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Andy Heinicke

Definition of Assessment: An estimation of the quality/nature of something; a snapshot of a kid on that day in that particular setting. "There are no valid assessments, only valid interpretations."

Go-To Assessments:'
- MTSS Assessments
- Good diagnostics
- General Education Assessments
- Day to Day exit tickets
- Snapshots on how they are taking in the information
- Cognitive Assessments

Working Smarter, Not Harder:
- Teamwork
- Having a process to work effectively with the students

Greatest Advice for New Teachers: Respect your impact. You can be a first year teacher and students will still be looking at you to form relationships. Your impact upon these students is huge and that is regardless of the age group. All roads will lead back to intervention. You can always look at the assessment results, but it's ultimately what you decide to do about it.

Story: Had a student who was 4-5 years behind, had gone through the foster system, and has a poor academic file. The teacher and his foster parents worked together and did some further assessment to find out he had a poor communication score but a high non-verbal score. In working with him, knowing the impact of trauma, then they begun to see a huge amount of progress. The school and adoptive parents worked as a team to ensure the student got the help he needed.

Hot Topic Books:
- "Thinking Fast and Slow"
- "Learning Disabilities from Identification to Intervention" By Jack Fletcher
- "Child's Right to Respect"

Why Teach?: Ultimately the students need you! You make an impact on many lives and your work is long lasting. It's awesome getting to shape students futures and impact them in so many ways possible. Overall you get the honor of being that special person in your students lives.

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Dena Steen

Definition of Assessment: To make observations in the classroom. Day to day you observe what your students know and what they need to improve on. What do you notice and wonder?

Go-To Assessments:
- Small group work

Working Smarter, Not Harder:
- Become a Team
- Use students that have mastered the topic. They can in return "teach" in a more understandable way for other students.

Greatest Advice for New Teachers:
- Don't ever leave an email, take time to respond and call.
- Find out what every child loves.
- Make relationships with your students, parents, and staff.
- Take time in the beginning, it's important!
- You don't have to love all of your coworkers but you do have to love something about everyone on your staff.

Story: She was a 3rd grade teacher and had two specific students with dyslexia. She listened into what the parents had to say and did lots of research. "The Gift of Dyslexia" is a book written for teachers to understand the day to day life. These students were in reading groups up until she realized that they had no comprehension skills. There were colored strips to put over words throughout the story. She as well helped the two students become more confident in their reading and comprehension skills. During a morning meeting the boy shared about his Dyslexia and he thanked everyone for helping him and being patient. The girl as well shared her story as she felt brave from the boy sharing. These two students are now going into middle school and becoming ready for the real world!

Hot Topic Books:
- "The Gift of Dyslexia"
- Books that make a connection that you can implement
- "The Morning Meeting Book"
- "Despite the Best Intentions"

Why Teach?:
- Impact on students
- This is a very important job
- Encourage and motivate your students
- You are having your students think about what they can do with their futures!
- Teaching matters!!
- You are apart of a students story

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TJ Ulmer

Definition of Assessment: Can students apply the knowledge? It doesn't matter how they show it, only matters that they can show it.

Go-To Assessments:
- Learn at different speeds
- Have students keep track of their standards

Working Smarter, Not Harder:
- Any instructional technology
- Support folks
- A lot becomes routine
- Relationships
- Look at things like a compass, not a map
- Support systems

Greatest Advice for New Teachers:
- Know and understand your students
- Be with the students and form those relationships
- Check in always with everyone and see how they are doing

Story: His father was a teacher for 32 years. He saw the impact he had on his students, the respect that he commanded, and gave to the underdog. Enjoyed the opportunity to grow.

Hot Topic Books:
- Culture Code

Why Teach?: This is definitely the time we need teachers the most. Many are scared and feel unable to have stable, consistent, loving people in their lives is exactly what they need.

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Marsha Reeves

Definition of Assessment: A tool that helps determine what your students know and what they're ready to learn next.

Go-To Assessments:
- Hands-on learning
- Tool Kits

Working Smarter, Not Harder:
- Having a good work/life balance
- Work and Plan with your team
- Make the copier do things for you

Greatest Advice for New Teachers:
- Listen to your team and coworkers
- Take risks and try new things
- Don't take yourself too seriously
- Leave your personal problems at the door

Story: She did not plan to become a teacher and actually planned to be an accountant. However after two years she switched majors and started all over at Emporia State though in the end education was the correct choice.

Hot Topic Books:
- "Out of my Mind" By Sharon Draper
- Read Aloud everyday!
- Represent every student in what you read

Why Teach?: Teaching definitely is not for everyone, though for the right person it is the best job. Truthfully you are impacting the future of America. "Teaching is not for everyone, though everyone does need a good teacher!"

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Kelly Tines

Definition of Assessment: When you have a goal in life and assess whether or not you can complete that goal. To see where you are and how much more you need to work on, or if you have accomplished that goal.

Go-To Assessments:
- Educator Rubric

Working Smarter, Not Harder:
- Rubrics Help!!
- Thumb up
- Whiteboards
- How can we use formative assessments to see what students know
- Less homework and grading

Greatest Advice for New Teachers: Have procedures and routines for students to get use to from day one. Never try to wing it at the beginning of the year then later on attempt to establish rules. If they do not pick up the rules and routines you need to take time and reteach them. Students thrive with structure!

