Kentucky Teacher

Language arts teacher Christi Lefevers has a literary discussion with sophomores Kaite Mason, Taelor Lawson and Adam Jones at Bell County High School. Photo by Amy Wallot, April 18, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Jennifer Yankey remembers the first vertical meeting of district middle and high school English/language arts (ELA) teachers being very quiet.

“I think we were all trying to figure out our purpose,” Yankey said. “But we’re not quiet anymore.”

Yankey, an English/language arts curriculum specialist for the Bell County school district, said this particular professional learning community (PLC) has helped teachers reinvigorate English/language arts classes within the district.

“Sometimes, we get stuck in our own world, in our own realm of teaching,” Yankey said. “Now, we’re sharing and growing together professionally.”

Maybe just as important, teachers are coming together to better understand the Kentucky Core Academic Standards; improve practices and leadership skills; and create a culture of unity across grade levels.

“This experience has opened a line of communication that did not exist before,” said Bell County High School teacher Christie Willis. Read the full story

Veterinarian David Cleveland talks with sophomore Brittany Sauer about careers in animal science during Operation Preparation at Boyle County High School. Also pictured on the right are veterinarian technician Chelsea Williams and Cleveland’s dog Annie. Photo by Amy Wallot, March 21, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

March in Kentucky typically means brackets and NCAA basketball.

This year, at public middle and high schools across the state, it has also meant an increased focus on college and career readiness.

In its second year, Operation Preparation has grown from a weeklong event in 2012 to a month long event that connects 8th and 10th graders with community advisors, careers, postsecondary education and training and student goals. The initiative is a joint effort of the Kentucky Department of Education and the Department for Workforce Development.

Many schools, like Boyle County High School, tied March Madness and Operation Preparation together to get students excited about interests and career choices.

Boyle County High’s effort was called Career Madness; guidance counselors and other staff planned throughout the school year for the basketball-themed event that concluded this past Friday.

During a “practice” on Monday, sophomores attended a career fair to get general information on various careers. On Tuesday, they participated in a “game plan” – a career and technical education fair that showcased classes offered at the high school. Read the full story

Holly Pitts teaches prepositions to her 7th-grade language arts class at Beechwood High School (Beechwood Independent). Pitts flips her classroom and has students watch short videos at home to aid in instruction. Photo by Amy Wallot, Feb. 13, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Parents are routinely joking with teacher Holly Pitts about how they hear her voice in their homes all the time.

“The feedback I get from parents is actually great,” said Pitts, a 7th grade language arts teacher at Beechwood High School. “I love knowing that students are learning some concepts before I really go over them in class.”

Pitts is one of several Kentucky teachers who have flipped their classroom. In a flipped classroom, students are introduced to concepts at home prior to classroom work on the topic.

“I love teaching this way,” Pitts said. “Kids are so social media driven these days, it makes perfect sense to me.” Read the full story

Freshmen Abby Wilson, Marissia Roark and Caitlin Hatfield have lunch together at Russell County High School. The school has been using the Gallup Poll student survey to find out how students feel about the school and to improve student engagement. Photo by Amy Wallot, Jan. 14, 2013

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

It is not out of the norm for Kentucky school districts to poll teachers and administrators on issues facing their schools, according to Darren Gossage, director of college and career readiness for the Russell County school district.

Those polls, however, don’t capture another important voice in their schools – the individuals being taught.

“We wanted to give our students a voice, too” said Gossage, who served as principal of Russell County High School for 10 years prior to taking a job in the district’s central office.

Now, Russell County Schools and many other schools across the state are giving voice to their students with the Gallup Student Poll.

“One of the biggest reasons to use the survey is because it helps school leaders understand what key members, the students, are feeling about the school/district,” said Jeff Coots, information officer for Jackson Independent school district. “The information collected by the survey is designed to support a dialogue among teachers and other staff members of the school about how to make the school a better place for our students to achieve academically.” Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Mike Bell, director of the virtual arts program, directs students in the virtual choir on the opening day of the 2012-13 school year for the Floyd County school district.
Photo by Pam Caudill/Floyd County school district

A few years ago, Floyd County school district Superintendent Henry Webb attended a conference where he viewed Eric Whitacre’s virtual choir video and watched as the Grammy winner simultaneously directed 185 singers from 12 different countries.

“I was moved by what the composer was able to accomplish and thought of the talented kids in our district who could benefit from a performance platform such as this,” Webb said.

Luckily for Webb, teacher Mike Bell already was working in his district and was enthusiastic about bringing the concept to Floyd County

In its first year, more than 200 students in grades 4-12 joined the program and participated in a virtual choir performance of The Star Spangled Banner and My Old Kentucky Home.

This year, the virtual choir will be performing an arrangement of Wade in the Water, created by Betsy Layne High School band director Mike Cooley. Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Kristy Floyd helps 4th-grade student Danielle Begley with a writing prompt during her class at West Irving Elementary School (Estill County).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 19, 2012

For Tonya Isaacs, the numbers never end, and they never lie.

