FAST

Friday morning I had the pleasure of speaking at the opening session for the Florida Association of Science Teachers. Science teachers from around the state gathered at the Double Tree Hotel near Universal Studios to learn about the new state science benchmarks, attend workshops covering a multitude of topics and browse and talk with vendors filling the exhibit hall.
Prior to my speech three outstanding science educators were introduced and recognized as Presidential Award Winners for Mathematics and Science. An incredible accomplishment! It was my honor to start the morning off by acknowledging the wonderful changes taking place in science within Florida. What a great time to be a science educator! Thanks to those early birds who came out - believe me the place became packed as the workshops got underway.

Florida Association of Science Supervisors

This seems to be a week of conferences. Today I was invited to FASS as part of a group of Florida Science Standards writers presenting an overview of the proposed World Class Standards. Our audience was a meeting of district Science Supervisors from across the state. Tomorrow I return to give a brief presentation regarding elementary science labs.

Lake Eustis Institute

I just got in from an evening environmental education presentation in Eustis. Eustis is a great town north of Orlando that is reinventing itself and is providing citizens with a variety of cultural and educational experiences. I was the third in a series of talks about Florida's dwindling resources.
Technology failed me this evening as my computer and projector refused to talk to each other! The wonderful people of Eustis were quite patient and I was happy to share more about how environmental education plays a vital role in science education. A special thanks to Bill Ferree and Rod Harris for allowing me to be a part of the evening.

Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

This morning I spoke to administrators and teachers representing the second largest parochial school system in the country. It was a great opportunity to look at the challenges and rewards we all share working with children. Thanks to Nancy Melashenko, Associate Superintendent of Education for the invitation and the educators who welcomed me.
The picture is a break out group of teachers I met who are spending the day sharing ideas and working on multi-disciplinary unit explorations.

Alumnus of the Decade

Friday evening I was among a group chosen by the University of Central Florida College of Education to be honored as Alumni of the Decade. UCF College of Education is celebrating its 40th anniversary and this was a evening bring our community together to celebrate our College, our faculty and alumni. I can't begin to express what this evening meant to me. I received my undergraduate and Master's Degrees from UCF, I met my wife in classes at UCF, I have worked for UCF as an adjunct instructor and my professional life is the result of my experiences at UCF.
It was incredible to see people that I went to school with so many years ago, professors who had such dramatic impact upon my life, and college administrators who shaped this great college. I want to thank Dr. Mike Hynes who was my undergraduate and graduate professor of elementary mathematics, my mentor and my friend throughout my career. Mike nominated me for this honor and I am in his debt. I was joined in recognition with an incredibly accomplished group of alumni. Honored were three Florida school district superintendents; two former state teachers of the year; a district school board member; at least two former, or current, state principals of the year; national and state award winning educators from all disciplines; a college dean; distinguished and successful business and community leaders; and our incoming Florida Commissioner of Education, Dr. Eric Smith.
It was wonderful to meet Dr. Smith, his guidance is one example of how UCF will continue to impact the face of education in the Florida and around the country. I am incredibly proud to be a UCF Knight! Thank you Dean Sandra Robinson for your continued leadership and allowing all of us to share in this inspiring evening.

Grant reading

Wednesday morning I joined members of the business community and the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools in a few hours of reading and evaluating grants written by OCPS teachers covering a variety of innovative topics. The Foundation provides a multitude of grants, underwritten through our business community, which allows teachers to purchase materials and implement programs otherwise unavailable to them. We met at the Orlando Museum of Art and I had a great time reading these proposals. It was incredibly difficult because all of the proposals I read were worthy, well written and should be funded.
What a great opportunity for education when funding is available to teachers. I would encourage more businesses to invest in education and give our teachers the tools to provide innovation and excellence. We all have an interested in our students future.

An interview

Wednesday afternoon I was interviewed by the Trinity Broadcasting Network for their television program, "Joy in Our Town". It was a great opportunity to talk about the importance of early learning experiences, bringing real-world problem solving experiences into the classroom and the important partnership parents play in support of a child's educational experience. I'm not sure when it will broadcast, but look for it.
It was a wonderful experience and the folks made me feel quite at ease and allowed me to continue to share the message of learning. Thanks to Sylvia Yampierre, Public Affairs Director,and the great people at Trinity for allowing me this opportunity.

Florida College Access Network

I was in Tampa today speaking at a wonderful meeting, the Florida College Access Network Conference. FCAN is administered through the Office of Equity and Access in the DOE. It exists to promote partnerships and encourage collaboration among college access and readiness programs in Florida committed to increasing the number of college bound students. The network includes programs that address the needs of racial and ethnic minority students, students with limited English proficiency, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students.
I was part of a panel presentation discussing how we can connect with students and addressing the question: How do we do what we do better? Joining me was Thomas Adams, 2008 Pasco County District Teacher of the Year and James Gibbs II, 2008 Hillsborough County District Teacher of the Year. Tom teaches 11th grade math and Joe is an 8th grade math teacher. We met at the State Roundtable for District Teachers of the Year and it was great to join them in this event.

