Last spring, along with many of her fellow citizens, Amanda Greubel of the Central Community Schools in Dewitt, found herself "terribly discouraged by the news coming out of our state and national legislature.  Tax breaks for the wealthy and funding cuts for things like education, healthcare, food assistance, housing assistance, and other programs that help those who don't make six-figure salaries. The rich were getting richer and the rest of us were somewhere in the middle, often scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel to make ends meet. Because I know that complaining alone doesn't change anything, I contacted my legislators."

She sent emails to her elected officials at both the state and federal levels telling them how frustrated she was and how much "we 'average" people were struggling."  She told them that if they "truly want the U.S. to be a great place for families and if they truly believe that our children are our most important asset (as they always say), they need to adjust their budgetary priorities to reflect those statements." 

Nearly two months went by and she received no response from anyone.  Then in June she received an e-mail from an aid in Senator Harkin's office in Washington, D.C.  He said that the Senator had read her e-mail and was interested in learning morning.  A time for a phone call was scheduled and she spoke for nearly an hour with three aides about the experiences of her families and the families with whom she works.  At the end of the conversation, they explained that as the chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee of the Senate, Senator Harkin had scheduled a series of hearings to explore the effects of the current economy on the middle class.  The next hearing was titled, "Stories from the Kitchen Table:  How Middle Class Families Are Struggling to Make Ends Meet."  Harkin asked Amanda to fly to Washington, D.C. as a witness and testify in that hearing.  "I was completely shocked," she shared, and agreed.  After all, "how many chances do we get to advocate so publicly for what we believe?"

The next week was a whirlwind of preparation.  She shares, "The best thing I could do was just tell the truth - my truth and the truth of the families I serve."  The nerves didn't set in until ten minutes before the hearing was to start.  "I remember looking at the clock and thinking,'What am I doing here?'!"

Amanda shared the table with three other witnesses:  a former economic advisor for Vice-President Biden, a documentary film maker working on "Over Fifty and Out of Work, and a small-business owner.  She was third to testify; listening to them calmed her nerves and strengthened her resolve to be the "voice of the middle class." 

Amanda told her story and the stories of so many others she has encountered along the way.  "I told them about how some families in my district cry when they have to apply for the free/reduced lunch program, feeling incredibly ashamed to need help now when they never have in the past.  Or how parents will cut the toes out of their children's tennis shoes to accommodate growing feet until they can afford a new pair.  Or how worried I was when my own child came home so excited that the was 'snack helper' in his class the next week, meaning it was up to me to provide a week's worth of snacks for 15 kindergartners.  I knew our grocery budget was already stretched and that extra time, energy, and creativity would be required to make this work."

One of the best parts of the day, she recalls, was being approached after the hearing by a young woman who said that she was a college student in Washington for a summer internship. She said her parents were really struggling financially and she was working hard to put herself through college and lessen the burden on her family.  She thanked Amanda for her testimony and said "You're my hero for today."  Responses to Amanda's testimony were overwhelming.  Friends, coworkers, relatives, and sometimes strangers shared their stories and struggles that they had been ashamed to admit before.  "My presence in Washington had confirmed that they were not along after all." 

The most surprising thing she heard from people was their common response, "You are so brave; I could never do something like that."  Amanda emphasized, "I want to be clear that ANYONE can do what I did.  In the grind of our daily work-home routines, we lose sight of how much power we truly have.  I did not have any special statistics or compelling research to share.  I don't possess any in-depth knowledge of the political process, and I didn't spend hours studying current bills before the House or Senate.  All I have are stories, and those stories are the most effective tools."

"We assume that legislators know how their decisions affect us, but this isn't always the case.  They NEED to hear from us about what their choices mean on the ground.  Despite the important of their offices, our elected officials are real people and we must talk to them as such. You don't need special knowledge or skills," she added, "just a willingness to share your insight and experiences.  I urge you to take that first step, whether sending a letter or an e-mail, making a phone call, or attending a town hall meeting.  You may not see immediate results, but don't stop trying.  And like Winston Churchill, 'NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give up.'" 

Why? Because tomorrow will take our students to places - real and virtual - we've never been. Because tomorrow they will perform jobs that today don't yet exist. Because tomorrow belongs to them.

Several Iowa education groups have joined together to help Iowans understand the importance of preparing students for tomorrow's global market. Through this understanding, it is hoped that Iowans will fully support the efforts of educators who are helping to shape the next workforce.

The Iowa Future website is an effort to explain the need for educational innovation and provide videos, discussion guides, presentation templates, testimonials, links to other great resources and more.

See Tony Wagner's videos for the audiences you serve, and study guides to go with them. View Max Phillips's challenge to administrators to create Iowa's future for the students.  Explore Sir Ken Robinson's talk about "Changing Education Paradigms."  These and more are available in the toolkit. 

In Teaching 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools - Now and in the Future, Dr. Barnett Berry and his Teacher Solutions 2030 team discuss how there are four new realities in education that are beginning to emerge and will be commonplace by the year 2030. These four suggest dramatic shifts in how we do the business of education, if we do not begin to recognize our new realities now. Waiting until 2029 will mean not only that we will have substantially missed some transformative actions in education, but also that we will have put our students further behind both in globally competitive terms as well as in social learning terms.

The four emerging realities defined in the book, as well as their implications, are: 1) A transformed learning ecology; 2) seamless connections in and out of cyberspace; 3) differentiated pathways and careers for a 21^st century profession; and 4) teacherpreneurism and a future of innovation. The last two emerging realities resonated the most with the reviewer of this book, Iowa ASCD president-elect Jason Ellingson, as we continue to hear more about the Iowa Department of Educations's reform efforts, as explained by Director Dr. Jason Glass. Iowa is posed for dramatic improvements in its educational system, provided we are prepared to understand the changes that are being proposed and that are occurring naturally in society.

