Welcome Guest Blogger - Trisha Muse!

Okay, so Trisha's not really a guest. This is, after all, the blog for the entire Teacher of the Year Team! But I am excited about hearing from the other Regional Teachers of the Year to see what they've been up to. Today we go on an exciting journey with Trisha (the Sandhills South Central Region Teacher of the Year.) She's been busy! Read the following excerpts from her Teacher of the Year journal!

July 30, 2008
Chatham County Schools
Central Office
Pittsboro

After talking with Ruth Ann Parker (the Southeast Regional Teacher of the Year) once on the phone and on a million emails we had created our first professional development opportunity for lateral entry teachers in Chatham County. We shared ideas and we arranged the perfect schedule and presentation for the new educators. Our participants were going to play a Human Bingo game for an ice breaker and then we were going to use Ruth Ann’s 10 tips for survival “Survive and Thrive” using Gilligan’s Island for the entire group. Afterwards, we were going to have a break out session with elementary school teachers going with me and the high/middle school teachers going with RuthAnn. I planned to share my Wizard of Oz comparison with the educational journey along with classroom management ideas for our young students. Hopefully, inquisitive questions would be asked and we would help these teachers feel at ease. Of course, I was going to use Beth, my sister, and my Daddy as my perfect examples of successful lateral entry educators!

I picked out my new bright red suit (it was short-sleeved too since it was so hot) with my red ballet slippers; it was the perfect match! I was excited about traveling to Chatham County, especially since two of my rival high schools are located in this district (Jordan Matthews Jets and Chatham Central Bears). There were butterflies in my stomach all the way down Hwy 64 East because this was my first Regional Teacher of the Year experience. I had become used to making simple keynote speeches for my county, but providing insightful information to other teachers seemed more overwhelming. I wanted my workshops to be intriguing and not boring and redundant.

I arrived 30 minutes early and was excited to see one of our other Teacher of the Year team members, Wake County’s Paige Elliott, the North Central Region Teacher of the Year. She is always so pretty in pink! She is an extremely busy lady and she amazed me with the stories from her Mexico trip this summer. While we were “catching up”, I discovered that we were only speaking with two teachers! Okay, so I became relieved but felt crazy for being so nervous prior to this session. No need for my 50 copies…haha! Both teachers were high school teachers, one in PE (we shared many connections because he knew many Chatham Central people) at Jordan Matthews and the other one taught Family Consumer Sciences.

RuthAnn arrived and was also very surprised so we did what all teachers do every day, remain flexible and make adjustments. After eating lunch, we talked to the teachers one-on-one about effective strategies we used and we all felt comfortable talking about the joys and challenges of our profession. I was also able to use my Wizard of Oz PowerPoint to emphasize my important points, so I was glad that hours of work were not wasted.

An hour early, we dismissed our participants. I hugged RuthAnn and we laughed about how nervous we had been the night before. I guess some would call this workshop a “flop,” but it definitely gave me a preview of the upcoming year.


August 18, 2008
Stokes County Schools Convocation
West Stokes High School
King

At 4:00am, I eagerly jumped out of bed ready for my first "out of Montgomery County" inspirational keynote speech. I said my speech notes over and over again while I was getting ready before leaving the house at 5:00. It was extremely difficult to come up with the perfect topic to address with teachers on their first day back to school. I know teachers’ minds are racing with a to-do list a mile long, so I wanted to make my speech inspiring and motivational. I had become a master with my Wizard of Oz speech preparing for the state TOY competition, but it is geared more towards new teachers. I constantly would think of what to say in my mind for weeks, but I did not put my thoughts together until Saturday night. I wanted to use my quote by William Arthur Ward “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” I also used this quote in my video, so this was perfect to remind all of us WHY we teach. Of course I added the cute stories of my students because I can’t help but smile when I talk about them.

So why visit Stokes County for such an important event, especially since it isn’t in my region? I would have to thank Cindi for this one because she was over booked and asked all of us if we would help her. I quickly responded and told her that I would do it. Cindi was thrilled and provided Melisa Jessup (the Executive Director for Human Resources) my contact information and also informed her that I was a clogger. Well, the clogging part was intriguing so Ms. Jessup suggested showcasing my clogging. I am out of shape, so I talked to Mr. Kryzalka about taking our SMASH-n-CLOG program on the road. We had initially planned to take our large group of sixth graders, but our middle schools decided to have an orientation the same morning. So we chose some of our best former students and cloggers…all seventh graders and now they are definitely middle school girls: Mary Winston, Cullie, Erynn, and Susanna. Mr. K and I worked on a routine that would be simple to learn, but amazing to watch. We practiced for four days experimenting with a variety of patterns and beats until we came up with a 6 minute “smashing” routine. I even started the program with morocco’s counting 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and…We mastered our parts and Mr. K accompanied us on the drums. We were ready!

