Our Lady of Grace Catholic School

I traveled to Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in Greensboro on April 8th.  I was excited to be able to do a technology workshop because it had been a couple of weeks since I worked with teachers and technology.  We had the teachers divided up between K-5 in the morning and 6-8 in the afternoon.  The teachers were all wonderful, hardworking, and flexible.  By the end of both sessions the teachers had created animoto videos, vokis, symbaloos, and had the opportunity to play with zooburst!  I had a wonderful time working with all of the teachers!

Kappa Delta Pi- Meredith College

On Sunday, April 7th I traveled to Meredith College to speak at the Kappa Delta Pi induction.  When I was first asked to speak, I thought Kappa Delta Pi sounded familiar.  So, I pulled out my cap and gown from undergrad graduation and I found the purple and teal cords!  Instantly all of the memories of my own induction in Kappa Delta Pi came flying back!

When I first arrived at Meredith College I was greeted by a college student named Sarah.  I was excited to see Sarah again, because I heard her speak back in the fall at a conference.  I then saw other familiar faces of  people that I met while traveling across the state.  I knew this was going to be a wonderful event!

Pictures below:

Freedom Trail Elementary School

I traveled to Avery County to visit Freedom  Trail Elementary School located in Avery County.  I had such a wonderful time!  It was amazing to see the students using ipads (they are 1:1), collaborating together, and creating projects!  The students were so excited and it was apparent that they were learning!

The Press Release is below: 

Darcy Grimes North Carolina Teacher of the Year 2012-13 visits Freedom

Trail Elementary School

Darcy Grimes, the North Carolina Teacher of the Year 2012-13 spent the

day observing and interacting with students and teachers at Freedom Trail

Elementary School last Friday, April 5th. Ms. Grimes has spent the past

year visiting various schools across the state in order to better advocate

for educators. She is a third grade teacher at Bethel Elementary School in

Watauga County which gives her a special connection to Freedom Trail

students and families. When the Beech Mountain School closed students made

a choice to attend either Freedom Trail Elementary or Bethel Elementary

Schools. Ms. Grimes was so impressed with the families and students from

Beech Mountain, that she wanted to visit the school system they had

attended. Ms. Grimes was just as impressed with FTE stating that she had

observed some of the best teachers and classrooms in the state.

Ms. Grimes met with the teachers and was able to offer a time of question

and answers as well as sharing her reasons for being a teacher. Perhaps the

conversation with Lily and Ms. Grimes explains it best.

“Is teaching hard, Ms. Grimes?” asked Lily, a third grade student.

“Well, for me teaching is exciting! I look forward to coming to school

every day to build relationships with our class. I love learning with you

and making each day exciting and fun. Yes, teaching can take up a lot of

time creating a learner centered classroom, but all of the time I spend is

worth it when I see the excitement on your faces. I love what I do every

day and it doesn’t feel like work.” Lily said, “When I become a teacher I

         hope I’m like you and it doesn’t feel hard for me either.”

NC Principal of the Year Luncheon

On April 4th, I attended the North Carolina Principal of the Year Luncheon.  It was a wonderful experience! 

Below are the Regional Winners:

Leondus Farrow, Jr., Rocky Mount High
Dale Cole, Chocowinity Middle
Elizabeth Rosenbalm, Conover School
Wesley Johnson, Hobbton High
Lynn Rhymer, Central Cabarrus High
Wendy Jordan, Mineral Springs Elementary,
Leigh Jones, Dalton L. McMichael High
Ricky Tipton, East Yancey Middle

Patrice Faison spoke and turned over her title to the new NC Principal of the Year.  Which is... Mr. Dale Cole!  Congratulations Mr. Cole!

Rosman Elementary

On my way back from Cullowhee after presenting at NCCAT I traveled to Transylvania County to Rosman Elementary School.  EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THIS DRIVING EXPERIENCE!  I put that in all caps for 3 reasons.  1. It is a beautiful drive!  It is calming, remote, and peaceful!  2.  It is remote, very remote and you realize you cannot rely on your technology aka iphone, garmin, or gps to show you where to go because there is no 4G, 3G, or any service to speak of.  Luckily, I have lived in the mountains for long enough to trust my instincts and follow the signs.  But, I don't think many North Carolinians have experienced such a road. 3. Once you travel through the mountains on the dirt roads you come to a hidden gem in the valley which is Rosman Elementary School. 

