Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone!

February 10, 2016

Day 227 as an Oklahoma Teacher

     I stepped out of my comfort zone today. Maybe, it was because I turned 47 years old this week. I have always hated to be in the spotlight, but I think it's time to quit hiding behind the words that I type. It all began 4th hour, the hour before lunch. My students were revising their senior papers, and as I walked around the room, I thought about sending an email or a letter supporting the new standards. While contemplating what to say in this letter, I came up with the idea of a 30 second video, so for the rest of the day, I had to come up with what I was going to say. I focused on literacy, independent learning, reading and writing, discussions between students, and the collaboration between teachers. I created a power point slide and practiced after school before it was recorded. Nita Wallace helped me with the recording; it took about five times before I didn't mess up. I want to make more videos to show my students and to express my ideas about public education.
     If teachers like me don't start standing up for education, then we will have people representing us who don't put education first in this state. Education should be the first priority in the state. We should be leading the nation with innovative ideas in curriculum, in teaching strategies, and in using technology in the state. It just takes commitment, collaboration, respect, and focus on the important ideas for it to work, However, what is being discussed provides no solutions but gives us more problems. It's time to pass the new ELA standards, so that teachers can come together and design, innovate, and plan new curriculum.