Finding My Voice... Just in Time!

       Although I was named the 2016 Teacher of the Year in October of 2015, and have already had more amazing experiences than I can count as the “INTOY”, my actual year of service begins with the new school year on August 15^th, 2016.  The last few months of my life feel as though they are not even mine.  I keep asking myself, “Whose life am I really living?”.  Shortly after a surprise ceremony to announce my new position, I feel like the four walls of my classroom were blown down, and a huge, wide world of education that I had never even considered started revealing itself to me.

Throughout my career, I have felt that I had a handle on the “pulse” of educational trends.  Amidst the constant ebb and flow of changes in curriculum, assessment, staffing, administration, evaluations, etc…, the work of teachers and principals, students and parents was the constant.  I was sure that the magic happening in the classrooms within my hallway were indicative of classrooms all over the country, and all over the world for that matter.

       What I never truly, really considered for more than a fleeting moment, were all of the other stakeholders in education, and the roles that they were playing in the day to day work of the teaching and learning happening in that hallway.  Becoming Indiana’s Teacher of the Year changed that.  The opportunities that I have already been given to meet with teachers and administrators from all over Indiana, officers of the Department of Education, representatives from testing companies, software companies, educational foundations and organizations, college professors and administrators, members of the State Board of Education, state senators, state representatives, the governor of my state, U.S. senators and representatives, and even the President and Vice-President of the United States of America have shown me that there are many more people working to affect what is going on in my hallway than I could have ever imagined.

       Can you wrap your mind around that?  All of this from January to July, in a mere 6 months out of my 48 years on Earth, I am changed forever.  My biggest takeaway is that we all want what is best for kids.  While some may not agree with one another about how best to accomplish that, there are really, really hard working people at every level of education trying really, really hard to get it right.

My other takeaway came as a surprise.  In my insulated world of classroom work, it never truly occurred to me how many of those stakeholders are not getting regular, reliable information from classroom teachers to inform their decisions.  The sheer number of people contributing to a single student’s education in ways that are direct and very indirect is astounding.  It tells me that we need to share our voice…carefully, thoughtfully, with evidence and data, and that the one thing that we have that none of the rest of them do, is our stories.  The beautiful, messy, tear-jerking, jump up and down days that we lead in the classroom need to be shared, often.

       I completely understand that this seems daunting and futile and like too great of a task, but we just have to.  It’s the only way we are ever going to get the educational train moving the same direction down the same track.  Because no matter what we teach or in what teacher’s lounge we stash our lunch, our stories are similar, and if we tell them, our message will be unified and powerful.

       What finally helped me to appreciate the importance of teacher voice happened recently when I was named to Indiana’s ISTEP Alternative Assessment Panel in April. When I walked into the first meeting I felt like a very small child in a room full of very important grown-ups.  My eyes were big, my breath was short, and I had to physically swallow the lump in my throat. I willed my feet to keep walking, found my seat in the actual House of Representatives, inside the actual Indiana Statehouse, and vowed right then and there that I would not say anything.  What could I possibly have to add to this room full of very important grown-ups?

       I admit that I never said a word at the first meeting, or the next.  But, at the third convening of the Panel, I said something…twice.  In both cases, it was information that I knew because I am in the classroom every day.  And you know what?  People listened.  Like, for real.  And I realized that while the room of very important grown-ups is making decisions that will affect Indiana’s students for years to come, I don’t get the luxury of silence.  I feel the hearts and passions of the students in your classes and mine, the ones right in my hallway, and yours, and I know that I will share our stories.  Just in time for my “year of service” to start, I have found my voice, it’s really “our” voice, the voice of teachers and students all over Indiana.

       From August to June, I will serve on committees and panels, work with teachers and instructional coaches, start new initiatives, work with new people and learn more than my brain can even hold, and I will share our stories with all that I meet.  I will use our stories to paint the picture that so many who affect our students’ lives in education must see and feel to make decisions that are best for kids.

       So, I know how incredibly busy you are.  I picture you moving desks around your classroom, shopping for deals, creating nametags and planning first day activities, but I wonder if I could ask a favor.  This year, as you teach, I am representing you.  I have this year to make a difference, to change the narrative and move our state forward, and as busy as you are, I wonder if you could do one thing to help me to do the most with “our” year.  Could you share a story?

       You see, while I have 26 years of stories, I don’t have your stories.  As similar as we all are, our unique, individual stories are what will help me to tell others what they need to hear about students all over our state.  Up here, in Northeast Indiana, I don’t know the story of a student in Southern Indiana or Indianapolis.  In representing all of us, I need to widen my net, and fill my bag of stories to overflowing.  So I need your help.

       If you have a story that I can share, please send it to me at jrussellteach@gmail.com.  Tell me funny ones and sad ones, tales of triumph and challenge.  I promise to use them whenever and however I can to help others understand what it takes to recruit and retain great teachers in our state, so that all of Indiana’s students get a teacher who loves them and loves teaching them.

Follow me on Twitter @HESBookDiva, and @Teach_Indiana  and on Instagram at: Teach! Indiana to share the journey of my year of service as your 2016 Indiana Teacher of the Year. 

Here we go!!!  Your Ambassador in Education, Jean