I had such a wonderful time at Rosman.  I was greeted by a wonderful Teacher Leader who was willing to drop anything she was doing to give me a tour of the school.  She even set up the Kindergarten schedule so I could participate in their Easter Egg Hunt.  It was wonderful!  However I felt my heard hurting because I miss teaching and being around students so much!

After the Egg Hunt, we went to the 5th grade and played Password.  (This is a word game that enriches your vocabulary.) It was so much fun!  However I will admit... that I was not as good as the 5th graders.  They  beat me in the game, but had such good sportsmanship while doing it!

Thank you for a wonderful time!

NC State University Teaching Fellows

On April 1st, I traveled to North Carolina State University for the first time.  I was excited to be on campus and to have the opportunity to speak to the teaching fellows and education majors.  As soon as I walked in the door, I realized this was a very special group of students.  I began talking to many of the future teachers about all of the countries they had traveled to.  It was amazing to hear their stories!  One student even completed his student teaching in China! I felt that there was so much I could learn from them!

My keynote speech was on Global Education which was perfect because the Dean of the College of Ed spoke about cultural diversity and I had already spoken to many of the students about their travels.  I greatly enjoyed sharing lessons that I did with my class and hearing the students gather ideas of how they can use their contacts in other countries in order to teach Global Education.

When I was finished speaking, I had the opportunity to hear a teaching fellow alumni and second year teacher speak.  She was amazing!  She painted the picture of surviving her first year of teaching very well!  I thought back many times to my first classroom, not too long ago.

Below are pictures from the evening:

Second Year Teacher Speaks about her First Year

NCCAT- Wiki, Wacky, What?!?

The week of March 24-28 I spent in Cullowhee, NC at NCCAT.  Which stands for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. I was and still am excited to have been the lead presenter of the technology session titled Wiki, Wacky, What?!?!   During the week I worked with almost 30 K-12 teachers on how to integrate technology into their every day teaching.  This week was wonderful, but tiring!  We had long hours (almost 10 hour days!) and all of the participants worked hard.  By then end the teachers had created lessons that integrated technology into their lessons.  Not only did the lessons involve technology, but they had the students using web 2.0 tools to create projects!

On the last day we presented some of the projects that the teachers had created.  I was so impressed!  Each teacher also said they were excited to go back to their school in order to teach others.  I know their students and coworkers will be excited to learn from the teachers who attended this seminar! 

Great things are happening in North Carolina!

College Access Conference

On Thursday, March 21st I had the opportunity to speak at Appalachian State University at their 1st Annual College Access Conference.  As I was driving to ASU, I was unsure of what to expect.  However, once I arrived I realized how exciting this day was going to be.  It began with a wonderful breakfast for all of the attendees which included middle school and high school teachers, guidance counselors, principals and professors from ASU.  Once breakfast was over I began my keynote by showing them a picture of Bethel.  (I start every speech that I give this way.  This is my way of sharing Bethel with everyone I meet.)  Once I showed them pictures of the school I began discussing how it is important to teach our students the skills they need for success through global education.  I shared many of the projects that my students worked on with other classes abroad.  Everyone seemed so excited!  I was thrilled to see so many educators excited about Global Education.

Once my keynote was over we started our breakout sessions.  My session included sitting on a panel with the NC Counselor of the Year Chrsity Welch (from Mabel which is also in the western part of Watauga) and Diana Beasley who is a past NC Teacher of the Year and works at ASU.  It was exciting to be on a panel with such amazing people!

Thank you for this opportunity!

Education Day Leadership Challenge

On March 20, I spoke with the Watauga County Chamber of Commerce at it's Education Day Leadership Challenge that was held at Watauga High School.  It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to talk with community members about what I do as the NC Teacher of the Year and sharing projects that I did last year with my class in order to bring in Global Eduction.  I was very, very impressed with all of the members thoughtful questions.  It was obvious that the members care deeply about teachers in Watauga County.  Thank you for what you do for teachers and students!

Cloverleaf Elementary School and Northview IB Middle School

I traveled to Statesville on March 19 to tour Cloverleaf Elementary School and Northview IB Middle School.  I had such a great time meeting with teachers, students, and staff.

While at Cloverleaf, I visited a kindergarten music class and they let me hit the gong! I was so excited!  They then made a heart with their hands and told me I did a great job!  They were so cute!  I also was able to watch 4th graders using laptops in their classrooms.  I was so impressed with how on task the students were.  They were so excited about learning!

