2013 State Teachers of the Year Meet in Arizona

Last week, I had an amazing opportunity to meet all the other State Teachers of the Year (STOY) at a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. The conference is put on by the Chief Council of State School Officials (CCSSO) as part of their National Teacher of the Year Program. Here we spent a lot of time learning and networking (and of course eating, as we were fed well!)

* We were welcomed the first evening by a nice banquet and an opportunity to meet other STOY as well as be welcomed by John Quam from CCSSO, our coordinator. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, and I had an orange tree right outside my room!

* I learned how to use SMART boards to enhance student learning in the classroom. Each State Teacher of the Year will receive a SMART board and project for use in their classroom! This can make lessons interactive and it uses your hands to be able to manipulate objects, draw, write, highlight, etc. on the board. I can see so many exciting uses for my science class, and I wish that every classroom had this technology available.

* Each STOY made our own “page” to show on the SMART board with some information about our us and our state. It was fun to listen and get to know more about each STOY this way, and of course we had a lot of laughs! Because teachers are presenters, what was supposed to be an hour and a half turned into four hours! But we loved every minute.

* The STOYs were divided by region and broke out into “homerooms” which were led by a National Teacher of the Year. This allowed us to have smaller groups where we could have some good discussions. Our first one was “Why are we here?”

* Throughout the week, we attended other sessions about InTasc Standards, analyzed teaching using these standards as we watch classrooms virtually, talked about the media, presentations, the NNSTOY network we belong to now, teacher effectiveness, evaluations, the state of the states, what the future holds, the impact we can have, and much more!

* We received a VERY special gift that we get to give this year…more to come on that…. but it is going to be a highlight!

* One evening, we listened to the past three national teachers of the year present, and their stories were inspiring. Rebecca M, the current National Teacher, was amazing!!!!!

* One of my favorite things about this week, is getting to talk to other STOY. I met some amazing people and loved to hear their stories. It was almost overwhelming seeing so many people that you wanted to get to know, but not having enough time to do it!

* So we are the Class of 2013 – we will get to see one another throughout the year as we meet in different states for conferences. I so look forward to getting to know each STOY better and creating some awesome memories. This Arizona trip was so special and unbelievable – I sometimes still cannot believe that I have this opportunity!