The day before...

Source: Southern Writers Magazine

I'm in my classroom prepping for the Ford's Theater National Oratory Fellowship competition here at TIS. I have 15 students competing for two spots to accompany me to Washington DC where they will work with Ford's Theater Teaching Artists and staff and ultimately present their speeches on the stage at Ford's Theater. I am insanely proud of the work they are doing and proud as punch to show them off to their family, friends, TIS and the community.

The last post on what makes great teaching has offered interesting insights for me. The traffic from my blog post was alright (but I am a greedy pup and would take more discussion) but, educator and trainer Glenn Wiebe from ESSDAK and educator and writer Brett Clark both had responses from their blog post and tweet, respectively, and so I adding those comments in the mix as well. As soon as I come out from the competition, I will compile and report. Thanks to Brett for asking the question and Glenn for continuing the discussion.

I talked to my classes yesterday about preparing for an event like the competition and one of the questions was about nerves. It's funny, kids assume that the adult default is "calm, cool and in control." As adults, we often perpetuate that misnomer. I told them I have presented to thousands of adults and students during my time as a trainer, advocate and teacher, but I still get nervous. The classroom is a safe place for me (and I hope for them), however I have struggled with 'stage fright' for much of my adult life. It wasn't always the case and I talked about in a blog post right after last year's Ford's Theater retreat.

As student asked if I would repost the post. I'm happy to oblige.