Texas State Teachers Association/National Education Association Fall 2010

LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE • NEA OFFICERS VISIT TEXAS • CAMPAIGN TO LOWER CLASS SIZE

You’ve got to move to learn10 practical classroom applications for educational neuroscience

A day with Tom MusselmanAs the mayor of Fredericksburg, he embodies the principles he teaches

LEADERSHIP PIPELINE Changing behaviors and shaping culture through TSTA

AdvocateTexas State Teachers Association/National Education Association Winter 2010-11

GET CONNECTED WITH PROJECT SHARE • TSTA CONVENTION INFORMATION

2 TSTA Advocate

TSTA Advocate is an official quarterlypublication of the Texas State TeachersAssociation, affiliate of the National Educa-tion Association.

How to contact us: Call (877) ASK-TSTA,visit www.tsta.org, or write us at TSTA, 316 West 12th Street, Austin, Texas 78701.Please send address changes to theattention of Membership Records ormembershiprecords@tsta.org.

Advertising: If you would like to advertise,contact us at (512) 476-5355, ext. 1257 oremail tinaj@tsta.org.

TSTA makes no representations regardingadvertised products or services that are notendorsed.

Postmaster: Send address changes toTSTA Membership Records, 316 West12th Street, Austin, Texas 78701.

PRESIDENTRita Haecker

VICE PRESIDENTJason Hillman

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORE.C. Walker

ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Richard Kouri

EDITORDebbie Mohondro

PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALISTClay Robison

PRODUCTION TECHNICIANSusan Martin

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGERLeann Kloesel

ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARYClaire Moore

SECRETARY/ADVERTISINGTina Jackson

Copyright 2010 by

TEXAS STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

316 West 12th St., Austin, Texas 78701www.tsta.org • (877) ASK-TSTA

Winter 2010-11 3

Gov. Rick Perry and the winners of legisla-tive races on Nov. 2 face a mountain ofwork during the upcoming legislative ses-sion, which convenes Jan. 11. The overrid-ing issue — the elephant in the room — isa looming revenue shortfall projected to beas high as $25 billion. But, even in themidst of a budgetary crisis, our state lead-ers cannot neglect our public schools, andour educators cannot let them.

During his re-election campaign, Perryvowed to close the budget gap with spend-ing cuts — and spending cuts, alone. And,that theme was endorsed by most of thesuccessful Republican legislative candi-dates who will give the Texas House anoverwhelming 99-51 Republican majorityin January.

The governor also bragged about maintain-ing a favorable business climate, makingTexas a destination state for businesses of-fering high-paying jobs. But Texas cannotcut its way to a prosperous future, particu-larly by cutting the education budget. And,budgetary experts already have warned thatlawmakers cannot make the spending re-ductions of the size indicated by Perry with-out slashing spending for the already under-funded public schools.

Texas ranks 38th among the states inmoney spent on per-pupil instruction and34th in average teacher pay, hardly thelevel of commitment to inspire businessconfidence in the ability of Texas’ futureworkforce. Budget cuts would plungeTexas’ rankings — and job prospects —even lower.

The last time the governor and the Legisla-ture tried to “fix” the school finance sys-tem, they reduced local property taxes, putstrict limits on school districts’ ability toimpose future tax increases and then failed

to adequately pay for the alleged tradeoff.The result was an annual “structural”shortfall in the state budget of $4.5 billion,which adds to the Legislature’s revenueproblems now.

School districts throughout the state are suf-fering serious budgetary problems. Class-rooms have become more crowded, healthinsurance premiums for educators havebeen increased and as many as 2,000 schoolemployees lost their jobs at the end of the

last school year. More will join them — per-haps you or someone you know — if thestate education budget is reduced.

There are ways to minimize budget cuts,and the governor and the Legislature musttake them.

• For starters, the governor must quit play-ing politics and reapply for the $830 mil-lion in federal funds allocated to Texasunder the emergency education jobs billthat Congress enacted during the sum-mer. The state’s first application was re-jected by the Department of Educationbecause Perry refused to comply with a

simple congressional requirement ofassurance that Texas would continue itsown budgetary commitment to the publicschools.

• In writing the next budget, the Legisla-ture must make maximum use of everyother available federal dollar and spendthe entire Rainy Day Fund, a state sav-ings account worth more than $8 billion.The Rainy Day Fund was created for fis-cal emergencies, and this emergency is ofmonsoon proportions.

• The Legislature must enact an adequateand equitable revenue stream sufficientto meet the state’s growing educationaland other public needs.

Every Texas educator must demand thatour leaders take these steps. And morethan ever before, educators must remainengaged in the political process that willcontinue throughout the legislative session.

Opposition, although short-sighted, willbe strong from private school advocates,home schoolers and others who reallydon’t care how poorly funded our publicschools have become. And they will be en-couraged by the huge, new conservativemajority in the statehouse.

All the purported reinventions of educa-tion “reform” to the contrary, the vast ma-jority of Texas school children — our fu-ture workforce — will continue to betaught in traditional public schools bydedicated educators whose working condi-tions and very jobs are now on the line.

TSTA will be active in the legislativeprocess. We face an uphill fight, but oureffectiveness will depend on your involve-ment, your commitment to our goals andyour sense of outrage over any attempt toweaken or undermine public education.

Advocate

FEATURES

8 Teaching with the brain in mind

Ten tips for incorporating brain research into the classroom by internationally known educatorEric Jensen.

12 Power: a leadership fable

A fictitious character learns that leadership is not about winning; it is about acting in a way thattransforms behaviors and culture.

16 A life of public service

Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Musselman uses his lesson plans and his life to teach students whygovernment and history matter.

COLUMNS

4 Upfront

A state revenue shortfall, now estimated to be as high as $25 billion, already has sucked opti-mism from the 82nd Legislature, which convenes Jan. 11. Read about some of the educationbattles we anticipate.

20 In the classroom

Project Share lets you communicate with colleagues around the state, get online professionaldevelopment, show off your work, and access a wide and expanding amount of classroomcontent.

22 Acting locally

Harlandale fights health care costs to employees; Donna forms teams to build respect; TSTA-Student Program wins grants; education support professionals hold two conferences; TSTA-Retired meets and plans upcoming events and elections.

26 Governance

Information on the April TSTA House of Delegates in El Paso, and a nomination form for at-largeTSTA Board of Directors members.

The election is overNow, the real work begins, and it won’t be easy. By Rita Haecker, TSTA President

Editorial Table of Contents

Vol. 30, No. 2 Winter 2010-11

16 20

Winter 2010-11 54 TSTA Advocate

Upfront

10 things you should know

1TEXAS’ SECONDARY TEACHER OF YEAR IS A TSTA MEMBERBeth Huckabee, a science teacher in the Flour Bluff ISD near Corpus Christi, was named the 2011 Texas Secondary Teacherof the Year. Huckabee will receive a $5,000 cash award, a technology package valued at more than $16,500, a computer, a

trophy, a travel allowance and other prizes. She and Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year Daniel Leija, a fifth-grade teacher in SanAntonio’s Northside ISD, learned of their awards Oct. 15 during a luncheon in Austin. In the photo are Dr. Raymond Glynn, statedeputy commissioner of school district leadership and educator quality, Huckabee and Commissioner of Education Robert Scott.

2SXSW ADDS AN EDUCATIONAL COMPONENTSouth by Southwest Interactive and Texas EducationAgency are teaming up to launch the inaugural

SXSWedu conference March 8-10 in Austin. It will focus onProject Share, the agency’s e-learning initiative. Read moreabout Project Share in this issue’s “In the Classroom” section.

• Project Share: http://projectsharetexas.org • SXSWedu: http://www.sxswedu.com

3KNOWING WHO NEEDS HELP WITH ALGEBRAConvinced that many students need more support tofully understand pre-algebra, the Texas Education

Agency has launched a program aimed at students in grades 5-8, called Middle-school Students in Texas: Algebra Ready(MSTAR). The most recent addition to the program is theMSTAR Universal Screener to help teachers identify which stu-dents need extra support. www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx

4CONTRIBUTE TOTSTA-PAC USINGPAYPAL

Now it’s even easier to makea one-time contribution orbecome a continuing con-tributor to TSTA-PoliticalAction Committee.

7CANDIDATES FOR TSTA AND NEA OFFICEThe filing deadline was Sept. 15, so the following list is final. The order of the candidates was determined by

a drawing.

• TSTA President: TSTA President Rita Haecker is unopposedin her bid to seek a second term.

• TSTA Vice President: Candidates are Jason Hillman (KleinEducation Association), Noel Candelaria (Ysleta TeachersAssociation) and David Michael DeLuca (Fayette CountyEducators Association).

• NEA Director, Place 3: Candidates are Rae Nwosu (Educa-tion Austin) and Glenda Hawthorne (Socorro Education As-sociation).

• Alternate NEA Directors: TSTA President and TSTA VicePresident candidates are, respectively, automatically candi-dates for First and Second Alternate NEA Director. ThirdAlternate NEA Director candidates are George Borrego (As-sociation of Brownsville Educators) and Tony Uzzell (WacoTSTA/NEA).

Elections will be at the State House of Delegates in El Paso onApril 16. Candidate statements and biographical informationwill appear in the spring 2011 Advocate.

