Blinded By The Light

A few of my admirable peers: Hawaii, Alabama, Oregon, Nevada, Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska & Washington

I have been sitting here for over an hour trying to figure out how to express my reflections on my day.  It is times like these that I wish I was a wordsmith like my friend Erin!  Today was full of learning, inspiration and emotions.  The individuals I have met here are truly stellar educators that make me proud to be in their company.

I am thankful every moment for the support that has brought me here.  Representing Alaska is a surreal experience.  I am not sure I am the best representative but I am enthusiastically educating my peers about our great state.  I am up against a plethora of reality shows, but I think I am making progress!
As for my education today, I will try and summarize..

I learned that despite vast differences in demographics we have so many things in common across the states, many of them are the challenges we face with funding, assessments, evaluations and most importantly struggling students.  I learned that we are all here, not because we are the best of the best, but rather that we reflect what is best for our students.  We are diverse in our content yet we all share a common vision of creating a safe and caring classroom environment in which we can foster critical thinking, appreciation for self, appreciation for learning and most importantly life.

I also learned that together we have the will and the voice to be agents of change.  Tomorrow we will be exploring how to make our voices heard to work toward positive growth for our profession.  Sarah Brown Wessling, the 2010 National Teacher of the Year told us that we all reflect the light of our students and peers and I truly feel blinded.

I will close by sharing that Minnesota made us all laugh, Tennessee made us all cry, Illinois has Jedi powers, and middle school English teachers rock...