2010 National Teacher of the Year - Kappa Delta

Feature Making Great things happen2010NationalSarah Brown Wessling’s journeywill focus on the studentBy Sherry Egan Anderson, Angelos Assistant EditorPresident Barack Obama presents the 2010 National Teacher of the Year Award to Sarah Brown Wessling, Sigma Sigma-Iowa State.Google Sarah Brown Wessling’s name, and about 50,000results pop up on the popular search engine. That shouldkeep the 2010 National Teacher of the Year’s studentsreading for a long time to come!Sarah, an alumna of Sigma Sigma-Iowa State and an Englishteacher at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa, received thisprestigious honor from President Barack Obama during a ceremonyheld April 19 in the White House Rose Garden. The presidentcommended Sarah for her innovative teaching style, sayingthat her students do not simply write five-paragraph essays — theywrite songs, public service announcements, film story boards andgrant proposals for their own not-for-profit organizations. Learning,he added, is never boring in her classroom.Since receiving this honor, Sarah’s life has been far from boring.20 fall 2010 THE ANGELOS OF KAPPA DELTA

Making Great things happenTeacher of the Year“I am learning so much, meeting amazingpeople and doing new things every day,”Sarah says. With three young children,she has found the hardest part is balancingher new responsibilities with caringfor her family. Sarah says she’s grateful for“a great support group of friends and familywho help.”Sarah’s trip to the White House begana yearlong journey as the nation’s topteacher. Her summer was a whirlwind oftrips, media interviews and a flood of e-mails and Facebook messages that she hasbeen determined to personally answer. Inthe coming year, she will travel extensivelyto more than 150 engagements where shewill serve as a keynote speaker, workshopfacilitator or award presenter. To do this,Sarah has taken a sabbatical from teaching.Already, she was out of the classroom inspring 2010 fulfilling her duties as Iowa’sTeacher of the Year. In addition, Sarahserves as president of the Iowa Council ofTeachers of English.“I miss [teaching] horribly!” Sarah says.“It’s one of those situations where I want tohave both: The classroom is where I am inmy element, but this opportunity is amazing.I am so passionate about what I do andabout my message, so this is a great opportunityto talk about what I love.”To say that what Sarah loves is “teaching”may oversimplify the passion thatdrives her and the goals that she is determinedto reach. Speaking on behalf of theother Teacher of the Year finalists, Sarahwrote on The White House Blog: “Ourdream for our students is the same dreamwe have for our own children, to be recognizedfor their strengths, to learn fromtheir weaknesses and to be seen as personsof infinite potential.”When Sarah travels in the comingyear, the message she will share is this:“Students need worthy learning experiences.Teachers must give them learningassignments worth doing. . . . The mostimportant aspect is to keep students at thecenter of our focus.”With this in mind, Sarah will promotean open model of learning. For example,Sarah places her desk in the back of theclassroom, and this placement, she says, “isan outward sign of an implicit philosophy,that teaching must be learner-centered.The desk in the back of the room displaceshierarchies, creates an environmentwhere a teacher becomes a lead learner,Sigma Sigma-Iowa State alumna SarahBrown Wessling is the 2010 NationalTeacher of the Year.and evolves into a web of interdependencewhere the classroom walls becomeboundless. When we embrace this openmodel of learning, the consumers of ourcurriculum will become designers of theirown learning.”In the past, learning was often basedon memorization of facts. “Informationtechnology has flattened out that hierarchy,”Sarah says. “Our students want to becreators. They don’t want to passively learnmaterial and then regurgitate it.”Sarah organizes units of study aroundcentral questions. With this focus on inquiry,she wants students to develop a styleof learning that will last a lifetime. Whenher students read the classic “To Kill aMockingbird,” Sarah does not ask themstandardized questions. Instead, she’ll askthe students to reflect on “courage,” andthis complex concept will be at the centerof discussion. Sarah says, “The purpose isfor the students to become authentic readers,writers and thinkers in the pursuit ofan idea.”To aid her students in this process,Sarah utilizes individual discussions andfeedback, often incorporating an audiocomponent. As she reviews a student’sdraft for a major assignment, she’ll recordher questions, comments and suggestionsand then e-mail the podcast to the studentto use her feedback in completing the finalcopy of the paper. Or, she’ll spend classtime meeting individually with studentsand recording their conferences — thequestions that arose, concerns that wereaddressed and positive comments thatwere made. Each student can then referback to his podcast of the conference.“I give a lot of feedback,” Sarah says,“And it’s that feedback that I feel is reallyimportant in helping them engage inlearning. Sometimes the amount of timeit takes to give authentic answers can beoverwhelming, but to remove that fromwhat I do as a teacher could never work.”This personal attention has helpedSarah to get to know her students and theirlearning styles. Each learner is a story, shesays, and these stories compel, sustain andteach her. Until she returns to the classroomnext year, she will take these storieswith her wherever she goes as a reminderthat teaching must focus on the student.Sarah says the greatest challenge shehas faced as a classroom teacher hasbeen to meet the needs of every studentbecause they are so varied. She adds,“Teachers cannot do this in isolation. Weneed to see other teachers and parents asimportant resources.”When Sarah stood at the White Housepodium, she issued this challenge: “Infront of us all is the collective responsibilityto create hope and opportunity forevery child in this country.”To view the video of the National Teacherof the Year presentation at the WhiteHouse, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/president-obamahonors-2010-national-teacher-year.THE ANGELOS OF KAPPA DELTA fall 2010 21