9ONLINE MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAMSIn addition to opportunities for continuing educationand the leader-to-leader program, the NEA Academy

now offers nearly 50 different online master’s degree options infour categories: general, administration, curriculum and in-struction, and counseling. Members may also receive tuitiondiscounts of up to 20 percent, fee waivers and access to schol-arships. See www.neaacademy.org for details.

6SALT LAKE CITY HOSTS WESTERN REGION LEADERSHIP CONFERENCENEA’s 2011 Western Region Leadership Conference will be at the Hilton Salt Lake CityCenter in Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 14-16. Register online through Jan. 5; the fee is $135

through Dec. 14, when it increases to $175. A special room rate of $139 per night is available untilDec. 20 or the room block is sold out, whichever comes first. The Women’s Leadership Trainingand the Minority Leadership Training Conference will be Jan. 12-14 at the same location. Registerfor all three events at www.nea.org/wrlc.

10WANT TO WORK WITH THE WHITEHOUSE CHEFS? First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Cam-

paign challenges school nutrition professionals, chefs, stu-dents, parents and interested community members to cre-ate new recipes for school lunch menus across the country.There are prizes as well as the chance to work alongsideWhite House chefs. The deadline is Dec. 30. www.Recipes-ForKidsChallenge.com

You can donate by bankdraft or by using our newPayPal option, a secureonline method of payingwith a credit card or directlyfrom your bank account.www.tsta.org/legislative/update/pac.shtml

5CONFUSED ABOUT STAAR?The State of Texas Assessments ofAcademic Readiness (STAAR) will replace the Texas As-

sessment of Knowledge and Skills, beginning with the 2011-12school year. STAAR includes the 12 end-of-course assessmentsand the new grade 3-8 assessments. Resources are availableonline at www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/staar.

8EDUCATIONSUPPORT STAFFTO MEET IN D.C.

The 2011 NEA EducationSupport Professionals Con-ference will be March 11-13at the Washington HiltonHotel in Washington, D.C.Support professionals willbe updated on important is-sues, and they will learnabout organizing and how tobuild stronger local associa-tions. For registration andother information, go towww.nea.org/grants/31430.htm.

Winter 2010-11 7

do perform better than do their peersin larger classes.

Instead of debating removal of the 22-1cap for K-4, legislators should be con-sidering class-size limits for the highergrades as well, particularly in low-per-forming schools. Under current law,schools that find 22-1 is too great a fi-nancial burden can ask the Texas Edu-cation Agency for a waiver. Suchwaivers are routinely granted.

TEACHER RETIREMENT SYSTEMTSTA is extremely concerned about alle-gations that Perry appointees on theTeacher Retirement System (TRS) boardhave pressured TRS managers to makepotentially risky investments with firmswhose executives were major politicaldonors to the governor. The allegationswere raised by a TRS administrator-turned-whistleblower and revealed dur-ing the recent gubernatorial race.

Those allegations must be thoroughlyand independently investigated, andlegislation enacted, if necessary, toguard against such political favoritismand irresponsible investment practicesin the future. The TRS provides a hard-earned nest egg for retired educators. Itwas not intended to be a slush fund toreward the governor’s friends.

In 2009, Perry vetoed a bill that wouldhave provided more representation byeducators and retired educators on theTRS Board. TSTA will press for legisla-tion this session to provide more ac-countability for the board.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATIONTSTA is optimistic that a handful ofelection results this year will make theState Board of Education a more mod-erate body than the right wing-drivenfaction that embarrassed Texas by in-terjecting extremist beliefs into the his-tory curriculum standards last spring.

We also expect several legislative pro-posals to be filed to restrict the board’sauthority, and we will monitor thosefor possible support.

STATEWIDE PROPERTY TAXSome legislators, including Senate Fi-nance Committee Chairman SteveOgden, are proposing a statewideproperty tax as a solution to the schoolfinance problem. The proposal wouldrequire voters to approve a constitu-tional amendment. Presumably the taxwould replace most of the school prop-erty taxes now levied locally by schooldistricts. But it raises many questions,including whether districts would stillbe allowed to impose some level oflocal taxes for “enrichment” purposes.We won’t know until the actual legisla-tion is drafted and filed. TSTA will waitfor that legislation before taking a posi-tion on this proposal.

ACCOUNTABILITYTSTA supports accountability in thepublic education system, but we needan accountability system that is basedon several meaningful factors, not juston a student’s ability to pass a high-stakes test. Already, there are problemswith the new end-of-course exams thatwill replace TAKS. Only 57 percent ofnearly 102,000 students who took theAlgebra I end-of-course exam in a testrun in May met the passing standard.Only 12 percent reached the “com-mended performance” level by cor-rectly answering most of the questions.Results were similar on several otherend-of-course exams administered indistricts throughout the state.

Accountability does not start withschool kids and teachers. Accountabil-ity starts at the top — with the gover-nor and the Legislature — and theyhave fallen woefully short of fundingan education system that gives everychild access to a first-class education.

6 TSTA Advocate

Storm clouds gathering over 82nd LegislatureA state revenue shortfall, now estimated as high as $25 billion, already hassucked optimism from the 82nd Legislature, which convenes Jan. 11.

Upfront

The outlook for educators and the public schools is particu-larly sobering, considering the worsening inadequacies of aschool finance system overdue for an overhaul. That overhaulwon’t happen next year, despite the admission by key law-makers that the current system is broken.

Even under ideal budgetary circumstances, legislators his-torically have avoided significant school finance changesunless ordered by the courts, and it will take awhile for thenext lawsuit — which many school funding experts believe

is just around the corner — to work its way through the ju-dicial system.

If Gov. Rick Perry and the increased Republican legislativemajority have their way, the revenue shortfall will be bridgedwith budget cuts alone, budget cuts deep enough to worsenthe already strained finances of school districts, put thou-sands of teaching and other education jobs in jeopardy andundermine the futures of thousands of school kids. Texas al-ready ranks in the bottom third nationally on both average

teacher salaries and per-pupil expendi-tures on instruction, and we can’t af-ford to sink any lower.

TSTA will fight to minimize the budgetreductions and try to convince legisla-tors to spend all of the Rainy Day Fund(an estimated $8 billion to $9 billion)first and enact a new adequate, equi-table revenue stream for education andother critical public needs.

The fight, however, will be extremelydifficult, exacerbated by the widespreadlosses of pro-education legislators onElection Day; the influence of the anti-government Tea Party movement overmany of the new, conservative lawmak-ers; and the governor’s courtship of theTea Party in hopes of launching, somebelieve, a race for the 2012 Republicanpresidential nomination.

Here are some other education battlesthat also will be fought in the Capitolover the next several months:

CLASS SIZESSome key legislators — including Sens.Florence Shapiro and Dan Patrick, thechair and vice chair of the Senate Edu-cation Committee — already havebegun talking about lifting the 22-1class-size limit for grades K-4, an im-portant reform that has been law since1984. They say giving school districtsflexibility over class sizes could savemoney without sacrificing quality. Andsome superintendents, eager to savemoney by laying off elementary teach-ers, have jumped on board.

TSTA will fight to keep the 22-1 capbecause we believe it is important to ef-fective teaching in the primary grades.The smaller the class size, the more in-dividual attention a teacher can give toeach student. Studies from Tennessee,Wisconsin and other states havedemonstrated that students assigned tosmaller classes in the primary grades

Teaching with the brain in mind10 tips for incorporating brain research into the classroom by Eric Jensen

Brain-based education is actually a “no-brainer.” Here’s a simple, but essentialpremise: The brain is intimately in-volved in, and connected with, every-thing educators and students do atschool. Any disconnect is a recipe forfrustration and, potentially, disaster.Brain-based education is best under-stood in three words: engagement,strategies and principles. You must en-gage your learners and do it withstrategies that are based on real sci-ence. (I’m a big fan of cognitivescience, neuroscience, psychology andother mind/brain sciences.)

What is brain-based education? It’ssimple: It’s the engagement of strategiesbased on how our brain works.

How reputable is brain-based educa-tion? Harvard University now has bothmaster’s and doctoral degrees in thisfield, known as the “Mind, Brain andEducation” program. There’s also apeer-reviewed scientific journal onbrain-based education, which featuresresearch reports, conceptual papers,reviews, debates and dialogue. Nowthat I’ve reminded you that brain-basededucation is the “real deal,” there’s onemore thing.

There are what you and I might call“macro strategies” and “micro strategies.”

Winter 2010-11 9

The micro strategies are very situationspecific. For example, when you aregiving directions, only give one at a time, because the brain needstime to process the location, the actionand the qualities of the action (“Gofind your team-mates and wait quietlyat your team stations”). I provide thesein our actual workshops because theyrequire demonstration and context tomaximize the understanding and trans-fer. Here, we’ll focus on macro (the“big picture”) strategies. These are the“biggies” that reap huge rewards. Butyou’ll need to use your own experi-ences to customize them for yoursituation. Trust me; they all areachievement boosters, so here they are.

