It is an Extraordinary Time to be a Teacher

"These are extraordinary times, and we face an extraordinary challenge." Those are the words John F. Kennedy used to start his address to Congress on May 25, 1961. In this address, JFK recommended to Congress that the United States commit to the goal of putting a man on the moon and returning him home safely by the end of the decade. To be honest, the United States had no business pursuing that goal. It had been less than three weeks since NASA had sent the first American into suborbital flight for a whopping fifteen minutes! Yet, John F. Kennedy had a vision of a nation pulling together for a common goal. He pushed for America to take a leading role and believed that it may hold the key to our future on Earth. 

What a time to be alive! Our nation pulled together to find the funds necessary for such a grave undertaking. We pooled our greatest minds together to invent and problem solve our way out of orbit. We found brave heroes who risked their lives to carry an entire nation on their shoulders; those heroes proudly planted the stars and stripes in the rocky surface of the moon for the rest of the world to see. 

I wasn't even born at the time, but I am still inspired by this moment in our nation's history. I remember hearing of the brave Neil Armstrong and dreaming of being the first man to walk on Mars. The stories, the history, and the pride has encouraged me to dream, think big, and seek giant leaps. It was an extraordinary time to be an American.

Today in Kansas, it is an extraordinary time, and we face an extraordinary challenge. Our budget is in crisis. There is a power struggle between the governor, legislature, and the courts. Our schools are in danger of being shut down. However, our Commissioner of Education, Randy Watson, has recommended a "JFK moonshot." He has created a new vision for Kansas schools: Kansas leads the world in the success of each child. Those words are not just a pie in the sky. When the world thinks of innovative education, Dr. Watson wants people to stop thinking of Finland and start thinking of Kansas. Kansas really has no business pursuing that goal. In less than two weeks our schools may be forced to close. Yet, Randy Watson has a vision of Kansans pulling together for a common goal. He is pushing Kansas to take a leading role, and he believes that it may hold the key to our future on Earth.

What a time to be a teacher! We have the opportunity to create incubators that bring to life inspired, healthy, successful humans. We have the chance to pool our greatest minds together to re-invent our educational system and what it means for each student to be successful. Teachers have the prospect of becoming the heroes that create opportunities for our students to find their unique success; teachers have the chance to create a scalable model for the rest of the world to emulate. 

People often ask me, "Why would anyone want to go in to education right now? Why would anyone stay in education?" I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but I can't think of a better time to be in education. I can't think of a moment in our history where our students have needed great teachers more than they do today. I can't think of a moment in our history where teachers have had a greater impact on student success. I can't think of a moment in our history where teachers have played a more important leadership role in our schools. What a time to be alive! It is an extraordinary time to be a teacher!

I have to admit that it is a time of great change in education. And, change is scary. However, change is long overdue for our schools. Our schools were built to prepare students for the industrial revolution. Although our economy has changed, our schools have remained almost totally stagnant. It is no longer valuable to prepare students to be factory workers. Today, we need students to be team players, independent problem solvers, and innovative creators. In my opinion, we cannot continue to make small incremental changes within the box we call schools in hopes of raising test scores by a few percentage points. I believe we need toss out the box and totally re-invent our schools.

I've been thinking a lot about this change. It has become painfully obvious that this type of massive change cannot generate from a top-down model. This type of change must be organic and start at a local level. It must start with some brave "astronauts" willing to stick their neck out and challenge the beliefs of what is possible. This local change will spread and create scalable models for other teachers, schools, and districts to follow. 

I may not end up taking the first steps on Mars, but I'm still focused on dreaming big! Today, I am stepping out as a teacher leader. If Kansas leads the world in the success of each student, then consider Dodge City the capital. I am surrounded by some of the greatest educational minds, and together we will pool our resources, synergize our strengths, and accept Randy Watson's challenge. It will be one small step for a teacher leader; one giant leap for education. 

What Would Happen If We Moved Student Teaching to Freshman Year?

As the Kansas Teacher of the Year, I get the privilege of speaking to pre-service teachers from around the state of Kansas in conjunction with the other Kansas Teacher of the Year Finalists. This responsibility has proven to be one of the best rewards of the KTOY recognition! Having the opportunity to spend time with this team of finalists has been the best professional development I have experienced. I have been able to gain a much broader view of education; I have been able to zoom out from the view of my own classroom and look through the lens of teachers from kindergarten through twelfth grade (and beyond), from darn near Missouri to darn near Colorado, and from impoverished to affluent school districts. I have learned so much from this amazing group of educators!

Awhile back, I shared what I think K-12 school should look like; you can read my thoughts here. However, I've been spending a lot of time on college campuses speaking to future teachers, and I've been thinking about what teacher training could look like. I have learned so much from my time in front of pre-service teachers. I have been so impressed with the young people who are choosing to pursue a career in education! Their energy and excitement is contagious! However, after hearing their concerns and answering their questions about teaching, I have realized there might be a better way to prepare our pre-service teachers for the classroom. I think Project Based Learning would revolutionize teacher education!

Project Based Learning Is Essential (Even in College)

One of the topics the KTOY Team talks to future teachers about is Project Based Learning (PBL). We explain that PBL is a teaching strategy where students learn by doing. We also talk about how powerful of an experience PBL is for learners. Yet, I see very little PBL happening in education classes at the college level until senior year! In my opinion, we need future teachers in classrooms much earlier and much more frequently. Want to learn to be a more effective teacher? Get yourself in a classroom and teach. Then, take some time to reflect on the experience so you can learn and grow. This technique is far more powerful than taking three and a half years of courses; then, trying to apply everything you learned in a semester of "real world" experience.

Let me be clear. I am not talking about classroom observations. I am talking about putting college freshmen and sophomores in classrooms to TEACH. I want them to experience how terrifying teaching can be if you're not prepared, and how amazing teaching can be when you make a connection with a student. Want teachers to pay attention to your lecture on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs? Put your students in a high poverty classroom and ask them to teach... anything... I hear new teachers say all the time, "I learned more in my first month of teaching than I did in all my years of college." Yet, we hold these valuable experiences from pre-service teachers until the very end of their "schooling." I think we have it all backwards. Let's give them the experience, then coach and teach our future teachers how to be more effective.

Another advantage to putting future teachers in the classroom early and often is it allows students to get a taste for teaching before they commit to a career they may not like. If you don't LOVE teaching, it is difficult to put in the time and energy it takes to hone your craft. On the other hand, if you are in a career that you are passionate about, there is no obstacle that can stop you from being successful! We should help our youngest college students find their passion, so they can be successful. It's difficult to find your passion behind a textbook. We should use project based learning (learning by doing) to help students find their passion! Want to change the face of education in this country? Put a passionate teacher in every classroom; someone who is so committed to inspiring students that there is no road block that will stop them from this pursuit!

Despite what the media and some politicians would like you to believe, our education system is not broken. We don't need a complete overhaul of the PreK through Post Secondary system. There are many things our school systems do really well. And, there are a few things we need to improve. In my opinion, we should focus on making small changes that could have a huge impact on student success. We should constantly be looking for tweaks that we can make as individuals and as school systems which will help our students adjust to this changing world. Project Based Learning is a small change I implemented in my classroom, and it's made a big impact for my students! I think the face of teacher education could be changed for the better if we implemented the concepts of Project Based Learning in our teacher preparation programs! We have brilliant young people studying to pursue careers in education because they want to have an impact on the world; let's make sure we are helping them in the best way we know how!