re: Robin and Sherri

Notes:

·         Robin N

o   Taught 28 years (Van Buren for 20+ years)

o   Believes that meetings are social activities (examples included but are not limited to board meeting, charity events, and charity preparation meetings)

·         Idaho has 16,000 teachers and of that body 12,000 are members of the IEA (Idaho Education Association)

·         Referred to as “the organization”

·         The Organization: bargains for you, acts as your agent, negotiate your contracts

·         IEA is part of the NEA (National Education Association) and the number of delegates to represent each state is based on the quantity each state’s members (for example. Idaho has 12,000 members and therefore has 50 delegates to represent them compared to California has over 300,000 members and therefore has 1,200 delegates to represent them.

·         Because this could lead to the states with the most quantity (examples California and New York) making all the decisions, Idaho joined forces with other smaller states to ensure that their vote counts

·         The IEA was formed in 1892 (two years after the state of Idaho was formed)

·         “Every decision you makes as a teacher or don’t make , it based on a political decision” – Sherri

·         Always document what you do – Date/Situation/What you did OR How you handled the situation

·         “Make decisions based on data”

·         1^st and only time the IEA protested, they received more money than they asked for (1992)

·         The IEA has three lobbyists. Positions required a lot of work and time…which do not pay well

Reflection:

                The speakers, Sherri and Robin, were great to listen and talk to…I wish I had more information about the IEA or the NEA to ask more questions about, but they did a great job filling me in how what goes the NEA/IEA is all about. Though I agree with what they had to say I am skeptical about the personal politics that overshadow the best interests of the teachers.  Both ladies are amazing leaders in their own right. Sherri appears to be a leader with individual students and the political side of teaching, while I got the sense Robin is a great leader in small group discussions.  I really enjoyed the exercise that Robin has us do. When looking at the possible options I thought I would be more evenly distributed than I was but with a higher amount of points in the “thinker’ and “feeler” category. Those were the two that I was dominant in.

Even though I didn’t cry, it was not to say that Sherri’s story need not touch my heart. That was an amazing story, about her student Jesus, to verify that the little things matter. I really appreciate that someone could walk into a room of strangers and feel comfortable enough to talk about something so dear to their heart…that is courage and it shows significant signs of being a leader. I also enjoyed how Robin ran into one of her old students twenty years later and three thousand miles away in Washington DC. Shows you that students remember the great teachers they had!

 I am glad that the ladies were honest with our class and told us about how they do not like the bureaucracy of the classroom and if it were straight teaching that they would never have left the classroom. I think after a while it would be hard for anyone to handle the politics that invade the your workplace, which could be a reason we see so many people switching jobs more often than before. I hope that I am able to make as significant of impact/footprint that these two great leaders have been able to in their time in the teaching community. 

Since this was our last speaker, I just want to say thank you for taking the time and energy to make sure that our class was able to hear and discuss with a lot of different type of people in the teaching profession. I appreciate learning about people’s experiences and believe that it  will help immensely when it comes time for me to teach.