EXERCISE AND MOVEMENTARE CRITICAL TO LEARNINGIt’s confirmed: Physical education,recess and movement are critical tolearning. How? We now know that wecan grow new neurons throughout ourlifetime and that they are highly corre-lated with memory, mood and learn-ing. This process can be regulated byour everyday behaviors, which includeexercise. The optimal activity is volun-tary gross motor, such as power walks,games, running, dance, aerobics, teamsports and swimming. We also nowknow that early childhood movementwires up the brain to make more effi-cient connections. Schools can andshould influence these variables.

Practical school application: Supportmore, not less physical activity, recessand classroom movement. It raises thegood chemicals for thinking, focus,learning and memory (noradrenaline,dopamine and cortisol). Students need30-60 minutes per day to lower stressresponse, boost neurogenesis andboost learning. For the first few weeksof school, expose students to a varietyof physical activities. Then, offer

choice. That’s critical because voluntaryactivity does more good than forced ac-tivity, which may cause an overproduc-tion of cortisol.

BRAINS ARE INFLUENCED BYSOCIAL CONDITIONSIt’s confirmed: Social conditions influ-ence our brain in multiple ways wenever knew before. School behaviorsare highly social experiences, whichbecome encoded through our sense ofreward, acceptance, pain, pleasure, co-herence, affinity and stress. In fact,poor social conditions, isolation or so-cial “defeat” are correlated with fewerbrain cells. Nobody knew this occurredfive or 10 years ago.

Practical school application: Do notallow random social groupings formore than 10-20 percent of the school day. Use targeted, planned,diverse social groupings with mentor-ing, teams and buddy systems. Work to strengthen pro-social conditions.Teacher-to-student relationshipsmatter, as do student-to-studentrelationships.

BRAINS CONSTANTLY REWIREAND REVAMP THEMSELVESThe brain changes! All educatorsshould know the brain can and doeschange every day. In fact every student’sbrain is changing as they attend school.The ability of the brain to rewire andremap itself via neuroplasticity is pro-found. Schools can influence thisprocess through skill-building, read-ing, meditation, arts and buildingthinking skills. The evidence is com-pelling that when the correct skill-building protocol is used, educators canmake positive and significant changesin the brain in a short period of time.Without understanding the “rules forhow our brain changes,” educators can

waste time and money, and studentswill fall through the cracks.

In fact, neuroscience is exploding withdiscoveries about the brain beinghighly malleable. We used to thinkabout the paradigm as either genes orexperience. We now know it can be ahybrid of both. We now know that en-vironments can trigger genes to expressthemselves in ways we never wouldhave predicted — if you know what todo. You can upgrade a student’s capac-ity for memory, processing, sequenc-ing, attention and impulsivity regula-tion. Why not teach these skills to givestudents the tools to succeed?

Practical school application: Giveteachers a mandate of 30-90 minutes aday and 3-5 times per week to upgradestudent skill sets. Teach attentionalskills, memory skills and processingskills. Progress requires focus, “buy-in”and at least a half-hour a day.

STUDENTS AND STAFF NEEDHELP COPING WITH STRESSChronic stress is a very real issue atschools for both staff and students. Re-cent studies suggest 30-50 percent ofall students feel moderately or greatlystressed every day. In some schools, thenumbers are double that! For thosefrom poverty, the numbers can behigher. These pathogenic stress loadsare becoming increasingly common,and have serious health, learning andbehavior risks. This issue affects atten-dance, memory, social skills and cogni-tion. Some stress is good; chronic oracute stress is very bad for behaviorand learning.

Practical school application: Teachstudents better coping skills, increasestudent perception of choice andstrengthen arts, physical activity andmentoring. These activities increase asense of control over one’s life, which

8 TSTA Advocate

strategiesengagement

princi ples

Brain-Based Education

Winter 2010-11 11

compared with two generations ago(10-12 percent). This is also profoundbecause out of the possible hundredsof emotional states, only a few are goodfor learning (e.g., anticipation, curios-ity, suspicion, confusion). Most statesare, in fact, bad for learning.

Practical school application: Thissuggests two things. One, we mustteach appropriate emotional states aslife skills (e.g., honor, patience, forgive-ness and empathy) and, second, it’s im-portant to read and manage the otheremotional states in the classroom. Ingood states, students learn well and be-have better. Insist that teachers buildsocial skills into every lesson. Ask thatthey use the social structures that areadvocated in cooperative learning pro-grams every day. The better the socialskills, the better the academics. Manygood programs are in books, work-shops and online. Why put effort intothis area? Kids who learn patience, at-tention, empathy and cooperation willbe better students.

LEARN ABOUT RECENTSTRIDES IN REHABILITATIONThere have been stunning strides in re-habilitation of brain-based disorders,including Asperger’s, learning delays,dyslexia and autism. The discovery thataggressive behavioral therapies, newdrugs and revolutionary stem cell im-plantation can be used to influence,regulate and repair brain-based disor-ders has been amazing. Innovationssuggest that special education studentsmay be able to improve far more thanwe earlier thought.

Practical school application: Makesure all teachers (not just special ed) learn the latest in dealing withspecial education learning delayrecovery. Most kids can be broughtback into regular ed classes, but notwith inclusion-only strategies. It takesconsistent hour-a-day skill-building or the student won’t change. Learn

the right skills and go to it 3-5 days

a week.

MEMORIES ARE MALLEABLE,NOT FIXED AS WE BELIEVEDThe recent brain/mind discovery thateven memories are not fixed but,instead, are quite malleable is powerful.Every time you retrieve a memory, itgoes into a volatile, flex state in which itis temporarily reorganized. This ishighly relevant for teachers and admin-istrators who are responsible for stu-dent learning and classroom testing.Every time students review, they mightchange their memory (and often do).Yet, without review, they are less likelyto recall their learning. It suggests thatteachers use several strategies to contin-ually strengthen memory over time in-stead of assuming that once learned,the memory is preserved.

Practical school application: First,

teachers should review the content

halfway between the original learning

and the test. If content is taught

Monday and tested on Friday, then

review should be on Wednesday.

Second, teachers should mediate the

review process with students through

structured reviews such as written

quizzes or group work that ensures

quality control. Otherwise the material

is more likely to get confused and test

scores drop.

Eric Jensen is an educator who is interna-

tionally known for his ability to translate

neuroscience into practical classroom

applications. He has written more than 20

books, including Teaching with the Brain

in Mind. His workshops emphasize connect-

ing brain research to student achievement.

Visit www.JensenLearning.com.

10 TSTA Advocate

lowers stress. All of these can reducethe impact of stressors.

MAKE DIFFERENCES THERULE, NOT THE EXCEPTIONSchools are pushing differentiation as a

strategy to deal with the differences in

learners. That’s close, but not quite the

truth. In fact, instead of there being

mostly “typical” students with some stu-

dents with “differences,” brain research

tells us the opposite. Let’s find out how

common it is to have a “healthy brain.”

Of those who responded to the UCLA

“healthy brain” student advertisement

and considered themselves to be normal,

only 32 percent passed the initial tele-

phone screening process. Of those who

qualified for the in-person health history

and physical examinations, only 52 per-

cent passed these screening procedures.

Now we can do the math: only 11

percent of those individuals who

believed they were healthy/normal

even qualified for brain imaging. Of

the original 2,000 students, just over

200 ended up meeting the criteria.

The actual study concludes by saying,

“The majority of individuals who

consider themselves normal by self-

report are found not to be so.” Let me

repeat: almost 90 percent of human

brains are atypical, damaged or in

some way not healthy. That does not

mean that many students have not

compensated; they have.

Practical school application: Make

differences the rule, not the exception

at your school. Validate differences.

Never expect all students (fourth-

graders, for instance) to be on the same

page in the same book on the same

day. That runs counter to an extraordi-

nary research database that shows vari-

ations in maturation rates and other

brain differences. Allow kids to cele-

brate diversity, unique abilities, talents

and interests. Give them the skill sets,

relationships and hope to succeed.

Dartmouth and Stanford) have recentlycompleted projects studying the impactof arts on the brain. The results suggestthat arts are far better than earlierbelieved. They show that certain artsboost attention, working memory andvisual spatial skills. Other arts such asdance, theater and drama boost socialskills, empathy, timing, patience, verbalmemory and other transferable lifeskills.

Practical school application: Makearts mandatory and give students thechoice of several, and support with ex-pert teachers and the time to excel at it.Right now, evidence suggests that youget the most value from 30 to 60 min-utes a day, three to five days a week.Arts support the development of thebrain’s academic operating systems inways that provide many transferablelife skills.

ONLY SIX EMOTIONS AREBUILT IN AT BIRTHHumans have the remarkable capacityto display many emotions, but only sixof them are “hard wired,” or built in atbirth. This is profound because it tellsus that unless children get these emo-tional states taught to them early (ages0-3), when they enter school, they’ll beemotionally narrow. Kids rarely everget the emotional skills built in to beready for school. This leads to morediscipline problems and weakenedcognitive skills in school. This meanswe’ll have kids at school who do notunderstand appropriate emotional re-sponses (e.g., cooperation, trust, shameand humility) unless we teach them atschool. Many kids are not getting thesetaught at home. Your class should offerquick, daily skill-building withblended-in-daily practice.

