Minnesota Teacher of the Year

For my first post I thought I’d start with my comments from the Teacher of the Year press conference:
I am honored and humbled to receive this recognition. I know that my path to this podium is a unique one. But perhaps that will bring focus, in a good way, to the fact that there truly […]

Mike Geisen, the 2008 National Teacher of the Year, has started blogging about his adventures this school year. As National Teacher of the Year, Mike leaves the classroom for one school year to travel the world and speak about education. He will serve in this role through May of 2009. In addition to his sharp […]

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Blink, talks about the snap decisions human beings make and their accuracy. The book is a fascinating read that touches on a wide range of subject matter. One chapter of the book, interestingly enough, talks about an experiment on evaluating teachers done by Tufts psychologist Nalini Ambady.
In her series of […]

A few weeks ago I was invited to give a speech on Myths, Assumptions, and Attitudes in education. It wasn’t a viewpoint I was accustomed to examining. Initially I found myself struggling with the topic, but after a bit I realized that our educational climate is packed with stubborn misconceptions that are incorrect yet refuse […]

Time, which usually flies, is simply rocketing along this year. I can’t believe it’s been nearly six months since I was selected as the 2007 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Already the process to select the 2008 Minnesota Teacher of the Year has begun. The process begins with a six-week nominated period, during which time […]

I had the honor of giving a speech at the District 287 school year kick-off in late August. I chose to speak about why teachers teach. Click on the image below to see a Quicktime video of the 12-minute speech.

I’d welcome other teachers and readers to share their comments as well. Why do you teach? […]

I always compare Labor Day weekend to the that silent spot at the top of a rollercoaster, right before the coaster makes its first big drop. The stark contrast of pace in a teacher’s life is never so pronounced as it is on that September weekend before the first classes start.
For me, I always […]

I’ve spent some time in the past week over at Scott McLeod’s Dangerously Irrelevant blog. I’m impressed at the consistently interesting posts he puts up. This week, for example, is Change Week. It focuses on elements of technological change in K-12 education. This post is a good example of the quality of stuff he puts […]

This morning, I had the honor of giving the commencement address at the Ridgedale Alternative Program (RAP) in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. RAP is one of the several alternative learning centers that Intermediate District 287 administers.
An Alternative Learning Center (ALC) is generally a place where students come after they have had difficulties with traditional educational […]

A few people have asked to see the essays that I wrote for the Teacher of the Year application. They have been included in the official press release, but for the sake of easy access, I’m posting them here in PDF format. Clicking on the links below will allow you to save them to your […]