Member News -- January 9, 2018
Through Someone Else's Eyes
A Novel Approach to Teaching Global Competencies

Several NNSTOY members are singing the praises of a new, free online platform   that helps teachers develop students' global skills by connecting elementary classrooms across the country and around the globe. 

Both Mike Soskil (Pennsylvania 2017) and Dyane Smokorowski (Kansas 2013) are fans of the platform,  called Empatico, which matches classes, offers a seamless vehicle for communication between classes, and provides teaching tools to build global competencies like perspective-taking, empathy, respect and communication.  

Read about how fourth-grade teacher Jesse Ediger connected her class in Hutchinson, Kansas, with Karina Cavazos Almaguer's class in Maninalco, Mexico, in this Edutopia article, by Susie Boss. (Smokorowski played a part in this story by connecting Ediger with Empatico.) 

Register for the webinar, hosted by Mike Soskil and Empatico's Kristin Ohnstad Tuesday, January 23 ~ 8-9 PM ET.  
Empatico is an initiative of the KIND Foundation. 
 
 
Still Chasing Rainbows
Congratulations to Award Winner Gabe Brown!
Gabe Brown at the Chasing Rainbows award ceremony with Dolly Parton and NNSTOY's
Edna Rogers (Tennessee 1989).
NNSTOY congratulates Gabe Brown, a teacher at William Blount High School in Maryville, Tenne ssee, who is the latest educator to receive  Dolly Parton's Chasing Rainbows honor. The award, which promotes effective teaching principles and practices, is presented every year by the Dollywood Foundation in partnership with the National State Teachers of the Year.

Brown received a day at Dollywood with his family and time with Dolly Parton. In addition, NNSTOY was pleased to send Gabe Brown a $500 check. Read the story in Southern Living and watch Gabe receive his award.

Meet the National Teacher of the Year Finalists
Four Amazing Teachers

Four teachers with diverse teaching styles and interests have been selected as finalists for the 2018 National Teacher of the Year. 

One of these finalists will be named the 2018 National Teacher of the Year (NTOY) this spring and spend the next year traveling the country to represent educators and advocate on behalf of teachers and students--before landing at their professional NNSTOY home!
  • Amy T. Anderson (New Jersey) is an NBCT and an American Sign Language teacher who takes her students beyond the classroom and reinforces that every voice has value. 
  • Kara Ball (DoDEA) is an NBCT and an elementary educator who uses project-based learning in her STEM curriculum to cultivate curiosity in her students. 
  • Jonathan Juravich (Ohio) is an elementary art teacher who used a community painting project to demonstrate the power of the visual arts to engage, communicate and bring people together. 
  • Mandy Manning (Washington), an NBCT, is often the first teacher who the refugee and immigrant students in her classroom have once they arrive in the U.S. She uses experiential projects to help her students process trauma and learn about their new community.
Learn more about the NTOY 2018 finalists and peruse the complete list of 2018 State Teachers of the Year. Welcome, 2018s, to the family!

Wow. Just Wow. And "Thank you!"
NNSTOY Annual Giving Campaign exceeds expectations

When NNSTOY asked members to support the organization through financial contributions, you all came through in a big, big way. We had 107 first-time donors and a total of 210 donors, raising nearly $20,000.

Since NNSTOY eliminated membership dues, the staff and board of directors count on your gifts to keep the lights on and the teacher leadership wheels turning. 

We could not be more thankful for all who gave, including those who donated monthly and on Giving Tuesday. So thank you, thank you, thank you! (If you had planned to give but haven't yet, here's donation site.) 
 
Washington Update
Jane West

Congress headed back this week to face the mountain of work it put off at the end of the year. There is a lot on the agenda:

Government Shutdown...or Not...January 19.  The most pressing deadline is January 19 - when the government will shut down if they don't act on a funding bill. Top concerns that need resolution include the immigration status DREAMERS and Children's Health Insurance Program, both of which will have an impact on our students. 

