Beck Junior High School

1ÿ,ÿ )ÿ Jeff Stocks, Principal

2001.2ÿ'1"

Katy Independent School District

March 21, 2013

Letter of Recommendation for Gretchen Drake, Beck Junior High Teacher of the Year

I'm proud to recommend Gretchen Drake for consideration for the Katy ISD Teacher of the Year!Gretchen represents the very best Beck has to offer and the very best of her profession. She is aninnovative teacher who never rests on past practices, she is a tireless worker, and she creates a

classroom atmosphere that makes students feel comfortable growing.

Gretchen Drake has been in the classroom long enough to rely on comfortable practices from the past.However, this is not her way. Whether it is using Edmodo, becoming a smart board guru, embracingmobile learning devices, or just exploring new lessons, she enthusiastically seeks new and innovative

ways to engage students. Furthermore, she is a calm and respected voice for progress among the

faculty. When Gretchen talks, people listen.

She is also a tireless worker. Last year, when I announced that I needed a cheer sponsor Gretchen tookthe spot because it was needed, not because she really had any desire to be involved in cheer. She tookthe role and did a fantastic job. This year she helped write 6th grade ELA curriculum for the district. Shetook this responsibility seriously and has been a valuable liaison between her campus colleagues and thecurriculum writing team.

Finally, and most important, Gretchen has a Iovefor students that helps her create an unparalleledclassroom learning environment. When you wall< into her class you see all the signs of engagement:

happy, noisy collaboration, academic conversations, students working and learning and producing,tough questions. Growth requires students to get out of their comfort zones and take risks. Taking risksrequires that students trust their teacher and each other. Trust is formed by genuineness, honesty, andrelationships. Gretchen ability to make these connections seems natural and easy, but it is actually the

result of effort and determination.

I'm proud of Gretchen Drake for earning this honor, and I'm proud of the staff at Beck for bestowing itupon her. She is among the very best teachers that I've ever had the pleasure of serving.

Respectfully,

Jeff StocksPrincipal

5200 South Fry Road ° Katy, Texas 77450 ° 281-237-3300 ° http://schools.katyisd.org/portal/bjh

II. ESSAY QUESTIONS

A. What is your source of inspiration in the classroom?

My inspiration in the classroom comes from many sources. The strongest, of course, is

my students. Knowing that I am the person responsible for leading them on the path to a

successful life inspires me to grow and explore new ways of teaching. I want to give them

the very best in a way that will not only have them able to do what they are required to do,

but that will also inspire them to want to learn what they need to know. I believe that this

mutual inspiration is the key to being a successful educator.

B. What makes teaching rewarding for you?

The rewards of teaching may not come every day, but when they do, they are glorious.

It is not hyperbole to say that good teachers can change students' lives for the better. The

moment when that becomes apparent: the smile, the suddenly knowing look in a student's

eye, the new-found enthusiasm for a feared or disliked concept; all of these fuel my desire

to bring these large and small moments to every student. When a student moves even

beyond what I have taught and is able to bring new insight to his or her classmates, the

reward is even greater.

C. What would you consider your most significant teaching accomplishment?

There have been several occasions over my years of teaching in which a parent or

student has expressed to me that the student hated reading before my class, but enjoys it

now. This, to me is an achievement of great significance. Like the man who learns to fish

rather than being given a fish, these students now have the ability to grow as students and

as people through reading. Not only can they now be successful in Reading, but in all of

their schooling, and for all of their lives.

III. Educational History and Professional Development

A. 5/90-7/90 Columbia University, New York, New York

Graduate courses in teaching

8/85-12/89 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Earned Bachelor's degree in Speech Education

Minor in English Education

B. 8/2010-present

8/o4-s/2olo

Teacher--- English Language Arts, 8th grade (2010-11) and 6th

grade (2011-present)

Beck Junior High, Katy, TX

Teacher--6th grade English Language Arts, TAKS Accelerated

Reading, Speech and Drama

09/01-05/02

8/99-5/00

8/90-5/99

Macario Garcia Middle School, Sugar Land, TX

Teacher--9th-12th grade Communication Applications

Stephen F. Austin High School, Sugar Land, TX

Teacher--8th grade Speech and Drama

Macario Garcia Middle School, Sugar Land, TX

Teacher--6th -8th grade English, Speech, Theater Arts, and

Yearbook

First Colony Middle School, Sugar Land, TX

1

C. I assisted in the creation of the Katy ISD 6th grade Reading and English Curriculum. I

also assisted in the creation of the 6th grade Katy ISD Reading Benchmark test.

