Raising the Voices of Teachers and Students

When I left the public high school classroom six years ago last month, I made a promise to myself to keep in touch with teachers and students and to advocate for their voices to be heard more frequently.  After all, a consistent lack of respect for teachers as professionals, a constant demand to practice for tests, and the lack of time for my family were three of the reasons I grew weary and needed a change from my role as a high school English and Arts & Humanities teacher.

In my blog post about why I left the classroom, I referenced the way I thought often about being back in the classroom because previously I knew no better way to impact education than by teaching students myself. Through the support of mentors and colleagues, I have shifted my understanding in recent months to consider how I can impact public education from outside the classroom by elevating teachers' voices, and one of the ways I do this is through blogging and through encouraging teachers to blog.

In November of 2014 Teaching Channel invited me to blog for them on the topic of teacher leadership. What I enjoyed most about that post were the anecdotal stories and quotes by fellow educators from around the USA. You can read the full post here.

In Kentucky, our movement around teacher leadership continues to grow as teachers throughout the state step forward and let their voices be heard. In preparation for an Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching (ECET2) event hosted by the organization for which I work, I wrote a blog post explaining why we support teacher leadership as an organization. You can read that post in its entirety here.

Truly, there is no better time to be supporting teachers as professionals. By working together with classroom teachers we can change the experiences for all the students in our state and our country.

Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching in Kentucky

Just under a year ago, a few educator colleagues and I had a dream, and it all started with my friend, Sherri, telling us about what we were about to experience as we prepared to attend the national ECET2 conference in California. At this national conference, I met a fellow Kentucky educator whom I had never before met because he was from another part of the state.  When we returned home to Kentucky, many of the Kentucky ECET attendees began a twitter campaign and tweeted our hearts out because of Sherri's inspiration before we even attended the conference.  Sherri had a dream that we would put on a similar conference here in Kentucky for our teacher friends.  Today, that dream became a reality.  Even in the midst of a Kentucky snowstorm, teachers braved the elements to come together in Lexington to elevate and celebrate our profession.

Classroom teachers led our day, from our Master of Ceremonies (a high school social studies teacher) to our opening keynote (Sherri) to our breakout sessions (teachers from all subjects and grade levels), to our colleague circle groups (teachers from all grades and subjects) to our lunch keynote speaker (Florida 2010 Teacher of the Year, Megan Allen) to our closing speaker, a 6-12 science teacher from Robertson County, Kentucky.

Sherri encouraged us to get up, team up, and speak up because our profession depends upon it.  As

educators in all capacities, we do what we do for the sake of students, and it's important that we not do it in isolation.  By collaborating and using our voices, we can make a difference.

Sherri Presenting.  Photo by Amanda Riley

Irvin Scott led us in song, and together we began the togetherness Sherri mentioned in her speech.  Imagine a room full of teachers singing (to the tune of the Black Eyed Peas song--I've got a feeling) "I've got a feeling that I'm making a difference in kids' lives."

Venturing into colleague circle groups, teachers from around the state gathered in small groups of eight to discuss important issues around education in our state right now.

• What obstacles have you as teachers faced in becoming a leader in your school or district?
• What successes have you achieved in teacher leadership recently?
• What can be accomplished in your school, district, and/or state to encourage teacher leadership?
• What steps can you take in order to help more teachers become leaders?
• What and how will you share materials from this conference with those in your school/district?
• What does teacher leadership mean to you?
• What does teacher engagement look like in your classroom/district?
• What are the best mechanisms/social media outlets to continue the discussions/interactions/work of the Colleague Circles?

Not all of these questions were discussed at once, obviously.  In between break out sessions, teachers returned to their colleague circle groups to talk, network, and collaborate on building one another up as a teacher.


Break out sessions (led by teachers) included

1. Learning and Improving Practice Through Collaboration
2. Leveraging your Voice
3. Teacher Leadership that Transforms
4. Fireside Chat:  Personal Journeys in Teacher Leadership
5. Your Voice Matters:  Reimagining Teacher Preparation
6. Google Apps in Education (cancelled due to a new baby being born by the presenter's wife)

At each breakout session we attended we met new colleagues and actively participated in the conversations around each of the presented topics.  These were led by teachers; they were not "sit and get" PD sessions.

We sang, we laughed, we grew teary eyed from stories, we shared and collaborated, and we left feeling inspired with our teaching souls nourished.

Blurring the Lines Between Teaching and Leading

Eleven years of teaching in high-needs schools proved to be a fulfilling calling.  The rewards of my days in the classroom keep appearing when I see or hear from former students.

Yesterday my son and I were in a local department store purchasing a gift for a friends’ birthday.  One of my former students waited on us.  This student was a teen mom who often considered dropping out of school.  Thankfully, she did not.  I haven’t seen her in five years, so you can imagine my delight when she proudly told me she’s about to finish her certificate to become a nursing assistant. 

Another former student from my days on the Cherokee Indian Reservation contacted me recently.  Her note to me—“I have always had it in the back of my mind to find you and let you know that my senior year English class with you solely, totally prepared me for all the papers I had to do at Western (Carolina University)! So for that--thank you!!”  This student is now a teacher and is happily married with two children.

Though I haven’t been a regular classroom teacher for four years now, my role as a teacher leader continues in the capacity in which I currently serve as a support for teachers and leaders.  I’m delighted when teachers I’ve mentored share with me their successes.  I enjoy hearing about the students and even working with them from time to time because I believe it’s important for us to remember —it’s about “our kids,” not “my kids.”  We have to work together to provide children and teens the learning experiences they deserve.

Working together was exactly my experience last week when I attended a conference in San Diego, California.  Designed to celebrate and elevate effective teachers and teaching (ECET2), this event, sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, fulfilled its promise of uplifting the teaching profession and reminding us all why we became teachers.  Three teachers delivered the keynote address—“Cultivating a Calling.”  I dare say there was hardly a dry eye in the pavilion after these teacher leaders shared their stories.  And people tell me I take my profession too seriously?  How can I not?  I am an educator through and through.

I returned from the conference feeling invigorated, refreshed, and ready to continue this important work of working on the work, as a colleague is fond of saying.  Too often in our profession, we see a lack of respect for educators, or we see a divide between administrators and teachers.  Let’s blur the lines between leading and teaching and remember why we entered this profession in the first place.

An early morning trip to the Pacific Ocean with my colleague circle group at ECET2. 
We watched the sunrise and were back in time for a fabulous final day of the conference.  The power of collaboration!