While at the Northview IB Middle School I had the chance to visit classrooms and talk with teachers.  We walked into one classroom and I realized I recognized the teacher!  Justin, the 5th grade History teacher, went to school with my at Appalachian!  What a small world!

Helping with the NC Teacher of the Year process

On March 15th I had the opportunity to help with the Teacher of the Year selection process.  I did not participate in the actual interview, but instead was able to talk to each candidate before they started the process and small groups of candidates when they finished.  This year the process was done very differently compared with last year. 

I really enjoyed helping and talking with the candidates.  I can't believe it has almost been a year!

At the Umstead

Beautiful flowers at the Umstead!

Green Valley 3rd Grade

I had the opportunity to travel back to Green Valley to work with Dr. Laurie Gill's 3rd grade class.  I spent the day showing the 3rd grade students all of the places I have traveled, helping them with their writing, and participating with them in a science project that involved the iPads.  I had such a great time working with the students!

Press Release from Watauga County Schools is copied below:

NC Teacher of the Year, Lilies, and iPads Come Together at Green Valley

Laurie Gill’s third grade classroom at Green Valley School has probably never been more special than during a recent lesson that featured the triple treat enhancements of beautiful lilies, new iPads, and NC Teacher of the Year Darcy Grimes.

The beauty of the lilies was short lived as Gill’s third graders got to work dissecting them as part of their study of flowers and plants, an element of the science curriculum. The iPads enabled students to use an application called Educreations that helps students prepare an electronic presentation to document their knowledge of the anatomy of flowers while reinforcing their learning in a swift and engaging manner. Working in teams of two and three students, they used the iPads to photograph the flowers and then - directly on the screen - drew arrows to the parts of the flower and labeled each one, writing in free hand or typing in the name of each part as they chose. Each presentation included an introductory slide with photos of the team members, taken with the iPad, and most included a handwritten “The End” slide as well.

Gill, the 2012-13 Teacher of the Year at Green Valley, provided directions at the outset and the student teams then began largely self-directed work to complete the project. Gill, along with Grimes and Green Valley Instructional Technology Facilitator Sarah Cardwell, roamed the room to answer questions and encourage students’ efforts.

Grimes was an appropriate choice to help out on this lesson not just for her star power as the NC Teacher of the Year but also because she has been a skilled and regular user of instructional technology in her own third grade classroom at Bethel. In her role as NC Teacher of the Year, she frequently offers tips on the appropriate use of instructional technology during her visits to other school systems and she extols the value of these tools during presentations to educational and civic groups across the state.

Green Valley’s 20 iPads were purchased using a portion of the school’s Title I funds. Title I funds are provided by the U.S. Department of Education for schools where a majority of students are eligible for free or reduced price school meals as a way to provide enhanced resources for less advantaged students. Title I budgets and services are among those that may be reduced in the wake of the recent implementation of the budget “sequestration” by the federal government.

Separately from Green Valley’s use of iPads shared among its classrooms, pilot projects that provide an iPad for each student are getting underway this spring in several classrooms at Mabel Elementary and Watauga High School. These projects will help local educators identify best practices in the use of individually assigned tablet-type devices as well as the most effective and economical apps available for classroom use.
Students at the high school are already furnished with individual laptop computers under a 1-to-1 initiative that began shortly after the new high school opened in August of 2010 but other options such as tablet devices will be considered when the time comes to replace their existing computers.

Green Valley School has an enrollment of 395 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and is rated a School of Distinction and a school of high academic growth on the NC ABCs accountability model.

Me working with 3rd grade students.

The flower the students are disecting. 

 

 

Dr. Gill  and her students.

Haynes-Inman Education Center

On March 13th, I had a life changing experience while visiting a school.  I can't figure out how to put it into words.  But, I can say I definitely feel changed because of it.  On this specific Wednesday I visited an amazing school in Guilford County, the Haynes-Inman Education Center.  This is a school that is filled with the most compassionate, patient, and wonderful teachers I have ever met.  Haynes-Inman Education Center is for students who have severe and profound disabilites.

As soon as I walked in the door I was greeted by Thurman Haynes who is a volunteer and is 96 years old!  He explained to me that this school was named after his granddaughter and that his house is at the corner of the lot.  The entire time he was talking to me I could not believe he was 96 years old!  He had so much energy! 

