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!