Isaacs, an instructional supervisor in the Estill County school district, is one of many district personnel tasked with constant data analysis, with the intent of having data-driven instruction and creating rich conversations about how to improve learning for students.

“As a district, we are focused on rigor in the classroom,” Isaacs said. “By teachers seeing the important formative data, they can see what they don’t need to reteach, they can see how to move on to the next thing to teach and what’s the best way to teach it.”

Estill County school administrators have been processing and analyzing data as fervently as possible for several years now, and the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has taken notice of their efforts.

Susan Allred, interim associate commissioner for Office of Next-Generation Schools and Districts, congratulated the district at a Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Eighth-grade students Laylee Burchell, Blake Turner and Hannah Harrison display their Civil War bullets during Sharon Graves’ 8th-grade American History class at Clark-Moores Middle School (Madison County). Each student in the class was assigned a bullet and wrote a narrative about it. Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 15, 2012

Blake Turner, an 8th grader at Clark Moores Middle School (Madison County), is flying through the air. He’s scared. He doesn’t want to hit anything or anyone. Luckily, he doesn’t.

Turner, in this case, is a bullet misfired just as the Battle of Perryville is getting underway back in the Civil War days. The bullet is thankful it didn’t hit anyone “but disappointed that I would not be able to help out my master at all.”

As the bullet’s journey comes to a close, it is retrieved by a man after being buried in the ground for 150 years “thinking and oxidizing.”

Turner’s narrative of a bullet is one of many in Sharon Graves’ social studies class, where students are studying the Civil War.

As part of their studies, students were given bullets from other Civil War battles like Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Graves has collected several of these from various trips, she said.

Some bullets were mangled, while others had teeth marks or were in mint condition. Students were told what type of bullet they had and where it was found. Read the full story

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Special education teacher Stephanie Karl and mathematics teacher Sara Matthews co-teach at Caverna High School (Caverna Independent).
Photo by Amy Wallot, Sept. 18, 2012

Last year, Michelle Gross, a mathematics teacher at Spencer County Middle School, co-taught with a special education teacher who was in her mathematics classes for a half-day. The teacher, Angela Walters, then went to Spencer County High School to co-teach for the remainder of the day.

Gross said many of her students had a negative attitude about mathematics and school in general.

During a geometry lesson, Walters shared what the high school geometry students were learning and how what the middle school students were currently learning was so essential to what they would learn in high school.

“I think that lesson really helped our students see a perspective beyond our classroom,” Gross said.

Gross said that is one example why co-teaching (short for collaborative teaching) has really paid off in her classroom. This year she is co-teaching a mathematics intervention class along with Daniel Cox, another mathematics teacher at the school.

“We both bring different perspectives to the class,” Gross said. “Mr. Cox may be able to show a strategy that I didn’t think about using.” Read the full story

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Kentucky Elementary School Teacher of the Year Heidi Givens of Tamarack Elementary (Daviess County), 2013 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Kristal Doolin of Corbin Middle School (Corbin Independent) and Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year Allison Hunt of duPont Manual High (Jefferson County) were named during the annual ceremony in Frankfort.
Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 17, 2012

Kristal Doolin, a 7th-grade language arts teacher at Corbin Middle School (Corbin Independent),  has loved reading and writing since she was young.

“I just love words,” she said.

It is this love of words that lead her to become a language arts teacher. It was her love of teaching about words that lead her to be named the 2013 Kentucky Teacher of the Year.

Doolin, who also was named Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year, received the award Oct. 17 at a ceremony in Frankfort hosted by Ashland Inc. and the Kentucky Department of Education. Heidi Givens, a teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Tamarack Elementary (Daviess County), was named 2013 Elementary School Teacher of the Year. Allison Hunt, a social studies teacher at duPont Manual High School (Jefferson County), was named 2013 High School Teacher of the Year. Read the full story

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

Eighth-grade language arts teachers at Henry F. Moss Middle School (Warren County) delved deeper into the lives of their students during recent class presentations. Students were asked to bring in five items of personal importance that represented significant relationships, events or topics in their lives.  Then they presented the items to the class. According to language arts teacher Keri Bowen Mosier, the students will use the representations to write personal memoirs, narratives or essays.

It was really interesting and sweet to see this version of show and tell with older students. The students really seemed to enjoy it. One student told me he and many of his classmates got a little teary-eyed when talking about the people behind the items they brought to class.

Language arts teacher Keri Bowen listens as Chance Hunt shares football memorabilia during his presentation. Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 11, 2012

Shelby Brown shared jewelry items from family members she is close to and a picture a friend had drawn for her. Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 11, 2012

Jaylen McFadden listens to a classmate present photos from his youth. Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 11, 2012

Dakota Estes shares a Hoberman sphere that was a gift from a former neighbor and an old Coke bottle that his grandfather gave him. Photo by Amy Wallot, Oct. 11, 2012