Butterfly House

People share great things with me from time to time and I want to pass this great one on. Ed Olson-Moore is the 8th grade Science Department Co-Chair at Meadowbrook Middle School in Orlando and sent this great butterfly house to share. Below are the directions and explanation in Ed's own words:

Here are the pictures of the butterfly enclosure. The enclosure is 27” H x 23” W X 15” D; the frame is thin wall PVC from an old clothes hamper. PVC window screen can be hot glued or hot ironed on with a soldering iron. It sits on a counter top. You need to put down newspaper below it to take care of caterpillar droppings.

Students bring in a few caterpillars with a section of host plant. If more host plant is needed, they bring in more from the same plant, to eliminate using plant material that has been sprayed. Last year I brought in a milkweed plant that I purchased at a nursery, and the only caterpillar that survived to metamorphose was the one that stayed on the small piece of original host plant material. (I’ve learned my lesson!)

The plant stem is recut and immediately placed in a container of water, which is then placed inside the enclosure. I now have a mesh cover on the water jar because a large Imperial Moth caterpillar, which grew from eggs that were laid in the enclosure, travelled down the stem and held on, even under water. I found it and managed to pull it off, but it died a few days later.

The pupal and adult stage pictures are of the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly.

We have had a few butterfly and moth caterpillars metamorphose in our enclosure, including the Gulf Frittary, Monarch, and Oleander Moth. After the butterflies/moths emerge, they are kept in the classroom for a day, then released, so all my students get a chance to see them. When we are housing caterpillars or pupal stages, my students check on them, on a daily basis, as they walk into the classroom.
Thanks to Ed for sharing this with all of us!

Celebrity Chef

Wednesday night I had the opportunity to share in a wonderful event. Dommerich Elementary School invited me to participate in Ready, Set, Cook and Eat - a Healthy Kids Challenge. Co-sponsored by the school and the Winter Park Health Foundation this event brought the families of Dommerich together to learn more about healthy lifestyles.

I was joined in this celebrity event by our OCPS Superintendent, Ron Blocker; OCPS Chief Operations Officer, Dr. Nick Gledich; and Orlando Sentinel Cooking and Healthy Lifestyle reporter, Linda Shrieves. Serving in support was Central Area Superintendent, James Lawson. I can report that I was over matched for this event. We were each paired with wonderful student chefs from the fourth and fifth grades who proved to be the real cooks in the event.

Each group was given a group of mystery ingredients and 30 minutes in which to create a complete, healthy meal. The results ranged from thick sandwiches to Pita Bread delights, to masterfully created wraps to our group's entry, Breadless Chicken Parmesian. I would have gladly eaten anything created by any of the groups - they looked great!

This was a great time and I want to thank Dommerich principal, Robbie McNabb; her wonderful staff who came out and showed such pride in their students and school family; the fantastic parents who did such an amazing job setting up this event; and the Orange County Public Schools Food Services group who came out as support for the event.

We talk about the need for school partnerships with families, business and the community and I was part of a wonderful example of this idea in action.

But the highest praise must go to our students participants: Haley, Sam, Victoria, Kaitlyn, Zachary, Olivia F., Alejandra, Horanadis, Adelia, Olivia G., Jianni, Avery and Danielle. If I left anyone out let me know because these students were amazing - both in their ability to cook and in their ability to solve problems under the eyes of hundreds of students and parents in the audience. Such composure! What great chefs!!!!

Welcome!

To those who may have just seen mention of my blog on Just For Teachers, welcome! If you've ever wondered what the Florida Teacher of the Year does I hope to provide some answers throughout the year. Poke around and let me know what you think. I don't post every day - just if I think it would be of interest to you. I am happy to answer most questions you might have. I get a few about gardening ideas and identifying insects.

I am always looking for an opportunity to share what others are doing. I would love to visit your school (and you will find information regarding the process) or if you have something neat to share (a garden hint, a favorite project, or a special school event) I would love to post it. I can only share pictures of classrooms where students have signed releases on file. So become part of my year!

Happy Birthday

This week was special in my family for another reason. Thursday, October 4th, was my brother Mike's birthday. When I speak across the state I often tell stories of my youth and the crazy things my little brother and I would do. 18 months separates us. As the older brother it was my job to torment and include my brother in my misadventures. We have two younger brothers, but Mike was my partner and co-conspirator. I will not post his picture so that he doesn't have to go into hiding. But I look back fondly at our youth and hope other brothers share in such a neat bond.

The end of a busy week

Friday I returned to the K-12 Conference and was part of a workshop presented by Lance King of the DOE. Lance is the Secondary Science Resource Teacher for the Math and Science Department, headed by Mary Jane Tappen. Our presentation centered on the new Florida World Class Science Standards. Lance provided a compelling reason for the changes we are working on. I provided the elementary school perspective.