D. As a Counselor Facilitator in Fort Bend ISD, I was the Campus Testing Coordinator.

that capacity, I was responsible for the annual TAKS training of the faculty and staff.

Currently Lead Mentor for First Year Teachers for Beck Jr. High

Smart Board Facilitator

E. "Top Dog" Teacher of the Month for Beck Jr. High

Teacher of the Month for Macario Garcia Middle School

15 Year Service Award from Fort Bend ISD

In

IV. Professional Biography

I wish I could say that I felt that I was destined to be a teacher my whole life, but that

would be untrue. I wanted to do many things as a girl--act, become a journalist, a book editor,

and finally, as a real option, a librarian. Because you cannot get an undergraduate degree in

Library Science, I needed to find a major for my bachelor's degree. Education seemed to be the

logical choice, and Speech was my favorite subject. I decided to major in Speech Education and

minor in English Education.

I valued teaching as a profession from the time I was very young. I had several teachers

who were excellent models. The pretty young nun who taught me in first grade, Sister Kathleen,

showed me that kindness and compassion could make learning a comforting thing. Mrs.

LaGrange, my fifth grade teacher, was one of those people who come into your life and change

the way you see the world and yourself forever. She was outrageous, courageous, and had

absolute and unshakeable confidence that we could do anything she asked us to do. I not only

learned from her what it is to be a true teacher, but also what it is to mentor a child. Because

of Mrs. LaGrange, I became not only a better student, but a more complete and successful

human being. When she moved from fifth grade to Kindergarten, she had several of her former

students, including me, help her every day before and after school. I believe this experience

planted the first seeds in my heart which have grown into my career today.

I always told my mother that two things were true: I'd never live in Texas, and I'd never

teach junior high. Life has a way of getting in the way of our plans, sometimes. When I began

looking for a job teaching, it was in Houston. I expected to find a job teaching high school

Theater. What I found was a junior high Speech and English position in Sugar Land. I taught all

three grade levels, and I was terrified. My first year of teaching was a trial by fire, but I survived

and learned from it. As I became more comfortable, I grew as a teacher. Teaching Theater

Arts, I had numerous wonderful experiences of seeing a timid girl or boy become a force of

nature on the stage. So many of those students grew into stronger people because of the

confidence they gained in Speech and Theater. I always prided myself on creating a "safe"

place in which students felt comfortable taking risks and trying new things. It was wonderfully

satisfying to see the effects of that newfound confidence spill over into other classes and into

the students' lives.

The year I taught the class for students who had not passed the TAKS test the previous

year was challenging for me. I had just come back to teaching Reading and English after

seventeen years of Speech and Theater. I didn't have much of a curriculum guide, and the

students in this class needed profound help. I knew my only hope was to connect with these

kids and make them believe in themselves. The most poignant moment came when one of the

students was ARDed out of regular TAKS testing. Because of this, he would have an elective

class instead of mine. He refused. He wanted to stay because he felt successful in our class. I

will never forget hearing him cry and beg to come back to my class as they physically took him

to his new Art elective. I was thrilled when both his pleas and mine were heard, and he was

able to spend the rest of the year with us. There wasn't a test involved, but there was growth

for him, and for me.

I'm glad that fate has led me where I never intended to be. I feel joy and satisfaction in

teaching. I hope that my career continues to bring me this happiness, and that I can share my

joy with students for years to come.

V. Community Involvement

My daughters and I are members of the Ladybird Chapter of National Charity League.

As part of this organization we have had the opportunity to serve the community in many ways.

One of the philanthropies our organization supports is the Fort Bend Women's Shelter. At the

facility, we have helped sort food deliveries in their pantry and organized their donated clothing

and linens. At Christmas, we had a holiday party for the women and children who were

residing in the facility at the time. It was such a blessing to see the children's faces light up as

they made crafts and opened the gifts that NCL had purchased for them. Their mothers

enjoyed the relaxing time as our girls took care of the children and gave the mothers a break.

Another organization we work with is the Eternal Food Ministry. We helped to

distribute a delivery from the Houston Food Bank. Unloading, sorting, packing and distributing

the food was the best kind of exhausting work. As with our experience with the Women's

Shelter, I value the opportunity to open my daughters' eyes to the fact that not everyone is as

lucky as they are. Working with NCL is a blessing I am happy to share with my daughters.

VI. Philosophy of Teaching

In the musical, "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," by Charles Gesner, the character

Sally's signature song is, "My New Philosophy." Aside from being just great fun, the song has a

message I can relate to in my teaching:

Sally: Just like a busy bee

Each new philosophy

Can fly from tree to tree and keep me moving

When life's a dizzy maze

On alternating days

I choose a different phrase-

Schroeder: Your new philosophy?