Otherwise students will misbehave, not understand directions, fail to berespectful to teachers and show noempathy when others are in pain.There are more early childhood kids in day care (60-80 percent) today

TEACH IN SMALLER CHUNKSFOR BETTER MEMORYNew evidence suggests the value ofteaching content in even smaller chunksizes. Why? The old thinking was thatstudents could hold seven plus orminus chunks in the head as capacityfor working memory. But that scienceis outdated. The new research says twoto four chunks are more realistic. Inaddition to this shorter capacity forworking memory, our mid-term “hold-ing tank” for content, the hippo-campus, has a limitation on how muchit can hold. It is overloaded quickly,based partly on learner backgroundand subject complexity. There are otherreasons our students get overloadedquickly with content. Learning andmemory consume physical resourcessuch as glucose and our brain uses thisquickly with more intense learning.

Practical school application: Teachersshould teach in small chunks, processthe learning, and then rest the brain.Too much content taught in too small atime span means the brain cannotprocess it, so we simply don’t learn it.Breaks, recess and downtime makemore sense than content, content andmore content. Here’s the guideline: Theless background the learner has andthe greater the complexity of the con-tent, make the time chunk of contentshorter (use 4-8 minutes). The greaterthe background knowledge, the lessthe complexity and the longer you canmake the “input” stage (8-15 minutesis acceptable). Under no conditionshould there be more than 15 consecu-tive minutes of content input. Sharethis with your colleagues. But share itin a small chunk, and then allow timefor processing it.

ARTS ARE MORE IMPORTANTTHAN WE THOUGHTThe role of the arts in schools contin-ues to be under great scrutiny. But fiveneuroscience departments at five uni-versities (Oregon, Harvard, Michigan,

APPLYING WHAT WE KNOWThis is a new paradigm which establishes

connections between brain function and

educational practice. A field has emerged

known as “brain-based” education and it

has now been well over 20 years since this

“connect the dots” approach began. In a

nutshell, brain-based education says,

“Everything we do uses our brain; let’s learn

more about it and apply that knowledge.”

If your question was, “Are the approaches and strategies based on solid

research from brain-related disciplines or are they based on myths, a

well-meaning mentor teacher or from ‘junk science’?”— now you know

the answer. We would expect an educator to be able to support the use of

a particular classroom strategy with scientific reasoning or studies.

Each educator ought to be professional enough to say, “Here’s why I do

what I do.” I would ask: Is the person actually engaged in using what they

know, or simply having knowledge about it, but not actually using it? Are

they using strategies based on the science of how our brain works? Brain-

based education is about the professionalism of knowing why one strategy

is used over another. The science is based on what we know about how

our brain works.

Winter 2010-11 13

Stephen wants to make a difference inhis students’ lives. He knows that learn-ing is the great equalizer, and he believesthat an injustice to one is an injustice toall. Still, he finds himself becoming likesome of the other teachers — distant,going through the motions of teaching,and having little empathy for the stu-dents and what he perceives to be themiserable existence that awaits them athome. His own pay hasn’t kept pacewith inflation, and each year he finds itmore and more difficult to make endsmeet and support his family.

Finally, the testing is driving him crazy.Every week there are benchmarks to begiven to students who don’t care orcan’t learn, or who are absent morethan they are present. All of this effort,and the school is still labeled a low-performing campus by the state.Stephen knows working on this cam-pus also hampers any opportunity hemay have to go to a better school oreven a better district.

At home, Stephen is angry and frus-trated by what is happening at work, afrustration and anger he takes out onhis family. It is at home where he feelshe has some semblance of power.During an argument, his wife finallyconfronts him and tells him that homeand family are not the cause of hisanger and frustration. As he stops andthinks about this, he realizes the onlyway to stop the cycle he is in andtransform his life is to act more as-sertively at work: to stand up for whathe believes as a teacher; to take owner-ship for what is happening in his class-room and on his campus; and to helpothers — staff and students alike —transform their behaviors and changethe culture of their environment. Hebelieves if he can do this, he may alsomake a difference at home, in his com-munity and in the community wherethe school is located.

Yet, Stephen is afraid, unsure of how tobegin and uncertain that he has theinner fortitude to strive toward hisgoal. In the past, he has often given upbecause situations overwhelmed him,or he was alone with no support anddoubted his own efficacy. And, heneeded his job.

One day, he decides to have lunch inthe lounge, something he typicallyavoids as the talk often turns into gripesessions that reinforce the powerless-ness he feels. This time, however, it’sdifferent. When Stephen walks into thelounge, he sees a woman he doesn’t

know. As he sits down, she walks overto him and introduces herself as Mary,the president of the TSTA local associa-tion and a teacher at one of the ele-mentary schools.

At first, Stephen is hesitant to speakwith her. He can barely make endsmeet as it is, and he figures all shewants is his membership. She sitsdown at a table with him, asks hisname and what he teaches. She thenasks him how things are on his campusand in his classroom. In 10 years ofteaching no one has ever asked himthis, and he opens up about his frustra-

tions, his anger and his desire to helpcreate a better school.

As he talks, Mary listens. She knows hisfrustrations as she has lived them; sheshares his anger because it is genuine;and she affirms his desire because it res-onates with her values as an educator.As Stephen speaks, other staff membersfilter into the lounge and sit down withhim. They, too, share their stories andMary is touched by the realism she hears.

After listening to them, Mary speaks.She tells her story of the problems ather campus: overcrowded classrooms,not enough textbooks and the loss ofplanning time. She could have gone onand on. Despite all of this, her tone isnot one of anger, but of optimism. Sheshares the reasons she got involved inTSTA and why she became a leader.She tells how she uses the opportuni-ties TSTA provides her to confront is-sues on her campus.

Suddenly, they are asking questionsabout how she did it; did she do italone; how had she kept her job; andwas she successful? Mary explains thatTSTA has given her the tools to de-velop as a leader, tools that gave herthe confidence to act and to act boldly.Some shake their heads. It’s impossible;it could never happen on this campus,as the principal rules with an iron fistand much of what teachers experienceis even beyond his control.

Mary gives them information aboutTSTA. She shares with them her beliefthat all members of TSTA are citizensof the association and they have a re-sponsibility to themselves; to others,including their students; and to the as-sociation. As citizens of TSTA, theyhave access to an organization that pro-vides opportunities to help them growand get the knowledge and skills theyneed to be successful. She tells themabout the local association and what it

12 TSTA Advocate

Stephen is a science teacher at a low-performing middleschool. Each day he sees children come into his class-room struggling for survival; many are hungry, or theirclothes are torn. Parents are seldom at the school, in

part because the principal fears that their lack of educationand motivation will spill over into the school.

Stephen lacks the necessary classroom resources available ineven the most basic science labs, yet he is held accountablefor increasing student achievement without any expectationof accountability from decision-makers.

Learning is the last thing on his students’ minds, as survival

and safety take precedence in their lives. As Stephen looks

around his campus, he sees teachers just going through the

motions, demoralized by the state of affairs in their workplace.

The building is in decay, and there is little, if any, support from

the administration regarding discipline and instruction. There

is no connectedness on the campus: Teachers are isolated from

one another, and paraprofessionals are overwhelmed by the de-

mands of the teachers and administration as well as the needs

of the students.

Leadership Pipel ine

In the past, Stephen has

often given up because

situations simply

overwhelmed him, or he

was alone with no

support and doubted his

own efficacy. And, he

needed his job.

POWER:a leadership fable

by Bryan Weatherford

Winter 2010-11 1514 TSTA Advocate

is doing and relates the conversationsshe has with the superintendent.

As Stephen and the others glance attheir watches, Mary asks each of themto join and gives them membership en-rollment forms. As they stand up toleave, she reaffirms why she believesthey could and should be agents forchange and how the local associationcan be the force for that change. Shethanks them for their time and tellsthem when she will be back on campusto collect their forms.

As Stephen walks back to his class-room amid the noise and bustle of thehallway, he reflects on what he has justheard. Has Mary really been able tomake some changes on her campus orwas she just saying that to seem morepowerful than she really is? After all,she is just a teacher.

As the school day ends, Stephen findshimself still thinking about his conver-sation with Mary. The more he thinks,the more he realizes she is a teacherand an activist: an activist for herself,her students and her profession. Dri-ving home, he stops by her school andgoes to her classroom to drop off hismembership enrollment form. He tellsher he wants to be just as she is — anactivist. As he speaks, Mary senses anenergy and excitement from Stephen,two traits that will benefit him, the as-sociation and the school district.

Mary explains how she got involvedand, as she developed her leadershipskills, how she is able to persevere inthe face of opposition, even from unex-pected sources like her colleagues. Itdidn’t happen overnight for her and itwouldn’t happen on his campus at all ifhe didn’t take the initiative to changehis behaviors, adopt a leader’s attitudeand take action to make change hap-pen. Mary explains the LeadershipPipeline, a program designed to de-velop leadership among TSTA’s mem-bers. She shows Stephen the curricularcontent of the program, laying out the

various tracks and pointing out theskill sets.

Then she invites him to go with her toa leadership conference and begin hisjourney of leadership. He thinks for amoment and commits to going withher. Later that evening, he explains tohis wife that he wants to be more thanjust a name on a membership roster, hewants to be an activist.