As the standards are provided for review the importance of sharing the message with teachers across the state in important. On my blog is a link to the Math and Science
Department for the Florida Department of Education. This site will give you information regarding the science standards and help in the viewing of the proposed revised standards. Your input is a vital part of the process and I encourage all classroom teachers to participate in the process.

Rope Course

Day 2 of the leadership Orlando orientation took us to the Center for Drug Free Living where we spent a day participation in a low rope course. Now low rope course is misleading. I don't consider 30 feet off the ground low! And with a long history of back surgery and pain, I spent a great deal of my time providing support for some of the activities.

Visionary Ventures was the group that facilitated the experience and provided wonderful support. Breaking into groups we went through a series of team building activities that took me back to my days of rope courses as a Boy Scout leader. I have to brag on my group. We had representatives from banking, education, business, community services, transportation, law, WDW and estate planning. No doctors, they know better! We may have not been the most physical group (I'm speaking for me), but we were definitely the most creative and had to have had the most fun! I watched with envy as many in my group climbed 30 foot poles, walked tight ropes and jumped off of poles (yes they were wearing rappelling gear!)with success. We problem solved how to leave an imaginary volcanic island, how to get through a "spiders web" and used our ingenuity balancing on a telephone pole. In true innovative spirit we freely adapted rules to meet our goals.
You will be hearing more about Leadership Orlando Class 74 in the months to come as we meet and continue to learn about our wonderful region.

Leadership Orlando

On Wednesday I attended my orientation session of Class 74 of Leadership Orlando. Sponsored by the Central Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce, these classes bring together leaders from business, government, civic and community based organizations. Leadership Orlando was established as " a community-wide effort to ensure a solid base of informed and effective leaders who will meet and address the present and future challenges facing Central Florida". My participation was the result of a scholarship provided by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools.

I wasn't sure what an elementary science teacher was doing there at first, but I realize what a great opportunity exists to share the educator's perspective and bring back the wealth of knowledge and resources found in the room. These classes have been taking place since 1975 and we are the 74th class, and recognized as such.

Wednesday was spent meeting our classmates, learning about the steps of building partnerships, expectations and an overview of our region. Most surprising to me was our group representation. We are a class of 77 members. Forget your misconceptions, this group is is made up of fairly young, successful transplants. Only a handful of the group has lived in Orlando prior to 1970. It was fascinating to hear each groups take on the Central Florida I grew up in.

Recognizing School Administrators

Later in the day I was allowed to welcome conference attendees to the K-12 Conference and meet a number of wonderful teachers from across the state. To those I gave dinner suggestions to, I hope I did a good job at entertainment director!

Tuesday evening. at the Commissioners Summit for Principals I spoke at the Department of Educations and the Florida Association of School Administrators Awards Dinner to recognize Outstanding Leadership in Schools. It was my honor to talk about the principals who have positively impacted my life and been a part of where I am today. I have a high regard for the difficulty associated with being an effective administrator. It's a role that I know I'm not suited to. The great administrators I've worked for allowed me to do what I do best, work with kids. I want to again congratulate and thank those administrators that were honored.

Sunshine Connections

While the K-12 Conference took place I attended a meeting of the Statewide Advisory Council to which I am now a member. In partnership between the Department of Education, Microsoft Corporation and K-20 partners across the state Sunshine Connections has been created, and will be implemented as a new teacher/educator classroom management tool. Specifically it is a web-based portal of resources for educators that complements resources we already have available. It is organized around five kinds of information:

1. Student performance data from both the district and state (such as FCAT) organized in charts and graphs so users can aces the strengths and weaknesses of classes and individual students.

2. Curricular resources to support the new and revised Sunshine State Standards. Resources will include lesson plans to enhance what we may already be using.

3. Instructional strategies resources involving best practices or classroom management

4. Training/professional development resources that will allow teachers to learn about requirements for their IPDP plans and access in-service opportunities (some on line, many in the future will include video lessons).
5. Support resources including a statewide online, pre-populated Individualized Improvement Plan (IEP) for our students with disabilities.

If this sounds ambitious I would agree. But this has been in the works and has been partially implemented over the last year. When every district joins this connection we should see a seamless ability to obtain information on transfer students in a very quick manner. no more waiting for weeks for information on transfer students within the state.

A great meeting with lots of questions, concerns and hope. This particular committee also gave me an opportunity to meet up with three former State Teachers of the Year and compare notes. Great meeting!

A busy week

I am quite late updating due to a very busy week. The state science standards writing has continued all week through email correspondence and should be available for review by the DOE very soon.

In addition, this week I attended a number of functions at the K-2 Conference and Innovation Fair held at the Caribe Royale Hotel Conference Center in Orlando. In conjunction with this conference was the Commissioner's Summit for Principals at which I was a guest.

And in between all of this I attended Leadership Orlando classes sponsored by the Central Florida Region Chamber of Commerce. Look at the next postings for more specific information regarding this week.