Higher Education Rewrite on the Agenda for 2018.  At the end of 2017, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed their version of the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act - HR 4508, the PROPSER Act. The PROSPER Act raised many concerns for educators relating to the teaching profession, including:
  • Elimination of Title II, the teacher preparation title, including the Teacher Quality Partnership Grant
  • Elimination of the TEACH grants which support teacher candidates in high need schools and fields
  • Elimination of three loan forgiveness programs for teachers, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program
Check out Jane's full update on our website to learn more about new resources for educators and information on the newest appointees to the US Department of Education. 

Stay Where You Need to Stay
Book your conference hotel room 

The National Teacher Leadership Conference hosted by NNSTOY will be held at the JW Marriott in Las Vegas, Nevada July 8-11. 

The rate is $139 per night, plus taxes and a $16 resort fee.




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What We Are Reading
Interesting and emerging ideas in education


Helping teens find their purpose Claudia Wallis,  Hechinger Report






Complimentary strategies for teaching collaboration and critical thinking skills Tara Bennett, Ben Lawless, Helyn Kim and Alvin Vista, Brookings

The community college "segregation machine" Meredith Kolodner, Brad Racino, Brandon Quester, Hechinger Report

What American-History Classes Aren't Teaching Emily Hanford and Alex Baumhardt, The Atlantic

Secret Admirers and Classroom Management Elena Aguilar, Edutopia



Know Your ESSA Plan
How will it affect you?

Shanna Peeples (NTOY Texas 2015) is featured in a new short urging teachers to know the specifics of their ESSA plans, how it might affect them and their students. 

" If you see something in the plans that give you pause or makes you think 'uhh I don't know if I agree with that,' I think your best step is to maybe talk about it with your colleagues first. To me this is a document, this is a process that invites people to come together and really hash out their understanding of it."

Watch the full video here. 
STOYs Represent as Global Teacher Prize Finalists
Top 50 Contender

The Global Teacher Prize has named their top 50 Finalists.  Melissa Collins (Tennessee 2016) shines among the finalists. A champion for STEM and an advocate for future teacher leaders, we wish Melissa the best of luck in the Global Teacher Prize!

This is not the first year that NNSTOY has had representatives in the Global Teacher Prize. Joe Fatheree (Illinois 2007) and Mike Soskil (Pennsylvania 2017) have both reached top 10, while Jeff Charbonneau (NTOY Alaska 2013) and Mark Vondracek (Illinois Finalist) represented in the top 50 finalists.
New Ways To Engage 
Plug into teacher leadership outside of your school

Rural Schools and LEAs: Speak Up! 
The US Secretary of Education is collecting information, experiences and ideas regarding actions that the Department of Education (Department) can take to improve how it considers the unique needs of rural schools and local educational agencies (LEAs) as it develops and implements its policies and programs. The information provided will build on the preliminary report, required under section 5005 of ESSA. Submit your comments online by  February 18 . Learn more.

STEM: From Classroom to Career.   ASCD has been awarded a grant from the Toyota USA Foundation to support STEM integration in classrooms. With this, comes two unique opportunities for secondary (6-12) STEM Educators.
  • Seeking educators to implement a STEM lesson in their classroom using ASCD/Spark 101 resources and to provide feedback on how the lesson went using said resources. Participating teachers will receive 1 year of ASCD Membership (as well as the benefits listed below). Register.
  • Seeking educators located in San Antonio, Texas, Putnam County, W.W., and Lexington, Ky., to participate in an in-person pilot that will work closely with ASCD and Toyota to connect STEM coursework in schools with STEM careers within the community. Register.
Call for Applications.  The US Department of Education seeks outstanding applicants for the 2018-2019 School Ambassador Fellowship Program. Applications are open for teachers, counselors, school librarians, administrators and other school-based professionals. This fellowship aims to bring voices of teachers into policy dialogue. The application deadline is January 31st. 

Teaching Partners Live.  TeachingPartners Live Workshops make it possible for teachers to learn from the experts they trust most: other teachers. Tune in Thursday January 9 and 16 for Anna Baldwin's (Montana 2014) workshop on culturally responsive teaching . Mike Flynn (Massachusetts 2008) will also host  a  workshop Monday January 15 and 22 on strategies for math for problem solvers. Register now. 

