Teacher of the Year

I read an article in eSchool News over the weekend about the newly named National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown Wessling.  She is a high school English teacher from Iowa who uses Facebook as part of her instructional practices.  She believes that instruction should be learner-centered.  She provides feedback to students by creating individualized podcasts.  Her students write songs, public service announcements, and digital videos.  Learning is active in her classroom and the students are never bored.

Ms. Wessling recognizes that students construct knowledge when it is relevant to them, when they have a real zuthentic purpose, ad when they have an audience that gives them context.

In a blog entry posted on the White House web site, she says that her students would say, "We need 21st century teachers, not just adults teaching in the 21st century."  She's right on!  It's fantastic that the folks who determine the Teacher of the Year winners are considering the importance of technology and 21st century skills.