The National TOY Mission

Today was a long, but productive day. The National Teacher of the Year program is sponsored by The Council of Chief State School Officers and the ING Foundation. Today we were challenged by a number of speakers to think more about how we can provide better advocacy for education. We learned about federal/national trends in education and reflected on how we can become agents of change. Members of the National State Teachers of the Year organization spoke of a continued our role, a continued association and an opportunity to impact education after our year ends.
We also learned more about upcoming events for the year. We will be in Washington D.C. in April, Space Camp during the summer and attend a conference in Princeton, NJ in the fall.

The day ended with a wonderful reception and dinner hosted by eInstruction at the Dallas World Aquarium. There we were entertained by a demonstration of Mayan culture and dancing. The food was great, the conversation was better and I personally am exhausted!

The Best Teacher of the Year Coordinator

Bonita Hampton is the Florida Teacher of the Year Coordinator and is responsible for the wonderful program we have. It is an eye opener to see the mixed level of support other TOYs receive. It is incredibly obvious to me that Florida owes a great deal to the efforts of our coordinator, Bonita Hampton. From scheduling my visits, to advocating my involvement at the DOE to going out and constantly increasing the level of corporate support for the Florida TOY Bonita works tirelessly. She is the envy of many of the states participating this week and was asked to present to share the success of the Florida program with the other coordinators attending. Than you Bonita for all that you do for me personally and for all that you do for the teachers of Florida.

First Day at the National Teacher of the Year Conference

Wow! Most of the day was spent learning about the technological package every state TOY receives from SMART Technology. I know I'm going to love my new SMART Board! The day was also spent meeting more of the other TOYs. Great group of educators I'm proud to be among.
The evening was spent at a reception/dinner with all of the state coordinators joining us.

A Trip to Dallas

Tuesday was spent flying to Dallas which meant a great reading opportunity, airplane food and a landing crosswind of 50 mph. Welcome to Dallas. I registered and attended a reception for all of the state TOYs last evening. I'm meeting some wonderful teachers that are doing outstanding things in classrooms across the country.

I was also surprised to learn how much more involved Florida is than many states. I met teachers who remain in the classroom, but must also go across their state speaking, giving workshops and representing teachers - lots of substitutes, lots of disruptions, lots of evenings and all stretched thin. As much as I long for my lab, I can't imagine representing Florida every day traveling and also juggling travel with quality teaching in the classroom. Some states use the Teacher of the Year as a one time award, we use it as a way of advocacy for children. Thank you Florida!

On to Dallas

Monday I pack and Tuesday I fly out to Dallas, Texas to participate in the National Teacher of the Year Annual Conference. I will be joined by all of the State TOYs from around the country for almost a week of workshops, networking, and fellowship. Former Florida TOYs have said this is one of the highlights of the state calendar and I'm looking forward to learning as much as possible from these outstanding educators. I'm taking my laptop and will try to update the events through out the week.

Florida Future Educators Association

Sunday morning I was back at the Florida Hotel as the closing session keynote speaker. I had incredible shoes to fill! Saturday's keynotes were Ken Carter (aka Coach Carter), an incredibly inspirational speaker who was the focus and title character of a movie and Randy Scott. Randy is the 2003 Florida Department of Education/Macy's Teacher of the year, a former football player for the San Diego Chargers, Alachau County administrator and another incredibly gifted speaker.

I want to thank the students and their sponsors for being an incredibly generous and forgiving audience. There will never be a movie made about my life (though I hold out hope for a five minute cartoon!) but I tried to share my love of teaching young children and the pride I have in our profession.

The true highlight of the breakfast were the awards to groups and individuals who displayed incredible talents creating Power Point presentations highlighting the accomplishments of FEA chapters, essay contest and speech winners. I was captivated by the skill of the group of future educators.

A thank you must go out to conference chairperson, Chadwick Myrick; the tireless Florida Department of Education staff; the presenters who were outstanding, and the dedicated FEA school chapters sponsors and sponsors who worked together to create such a memorable event.

Conference Day

Saturday found at two different conferences in Central Florida. In the morning I was a guest of UCF and attended the National Holmes Partnership conference at the Hilton Hotel at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The groups involved are promoting partnerships between school districts across the country and interested university systems, business groups and others interested in educational innovation. I met some informative people from Rhode Island, Minnesota and Texas who shared intriguing partnerships that are producing great results. Neat morning!
I left the Holmes conference and traveled to the Florida Hotel in Orlando which is linked to our Florida Mall. There I attended the Florida Future Educators Association where I gave a workshop about elementary science directed at to an enthusiastic group of high school and university students interested in becoming teachers.