As Stephen develops skills in personalmastery and how to organize, he alsolearns of the rights he has as an educa-tor and the responsibility he has toprotect and preserve them. He be-comes skillful at organizing his col-leagues around issues on his campus,and he begins to see progress. It isn’talways easy and he grows impatient attimes but he remembers what Marysaid about perseverance. He perse-veres. On campus, his stature growsand he is recognized not just for his ac-complishments but also for his leader-ship and how it has transformed himand his classroom. He realizes thatleadership skills are also life skills.

One day, he is asked to go to a meetingwith the superintendent to talk aboutthe upcoming budget and the impact itwill have on the district. He is at thesame time exhilarated and frightened.He is recognized by the superintendentas a leader on his campus and in thedistrict, but he is frightened becausethe superintendent is, ultimately, hisboss. He knows he has to tread care-fully. This meeting will take all theskills and knowledge he has learnedfrom TSTA’s Leadership Pipeline.

Stephen walks into the meeting withthe superintendent and the district’sbudget director. He is the only associa-tion member there. The superintendentis very straightforward: The districtbudget has to be cut to avoid goinginto a deficit, and the cuts will meanlayoffs for some teachers and ESPs, re-sulting in larger class sizes. As Stephenlistens to this, he realizes he has to take

a stand. This is the crucible where hewill be tested as a leader.

After listening to the superintendentand the budget director, Stephen places both hands on the table, palmsdownward and eyes focused on thesuperintendent. He speaks words hethought he would never speak tosomeone in authority: “This is unac-ceptable to the educators and thechildren in this school district. Thiswill not happen!”

With a slight laugh, the superintendentinforms him that there is little he oranyone else can do about it. Themoney isn’t there. Class sizes will in-crease across all grade levels. AsStephen leaves the office, he realizesthe enormity of his words. He drew aline in the sand, and now he is deter-mined that neither he nor the associa-tion will give in on this issue.

Stephen shares his conversation withMary and other members of the associ-ation. He knows the association has totake action and Mary agrees. Some ofthe other members are doubtful thatanything can be done and others arejust fearful. They need their jobs.

Stephen spearheads the task forcecharged with developing a plan to pre-vent the budget cuts from being made.The timeline is short so they mustmove quickly. He also knows he has tokeep everyone engaged and he findsthis difficult. But, determined, he sitsdown with members on his campus todiscuss the issue and get their input onresolving it. He does the same with po-tential members, and many of themjoin the association. His frustrationmounts, though, because support forwhat he is doing is not becoming theactivism he needs.

In a moment of despair, he pens asimple message and sends it to everyeducator in the district: “If you can’tstand up for yourself, at least stand upfor your students.” This becomes a ral-lying point for all educators and soon

this message appears in lounges,workrooms and even bathrooms across the district. Stephen knows that in standing up for the students,they will be standing up against thesuperintendent.

Over the next several days, Stephenbegins to receive emails and phone callsof support from his colleagues; moresignificantly, some are even expressing adesire to help. This motivates him andthe task force to step up their engage-ment with their colleagues. Phone calls,flyers and emails go out with a straight-forward message: “Stand up for ourstudents by standing up at our schoolboard meeting.” Colleagues are also told to get the word out to as many peo-ple as possible. Stephen and Mary un-derstand that the perception of power is often greater than the actual power.More people standing up at the schoolboard meeting will have a powerfulimpact.

Finally, the moment of truth arrives.Stephen will speak for the association.Entering the usually empty boardroom,he is thrilled to find the rows packedwith his colleagues, all watching him with hopeful eyes. Armed withfinancial data that shows the districthas more than enough money to offsetthe budget cuts and with right on hisside, Stephen steps forward to addressthe school board. Before addressingthem, he turns and looks into the eyesof his colleagues. Choking backemotion, he nods and in unison, theystand up — standing behind Stephenand standing up for their students.

As he addresses the board, he sensesanger from the superintendent and dis-content on the faces of some boardmembers. Surprisingly, it matters littleto him. His voice is clear and he con-veys his message with clarity. The mes-sage is simple: Our children deservebetter than this!

After his presentation, copies of whichhad been given to the school board andthe media, members of the board

pepper him with questions. His re-sponses are on point to reinforce the as-sociation’s message. He speaks with cer-tainty and acts with confidence.Returning to his seat, he is humbled bythe presence of so many of his friendsand colleagues at the meeting, all ofwhom are still standing. It is only whenhe sits down that they do the same.

The silence in the boardroom is deaf-ening … and then the school boardvotes 4-3 to approve a budget that willlead to layoffs and larger class sizes.

Disappointed, Stephen thanks eachschool board member and, as he turnsto leave the boardroom, he sees hiswife standing with Mary, both of whomsense his anger and frustration. Hiswife expresses her pride in what he hasdone. Mary looks at him with a gleamof satisfaction in her eyes. As he ex-plains to her that all he wanted was tofeel empowered, he realizes the schoolboard took that away from him in onefell swoop.

Mary shakes her head and explains a

basic truth about power. Power is notsomething given to you; rather, it issomething you take. Stephen demon-strated his power and that of the asso-ciation despite the outcome.

Driving home that night and glancingup at the vast and starry Texas sky, herealizes a simple truth of leadership.Leadership is not about winning; it isabout acting in a way that transformsbehaviors and culture. His simple actof standing up and speaking out in-spired others to change their behaviorsand shape their culture.

TSTA’s Leadership Pipeline shapedStephen’s behavior, and he is now in aposition to shape the culture and be-havior of his school district. This, inand of itself, empowers him and hisassociation.

Bryan Weatherford is the leadershipdevelopment specialist for TSTA, and thestate coordinator for the TSTA-StudentProgram and the Human and Civil RightsProgram. He can be reached atbryanw@tsta.org.

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Winter 2010-11 17

Rumor has it that a group of highschool students will be lobbying theFredericksburg City Council for a skatepark. Mayor Tom Musselman isn’t sureif he likes the idea or not, but he lovesthat the students are working the sys-tem to try to get it. “That’s governmentin action,” he said with a smile.

For Musselman, it’s evidence that thestudents are listening. In addition tohis mayoral role, he is also a govern-ment, history and sociology teacher atFredericksburg High School, and “whatwe do every day in the classroom is in-still the value of citizenship and theimportance of being part of a solution.”

When Musselman first moved to Fred-ericksburg 36 years ago, he made hisliving managing a couple of downtownrestaurants. He was happy, but when,after 17 years, the owner decided toclose the restaurants, Musselman wasready to move on.

“My wife Kelly asked me what I reallywanted to do,” he recalled. “I said Iwanted to do what I’d wanted to do allmy life, but I never thought I couldmake a living at it, and that was teach.By that time, I didn’t care whether Icould make a living at it; it was justwhat I wanted to do.”

Musselman already held a bachelor’sdegree in history and teacher certifica-tion in composite social studies, his-tory and special education. He took aposition teaching special education fortwo years, then transferred to socialsciences, an area he loves because hebelieves it teaches students to “be bet-ter, live a good life and be productivein society.”

“I want them to understand why his-tory is important. I want them to knowhow government works. I want themto understand why people interact theway we do,” Musselman said. “To moveforward as a culture and a society, wehave to have a firm understanding ofhow we got to where we are today.

Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Musselman uses his lesson plans and his life to teach students why government and history matter.

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Why TSTA?I have been a member of

the Fredericksburg, Texas,

chapter of TSTA since

1995. My good friend

George Burns was the TSTA

local president. We got to

talking, and I liked the pro-

gram TSTA had.

I liked the idea of belonging

to a professional organiza-

tion whose goal was to help

teachers define their voice

in Texas society. I felt that

being a TSTA member

would help me more in my

professional development.

It made me more aware of

what was going on in edu-

cation in the state of Texas

and also what — through the

affiliation with NEA — was

going on in education in the

United States, because we

can’t divorce what’s going

on in Texas from what’s

going on nationally.

I think TSTA is the most in-

formed teacher organization

in the state of Texas. They

put teachers and kids first,

and they are always there if

teachers need them.

Mayor Tom Musselman,

high school teacher and

TSTA member

Sometimes the answers arehard to accept, they are un-pleasant, but they are whatthey are.”

Musselman lines his class-room walls with news clips,cartoons and signs from po-litical campaigns to stimu-late his students’ interest instudying government.

“As a group, 18- to 24-year-olds have the lowest voterparticipation of any group inAmerican society today, so Isee it as my job to try toteach them why it’s impor-tant to be involved in poli-tics,” Musselman said. Hisjob as mayor adds power tothis educational objective:He is a living resource fromwhom his students can learnhow politics affects theireveryday lives.

Musselman had served fiveyears on the city council

when the former mayor an-nounced he would not seekre-election. The timing wasgood.

“My son was out of collegeand on his own. I had the fi-nancial resources and the timeto devote to being mayor,”he said. “Not that I’m rich oranything like that, but atleast my house is paid off.”

Musselman was electedmayor in May. “Public ser-vice has always been a keypart of my life. I guess that’swhy I’m a public schoolteacher,” he said. “I ran formayor because I wanted togive back. I have an abidinglove for this community. I’veseen the changes that havehappened here and I wantedto be part of that change.”