So back to today…I arrived to Page Street at 5:35 (5 minutes late for my mother) to meet the other members of my group. Mr. K’s van was loaded to the ceiling and all of the ladies rode with Cullie’s dad, Sam, in the Honda Pilot. Susanna and Cullie in the very back, Mary Winston, Erynn, and Mama in the back, and I was the co-pilot for Sam in the front since I am the car sick one. The girls watched teenage movies, 13 Going on 30 and even Legally Blonde 2. Of course I couldn’t turn around and watch the DVD player, but the best part was listening to the sweet girls giggle and laugh. Then listening to my mom just as tickled as they were…

We stopped at McDonald’s for a quick breakfast and the girls shocked me again how much they had grown up by drinking coffee (the iced kind, but still CAFFEINE)! Mr. Kryzalka of course didn’t eat anything; he is such a health nut! We arrived to King at the perfect time and we were impressed with the beautiful new West Stokes High School. My mom was excited because they were the Wildcats, just like her own mascot in high school in Ellerbe. The girls wanted to run up the stairs the first thing because they had never been in a school that was 2 stories! We reminded them they had to act like ladies, and I did go with them on a quick tour after our performance. We walked into the new gymnasium covered in colors purple and gold and we found our own little corner where we would perform. There was also a stage placed in the center of the floor supposedly where I would make my speech.

As soon as I entered the halls in that school, I could feel the energy and enthusiasm of teachers. Anyone could tell that the 18 schools in this district were a family and everyone had a smile on their faces. I loved how everyone seemed so laid back and just down to earth…welcome to the mountains! I also had never seen so many tall and skinny men! Random…but I did notice…haha! I instantly found Melisa with her beautiful smile and welcoming hug. She told me where we would be and where the girls could sit.

Mr. K and Sam, along with the maintenance staff, set up all of our trash cans, pots, pans, basketballs for our SMASH program. The girls rushed off to the bathroom to get ready (now to put on makeup) and were jumping around since Melisa had just given them Chick-Fil-A and McDonald gift cards. I saw the early bird teachers arriving at least 45 minutes before 9:00 while the others waiting until the last minute after breakfast to enter the gym.

I expected to find my stomach in knots prior to my speech, but I was more excited to share my first day back with such an exceptional school system. Before the convocation began, the distinct school board members, administrators, county Teacher and Principal of the Year, and myself lined up in the hall to march into the gym. I felt so important! There were several of us who sat on the stage, so at that moment I saw hundreds of educators staring straight at me…okay, so maybe I became a little nervous then. However, I became more comfortable after listening to the encouraging words of their county Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year. They even used some of my quotes that I was going to emphasize. After an hour, it was my turn. The best part of my introduction today was when Melisa Jessup said, “Cindi Rigsbee, our NC Teacher of the Year, said that even though Trisha Muse is the youngest TOY of our team, she is one of the most dynamic teachers she has ever seen!” When approaching the podium, I could tell everyone in the audience was hot and restless so I used my teacher voice and asked everyone to stand up and take a stretch break. That was helpful! I sailed through my speech smoothly, only stuttering a few times. I revolved my speech around the reason why I teach (since we already had to create a video for the state TOY process this past April), and of course I talked about my students! I introduced Mr. Troy Kryzalka, my partner in crime, and I made sure that everyone in the gym realized that he deserved the Teacher of the Year recognition.

Mr. K took over the microphone and I quickly tied my clogging shoes and placed a morocco in each hand. SMASH had started...counting 1-2-3-4 my four girls entered their “stage” perfectly and Mr. K played the drums and the keyboard. Yes, it was extremely entertaining when I started clogging and bouncing a basketball at the same time. This sounds like a circus, but the educational aspects are amazing. We received a standing ovation and I immediately hugged my girls for doing such a great job. It took us an hour to leave the gym from the many caring hugs and compliments received from our performance. Can’t forget the offers to also transfer to Stokes County!