Citrus County "Galaxy of Stars"

Thursday afternoon I drove over to Citrus Springs and joined the Citrus County Education Foundation honor their schools as they celebrated their Teachers of the Year and Support Persons of the Year. Also there was Citrus County's Scott Hebert, the 1996 Florida Department of Education/Macy's Teacher of the Year. I was privileged to say a few words about teaching, share a wonderful meal provided by Outback Steak House and celebrate the announcement of the district winners.

Pat Lancaster is the point person for this event and created an incredible memory for all of those attending.

A Little PR

Susan Joyner, a friend at South Woods Elementary, sent me a clipping from the St. Augustine Record regarding my visit to her school. A reporter was there for the workshop and I was on the front page of the newspaper last week (must have been a really slow news day!). I was described as a salt and pepper Kenny Rogers look alike! Of course one picture was taken from behind me looking out at the audience. Trust me, there isn't much of a resemblance from that view! My bald spot was the most pronounced part of the picture! So much for ego. All in all it was a nice article and much appreciated. My Dad, mother in law and cat are all be impressed.
Anyone interested should be able to cut and paste this link to the article - http://staugustine.com/stories/011708/news_txt_027.shtml

Osceola Elementary School

Another wonderful trip to St. Johns County and a visit to Osceola Elementary in St. Augustine. I spent the morning working with grade levels during their planning time and the afternoon with the full faculty. An amazing school that is receptive to making the commitment to more science in the curriculum. Thanks for a great day. Thanks to fifth grade teacher, Mitch Gurick for the invitation and principal, Nancy Little for making me feel a part of her wonderful staff.

Marion County Staff Development

Friday found me back on the road early for another trip to Ocala. I spent the morning with a group of fifth grade math and science teachers and talked about what science inquiry looks like in the elementary school classroom. I've put together a Power Point from my lab and others I have visited to show how we organize materials and manage time. Great group, thanks for inviting me!

South Woods Elementary

Wednesday afternoon I spoke to the staff at South Woods Elementary school in Elkton, FL. Elkton is in St. Johns County on the far west side of the district (near that produce stand!) in a very rural part of their district. This is a relatively new school working in a community with a struggling population. Many of us teach in a school like this and the challenges are almost as huge as the rewards. My experience has taught me that a letter grade rarely tells the story of hard work, dedication or the enthusiasm of a staff. I met some of the students, walked this beautiful school and enjoyed the company of the teachers and I believe there is more success taking place than we can measure.

I also reconnected with an old friend, Susan Joyner! My OCPS family will never forget Susan. She is an incredible teacher; was the OCPS District Teacher of the Year in 1989; for many years was part of that wonderful kindergarten family we developed as a district (when kindergarten went full time my wife and I were both teaching kindergarten and all of the district kindergarten teachers would come together monthly for ice cream socials, workshops, and fun. All of this took place under the leadership of a great friend (now retired), Sarah Sprinkel. Susan Joyner was a regular member of our group, went on to new grades and had new adventures and now has a wonderful class at South Woods. Susan's husband, Joe is Superintendent of schools in St. Johns County and is a former OCPS principal and district administrator. Both are missed by our district!

Traveling

A lot of my time as Florida TOY involves driving from one place to another. This week I've driven from Orlando to Jacksonville, Jacksonville to Ocala, and now Ocala to St. John's County (near St. Augustine), and then home. Later in the week I drive up and back to Ocala. Sounds kind of boring don't you think? Well Wednesday driving through rural Florida I went from horse farms to the woods to farms. I saw the Green Peanut Farmer's Market, Yankeetown Fish Camp, and the most beautiful wooden Victorian style church I've ever seen in Florida as I passed through Citra (20 minutes later I was still kicking myself for not stopping to take a picture). I passed over Cross Creek (home to Marjorie Rawlings, who wrote the Yearling), and turned the car around in Putnam county as I saw huge bunches of vegetables being taken directly from the fields to a roadside market. I brought home a cauliflower head that must measure over a foot across (for only $1.50) and two bunches of broccoli almost as large!

And the drive gives me a chance to reflect (I'm planning new lessons and additions to our school garden when I get back to school next year) and I listen to my music. I show my age when I share that I'm cruising to Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, The Guess Who and Poco! I change out my tunes for each trip.

So I'm seeing a part of Florida that many residents don't see. It heartens me to know that some of my "old Florida" still exists

Ocala Staff Development

I left Jacksonville this morning and counted over fifteen vegetable stands as I drove through a more rural part of our state. Florida can be quite beautiful! I stopped at the University of Florida for a quick visit with my son and on to Ocala.

This afternoon I spoke to a group of elementary science lead teachers from across Marion County who meet monthly to gain knowledge that they can share with their grade levels to better teach science and prepare their students for FCAT. Great things are happening in Marion County and it was a pleasure to be able to spend time with these dedicated educators. Thanks to Jacqua Ballas, district science and staff development coordinator, for the invitation. I will return to Marin County again Friday to participate in their district staff development.

