Jennifer Wilson

JENNIFER WILSON, 2006 Disney Elementary School Teacher of the Year

Jennifer Wilson teaches 3^rd Grade at Grant Ranch School in Littleton, Colorado

• The Denver Public Schools Skillful Teacher Award
• 2004 The Denver Public Schools Gold Star Teacher Award
• 2004 nominated for Colorado Teacher of the Year
• 2006 Disney Elementary School Teacher of the Year
• 2008 Kappa Delta Pi Teacher of Honor

Every teacher has gotten frustrated at some point and said, “I just want to start my own school.” What would your school be like?

Jennifer: I would do my best to keep my school small and intimate. In large schools there is often a lack of communication, a lack of understanding and even a lack of accountability. In large schools things can get mis-communicated very easily.  You hear, “the district says we have to do …..” So we start doing what we think the district said we needed to do, but the reality is that no one is supporting us or following up on the initiative because no one has time to. The initiative gets implemented half-heartedly and then falls by the wayside and teachers end up doing their own thing. I would keep my school very small and focus the curriculum on critical thinking and problem solving. I would also incorporate more looping scenarios in my school where relationships are formed for longer periods of time. My school would be small, team-based with rich relationships between teachers and students.

If you were in a college class looking at future teachers, what would be your advice to them?

Jennifer: Never stop learning! If you think you have all the answers it’s time to get out of the profession. In order to know how to keep learning you have to be a good observer, listener, and reflector. You have to take time to stop and think about what’s going on in your classroom as well as your own teaching. There is so much coming at a teacher that it’s easy not to take time to stop and think.

Is there anything else you want to say to future teachers or new teachers?

Jennifer: If you are not sure about being a teacher, it’s probably not for you. I think we have moved passed the idea if you can’t do anything else you should teach. If you start observing in those classrooms and you are not feeling, “This is awesome” or “This is my passion,” “This excites me,” “This energizes me.” If you are not feeling those emotions pretty strongly then you do not need to be in the teaching profession. It’s so intense and so exhausting that you will not survive if you don’t have that passion.

Cynthia Pochomis 2005 Disney Teacher of the Year for Oustanding Educational Support

Cynthia Pochomis

Cynthia teaches students with severe social and emotional disabilities at The Richardson Park Learning Center in Wilmington, Delaware.

Often legislators are trying to micromanage education and produce a one-size fits all solution. What are your thoughts on the future of education? I personally believe that one size does not fit all.

Cynthia: It definitely does not. To expect the education of children with special needs to be a product in and a product out is naïve. We have some districts near me in which teachers have to teach all of their students on the same page at the same time using the theory that all the children will learn equally.

     There is a growing culture in education that success means passing the test. That opposes everything that I believe in! We cannot treat education as a business no matter how much money the rich of the world contribute in order for us to teach according to their business models. Children are not a business and that model certainly does not work for special education students. Part of the reason children are in my school is because the regular curriculum and methods of instruction just do not work for them. We have to look at children as individuals, meet them where they are, and push them as far as they can go. Give them confidence and the ability to get along in society.

     If I were running the world of education, I would not make the requirements the same for everyone. I would not make all my students take the type of high school required courses that include foreign languages and theoretical math classes. I would have a curriculum that is equally rigorous but geared toward the world of work. I hope that we will realize that we just cannot put everyone into the same college prep curriculum and expect them to be successful. Some students need a program of study that is equally as valuable but geared toward work, relationships, money management, and living skills.

The world needs all kinds of people.

Cynthia: It definitely does. There is respect in all work. We need a valued and honorable path for students with disabilities, a path that is not controlled by the passing of a test.  The law may say in 2014 that every child is going to pass a grade level test but I can tell you it is not going to happen. We have to plan for our special needs children and not let them drop out or fall through the cracks. We must do better for the children who lack the capacity to pass a standardized test. Their education should allow them to have a good life by what we teach and prepare them to do.

You are teaching coping strategies and emotional stability. If we are truly honest, if they don’t learn those things some will do something bad that will land them in prison. Those things are more important to your students and should come first.

Cynthia: Many are going to drop out because they are constantly being told that they do not have the ability to pass a test. Once a student establishes a pattern of failure, dropping out will be the end result. We must establish a curriculum that teaches our students to live independently and to be self-supporting. Graduates must be able to work. Unfortunately, many of my students come from homes with parents who have not been educated to find work making a life of public assistance seem acceptable. It is NOT. Learning that you must work to support yourself is something that I constantly stress with my students.

What needs to change in the classroom in our country?

Cynthia: When I was in college, our professors told us that teacher judgment was the best indicator of where a child was in reading. Now I feel my judgment has become the last indicator. Every lesson and decision has to be based on a test score. I think the lack of faith in individual teachers on how to reach children needs to be turned around. Having educators read this book may help build that trust. I feel strongly that teacher judgment needs to be back near the top of academic indicators. We have got to have the power again to say, “I’m the professional, and I believe this is the right thing.”

We need that trust back. It seems teachers had it at one point. I don’t see where there is going to be a single accountability model that everyone is going to be happy with. I do believe the trust must be put back in the hands of each individual teacher and school. The current model with test-score metrics is not what is best for students. The kids are missing out on enriching activities.

Cynthia: We are training children to take a test instead of teaching children to enjoy learning, reading and to be curious about the world around them. There is so much out there that we are not opening up to these children. We have to show them that life-long learning is more than what is on a test.