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Join us as we meet the 2012 DoDEA Teacher of the Year,
Angela Wilson and celebrate the many contributions
of DoDEA teachers coming up next in the Chat Room.
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Welcome to the chat room,
I'm Frank O'Gara [phonetic], host today.
The National Teacher of the Year program recognizes teachers
for their dedication and contributions
to the lives of American students.
With me in the studio is the 2012 DODEA Teacher of the Year,
Angela Wilson, from the Mediterranean District.
Ms. Wilson is an English Language Arts
and Forensics teacher at Vicenza Middle School.
She has 11 years of teaching experience and has taught
in public schools in Utah and Illinois and in DoDEA schools
in Korea, Turkey, and Italy.
Ms. Wilson graduated as the Department Scholar in Education
from Western Illinois University in 1997
where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in education.
She received a Master of Education degree
from Southern Utah University.
Angela Wilson recently represented DoDEA
at the National Teacher of the Year celebration in Washington,
D.C. and was one of 4 finalists for the national title
of Teacher of the Year.
Welcome, Angela.
Angela Wilson: Thank you.
It's an honor to be here.
fo: It's -- oh it's absolutely our pleasure
to have you on as a guest today on the show.
I know that you had a great week in Washington recently.
Okay and have had really a great ride since being named.
What does this honor mean to you?
Angela Wilson: I don't know if there's words
to really describe what this means
that I am extremely grateful to my community, to the parents,
most importantly the students
because this honor is a representation of all of us.
And if somebody would've told me a year ago
that this would be my year in education,
I would have never believed them.
So it means a great deal.
Frank O'Gara: Well, we're absolutely thrilled for you
and when you were in Washington, I know that you got
to meet a lot of national leaders.
Angela Wilson: Pretty incredible.
Frank O'Gara: How did that go?
Angela Wilson: Well, yeah once again
if somebody would've told me a year ago that I would be
at one moment visiting with Arne Duncan, the Secretary
of Education, that's quite a treat for a teacher and then
that evening to being
in the Vice President's residence eating and mingling
with other amazing state teachers of the year
and then actually getting to meet Dr. Biden, herself,
and I want to say her commitment
to military children is just immense.
Frank O'Gara: Oh and I bet you made a connection
because she's a teacher at [crosstalk].
Angela Wilson: I did.
I actually invited her to come to Italy
and visit our schools and hopefully --
Frank O'Gara: Wow, well that would be great.
Angela Wilson: That might be a reality.
Frank O'Gara: Let's hope that works out.
That's super.
Angela Wilson: Right, right.
Frank O'Gara: Now you met the President as well.
Angela Wilson: And then the next day I met the President
and once again, just so down to earth and conveyed his love
of military children and I thanked him so much
for his commitment because as a presidency they really do
support military families.
Frank O'Gara: And I heard that you got a coin [inaudible].
Angela Wilson: I did.
I did. I was the only state teacher of the year
to get the Commander's Coin which is really an honor.
Frank O'Gara: That's wonderful.
That's great.
I want to ask you some questions today about,
you know about your role as the teacher of the year and also
about teaching in general and I want to start with something
that I've heard you talk about in some
of the presentations that you've made.
You've said, okay, that the role in the classroom is one
that meets students at their levels,
that discovers their interests, and ignites their passion
through -- for learning through dynamic,
creative, and daily lessons.
What -- why is this important?
What does this mean?
Angela Wilson: I think it's crucial and even more important
in today's age, I mean the type of learners we have coming
into our classrooms are different
than the learners we had 10 years ago, let alone a year ago.
And so as teachers, if we don't customize our learning
around their interests and their needs,
we can't reach these 21st century learners.
So I like to use the phrase
that we've heard before, bring learning alive.
I think any lesson can be brought alive
through a connecting to students' senses,
to their emotions, to using what they really can relate to,
and we can do that in a number of ways.
Frank O'Gara: And you want to talk about some of those ways.
Angela Wilson: Some of the things that I do in my classroom
that many teachers do all around the nation, we have --
there's so many great ideas out there
but something we recently did, there was a coastal cruise line,
a crash in Italy and that was relevant to a lot
of the students because many of them had been including myself
on a cruise just before that.
And so we brought up the Titanic and we brought learning alive
by having students dress up in, you know, costume
but they became real passengers on the Titanic using real names,
dressing in costumes, period clothing,
walking the length of the Titanic.
We do something called Grammar Idol
and this was actually designed by the students themselves.
American Idol's popular so once again we connect
to their interests.
So instead of giving them a worksheet on the 8 parts
of speech, we had them write --
they joined bands or cooperative groups.
They -- we made band posters that flanked the hallways.
They wrote their own lyrics to a part of speech.
They then performed them on the stage where they received votes
by audience members which was the middle school community.
We brought judges in.
We had trophies and then we went on tour performing
to the elementary classrooms as they sang their songs
and they were signing autographs.
They were thrilled about this.