Story: Using rubrics help teach students what is expected from them, they're able to self assess, as well allows the teacher to have conferences with the students to work with them towards a goal. When students reach those goals they have more confidence to spring onto the next goal.

Hot Topic Books:
- "Learning by Doing"
- "Excellence in Every Classroom" By John Wink
- "The Cult of Pedagogy" (Podcast and Articles)
- "Think Again" By Adam Grant
- Simon Sinic Podcast

Why Teach?: Teach for the students! You have to care about connection and help them grow to show strengths. Help the students grow into strong thinking individuals. It is an amazing experience to have an impact on students and to help them become the best they can be.

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Christina Williams

Definition of Assessment: Assessments start as soon as the students walk in the front door. How are they to learn this today, how are they feeling, and where are they at?

Go-To Assessments:
- White Boards
- Small group work
- Show me what you know
- Learning Continuum

Working Smart, Not Harder:
- Collaboration is key

Greatest Advice for New Teachers: Don't attempt to walk alone. Accept support and motivation from other teachers and members of the community around you. Take a glance into their classrooms and see what they've done.

Story: Small groups can work wonders and show you what the students know individually and can collaborate on. The low students are allowed to ask questions that they may not have wanted to ask in front of the entire class while the high students continue to grow.

Hot Topic Books/Resources:
- Look for new things
- Core Books/Mentor Texts
- How Do You Hug a Porcupine
- Twitter/Instagram

Why Teach?: I cannot imagine another job where you can go home with the stories and memories you make while teaching. There are seniors that come back into your classroom and mention you being their favorite teacher. You may have years that are tougher than others, though these highs will be what remind you why you are in the career field you are.

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Brandi England

Definition of Assessment: Some assessments are informal which is pure observation based upon what you can see in the classroom. That can go all the way up to standardized assessments.

Go-To Assessments:
- Running Records/FMP's

Working Smart, Not Harder:
- Know where to pull resources from and being at the school longer than need be.
- Use veteran teachers as support and motivation.

Greatest Advice for New Teachers:
- Be careful upon who you surround yourself with.
- There's a lot of fun when you surround yourself with the good and remind yourself why you chose this career.

Story: An interesting student came to the school and no one expected much from him. After getting to know him and connecting with him was amazing and fulfilling. He took assessments and had a high IQ score. He in the end could do so much!

Hot Topic Books:
- Twitter feed in Olathe
- Anything with your own kids
- Behavior Snap

Why Teach?: There are kids that you will be their support system and you will need to be there for. You will be the one to believe in those students when they feel no one else will.

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Natasha Roseberry

Definition of Assessment: Getting to know what the students know and how will you use that information in any way possible.

Go-To Assignments:
- Exit Tickets

Working Smarter, Not Harder:
- Make them do the work
- Work together
- Sticky Notes and Whiteboards with dry erase markers

Greatest Advice for New Teachers:
- Relationships formed with students
- Never too much procedure, make sure to go slow in order to go fast.

Story: Mrs. Roseberry worked at a summer school where they had an exit ticket everyday. This very much showed her about her students and what they knew and have learned.

Hot Topic Books:
- "Stuff You Should Know"
- Culture Code
- Leadership Books
- Ender's Game

Why Teach?:
- Teaching things the students never thought they'd know about and seeing their smiles light up their faces.
- Students will be the future for America someday, you get to help them get there!
- Get to help students who may not have always enjoyed school, enjoy school.

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Spencer Brown

Definition of Assessment: A procedure for making inferences. I am going to ask you to do something. I am also going to observe that, and then I am going to make an inference based on that. There is no valid assessment, there are only valid or invalid interpretations.

Go-To Assessments:
- Whiteboards
- Reteaching and Scaffolding

Working Smart, Not Harder:
- Planning assignments strategically

Greatest Advice for New Teachers: Teach to the test. We should begin with an assessment to ask ourselves what we want our students to know.

Story: Mr.Brown enjoys learning relationally, and when he was a student in Geometry class he didn't want to have to learn distance formula. Therefore, he planned to use the Pythagorean theorem which was based within the distance formula. This allowed him to understand a bit more!

Hot Topic Book:
- Teacher Clarity Playbook
- IES Practice Guides
- Anything written by John Pegg on Solo Taxonomy
- Dillan William
- "How Learning Happens" By Paul Kirchner and Carl Hendrick

Why Teach?: Truthfully you won't know until meeting your students. We all choose teaching for a reason. Whether this choice could be right or wrong, once you're in the profession and meet your students then you won't have to ask again why it's done.

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Tabatha Rosproy

Assessment: Gives an accurate picture of where your students are academically, as well socially and emotionally.

Go To Assessments:
- My Egdees
- Dial 4 Assessment
- AEPs

Working Smarter, Not Harder:
- Creating systems
- Helping students become more independent
- Focusing on task by task rather than whole picture

Best Advice for a New Teacher: Lean in upon the support in the surrounding community. Take into consideration that all other teachers have once been where you are now, it's very important to except their help!

Hot Topic Book:
- "Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline" By Dr. Becky Bailee.
- "How to Build an Equitable Classroom"
- Any book in general that teachers how to address our own bias.
- The Conscious Kid (Instagram)

Why Teacher?: There are many other jobs where you can make a lot more money. No job however gives you the fulfillment that teaching gives you though. You serve a purpose in students lives and make differences on the day to day basis.