Thurman then walked me down to the library where I shared breakfast with the staff before school.  Then Vicki Simmons, the adaptive PE teacher, asked me if I was willing to help with bus duty.  I said sure!  (Although I will admit now that I didn't realize how different bus duty is at Haynes-Inman compared to most schools.)  This was the point where I started to change.  As I walked towards the buses Vicki explained to me that each student is walked by a teacher to his/her classroom.  We approached the buses and I watched as teachers had smiles ear to ear as they said good morning to their students and helped them off the bus.  I watched as teachers helped each child in a wheelchair off the buses and held hands with students were were able to walk.  Vicki then said, "Okay, Darcy we have the next student."  Before I could think, I was helping Vicki help a student in a wheelchair off of the bus.  I then talked with him while I wheeled him to his room.  As we were walking back to the bus Vicki asked, "are you okay helping?"  I said of course! I want to experience everything! She said, "I thought so.  You see very hands on."

After helping all of the students to their classrooms, Mr. Kevin Carr the principal showed me the rest of the school.  He explained to me about the width of the hallways and doors for the wheelchairs.  We also visited many of the rooms.  When we were half way through I realized that the entire time I was helping students off of the bus and walking around the classrooms, I had only heard 2 students speaking.  And these students were in the PreK room (which I was told many of the students in PreK will go to a traditional school next year.)

While on our tour I helped Mr. Carr put a child back into his walker.  I just kept thinking how different these student's lives are compared to my students.  But, how wonderful it is that they are all able to attend a happy, positive, loving school environment every day.  At that point we walked into the cafeteria.  Which only had a couple of tables in it.  I started to ask why the cafeteria was so small, but Mr. Carr interrupted me.  He told me that the majority of the students drink their meals through tubes.  He then introduced me to the cafeteria staff who cook amazing food each day and then place it in a blender so the students can drink it.

After the tour, Mr. Carr took me back to the gym to participate in adaptive PE with Vicki Simmons and the students.  This was another wonderful experience of stepping out of my comfort zone.  I spent the class period helping students out of their wheelchairs and walkers and over to the raised mat.  At the mat the teachers helped the students do stretches and roll around on the mat.  Then we pulled out of the parachute to play!  This was so much fun!  I loved seeing the smiles on the students faces!

When the class period was over I walked the students back to the classrooms and then went and found Vicki to ask her a question I had been wondering.  I told Vicki that while I was working with the students in adaptive PE I started wondering about the teachers.  All of the teachers were so excited and happy to be working with their students each day.  I told her I thought this school has the most amazing and caring teachers!  I then asked Vicki about how the teachers are evaluated.  She told me they are evaluated with the same Teacher Evaluation System that all of the teachers use.  I then asked about Standard 6 (the standard that uses 3 years of student's data from test scores).  She looked at me and said yes, even Standard 6.  I was speechless.  Because although I think all teachers should be evaluated equally here were teachers who work with students with severe and profound disabilities every day.  This puzzled me to no end because I do not believe any of these teachers should be marked down on their evaluation because of the students they work with. 

Spending a couple of hours at this amazing school changed my life.  I think every parent, teacher, principal, and legislature should spend a couple of hours at a school such as Haynes-Inman Education Center.  It really puts everything into perspective. 

Thank you to the Haynes-Inman Education Center teachers and staff for everything you do each day for the students and families in Guilford County.

Thanks for breakfast!

Me and Vicki Simmons

Teacher Assistant of the year, Me, Mr. Kevin Carr, and Vicki

Celebrating Betty McCain

On March 12th, I had the great opportunity to attend the NC NOW special of celebrating Betty McCain as part of the Educational Policy Fellowship Program.  The live taping was held at the NC Museum of History.  I loved being able to attend.  Betty McCain's stories were so entertaining!

Click the link below to find out more:
http://www.unctv.org/content/ncnow/specials

Bethel 4th grade skyping Knightdale 4th grade

I  was so excited to have the opportunity to travel to Bethel on March 12th to help the 4th grade with a skyping project!  The 4th grade skyped with a 4th grade class at Knightdale Elementary located in Wake County.  Both classes had been reading the same book and were skyping to discuss what they had been reading. 

I was able to help with the process and was able to read a chapter from the book.  While I was reading both classes were listening.  Then the teachers stepped in and held a discussion with both classes.  The students answered questions that the teachers asked and were able to ask each other questions.  It was a wonderful collaboration!

NC TIES

I had the opportunity attend and present at NC TIES this month.  I cannot believe I have never attended before!  I can say I will definitely be going back!  I learned so much about technology in the classroom in such a short amount of time.  I would suggest every teacher to attend at least once!