He says Fredericksburg isfortunate to be a historictown with an economy dri-

ven by tourism. “We are adestination. We are trying tobring people from all overthe state and offer them aunique experience,” he said.“We have some of the finestfestivals anywhere in thestate of Texas. We just hadour 30th anniversary of theOktoberfest, and we brokeall records. We are indeedblessed as a community.”

He steers clear of partisanpolitics, in the classroom aswell as city hall. “I try toteach both sides of thestory,” he said, adding that,as a social scientist, “I’mvery fearful of the drift to-ward political polarizationthat I’m seeing happen onthe national and state levels.I don’t think it’s good for ourrepresentative democracy.”

Although his son, Karl-Thomas, is a well-known

blogger with the BurntOrange Report, Musselmandoesn’t blog. He admits he’snot high-tech, but says hedoes maintain a mayoralwebsite, where he reports oncity council meetings. Healso has a Facebook pageand maintains an email listof almost 1,000 people.

“I’ve only had a cell phonefor about a year, and I stilldon’t text,” he admitted, butin a town of 11,500, com-municating with your con-stituents is not that hard. “I run into the people whovoted for me on a daily basisat Walmart or HEB.”

Reflecting on almost twodecades in the classroom,Musselman is thrilled aboutthe changes in technology.“Our district does a great jobof supporting teachers with

the technology they need todeliver instruction to kids.My planning and my deliv-ery are different now thanthey were 19 years ago, andI like what we’re doingnow,” he said. “I’m glad tobe away from overhead pro-jectors and filmstrips. Now Ican walk around the class-room and check on kids. Ican make sure they’re ontask and be more interactivewith them.”

Other changes that he’s seenin public education are notso good. “A sad fact of thematter is, right now inAmerican society, lots of peo-ple are working lots of hours,and the schools are beingasked to do things that his-torically were part of the jobof the family or society. Butthat’s life,” he shrugged.“Life is about change and

adapting to change for thebetterment of society.”

Another concern now is time.“Teachers are so overbur-dened by the requirementsof today’s educational systemin Texas,” Musselman said.“Every teacher is faced withthe same problem, and thatis a limited amount of timeto do everything that is re-quired of them. Teachersneed more time to plan, andthey need more time tothink and be global.”

Still, with the end of his class-room career maybe five yearsaway, Musselman said he’sloved every minute. “I wish Ihad started earlier,” he saidwith emotion. “Teaching is awonderful profession.

“If there are any youngpeople out there thinking

about teaching, I wouldadvise them not to worryabout the money. Moneyisn’t everything, but beingable to affect an entire gen-eration by providing themwith knowledge that will en-able them to better society …it’s something that … it’shard to explain.

“My job is to do as much asI can to eradicate ignoranceso people make good deci-sions. The people we areteaching today are going tobe making decisions for usin 10 or 15 years.

“That’s what every teacherwants: to help kids live agood life and be produc-tive,” Musselman said. “I’mglad I did what I did onboth levels, being involvedin politics and also being ateacher.”

THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATEWITH COLLEAGUES FROMAROUND TEXASProject Share uses a wide variety of Web2.0 tools, and TEA has a video thatexplains their basic use. You can usesome of these tools or all of them. Youcan create lessons on wikis. You cancreate and join groups of teachers insimilar fields. One feature has an inter-face similar to Facebook. The differ-ence is that the communication herebetween teachers is professional andsecure from public scrutiny.

This year, the vertical team for tech-nology applications held some of itsmeetings using the Project Share plat-form. Documents were placed in afolder that was accessible to all mem-bers, then the committee met as ahybrid. Some team members were atthe TEA building; others were presentvia conference call. Still others usedtheir computer’s audio and video tojoin the meeting. All had the same doc-uments in front of them and could seechanges as they were made.

Project Share offers you the opportunityto meet with colleagues from across thestate of Texas, or it can connect you toother teachers in your district withoutleaving your building. The high level ofsophistication gives you every opportu-nity for a better meeting.

ONLINE PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT TIED DIRECTLYTO WHAT YOU NEEDEach summer, TEA provides profes-sional development workshops acrossthe state. Project Share supports it intwo ways. First, it creates groups for allteachers who attend the live trainings.Through the communication toolsmentioned above, teachers can recon-nect to learn what is working and whatis not working from the workshop.Second, the new platform gives teach-ers who could not attend access to theworkshops through video recordings.When TEA hires a specialist to train 50

teachers, Project Share can share thattraining with thousands.

Project Share also provides video fromTexas classrooms where teachers are im-plementing the concepts being taught inthese professional development sessions.

SHOW OFF YOUR BEST WORKThere are folders on your Project Shareportal to help you develop a collectionof your best work. The ePortfoliofolder holds all of your electroniccontent, whether it is original or fromanother source; options range fromyour favorite internet links to yourown Showcase folder. It even has afolder specifically for your blog. Byusing these tools, you allow others toknow more about you, your accom-plishments and what you are doing.You can always restrict who sees yourinformation through TEA’s securityfeatures. When permitted, you can alsoview others’ portfolios to find the bestsources for your teaching materials.

There are many more wonderful thingsabout Project Share. Look for furtherideas, tips and tricks in upcomingTeaching and Learning enewsletters.

THE BIG KICKOFF IS AT SXSWSouth by Southwest (SXSW) is anannual music, film and interactiveconference and festival held in Austin.In 2011, SXSW Interactive will intro-duce a new event covering educationand technology, called SXSWedu. Itsinaugural event will be “Project Share:Knowledge Knows No Boundaries” onMarch 8-10 at the AT&T ConferenceCenter in Austin. Attendees will seeexamples of teachers using ProjectShare to “collaborate, share resourcesand showcase accomplishments.”According to TEA, Project Share maybe the only way that teachers learnabout the presenters and registrationoptions. Go to www.sxswedu.com.

Dr. Paul Henley is TSTA’s Teaching andLearning specialist.

Winter 2010-11 2120 TSTA Advocate

Project Share: Get connectedSometime near the beginning of the year, you likely received an email from yourdistrict’s technology division regarding Project Share. Many teachers disregarded theemail when they received it, but things have changed. Over half of Texas teachershave logged onto Project Share and with good reasons. By Dr. Paul Henley

In the Classroom

ACCESS TO A WIDE AND EXPANDING AMOUNT OF CLASSROOM CONTENT

Project Share has partnered with the New York Times (NYT)Knowledge Network, The Public Broadcasting System’sDigital Learning Library, Texas PBS stations and iTunesUniversity. The Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife hasprovided content, and there are elements of the Reading Firstprogram, too.

Much of this material is new to Texas teachers and providesnew ways to teach the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills(TEKS) more deeply. Even the material that is already avail-able has been repackaged to make it more accessible. Everystudent in Texas is required to study the Gettysburg Address.

Using Project Share, Texas students will now be able to access

the 1863 New York Times’ coverage of the Gettysburg Address.

The NYT database is searchable by keyword; however, the

PBS database allows teachers to search the database by enter-

ing specific TEKS. If you are having difficulty with a specific

content standard, Project Share offers a quick way to remedy

the situation.

You may remember iTunes University from a previous Teach-

ing and Learning enewsletter. The concept has become more

developed, and Texas Education Agency (TEA) now has its

own iTU channel. Project Share helps keep these files orga-

nized and searchable, as well.

GET STARTED IN 20 MINUTES!As a Texas teacher, it is a good idea to discover the different ways that

Project Share can help you in your job and your career. The quickest way

to do this only takes 20 minutes, and it’s easy. Simply direct your web

browser to www.tea.state.tx.us/projectshare. You will see a link for Texas

Tour 1.0 in the middle of the page. It will save you hours of time over the

coming years and give you access to things you didn’t know existed.

Winter 2010-11 2322 TSTA Advocate

Acting Locally

Harlandale fights for help with health careWhile the cost of health insurance increased by 7.9 percent in Harlandale ISD thisyear, salaries increased by only 1.5 percent.

Supported by more than 35 members in the audience, Har-landale Education Association (HEA) President Cathy Steinspoke at the October school board meeting on the rising costof health care.

Two local members — Diana Mancha, HEA insurance com-mittee representative, and Olga Vega, HEA transportationmember — also spoke.

While the cost of health insurance increased by 7.9 percent in Harlandale ISD this year, salaries increased by only 1.5percent.

“During the convocation, the superintendent asked the em-ployees to ‘see’ the students in the way the indigenous peopleof the movie Avatar used the phrase ‘I see you,’” Stein said.“We do see our students. Do you see us?”

She cited sobering statistics, including that Harlandale ISDranks 13th among the 14 San Antonio school districts inteacher salaries, and that some employees’ take-home pay isless than in previous years.

“Do you see our struggle to make ends meet? If you do see us,we are asking you to do something now and not wait for nextyear,” Stein said. She urged the board to address the issue atits November meeting and to fully fund health insurance fordistrict employees.

For employees who are currently enrolled in HISD healthinsurance, “The increase is $19 a month per employee, for acost of $406,000. There are many options to address thisissue. We hope you will be like Jake Sully, the warrior inAvatar, and stand up for what is right for the Harlandalefamily,” Stein said.

DONNA TEAMS WORK TOBUILD RESPECTMorale dropped when the Donna ISDstaff was reorganized a few years ago,so Donna TSTA approached the districtadministration about collaborating ona program to improve attitudes andproductivity.