After loading the van, we headed home…we still stopped at Olive Garden in Greensboro to eat to celebrate such a wonderful day! Mr. K and I returned back to Page Street on Cloud 9 and even more excited about a new school year. This was the perfect start to a new year.

The same night, I went by my dad’s house to tell him about my exciting day in Stokes County and he jokingly reminded me that the Stokes County was originally Cindi’s gig. Okay, so I was the substitute, but am grateful to have been selected as the second choice today. Thanks Cindi!

August 25, 2008
The FIRST day of school is always a vivid memory for me whether if it was when I entered 2nd grade for the first time with my rose embroidered skirt, to my freshmen year at North Moore High School, or the first time second semester that I trudged in the snow to get my first class at Appalachian State. Now, I have first days every year and I still get nervous (and excited). Being on the teacher side doesn’t make a difference. Daddy still gets anxious and he has taught over 30 years. Teaching is probably one of the few professions that you get to start over after 180 days. If you have a horrible year with a class who can’t get along 5 minutes, you just count down the days. Then pray and hope for the next year to be better. Well, I consider myself blessed this school year because I already knew my students even before they walked in the classroom door. This group is one that made me cry for a week before we left for the summer. I even took them to Washington D.C. during the summer, which made us more attached. I just tell them I graduated to fifth grade, so of course they have already asked if I am going to sixth grade too (which the answer is NO)! The educational term for this is "looping" and research has shown that remaining with the same class over 2-3 years is beneficial to the students’ academic success. So I hope this will prove to be true in our situation. I did lose 3 of my students due to transferring, but I have gained 4 more who will be great additions to our classroom family. It made my life so much easier with writing names on rosters and looking through cumulative folders because I have the same children.

Our Accelerated Reader Theme this year revolves around the Wild West. So our halls look like a corral with cowboy boots and lassos. I can’t wait for the country line dancing and horse riding (even though I am terrified of horses). We also welcomed new administration to Page Street with a new principal and assistant principal. You can now walk in our building and feel the excitement from teachers and students.

Well, this first day was not spent “getting to know” one another; we spent the entire day catching up. Sometimes, there was a little too much chatting about our summer activities but I had to remember how special these kids were and the positive connections that were still evident among each individual student. I did notice how much they had grown over the summer, and they were becoming young adults. My fifth grade team tells me to wait until next year to notice more changes (they are then 6th graders). Even Cesar, who rarely spoke last year, is now a strong leader with group discussions. Garrett, another extremely shy student, has completely come out of his shell and shared stories from his summer. This is the best part about my job--seeing children gain confidence in themselves to excel in academic areas and life in general.

Even though most of the students knew what I expected, it was still important to discuss classroom rules and procedures to ensure a successful school year. I found it funny that the students kept asking if we were going to the same things last year (because we had such a great time with our wax museum, luau, Special Loved Ones Day, ballroom dancing at the nursing home), and I reminded them that we had new curriculum concepts so we would enjoy experiencing new projects and activities that align with the fifth grade.

Even though we know each other very well, I am sure there will be many changes evolving this year to make us have a greater appreciation for one another. I will also grow professionally from another school year along with my Regional Teacher of the Year responsibilities. Change is inevitable in our profession, another reason I love my job!


August 31, 2008
At the end of last school year, I had the opportunity to speak with our Montgomery County NCAE members at our annual breakfast. As usual, it was difficult to know what to say especially to many of my closest friends and colleagues. Plus, the night before Papaw had been rushed to the hospital so it had become a late night to start writing a speech. Therefore, I spoke about the importance of family, emphasizing a family within our classrooms and schools. It was only a 10 minute speech but it obviously inspired our NCAE representative. Now I know that I have made an impact on other teachers to make a difference!

Here is the email received:

Dear Trisha,Thank you again for speaking at the MCAE End-of-Year Breakfast. Over the summer, I thought a lot about your remarks about creating family with our students, and I wanted you to know that as I begin a new year, I am on the lookout to do just that at my school with my students. It is a bit more challenging at high school, but some felllow teachers and I are discussing starting a Ladies of Distinction group, with some of the girls who so desperately need positive attention and role models at school. Wish us luck, and know that your message inspired us to put finally plan and proceed with something we had been talking about someone else doing, and do it ourselves! I wish for you a positive and productive year, and hope that our paths will cross again. Thanks for the inspiration!

As you can see, Trisha has been extremely busy making a difference in our state. Thanks, Trisha, for sharing, and keep up the journaling. We'll want to hear more!