No Kid Hungry Deadline Approaches!   Monday, January 15, is the last day to apply for an NNSTOY No Kid Hungry Fellowship. Earn a $1,000 stipend for yourself and a $3,000 mini-grant for your school to implement Breakfast After the Bell.
New & Noteworthy
Research, Tools and Opportunities for #TeachersLeading

  Modern States Education Alliance  is a philanthropy dedicated to making a college degree more affordable and accessible. Check out their recently launched Freshman Year for Free program, offering more than   40 online core freshman courses  at no cost. The courses and materials are designed to help students prepare for the College Board's AP and College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams. Modern States  will pay exam fees to the College Board for the first 10,000 test takers. Learn more here. 

The Arizona K12 Center recently launched a new education podcast,  3Ps in a Pod. Download the podcasts. 




Becoming a Reflective Teacher (Marzano Research)






Kudos, Shout-outs & Accolades
Within the NNSTOY family

Our own  Michelle Pearson (Colorado 2011) had an op-ed criticizing the new tax reform legislation posted in the (Colorado)  Enterprise News . In  "Pearson: Proposed tax reform falls short of Constitutional Guarantees,"  she  writes, "We must realize that this legislation will reduce the chance for success for our students, and create children and future adults who are bound by debt, taught in schools which cannot afford funding, and won't have guardians that can afford to care for them due to their own medical debts."

Anna Baldwin (Montana 2014) has a heartbreaking new piece in  EdPost . In  "What It's Like Teaching from Inside a Suicide Epidemic,"  Baldwin writes, " When teachers are left to pick up pieces after the worst possible outcome, we must persist so we can be present for everyone else -and this demands toughness and resilience."


Teachers of the Year were out in full force at the NASDTEC TAWS conference on teacher preparation this week. They collectively presented three sessions, one each on the Model Code of Ethics for Educators, our Research on Career Continuums (with AIR and Pearson), and the Role of Teacher Leadership in Retention.  Presenting at the conference (right) were Daniel Jocz (California 2016), Katherine Bassett (New Jersey 2000), Holly Boffy (Louisiana 2010), Alex Kajitani (California 2009), and Megan Gross (California 2017).  Also presenting (Left) LuAnn Lindscov (South Dakota 2014) with former South Dakota Secretary of Education Melody Schopp. 

Nate Bowling (Washington 2014) was interviewed in the Seattle times at the end of December.  "A reader asks if teachers must focus on students with the lowest skills. Here's how four star teachers answered" -- Bowling responds: "If you're aiming at the bottom, you're not serving kids. If you're not differentiating, you're not teaching. You have to have points of entry appropriate for all students."

Brett Bigham (Oregon 2014) latest  EdPost   piece  hits deep: "When I Set Up My Classroom Now I Only Think About Which Bookshelf Can Stop A Bullet." Bigham writes, "I don't know a teacher who has not looked at the faces of Sandy Hook and wondered, "What if?"

"Why We Should All Care About Teacher Working Conditions," is Megan Allen's (Florida 2010) powerful new  piece  featured in EdWeek.  Allen writes, "As adults, we should be role models for the human beings in our school buildings that we are helping to raise. We should keep promises. Period."

Did you read Jemelleh Coes (Georgia 2014) holiday post on EdPost? "This Holiday Season You Should Be Thinking About Homeless LGBTQ+ Students and Here's Why," was written in collaboration with UGA Doctoral Candidate Jenee Duncan.  Does and Duncan write, "we reflected on the barriers that we have to overcome as educators to decrease heteronormativity in the spaces where we educate and encourage the growth of young people."  

Justin Minkel's (Arkansas 2007) got a message for all of us: "Math Doesn't Have to Suck. Here Are Three Ways to Make It Better." He writes, "Many of us teachers hated math when we were kids. It wasn't math's fault, exactly. It was the way we were taught."