Under the “Respect, Dignity, Profession-alism for All” campaign, campus-basedteams of one administrator and five par-ticipants — representing teachers, prin-cipals, custodians, cafeteria workers, sec-retaries and instructional aides — weretrained together, then shared what theylearned with their fellow workers.

Principles included listening and com-municating effectively, interest-basedproblem solving, ethics and legal con-duct, mutual accountability and responsi-bility, maintaining a “we” mentality, team-building, diversity, increased employeeengagement and commitment, and man-aging and reducing workplace stress.

For the first time in five years, theturnover rate among teachers in thedistrict is below the state average (12.2percent in Donna compared to 14.7percent statewide), and there has beena 5 percent increase in students passingthe TAKS test, greater than the percent-age increase in Texas and EducationService Center Region 1.

For Donna TSTA, the “Respect” cam-paign increased its visibility, resultingin a membership increase, and its lead-ers and members are now engaged inthe school improvement and decision-making process.

TSTA-STUDENT PROGRAMWINS NEA GRANTSTSTA-Student Program (TSTA-SP) andseven of its local chapters have re-ceived NEA CLASS and SOAR grants.CLASS grants of up to $1,000 are usedby local chapters to engage in commu-

nity outreach projects. Chapters receiv-ing the grants are Lone Star College atKingwood, Lone Star College at NorthHarris and San Jacinto College–Central.

SOAR grants of up to $4,000 are usedby local chapters for membership re-cruitment and/or to organize a localchapter. Chapters receiving SOARgrants are Angelo State University,Lone Star College at Kingwood, theUniversity of Texas and the Universityof Texas at El Paso.

At the state level, TSTA-SP won aSOAR grant to establish chapters atcommunity colleges in the El Paso andHouston areas. For more informationon CLASS and SOAR grants, seehttp://www.nea.org/home/20268.htm.

In other TSTA-SP news:

• Michelle Naquin, a student memberat Concordia University in Austin,has been appointed the NEA-StudentProgram (NEA-SP) student liaison tothe NEA Legislative Committee. Theappointment was recommended byNEA-SP Chairperson Tommie Lead-ers and approved by the NEA Boardof Directors.

• Mark your calendars: The TSTA-SPAnnual Conference and House ofDelegates will be March 25-27 at theOmni Austin Hotel at Southpark.

• Don’t forget the deadline for enteringthe TSTA-SP Awards Program isMarch 4.

Winter 2010-11 2524 TSTA Advocate

• amended the calendar bydeleting the Decembermeeting

• reaffirmed its commitmentto intergenerational activities

• held a lengthy discussionon membership growthand pre-retired members

• voted to move forwardwith a quilt project

Regional meetings: Someregions hold monthly meet-ings from September untilMay; others hold quarterlymeetings or set their ownschedules. TSTA-R PresidentJohnetta Williams attendedthe meetings of Region 4C(Fort Worth area), whereJerry Watkins is president,and Region 4D (Dallas area),where Frank Colbert is pres-ident. Regions 2A and 2B inthe El Paso area are electingnew officers. Region 2C inthe Midland/Odessa areaheld a meeting to reorga-nize, which Williams at-tended by speaker phone.They met all the require-ments and will have a repre-sentative on the TSTA-RBoard of Directors.

Please check the website orcall TSTA-R to locate agroup near you. Somegroups have a wide varietyof activities, such as speak-ers and tours, while otherstake day trips and still oth-ers just meet and eat. Ifthere is no organized groupin your area, we can helpyou start one.

Upcoming events: TSTA-R’sBoard of Directors meetsFeb. 3-4 at TSTA Headquar-ters in Austin in the An-toinette Miller Room. Youare invited to attend.

The TSTA-R Annual Meeting(formerly the TSTA-R Houseof Delegates) is April 13-14in El Paso. All members areeligible to attend and vote.Take part in the businessand fun! More informationwill follow.

The NEA-Retired (NEA-R)West Conference date is to bedetermined. Watch the re-tired section of www.nea.orgor This Active Life magazinefor information.

The TSTA-R officers will at-tend the NEA-R East Con-ference March 25-27 at theOmni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, PA. You arewelcome to come; watch the NEA website or ThisActive Life magazine for reg-istration information. Youmust register online; if youneed assistance, call the offi-cers or the TSTA-R office.NEA-R will pay two nights’lodging for one person withdouble-room occupancy toincrease the involvement ofa newly active member byhelping him or her attendthis conference. If you feelthis room has your name on

it, submit your name andcontact information toBianca Espinoza at bian-cae@tsta.org or to JohnettaWilliams at townview@swbell.net. You may alsomail your information toTSTA-R, 316 West 12thStreet, Austin, TX 78701. Tobe considered for the give-away, your information mustreach us by Feb. 1.

The NEA-R Annual Meetingis June 26-28 in Chicago.Watch the NEA website orThis Active Life magazinefor information. Registrationis only offered online. Allmembers are encouraged toattend and participate in thebusiness of the association.

Elections: Filing forms aredue at the TSTA office inAustin, postmarked by Jan.15, 2011, for the followingpositions:

• TSTA-Retired presidentand vice president. The fil-ing form is below. Ballotswill be mailed in earlyFebruary. Each positioncarries a two-year termrunning July 15, 2011, toJuly 14, 2013.

• TSTA-Retired/NEA-Retireddelegate to the NEA Rep-resentative Assembly June30 to July 5 in Chicago.The form is in the fallTSTA Advocate and on the TSTA-R web page,www.tsta.org/inside/retired.

• TSTA-Retired at-large dele-gates to the TSTA House ofDelegates April 15-16 in ElPaso. The form is in thefall TSTA Advocate and onthe TSTA-R web page.

All elections will take placeby mail ballot between Feb.5 and March 3. Membersmay file for a position them-selves or nominate anothermember (you must obtainwritten permission fromyour nominee). For informa-tion on duties and responsi-bilities, contact the TSTA-Roffice at 877-ASK-TSTA.

Check out the retired sec-tions of tsta.org and nea.org,and click on TSTA’s legisla-tive page for a glimpse of theupcoming legislative seasonand how you can help.

TSTA-R President JohnettaWilliams

SUPPORT STAFF MEETIN HOUSTON, IRVING TSTA held two conferencesfor education support pro-fessionals this fall in Irvingand Houston.

The Sept. 25 meeting atCypress Ridge High Schoolin the Cypress-FairbanksISD featured Paula Monroeas the keynote speaker. ACalifornia high school secre-tary, she serves on the NEAExecutive Committee.

The speaker for the Oct. 16conference at Irving’s Crockett

Middle School was IonaHolloway of Louisiana, thefirst education support pro-fessional to serve on NEA’sBoard of Directors.

Training sessions coveredleadership and assertiveness,organizing in the digital age,working with children ofdifferent backgrounds andessential rights of ESPs.

Links to photos of bothevents and video of theIrving meeting are atwww.tsta.org/inside/about/photoalbum.shtml.

TSTA-RETIRED MEETSIn September, the TSTA-Retired (TSTA-R) Board ofDirectors held its first meet-ing of the membership yearand took the followingactions:

• approved the audit report

• adopted the 2010-11budget

Check box beside office this nomination is for: TSTA-Retired President TSTA-Retired Vice PresidentQUALIFICATIONS: Must be an active member of TSTA-Retired and NEA-Retired

Nominee’s name _________________________________________________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________________City/State_______________Zip___________

Home phone_________________________________________Day phone___________________________________________

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the above information is true and correct.

Nominee’s signature ______________________________________________________________________________________

Nominator’s name ________________________________________________________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________________City/State________________________Zip___________

Home phone_________________________________________Day phone___________________________________________

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the above information is true and correct.

Nominator’s signature_____________________________________________________________________________________

Send by U.S. Mail (or FAX to 512-486-7043) by Jan. 15, 2011, to TSTA-Retired, 316 West 12th Street, Austin, TX 78701.

T S TA - R N O M I N AT I O N F O R M

Speakers were Iona Holloway (left middle photo) and Paula Monroe(right middle photo).

26 TSTA Advocate

132nd Annual TSTA ConventionThe annual TSTA Convention will be in El Paso, Texas, onApril 15-16, 2011. Convention events will take place at thehistoric Camino Real Hotel as well as the Judson F. WilliamsConvention Center in revitalized downtown El Paso.

Periodic updates about convention schedules and events willbe posted on the TSTA website in the “members only” areaunder “TSTA House of Delegates Information.”

BECOME A DELEGATEThe House of Delegates (HoD) serves a vital role in the gover-nance of TSTA and helps to shape the future of our organiza-tion. The HoD may establish goals for TSTA, amend its by-laws, and act on recommendations from the TSTA officers,board or committees.

This year delegates will elect TSTA officers; the NEA Director

for Texas, Place 3; the Third Alternate NEA Director; and, ifnecessary, any at-large members of the TSTA Board ofDirectors.

Please contact your local president for details on how to be-come an elected delegate in your local. If you do not have alocal or your local does not hold delegate elections, pleasecontact your regional president. Delegate allocations arebased on membership totals as of Jan. 15. Local delegateelection results must be reported to TSTA by March 15.