In Teaching 2030, the authors cited Wendy Drexler, author of The Networked Student. Wexler wrote of new roles for teachers in the year 2030: 1) learning architect; 2) multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) guide; 3) network Sherpa; 4) modeler; 5) gaming expert; 6) learning concierge; 7) synthesizer; 8) connected learning incubator; and 9) change agent. As Dr. Glass has mentioned new roles or career pathways for the teachers of Iowa now, it seems imperative to discuss how our role might be furthered defined by the year 2030. Wexler's roles could provide us the framework around which to focus our discussion and ultimately our definitions.

While Ellingson recognizes he is not a digital guru, he is  intrigued with these changing roles, and as a member of Iowa ASCD, he believes there is an obligation for us to consider how these roles align with our goal of building the capacity of instructional leaders. Ellingson defines these roles for us:

1. Learning Architect - this will be the ultimate opportunity for teachers to use their strong curriculum development ability to develop meaningful and engaging learning experiences for the students of Iowa.
2. Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) Guide - according to Wikipedia, a MUVE guide would be an educator that supports student learning through online virtual worlds. Teachers would be avatars that guide students through a virtual learning environment. Imagine The Matrix for middle school mathematics!
3. Network Sherpa - a network Sherpa would be an educator that guides students through various social media. Facebook, Twitter, and numerous other social media provide a myriad of avenues for expression and interpretation, and educators could play an important role is supporting students as they navigate through cyberspace.
4. Modeler - educators will continue to move from the sage on the stage to a guide on the side, but educators will always be needed. As modelers, educators will take on the role of coach and provide students with authentic experiences and learning opportunities that will allow students to apply their knowledge and skills in new settings.
5. Gaming Expert - here is an opportunity for educators to actually create the games of the future for our students. We will work with our learning architect colleagues to take the best of the content discipline and infuse it with key gaming features.
6. Learning Concierge - Ellingson interprets this as an educator that fully knows the students and works to develop appropriate learning plans to meet their needs and interests. The learning concierges will need to be the most resourceful of all of the identified roles in 2030 because they will need to know where to send students to follow their learning plans.
7. Synthesizer - With the continued abundance and multiplication of information, a synthesizer becomes a highly revered educator for his/her ability to create meaning with, and for, the student. A synthesizer will take all of the various areas of learning and information and work with students to make sense of their world.  
8. Connected Learning Incubator - in this role, educators will focus mostly on the conditions of learning. They will make sure all students have the correct environment and circumstances necessary for learning.
9. Change Agent - in this role, educators will continue to question students about what they know, can do, and what to learn. Educators will work to stimulate the construction of knowledge for all students in this role.

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Stratford Elementary School is living and breathing the Iowa CORE Curriculum. Several years ago, Stratford made the transition from traditional single section classes to multiage classes with co-teaching. In order to make the transition, Stratford teachers took the plunge and dived into professional growth and development. The first year included an ongoing class tailored to Stratford staff and student needs on "Teaching for Understanding" and "Teaching for Learner Differences." Co-teaching teams learned how to use flexible groups and differentiate instruction based on readiness, student interests, and student preferences, as well as content, process, and product.  After a two-day class on co-teaching, Stratford went from using the Learning Center and pulling students out, to using inclusion and co-teaching. All students receive CORE instruction. Any student who needs additional support receives individualized instruction and additional support. Co-teaching teams teach Literacy and Math together. They also have a daily block for co-planning. And the impact has been phenomenal! All students are making strong gains. The seniors learn from the juniors and the juniors learn from the seniors. Students who need additional support (strategic interventions), students who need intensive interventions, students who need additional challenge, and students with Individualized Education Plans are all getting the challenge they need as well as the support they need to be successful learners.

During the second year, the teachers began using two instructional strategies that help to create student-centered classrooms - Cognitive Guided Instruction and Project Based Learning. In Cognitive Guided Instruction, all students are working on the same story problem. Students have different number choices. The students typically work on the story problem one day, participate in "Clinics" based on questions they had when working on the problem, and the following day the students share the strategies they used to solve the problem.  

Again, the impact has been phenomenal! Students are solving challenging problems, using multiple strategies, thinking mathematically, and sharing their thinking with peers and teachers. No more the dreaded story problems, students are excited to solve story problems because they're using strategies they understand, including invented algorithms and standard algorithms. Teachers are finding it easier to develop story problems incorporating all of the Iowa CORE Curriculum. They know that all the students are developing the concepts and skills they need to be successful mathematicians.

With Project Based Learning, students are delving into interdisciplinary themes, developing driving questions which challenge their thinking, conducting research to answer those questions, and using technology to share what they have learned about the topic of interest. Project Based Learning helps create student-centered classrooms. Students work in flexible groups based on shared interests. Instruction is differentiated to support students and their research interests. Students use technology to share with their peers and with the experts - scientists and social scientists from around the world. Again, no more dreaded social studies and science texts and tests! Students are engaged in real world problem, doing real work, and sharing with experts.

At Stratford Elementary School, we continue to learn as professional educators and teach. We are as excited about our learning as the students are excited about theirs. School is a fun place to be where minds are engaged and everyone is working hard.

Check out the Stratford students in action! 

Iowa ASCD is the source for developing instructional leadership. Serving more than 750 educators - teachers, principals, superintendents, directors of curriculum, technology specialists, college professors, AEA staff - Iowa ASCD strives to develop the collaborative capacity to impact the learning of each and every student in Iowa.