Chet Creek Elementary

I drove to Jacksonville Sunday through a whole lot of rain and spent Monday at Chet Creek Elementary visiting all day with teams of teachers and talking about science. First of all Chet Creek was honored a few years ago as one of the nations top 100 elementary schools. Secondly, this is an elementary school of over 1200 students where teachers have to team up for classes well over 30. So to be such a high performing school is quite the accomplishment. If you go to their school website you find that many on the staff blog, they are in the forefront of looking for new effective teaching strategies, there are science, math and reading coaches/mentors embedded into grades through out the school and there school population is constantly growing! The staff is young, intelligent, eager and motivated. What a great atmosphere for science discussions!

Chet Creek is also home to Dayle Timmons, another former Florida Teacher of the Year and a kindergarten ESE team member. A great lady and a wonderful day! Thanks to Debbie Harbour, curriculum specialist, for making the day happen!

An evening with friends

The wonderful thing about living in Orlando is the central location which brings conferences and meetings to our door step. Because of this I was able to go out to a hotel Friday evening and reconnect with some very special friends. My fellow state TOT finalists, Diane Tomko, Robert Johnson and Sandy Melillo were presenting in Orlando and I had a wonderful evening visiting, catching up and enjoying there company. Any of these three (as well as Deb Fahmie) could have, should have and would have been a fantastic Florida Teacher of the Year and would represent our state wonderfully. As the old adage goes " anyone on any given day" applies to me because I am truly a member of an incredibly gifted group of educators. It was great to see you guys!

Health Care in Central Florida

My Leadership Orlando class spent the day learning about health care. A visit to the Orange County Health Clinic followed by a tour of Florida Hospital and their Medical Health school provided a day of exploration, questions, concerns and hope for health care in Central Florida.
At Florida Hospital many of us tried our hands at robotic laproscopic surgery (through hands on simulation) and administering sonograms. A wonderful experience.
And yes, I did get to keep the scrubs!

Congratulations!

I just got an email announcing the 2008 National Teacher of the Year finalists. They are: Lewis Chappelear of California, June Teisan of Michigan, Mike Geisen of Oregon and Thomas R. Smigiel, Jr. of Virginia. Congratulations to each of you! I'm excited because three of the group are science teachers and the fourth teaches engineering and design. What a great day for science education in our country!
I'm looking forward to meeting each of the finalists, as well as the other state TOYs, when we meet in Dallas at the end of this month for our first National Teacher of the Year Conference. Again, congratulations!

Visiting a Friend

Today I had the pleasure of visiting Cypress Elementary School in Osceola County. Cypress is home to State Teacher of the Year finalist, Debbie Fahmie. Deb is a legend in Osceola County and is known for her incredible student musical productions. Her students have performed at the Kennedy Center and I had the privilege of watching students practice in preparation for a performance taking place in Tampa later this week for music teachers meeting from across the state. All I can say is that I was blown away! The chorus was perfect, the costumes elaborate, the musicians were incredible and the entire program demonstrated a complexity beyond what I would expect from elementary students. Wow!
In addition to the rehearsal I had a chance to tour Cypress, visit a few classrooms and meet with the fifth grade team to talk about science. It was a great day and I was so pleased to be able to visit with my good friend. Thanks Debbie!

The New Year Brings Workshops

Sunday I traveled to Green Cove Springs (west of Jacksonville on the shores of the St. Johns River) where I spent the night in a Bed and Breakfast in preparation for a hectic week. Monday I drove down the road to Coppergate Elementary School in Clay County where I spent the day working with teams of intermediate and primary teachers. Coppergate just opened this year and it is a beautiful school filled with technology (lots of Smart Boards, computers and all the latest gadgets)and a large and inviting media center. It was great to start the new school year sharing science with the teachers at Coppergate. A special thank you to assistant principal, Debra Gaynes who arranged for my visit and gave me a wonderful surprise of fresh honey from her family hives!

Of course the down side is the three hour drive home with lots of traffic and a bit of rain and then tackling emails and paperwork before I could watch the football game. But Tuesday brings a new school and a new adventure. Great start to the year!

Happy New Year !!!

As you return to your classrooms for the second half of the school year I want to wish each of you a great time. I am quite jealous of each of you. As much as I am honored to be representing the teachers of Florida, I miss my lab and my students more than any of you might imagine. I enjoy meeting so many teachers and visiting your classrooms, but it's hard to beat watching my own students come back and share their vacation adventures and begin to get excited by the prospect of a new spring garden.

The New Year will provide us all with new adventures. But we all realize that the greatest adventure is sharing it with our students. Happy New Year!