY shared.  In the third session, the CTOY ran the session, the veteran provided guidance.  Each breakout session was 25-30 minutes.  I am telling you, I had to go around and break up the groups to get them to move on, even to lunch!  They were so involved in their discussions, I didn't want to break them up.   The breakout session were based on questions that dealt with the role of teacher leaders in shaping the evaluation process, and each hit on different domains of the Teacher Leader Model Standards so that we covered them all.  It was awesome! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      The end of the day found us back in the room known as the Barn, for reporting out and closing.  Remember I asked a while ago what would make educators feel honored?  Most of you said having something from the kids.  Well, I couldn't make that happen, but it gave me a brainstorm.  I asked all the award winning educators to send me a picture of themselves either with their students or winning their award.  Most of them did.  I made a video which first had their name, school, award and year, followed by the picture they sent.  Throughout the whole video was an Olympic fanfare followed by Josh Grobin's You Raise Me Up.  There were applause at the end of the Forum.  Applause...how often does that happen at the end of a day of PD, on a Friday?  Not only did we leave everyone with some valuable PD, but a little memento from the day.  A little bag of mints with a gem inside.  On the tag, it said, Thanks for you commit"mint". You are a gem. 

 

 

 

     I also managed to get my first NJDOE initiative approved for roll out.  NJ will be setting up three regional Teacher Advisory Panels to discuss policy issues just like we did at the Forum.  Topics will change every month, but the fact that teachers will have an open dialogue with the NJDOE delights me more than I can say.  Anyone who is interested in an application should contact me at jeanne.delcolle@doe.state.nj.us.      

 

      I have had nothing but positive feedback from the Forum and several people have told me that they cant wait to get back to school to start these conversations with their own people. 

 

2011-2012 CTOYs My friends and some of the best facilitators EVER!

 

       The evening was followed by a dinner for the newest group of CTOYs and you could see that their confidence has already grown.  There were smiles for days and many friendships cemented.  I couldn't have asked for anything more.  I am honored to know and be able to work with such an amazing group of educators. 

 

CTOYs and STOYs old and new.  Quite a family!

 

 A weekend of success, because of the teamwork of some amazing educators and friends.  This is only the beginning, it is time to defy gravity.