I listened to and learned from amazing teachers, principals, technology facilitators, and professors from all of the state.  They taught be about how to start a 1:1 program, must have apps, tricks for using the ipad in the classroom, and so much more!

I also had the chance to meet several teachers who have been in my grad school cohort for 2 years.  Because our program is strictly online, we have not been able to meet each other in person.  It was a crazy experience seeing friends for the first time in person.  We have worked together and "met" online at least 3 to 4 times a week the last 2 years.  So, we know each other really well... but had never seen each other in person.

After attending the sessions and meeting other teachers from my class, I had the honor to present with Appalachian State University professors about the Instructional Technology Graduate School Program that I am a part of.  It was an honor to be asked by my professors to share my insights and stories about the program.  I said then, and I will say it again, that I do not think I would be where I am today if I wasn't in grad school at ASU for Instructional Technology.  This program changed my way of thinking and teaching.  I am a much better teacher because of what I have learned through this program!

Leadership North Carolina

On Thursday, March 7th I traveled to Greensboro to speak with leaders at Leadership North Carolina.  As soon as I walked in, I was welcomed for coming.  I also quickly found out that Matt Dull (who was in Plemmons Fellows with me at ASU when I was a freshman) was a member of the group.  I was so excited to see a familiar face!  I was even more excited because I had already put Plemmons Fellows into my speak on my journey to becoming a leader!

I had a great time sharing with the group about being a leader in the classroom from both a teacher's perspective and a student's.  Afterwards I asked if anyone has any questions.  And I quickly found out that this was a group that wanted to know as much as they can about education.  I was so impressed with the thoughtful questions they asked about the future of public education!  Thank you  leaders for caring about the teachers and students of North Carolina!

Sorry I couldn't get it to turn.  But, I had to add it anyway!

NC Recycling Bowl Award

I was so excited on March 5th to be able to travel back to Bonlee School.  As soon as I walked in the door I was greeted by students who looked me in the eye, shook my hand, and welcomed me to their school.  This made my day because the last time I was at Bonlee I was talking with the staff about the Stephen Covey's 7 Habits and how I implemented them into my classroom.  This showed me they have done a wonderful job implementing the 7 Habits into their entire school! 

After I was introduced I had the opportunity to talk with students 2nd grade-7th grade about their school.  They each did a wonderful job looking me in the eye and telling me all about their wonderful school and their teachers.  Once we finished talking the students led me down to the gym where all of the students in the school were waiting for the exciting news. 

The exciting news was that Bonlee School won the Recycling Bowl for North Carolina!  I was so impressed with how much they recycled!

Find out more and how your school can enter here:  http://recycle-bowl.org/

NC Public School Forum

On March 4th I had the opportunity to travel to Cisco for a NC Public School Forum Meeting.  It was really neat being able to see the inside of Cisco and hear from people who worked there. Our keynote speaker for the meeting was National Superintendent of the Year Dr. Mark Edwards.  Dr. Edwards is the Superintendent from the Moorseville Graded School District here in North Carolina.  It was amazing hearing him speak.  He talked a great deal about moving the district to a 1:1 platform with Macbooks and iPads.  The entire time he was speaking I took notes on how we can move towards a 1:1.

ECU Teaching Fellows and Maynard Scholars

On March 4th I had the opportunity to travel to ECU to speak with the Teaching Fellows and Maynard Scholars.  I had such a great time sharing my stories and giving advice to future teachers.  It was also so neat being able to talk with the future teachers after I spoke.  I met Katie an ECU Teaching Fellow that went to Costa Rica with Whitney an ASU Teaching Fellow.  Whitney volunteered in my classroom last year.  What a small world!

Caleb's Creek 5k

Many of the Regional Teachers of the Year were able to get together to support an elementary school in Winston Salem.  Caleb's Creek Elementary School held a 5k on March 2nd to raise money for books for the teacher's classrooms and library.  They also had a fun run for students.  It was so neat seeing hundreds of students running the mile run and 5k with smiles on their faces.  It was also crazy running into a Laura who is a 3rd grade teacher at Caleb's Creek.  I know Laura from being her Appol Corp leader back when she was a freshman.  Small world!   Pictures of the fun below!

Caleb's Creek 5k

Regional TOYs with our finishers medals!

 

 

 

The group!

Running up the hill!

Me and Laura (3rd grade teacher at Caleb's Creek)