Studer Community Institute

Good teachers learn from each another

February 19, 2015
/ Reggie Dogan
/ video

As a teacher at Tate High School, Jana Pavlus spends so much time doing so many other hings that she rarely gets time to talk other teachers. “We don’t have time to breath — or eat lunch,” Pavlus, the 2015 Escambia County Teacher of the Year, said, laughing. “We don’t see adults until Christmas break.” Good teachers need to see what effective teaching looks like — in lots of different types of classrooms, with lots of different types of children. They also, at times, need to find what makes good teachers great. Several teachers got that chance Thursday at the annual Golden Apple Academy Teacher of the Year Roundtable at the Crowne Plaza in Pensacola. Teacher of the Year winners representing 44 Escambia County schools attended the daylong workshop to share their experiences, learn new things and build better and stronger relationships. “Relationships are so important, and to have the opportunity to be with these folks is so special,” said Doreen Wells, 2005 Teacher of he Year at Ensley Elementary School. Wells, who was named the state’s outstanding Teacher of English for Speakers of Other Languages in 1999, looks forward each year to attending the annual Roundtable because teachers gain knowledge and get so much inspiration from each other, she says. She hated to admit it, but the Roundtable moved her to tears. “Not only do I internalize what I learn, I take notes to share things I gleaned,” she said. The Roundtable also is a celebration, a good time to give hugs and pat on the backs to top teachers who go above and beyond to make a difference at their schools. “We celebrate excellent teachers,” said Ann Copenhaver, a member of the Golden Apple Academy and the 1996 Teacher of the Year at Ransom Middle School. “We want them to go back to their schools and feel like they’ve recognized, that they are leaders in their schools and to be inspired.” Not to mention to be informed and entertained. In the past, organizers invited motivational speakers. This year they wanted more interaction and feedback from teachers. If the workshop were a party, Copenhaver would have been the life of it. She pranced around the room, cracking jokes, shaking clappers and keeping the teachers relaxed and engaged. She led an icebreaker to help the teachers get to know each other. Using education guru Robert Kegan’s strategy, the Line-Up, Copenhaver pulled a chain of teachers together, locked arm-in-arm, simply by getting them to talk about their lives and experiences. After lunch, teachers broke into four groups to brainstorm ideas to learn and share with others. On big white post-it paper, they scribbled a list of things-to-do to help in the classroom and to share with their colleagues, administrators and anyone who will listen. They talked about ways to get parents and students more engaged. They lamented that too small schools have been closed and replaced with bigger schools, which some believe disengage parents and adversely affect surrounding neighborhoods. “We want to turn outward and engage the community,” said Gail Husbands, a former Escambia Teacher of the Year and member of the Education Foundation board of directors. “We want to be leaders to make our place a better place to live.” Palvus took lots of notes and plans to share them in a roundtable meeting that Florida Teachers of the Year are having with state lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott in Tallahassee. She recently was among a group of award-winning teachers who visited classrooms to observe the award finalists for Escambia’s 2016 Teacher of the Year. The winner will be announced on Feb. 26 at the Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Award ceremony at New World Landing. Pavlus wouldn’t reveal the winner, but said the person is highly qualified and well-deserving. “When I saw them, I wondered, ‘How in the world did they pick me?’” she said. “They are really good teachers.”

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Good teachers learn from each another

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