And then finally we made a Grammar Idol CDs that actually
with Grammar Idol greatest hits that the students were putting
on their iPods and playing at the youth centers.
And that's part of bringing learning alive,
making it meaningful to them so that at the end
of the day they don't just forget what they've learned.
They continue the learning process on their own
and for all teachers that's our ultimate goal
to create those lifelong learners.
Frank O'Gara: And I think it has
to be a motivator for kids as well.
Angela Wilson: I hope so and I think it is.
If you usually ask students what do they remember most?
It's those, what I call,
actually another teacher gave me this name it's called memorable
moments and those are the moments you remember.
And I think back to my own education, middle school
which I teach right now, I remember one thing
that I learned in terms of education and that was dressing
up as one of the phases of the Vietnam War.
I dressed up in fatigues and I was writing a letter
to family member's about what it was like to be
in the Vietnam War and we had music in the background
and we competed in this history contest
but I don't remember anything else.
Frank O'Gara: Wow.
Angela Wilson: And I often -- one time I asked my class,
I said well, tell me the last phenomenal worksheet
that changed your life and everybody laughed
because worksheets can't change lives.
So that dynamic, bringing learning alive is so crucial
if we really want to create those memorable moments
and those lifelong learners.
Frank O'Gara: Well it connects them to the learning
and it's relevant for them.
Angela Wilson: Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Frank O'Gara: I want to talk a little bit about connections
because you in your teacher of the year message
which we'll remind our viewers is on our website as well
to see, talk very eloquently about connections
that you make as a teacher.
Let's talk about that.
Angela Wilson: Okay, I really think connections are the key
and for everyone but especially in education,
especially with our military students where that --
a school is really that home away from home, that stable,
consistent place in their lives so it's imperative
that we build connections but I see connections in three ways.
First, connecting to the student, then connecting
to the content, and then connecting to the community.
So as a teacher we need to form personal connections with each
and every one of our students no matter how long they're
in our presence.
We need to not only know their academic levels that's a big
push in education and it's absolutely important
but we also need to know their interests,
their goals, their fears.
One of the first things I have my students to do,
it's actually their first homework assignment,
but it's not for students, it's for the parents
and the parents have to write me a letter in a million words
or less about their child.
Frank O'Gara: Wow.
Angela Wilson: And it's so amazing
to hear parents just grateful for this opportunity
and then just pouring their hearts out about what they want
for their kids because they want that connection.
Frank O'Gara: And you got a lot of parents who participate.
Angela Wilson: It's a homework assignment
so I keep these all --
Frank O'Gara: They have no choice.
Angela Wilson: Yeah right.
I keep these all year and I refer back to them
but that's just one way of getting to know the students.
Welcome them after the door.
Know their interests, their goals.
Hey talk about, how was that swimming meet yesterday?
How did that soccer game go?
Go to the soccer game.
They feel that value and that voice
and then students will go to that next level.
Then the second connection is then connecting content to them
and that kind of goes back to what we were talking
about with relevant -- making it relevant
to them, meaningful to them.
That's challenging in middle school especially
that it's a challenge in an all grade levels.
So lots of times the only thing students currently connect
to is maybe their iPod but we have to find a way
to make it more meaningful.
Bring that learning alive, form those memorable moments,
and then finally, we need to connect to the community.
We know as a teachers and I learned this really early on,
I can't do it by myself.
It involves us all.
We are all an entricle [phonetic] part
of the learning process.
So parents come into the classrooms, please.
Community members, we can learn so much from them
and as teachers we also not only need to pull community in
but we also need to be out in the community.
Frank O'Gara: Now in our military communities,
how important is it for teachers
to understand the military culture,
to understand what the moms and dads
and sponsors of our students do?
Angela Wilson: Right, I think it's crucial.
We have to understand --
remember that this is what the kids have in the forefront
of their minds each and every day.
And if we don't, once again, build those connections
and understand the mission and what they are dealing
with on a daily basis, we can't truly reach them.
Sometimes, I really mean this, and I'm sure I can speak
for all the teachers out there, I step back and I just look
at these kids that I am privileged to teach each day
and it makes me teary eyed
because I don't think they even know how amazing they are.
How they're already -- they already have the skills
to be successful in the 21st century.
They're adaptable.
They're flexible.
They can change.
They're courageous.
They can persevere and I think, as teachers, we always need
to remember this mission and that these kids are dealing
with a lot and a lot's going through their mind.
And it's our honor -- honor really to teach the children
of America's heroes each and every day.
Frank O'Gara: And the community
that you're currently in, Vicenza has been,
it's been affected greatly by deployments
over the last few years.
Angela Wilson: Very high deployment and starting again
in June, many of my students if not most are going
through multiple deployments.
Some of them 5th or 6th deployments this summer.
Frank O'Gara: I watched some of the media coverage
from the national, the Washington Week and the banquet
that you had with the Secretary of Education
who you mentioned earlier and a lot of the messages that I heard
from people there were about respect
for the teaching profession.
