Live blog from Lit Conference 2017

Good morning!

This morning I am presenting to groups of wonderful middle schoolers who have an interest in writing, specifically, those who want to start blogging.

Here are some of their thoughts:

Session 1:
-The Superbowl-E.E.
-To inform people L.H.
-To motivate/inspire people S.B.
- Mermaid Blog B.D
-To create crafts and Theories for your favorite fandom K.O.
- to collab with friends and write. - L. W.

Published Sunday, February 5, written during the 19th Annual Lit Conference at Hickman School on Friday, February 3.

Feedback on Pacing Guides sought

I am in the process of conducting some independent information gathering regarding pacing guides. It comes up as a topic of discussion with other educators from time-to-time. I find it fascinating and I am interested in different perspectives on them. Please take a few moments to complete this form, and please consider sharing it with others as well.

Thank you!

A message from an educator

I am an educator.

I am the daughter of educators.

I am the granddaughter of educators.

I am the niece of educators.

I am an educator.

To become an educator, I had to leave the journalism field. I had to go back to college. I took my BA and I expanded on it. I worked as an adult educator first. I was proud of my work. I taught adult students ESL (English as a Second Language) and Citizenship. I had students from Latin American countries, but also from India. I celebrated as students met with success in achieving their goals of becoming citizens of this great nation. Some celebrated smaller victories of developing their English Language skills.

I am an educator.

As I worked both as an adult school teacher and in an SDC (Special Day Class), I took exams and started additional coursework to become a fully credentialed educator.

Educators are special, unique people.

Whatever your political beliefs may be, I ask you to set them aside, if only for a moment. Whatever side of "the aisle" upon which you may fall, if you say that the education system is the worst part of the United States, I will feel hurt. I will take it personally. Then I will tell you why I disagree.

I love what I do. I love, deeply, the students with whom I am graced the privilege to work with and I am thankful for each and every day I have to work with them. I find inspiration in my parents, grandparents, and other family members who have worked as educators. I also find inspiration in the educators who were charged with my own education. I find inspiration from fellow educators. I find inspiration from my students, as well.

I take a few days a year and I go out and learn more. Sometimes, I share what I do that works, too, in hopes of inspiring other educators.

To become an educator, we must complete coursework and student teach and develop ourselves as lifelong learners. We must commit to learning more. Always and forever.

An educator is a very special, committed person.

I am an educator.

We are imperfect human beings who strive to do our best to form the future, to educate the future, to guide the future We boldly go where others will not.

I strongly encourage everyone to always look for the best and see the most EduAwesome in all educators. We do not go into this field for any reason other than to educate the minds of our future.

With the amount of time and preparation we put into becoming who we are and developing what we do, the least we can ask is that those who lead us do the same, or similar.

I am an educator.

What do you hope for, look for, and seek in educators? I urge you to consider what is actually happening in classrooms and consider the learning that is enhanced by good educators. If you have concerns or questions about the "education system," please consider that you are likely concerned with non-educators creating policy for educators and students. We need to examine closely those who are and whether or not they should be creating policy. Educators can go into their classrooms and apply what they have learned, what they know works. Anyone who has not spent time in a classroom will certainly have difficulty defining what works and what is in the best interest of our students.

I am an educator. I am an educator who grew up assisting in my mom's classroom, who had table conversations about what worked and what didn't. I sat with an administrator at one end of the table and a teacher at the other, so discussions included more than one side to each argument. However, the bottom line was always about what worked best for students and why.

I am an educator. I stand with other educators.

I am an educator and I work with an amazing, diverse group of colleagues. We may differ in approaches here and there, but the bottom line is this: we are committed to our students. We are committed to our future.

We are educators. And we have done, are doing, and will do wonderful, beautiful things for our future generations. So, before you question the education system in the United States, please remember that you may know an educator who is doing their very best by your student. When you criticize education, you are criticizing educators who worked hard to become who they are and who work hard every single day.

We are educators.