I have the distinct pleasure of introducing you to Sarah Wessling who will be blogging for us and is featured — along with her students — in a number of inspiring videos we’re producing this year about improving her practice. For the last four months, I have spent time in Sarah’s classroom and watched her fill a variety of other educational roles: author of a new book on the Common Core, speaker at national conferences, discussion leader for administrators, and convener of teachers around her state.
She does all of this while having returned to her classroom after receiving the National Teacher of the Year Award in 2010. I have learned so much from Sarah — about the Common Core, about improving practice, and about the variety of roles teachers are playing in education both inside and outside of their classrooms. And I’ve played Legos with her three small children!
I love the time I spend with Sarah, and I am in hopes that you will too. She is incredibly thoughtful about teaching and about learning. She is positive with her students, but she pushes them. She is also an excellent analyst of the big challenges teachers are facing. We feel incredibly lucky to have Sarah Wessling as the first Teacher Laureate at Teaching Channel!