TM: (Pre-service) A Look at Teaching

Transcript:

NCCIU: Hello everyone! Rebecca congratulations on your latest recognition!

Glenn Gurley: Rebecca, will you begin the Town Meeting by telling us a little bit about yourself

Rebecca Hoyle: Sure! I am a teacher on loan this year, but last year I taught Music K-5 in Onslow County. I was named NC TOY in May. Beginning on July 1, I have spent time traveling across the state speaking to many groups about teaching in North Carolina.

Glenn Gurley: At your meeting in Washington there must have been talk about technology in the states and how it is being used. How did you think that NC rated?

Rebecca Hoyle: I was so pleased to be a teacher in North Carolina. Many other state Teachers of the Year were interested in all aspects of our innovative ideas in our state. From our conversations, NC schools appear to be ahead in technology.

Rebecca Hoyle: I also found out that the Teacher of the Year network in our state is one of the best programs for networking among the 50 states and five territories which were represented at the Washington forum.

Glenn Gurley: People always comment on the wonderful things that are happening in NC when I go to out-of-state conferences. It has a good name! At the last conference the presenter before me shared that she referenced our state many times in her Internet presentation.

Joe: Rebecca, I read in the USA Today this morning that you have been honored among an elite group known as All-American Teachers. Congratulations and thanks for representing our state so well.

Glenn Gurley: Congratulations Rebecca! I will pick up a copy of USA Today.

Rebecca Hoyle: So will I, Glenn and Joe. I was not aware I had been named to this list.

NCCIU: The article is also available online on the USA Today web.

Glenn Gurley: Thanks Diane... I'll go there after the conference...

NCCIU: I sent a message about it to the Educator on Loan forum. It contains the link.

Glenn Gurley: What does NC offer for teachers that most other states do not?

Rebecca Hoyle: For new teachers entering the profession in NC, we have a support program already in place which other states are trying to design and implement. When I entered the classroom, I was given only a book and a key to my room. I had no help in making it through my first year...

Rebecca Hoyle: I was actually a teacher at risk! Luckily for me, a career teacher helped me through the tough moments and I shall forever be in her debt.

Glenn Gurley: About six years ago in Gaston County we created a Teacher Induction Program for Success (TIPS) in which I have the pleasure of working. It gives that chance to help ILTs... something I sure could have used during the my first few "rough" years. I am so glad to see what NC is doing statewide.

Joe: So a new teacher can find support. What does NC have in place for veterans to "sharpen the saw" at this time of great change? How does NC support life-long learning?

Rebecca Hoyle: Through the Excellent Schools Act, career teachers as well as new teachers are receiving salaries more commensurate with the jobs in the corporate sector. Masters degrees are rewarded with higher salaries and completion of National Board Certification will bring a 12% pay increase...

Glenn Gurley: NCTA now offers a Mentoring strand that started last year.

Repass: Rebecca, have you had the opportunity to speak to pre-service teachers this year?

Rebecca Hoyle: Grace, I have been VERY fortunate to speak with lots of pre-service teachers this year. I have visited with students at UNC-Pembroke, UNC-Chapel Hill, ASU. WCU, just to name a few. Their enthusiasm for wanting to become teachers was wonderful. I enjoyed my time with them so very much!!!

Repass: What kinds of questions or concerns do they have when you visit?

Rebecca Hoyle: They want to know what being in the classroom is really like. I tell them that teaching is the world's most important profession, according not only to me, but also WG Carr, whom I quoted. It is the profession that makes all other professions possible. I feel that teaching is the most wonderful job in the world, and also the most rewarding.

Joe: So far you've addressed some very important ways in which NC supports its teachers--networks and mentoring for new and veteran teachers, nationally-recognized technology initiatives, improved salary schedules with the Excellent Schools Act--seems like we're heading in the right direction. What do you envision for the future of the teaching profession in NC?

Rebecca Hoyle: With test scores improving, the joint support of legislators, business and industry, the NC Board of Education and state and local educators, I foresee North Carolina being recognized as a leader in education...I understand that the Rand Report which will be released very soon contains some very favorable results in comparing NC schools to others across the nation…Governor Hunt has been recognized nationally for his strong support of education. Some call him the education governor.

Repass: Have you been able to talk personally with Governor Hunt about education?

Rebecca Hoyle: I am serving on his Teacher Advisory Committee. We have not had much time to discuss education directly, but through the Teacher Advisory Committee, I along with the other teachers from across the state am able to answer questions for the Governor and suggest changes we might think would help student performance in the classroom. One member of this committee is Karen Garr, Governor Hunt's Teacher Advisor who works with the governor every day.

Glenn Gurley: I thank Rebecca Hoyle NC Teacher of the Year for being our guest today. Any final thoughts, Rebecca?

Rebecca Hoyle: I would first like to thank Grace, Glenn, Joe, and all at Teachers Connect for inviting me here today. What a fantastic job you do to help advance the use of technology in today’s classrooms. Keep up the good work!!!

The motto of our 1998-99 Teacher of the Year team is, "Supporting Today’s Teachers, Recruiting Tomorrow’s." I believe the classrooms in North Carolina are the most dynamic and exciting places in the world to work. I could give you a thousand reasons why I feel this way.

When those interested in becoming teachers consider education as a career, there are many reasons why they may or may not choose our profession. As a twenty-six year veteran, I thought you might be interested in what I see as the rewards of teaching. Some may consider an architect’s skyscraper or an entrepreneur’s massive wealth a great reward for his life’s work. These are outstanding physical rewards. However, the intangible rewards of teaching, unlike those physical rewards, will never crumble over time or be spent and vanish. Our rewards are measured by the accomplishments and achievements of our former students, and our rewards are magnified over time.

Teaching affords each educator the unique opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life forever, and we have this opportunity every single day. If you ask teachers, they will tell you they feel they gain far more from their students than they ever feel they give. When you help to make someone’s life better, you have also made the world a better place in which to live… forever. I know of no other profession where the rewards are so great. I am so very honored and proud to represent the 76,815 professionals who work in North Carolina’s classrooms.

Have a fantastic year, everyone!