Okay. What are you views on this?
Angela Wilson: I think it's wonderful
and I think it's really the foundation of what we need
to change in education in terms, if we want to get any further
in any other initiatives.
We know as teachers ourselves,
sometimes we don't even respect ourselves and I don't know
where that comes from.
I think a lot of it might be from society.
We've often heard the phrase, if you can you do
and if you can't you teach.
So as educators we need to, you know, respect ourselves
to know enough to know that we are doing something amazing.
And research tells us and the public needs to know this
as well that the most influential factor
in a child's education besides parents is the teacher.
And so I think we need to start building a cultural --
a culture of respect for education and that's going
to come from first, teachers respecting themselves
but then more importantly,
from community members not just education members
but from businesses, from of course parents,
from organizations, building up education, valuing the teachers
in the classroom through media promotions.
And we need to be cheerleaders, advocates for education.
If we can build that culture of respect,
then we can start making some other needed changes
in education.
Frank O'Gara: Yeah really critical
and important [inaudible].
Angela Wilson: I agree.
Frank O'Gara: Now, what about -- I mean all of us, I think,
when we reflect back on our time in school, well most of us
at least can name a teacher that really made an impact,
made a difference, and maybe it was just a small thing,
some kind of recognition or whatever but was there a teacher
who made an impact on you -- in your life?
Angela Wilson: Right absolutely.
I'm really a teacher today because of a teacher.
There's two that come to my mind.
First is my first grade teacher,
her name is Ms. Desour [phonetic] and I can tell you
that through this process I have been able to reconnect
with her, 30 years later.
And I'll have to share that with you it's pretty incredible
but I was 6 years old going into 1st grade and recently had come
from living in the South Pacific Islands of Tonga.
My dad was a teacher in the Tonga Islands
and an educator throughout his whole career,
still is an educator but we had been living
in a foreign country and moved to America.
I started kindergarten very nervous, scared, shy but
yet excited at the same time and I remember
that year just being a terrible experience.
I don't remember learning anything
but I remember how I felt and I felt isolated and alone.
My teacher never took the time to get to know me,
actually two months into the school year she asked my mom
if I was deaf because I never talked.
And my mom was shocked by that, you don't even know my child.
So once again that forms the importance
of building those connections but I entered 1st grade
with these inhibitions.
I hated school.
They had to force me to go.
I cried all the time and my 1st grade teacher didn't
ignore that.
She -- I remember the first time I met her.
She got down on her knees.
She looked me in the eyes.
She knew my name.
She found out what I was good at and she used that to kind
of drive and motivate me.
She would let me sometimes sit on the side and draw pictures.
I remember drawing a picture about my most favorite things
and rainbows and flowers and balloons
and I actually won first place in an art contest.
Frank O'Gara: Wow.
Angela Wilson: And I still have that ribbon
and that picture but more importantly,
I don't remember how --
what I learned but I remember how I felt
and I knew my teacher loved me.
And I decided when I was 6 years old that I was going
to not just be a teacher but I was going
to be a teacher like her.
Frank O'Gara: Wow, that relationship
and that connection is so important.
Angela Wilson: Right.
Frank O'Gara: Well, was your mom a teacher as well?
Angela Wilson: My mom is an educator as well.
Frank O'Gara: Wow.
Angela Wilson: Two of my sisters, my brother
and sister-in-law, so we come from a family of educators.
Frank O'Gara: Incredible.
Well, to your whole family and especially your mom and dad
and those teachers in your life who made a difference
that we are now benefiting from in our system.
We are absolutely grateful.
Angela, what advice would you give to your colleagues
around the world as they go toward DoDEA classrooms
every day?
Angela Wilson: I think my biggest advice would be
to remember your story.
We all -- we often hear that students have a story
that they're coming into the classroom with
and they're writing their own story.
It's the same for teachers.
Nobody goes into teaching for the money, for the fame.
We go into teaching because there's a story.
There's a reason.
We have a goal.
We know we can make a difference
and sometimes especially right now in society
with so many things piling on top of teachers and so many --
so much negativity against teachers, we need to keep
that story in our focus because that story is really what drives
our passion and that passion is what's contagious.
Frank O'Gara: Well, your story is contagious for sure
and we have a wonderful stories of school system
of great teachers over many, many decades
who have built a system that our kids,
our military connected kids certainly deserve
and so we appreciate your contributions.
Angela Wilson: Thank you.
Frank O'Gara: And it's been great to talk to you today.
Angela Wilson: It's been my pleasure.
Frank O'Gara: We wish you well.
We know we're going to hear a lot from you, you know,
over in the near future, in the far future as well
and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for what you do
for our military kids every day.
Angela Wilson: Well, thank you.
Frank O'Gara: It's our pleasure.
Angela Wilson: I really appreciate it.
Frank O'Gara: Our pleasure.
You can find more about the teacher of the year program
at the url shown on the screen.
Thank you for joining us in this edition of the Chat Room.
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