REGISTRATION

Registration and certification of delegates, non-delegates/

alternates and guests will be in Hall A (entering through the

Mount Franklin Lobby) at the convention center, beginning

at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, April 15, and continuing to Saturday,

Governance

Thursday, April 14

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advisory Committee Meeting

1:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Board of Directors Meeting

6:00 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Candidates Meeting

Friday, April 15

7:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Registration

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Special Interest Exhibits

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Open Hearings

9:15 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Professional Development Workshops (CPE Credit)

10:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Professional Development Workshops (CPE Credit)

11:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Candidate Forum

12:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tentative Special Event

1:00 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parliamentary Procedures Workshop for New Delegates

1:45 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recognized Caucus Meetings

2:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House of Delegates Opening Ceremony and Meeting

Saturday, April 16

6:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Registration

7:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regional/TSTA-Student Program/TSTA-Retired Meetings

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Special Interest Exhibits

8:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Voting/Elections

10:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House of Delegates Meeting

12:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lunch and Recognized Caucus Meetings

2:00 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House of Delegates Meeting

T E N TAT I V E S C H E D U L E

April 16. All TSTA members and guestsare welcome to attend the convention,but only delegates with proper delegatebadges are allowed in the designateddelegate section and voting area. Non-delegates/alternates and guests are en-couraged to register.

HEARINGS AND WORKSHOPSOpen hearings will be held Fridaymorning on the proposed 2011-12TSTA budget and any proposed bylawsamendments or NEA Resolutions. Ad-ditional topics may be added. Profes-sional development workshops eligiblefor continuing education credit alsowill be offered on Friday.

HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATIONThe Camino Real Hotel is holding aroom block for TSTA convention atten-dees. Reserve your room directly withthe hotel by March 24, 2011, to ensureyour room at the group rate of $88.00(plus applicable taxes currently at 15.5 percent). Self-parking for hotelguests is $6.00 per day based on avail-ability. Hotel shuttle to and from theairport is complimentary.

Make your reservation by calling 800-769-4300 or 915-534-3099 from8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (MST), Mondaythrough Friday. Identify yourself as aparticipant of the “TSTA Annual Con-vention” at the time you make yourreservation to obtain the group rate.Please note: A first night room depositsecured with a major credit card isrequired for all reservations. (TSTAcautions individuals not to use a debitcard, or a card that can be used as adebit card, to secure your reservation.)Cancellations must be made with thehotel 48 hours before your scheduledarrival to avoid a charge for the firstnight.

Local associations who wish to pay bycheck should be aware that paymentby check is only an option if reserving

a room block of 10 or more, and anapproved credit application is on file at the hotel. Payment of estimatedcharges is due 10 days in advance. Ifyou are interested in this option, please contact TSTA’s Center for Ex-ecutive and Governance (CEG) at 800-324-5355, ext. 1510 or 1514.

SPECIAL ASSISTANCEPhysically challenged or special needsdelegates should contact TSTA’s CEG nolater than April 5, 2011, to arrange as-sistance during the convention. Paymentfor special needs requests such as wheel-chairs or transportation is the responsi-bility of the delegate, but TSTA willhelp make arrangements for services.

Members who do not have a roommate

but would like to share accommoda-tions should contact the CEG beforemaking their hotel reservation. We willattempt to match members who wantto share expenses, but we cannot guar-antee a roommate for everyone.

TSTA HOST COMMITTEETSTA would like to thank this year’shost committee, appointed byPresident Haecker, for their efforts tohelp ensure a successful and funconvention. HoD Host Committeemembers are: Region 2A, GeorgeCordova, Remi Garcia, Pete Jimenez,Juan Moreno, Angelica Soto, SylviaWeaver; Region 2B, Shelley Lincoln,Arlinda Valencia, Ysrael Valencia; TSTA-SP, Crystal Estrada; and TSTA-R,Jay Ann Rucker.

Winter 2010-11 27

Winter 2010-11 2928 TSTA Advocate

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Balance

TSTA bylaws, policies and pro-cedures guarantee minoritiesand education support profes-sionals (ESPs) a meaningfulvoice in the organization, whilepreventing supervisory stafffrom having influence beyondtheir numbers.

As specified in our bylaws, everyJan. 15, TSTA calculates theproportion of its membershipin these three categories to de-termine the need for additionalboard elections. Recent member-ship numbers show 37.8 per-cent of our members are ethnicminorities, 20.8 percent are ESPsand 3.5 percent are supervisory.The board has 28 members thatcount for this purpose — includ-ing president, vice president,regional presidents, the TexasFaculty Association (TFA) pres-ident, the TSTA-R president, theTSTA-SP president and NEA di-rectors — so if those percent-ages stay the same on Jan.15.2011, TSTA will need at least11 minorities, six ESPs and onesupervisor on the board. Afterthe election of regional presi-dents at the regional houses ofdelegates, we will know if weneed additional elections.

ESP: TSTA currently has sixESP board members; three were

elected at-large and three are re-gional presidents. The term ofone of the regional presidentscontinues through July 14,2012, and the other two presi-dents are eligible to run again.However, all of the at-large ESPs’terms are ending, and they arenot eligible for re-election. Wecan predict that we likely willneed an ESP at-large election,but we will not know howmany at-large positions will beneeded until after the regionalhouses of delegates elections.

Minority: If current member-ship percentages hold onJan.15, 2011, it is possible butunlikely that we will need toelect minority at-large boardmembers due to the presentnumber of minority boardmembers with unexpired terms.

Supervisory: The term of thecurrent at-large supervisoryboard member expires July 14,2012, so no election will beneeded.

Based on all of the above calcu-lations, we have included anomination form for the ESPand minority positions. If re-quired, those elections will beheld at the 2011 House of Dele-gates on April 16, and individu-

als elected will serve from July15, 2011, through July 14,2013. If you are interested inrunning, please complete andreturn the form below.

TSTA Policy EP-6 stipulatesthat all nomination forms mustbe submitted by the deadlineadopted by the board (seebelow). The form can be deliv-ered by any means that pro-vides verifiable evidence that itwas submitted by the deadline.TSTA must issue a receipt fornominations delivered in per-son. Nomination forms that arereceived through the regularmail will not be accepted andwill be returned to the sender.

TSTA will send a packet detail-ing board members’ responsi-bilities to each person who filesa nomination form. The packetwill contain a form stating thatthe candidate has read thepacket and will accept the re-sponsibilities if elected; eachcandidate must sign and returnthe form before ballots are dis-tributed and within the timelineadopted by the board.

The nomination form must beCOMPLETELY filled out andSIGNED by the nominee. Can-didates must comply with the

board-approved election time-line as follows:

Thursday, March 24: Deadlinefor receipt of nomination form

Monday, March 28: Deadlinefor receipt of candidate flyer (forinclusion in delegate packets)

Friday, April 8 at 4:45 p.m.CDT: Deadline for candidatestatement/late nomination form(for candidate’s name to appearon ballot)

Saturday, April 16: Election at the TSTA State House ofDelegates

Saturday, April 16: Runoffelection, if necessary, at theTSTA State House of Delegates

QUALIFICATIONSCandidates must:

• Be actively engaged in the ed-ucation profession within thestate at the time of election

• Have held Active, ESP orTFA, or any combination ofActive, ESP, TFA or life mem-bership in TSTA for at leastthree consecutive years pre-ceding the election

• Be actively employed as anon-supervisory member

• Maintain membership statusand educational position inTSTA during term of office

• Sign and return the form ac-cepting the responsibilities ofa board member

Submitted forms must have amethod of verifying receipt byTSTA. Deliver forms to TSTACenter for Executive andGovernance (CEG), 316 West12th Street, Austin, Texas78701. If hand-delivering, besure to get a hand-written re-ceipt from the CEG. Forms maybe faxed to (512) 486-7053 orpdf copies may be emailed tocarolm@tsta.org. For questionsregarding the election, call(877) ASK-TSTA, ext. 1510, oremail carolm@tsta.org.

Election of TSTA at-large Board of Directors members

TSTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT-LARGE POSITIONSI am filing for a minority position and certify that I am a non-supervisory member of TSTA.I am filing for an educational support position and certify that I am a non-supervisory member of TSTA.

(Circle One: Mr. Ms.) Name _______________________________________________________________________________

Address__________________________________________________________________________________________________

City__________________________________________________________________ State______________ Zip______________

Home Phone___________________________________ Day Phone _________________________________________________

Email _____________________________________________Last 4 Digits SSN ________________________________________

Work Site_____________________________________________________Cell Phone___________________________________

Local Association ____________________________________________________________________TSTA Region___________

Position _________________________________________________ School District____________________________________

ETHNIC GROUP: (Please Check)American Indian/Alaska Native Black Native Hawaiian/Pacific IslanderMulti-Ethnic Asian HispanicCaucasian (not of Hispanic Origin) Other__________________________________________________________

Nomination forms must be received by March 24, 2011, by TSTA’s Center for Executive and Governance. Send to: TSTA,Organizing Center for Executive and Governance, 316 West 12th Street, Austin, Texas 78701; or email to carolm@tsta.org orfax to (512) 486-7053.

Signature of Nominee ______________________________________________________________________________________

N O M I N AT I O N F O R M

30 TSTA Advocate Winter 2010-11 31

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