Posted in Author: Mike Smart, Teacher of the Year on May 26th, 2007 No Comments »
Lee-Ann Stephens, the 2006 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, said that she thought her teaching suffered due to responsibilities from the Teacher of the Year title. I’m starting to get an idea of what she meant. Over the past three weeks, there have been meetings, recognitions, interviews, and events almost every weekday. Time has [...]
Posted in Author: Mike Smart, Teacher of the Year on May 18th, 2007 No Comments »
Last night, I had the honor of throwing out the first ball at the local minor league baseball team’s game. It was Japanese Heritage Night; the management thought I would make a good choice. I was happy to oblige. The St. Paul Saints are a fun team and I’ve enjoyed baseball all my life.
I assumed [...]
Posted in Author: Mike Smart, Teacher of the Year on May 16th, 2007 No Comments »
The selection process for Teacher of the Year in Minnesota, from start to finish, runs for about five months. Over the course of this time, the field of candidates is narrowed to a group of approximately ten finalists. The culmination of the process is a weekend event in which one Teacher of the Year is [...]
Posted in Author: Mike Smart, Teacher of the Year on May 14th, 2007 2 Comments »
On Sunday, May 6, 2007, I was selected as the 2007 Minnesota Teacher of the Year at the annual award banquet. In the subsequent eight days, a lot of people have asked me how it feels to have received the award. I wish I had a more profound answer than the one I’ve been giving: [...]