Sally: My new philosophy!

I think all of us as teachers can relate to Sally's "dizzy maze" that we find ourselves in

sometimes. And like Sally, I don't thinkjust one philosophy will do.

Sometimes, my philosophy is, Weirdis good. When a topic is dry and (to the students)

less than fascinating, I feel that a little oddness is in order. We might moo, stomp, whoop, or

cry like a baby to answer a multiple choice question. Instead of a how-to about tying shoelaces,

we discuss the steps in protecting oneself in a zombie apocalypse (don't forget to limber up,

and always double tap). The students understand that the silliness isn't the point--they are

accustomed to my oft repeated, "Don't lose the lesson!" It's simply a medium to carrythe

message.

Similarly, making connections to material is so important to students in junior high.

Another philosophy I firmly espouse (and a sometimes loathed one) is Know What They Know

and Use It. Now, I couldn't find "cool" with a map, a compass, and Sacajawea for a guide, but I

can relate just about any concept students need to understand to something they know from

popular culture. For example, many students having difficulty with the vocabulary word

recapitulate immediately grasped its meaning when I told them that at the end of every

episode of "Ridiculousness," Rob Dyrdek recapitulates all of the videos of the day in the "High

Speed Recap."

Our technology retrofit was truly a Christmas gift for me and my students. Another

philosophy I follow is, Play With ALL THE THINGS. Whether it's sorting helping and action verbs

into vortexes on the Smart Board, texting an answer for an anticipation guide from our smart

phones, or watching the video and singing, "Prepositions" by the Bazillions for the bazillionth

time on YouTube, I want us to be using the technology we have been given. Simply putting a

student's work under the document camera and having it up there, giant on the screen like it's

important can light a fire that a grade alone never could.

Although some might think these ideas frivolous, I believe that they are vital. Some

teachers believe that the changing culture we live in is our enemy. I believe we can use the

best of the culture as a tool. Always, the learning is paramount. I choose to light a candle

rather than cursing the darkness.

Like Sally, I use these new philosophies to "... keep me moving." I hope that I continue

to grow and add new philosophies as I continue teaching in the years to come.

VII. Education Issues and Trends

I believe the most significant issue in education today is the significance placed upon

test scores. In an effort to measure knowledge, we have diminished learning.

When test scores become the driving factor in both curriculum and classroom teaching

(as I believe it often has), the students are the losers. What they lose is the nuance of a topic,

the depth of understanding, and the inspiration to continue learning. There are boxes that

need to be ticked and measures that need to be met. What there is not is an opportunity for

organic learning and true critical thinking.

Students today are sometimes taught by simply being told what they need to know to

pass a standardized test. This is in the interest of efficiency and a passing test score. Teachers

are driven to this single and simple minded way of teaching by pressure to produce high scores.

Students sometimes know, but they don't learn. True learning occurs when a student is given

the time and guidance to investigate, question, revisit, and truly think about a topic. With

curriculum being driven by tests, time is at a premium. It is this mad rush to cover all of the test

topics that keeps students from spending significant time in critical thought about concepts. It

also prevents the re-teaching that is necessary for many students to achieve true mastery.

An abolition of testing is not a realistic solution. Some level of measurement will always

be required. However, these should be considered simply measure of where students are, not

an evaluation of the quality of teaching. Status and money should not be attached to testing

outcomes. Teachers and curriculum leaders should be able to fashion a curriculum that allows

students the time and opportunity to explore concepts, ideas, and literature that create critical

thinkers and lifelong learners.

VIII. The Teaching Profession

I believe the key to growth in the teaching profession is openness to new ideas. To this

end, I attend professional development opportunities, and I return to my campus as a

supporter, facilitator, and leader. If a teacher learns about a great new idea, but fails to share it

with colleagues, that teacher has done his or her school a great disservice. It is only with

collaboration that every teacher becomes the best that he or she can be in the classroom. I

share not only within my grade level Professional Learning Community, but in our department

as well. On occasion, I have had the opportunity to share with the faculty as a whole,

particularly in the area of technology. On the other side of the coin, I have become a better

teacher because of others who have generously shared their learning with me.

I strongly disagree with the idea that test scores are the measure of a good teacher. It is

only through multiple, thoughtful, and professional observations of a teacher in action that a

true assessment can occur. Our current teacher assessment tool is useful, but I believe that it

could be enhanced by teacher-to-teacher observations and input. An administrator has the

training and experience to evaluate a general classroom, but a day-to-day classroom teacher

has insight that is different from that of an administrator. I think this would lead to a better

evaluation of a teacher's success as an educator.