Sage Advice: Living the Teaching Dream

My dream teaching assignment is the one I hold. I get to work with other teachers and their students to improve their knowledge of computers and programs designed to improve teaching and learning -- twenty-first-century skills for twenty-first-century teaching and learning. We collaborate on lessons, and I am there to co-teach, if necessary. My only worry is that I will eventually make my own job obsolete.

Debra Krah

CFF technology coach

Montgomery Area School District

Montgomery, Pennsylvania

Develop a virtual school that encourages global participation so students can learn from one another's cultures. Children from all over the world would attend the same school, work on collaborative projects, and use technology to do so. I would also love to travel to various schools in the United States and abroad to help develop and design educational-technology programs. Finally, in the summer months, I would love to be able to afford to travel to poverty-stricken areas and help build schools with my family.

Lisa Smith

Media director

Eastside Elementary School

Cody, Wyoming

Teach learning-disabled kids without having to spend more time doing paperwork about the time we spend together than the actual time we spend together.

Sharon Helman

Speech-language pathologist

Oakdale Middle School

Ijamsville, Maryland

I'd like to conduct a Leadership 101 class to at-risk minority males and females ages 12-15. We are losing bright and intelligent minority students to the streets, drugs, and gangs every day, especially in the inner city and rural communities. This class would focus on inspiring these students to recognize and reach their potential as successful American citizens.

Tyler Whittenberg

Eighth-grade social studies teacher

Southeast Middle School

Hopkins, South Carolina

To teach (or maybe to beam) the mathematics of science from the International Space Station. I'd show an extreme application of math in real life what my students enjoy most. I d challenge our next generation of children to dream big and beyond, and most of all to appreciate our planet Earth. This is the only way we can prepare them to be leaders of future generations who can clean up our messes and keep our Earth blooming.

Tamara Wolpowitz

Mathematics teacher

International School of Verona

Verona, Italy

A class where everyone wants to learn and is willing to work.

Avi Ornstein

Science teacher

Bulkeley High School

Hartford, Connecticut

I would want to teach preservice teachers during their final semester before graduation. Our topic: classroom management. I would show them how to effectively manage their classrooms with empathy, high expectations, communication (verbal and nonverbal), and strong relationships.

Pam Spencer

Assistant principal

Avery Elementary School

Cherokee County School District

Canton, Georgia

Take five fifth-grade students in an RV crisscrossing North America and learning history where it happened.

William Chamberlain

Fifth-grade teacher

Noel Elementary School

Noel, Missouri

It would be one where I can build classes entirely on project-based learning and have all the technology I need to give students the knowledge and skills they need for participation in a global marketplace.

David Phillips

English teacher and media specialist

Prairiland High School

South Pattonville, Texas

A class of ten to fifteen students all hanging on to every word I say with an aide who retrieves and puts away all supplies for me. Whenever I need money for anything like field trips, no problem, it'll just be handed to me.

Veronica Krug

Middle school art teacher

Canton City Schools

Canton, Ohio

One in which all my students' basic needs are met to the educational process. We as educators are constantly called upon not only to academically educate, but also to piece together the broken hearts and spirits of our children that process can begin.

Larry C. Armstrong

Assistant principal, curriculum and instruction

Siwell Road Middle School

Jackson, Mississippi

To work in an environmental center or outdoor class environment offering conservation education to K-12 students, teachers, and the community. I would offer a rich hands-on curriculum that would have portable technology tools such as GPS devices, handhelds with probes and sensors, word processors, iPods, digital cameras, and binoculars, all at hand for inquiry-based learning projects.

Linda Lyster

Educational technology facilitator

Layer Elementary School

Winter Springs, Florida

My dream teaching assignment involves passports, a handful of teachers, a group of students, and a year abroad in cities around the world.

Debra Guglielmini

Queens High School of Teaching

Montessori SLC

Bellerose, New York

To meet Nicholas Negroponte, founder of OLPC, and then to participate in a teaching assignment with educators and students who will be receiving laptops in the U.S.

Roxann Deborah Riskin

Technology support specialist

DiMenna-Nyselius Library, Fairfield University

Fairfield, Connecticut

Students who can write; students who read and who like to read; sitting in a meadow at Grand Teton National Park; and the topic, history of the American West. Lively discussion and thoughtful comments on the assigned reading; then finishing the day with a visit to the Murie Ranch for inspiration.

Patricia Owens

History, government, and geography teacher

Wabash Valley College

Mt. Carmel, Illinois

I am living my dream right now. In this dream I teach young children and see progress. Whether fast and obvious or slow and steady. When my students are engaged and I see a change in their thinking and actions, I know I am making a difference and that in itself is fulfilling.

Barrion Fannin Jr.

Kindergarten teacher

Love T. Nolan Elementary

College Park, Georgia

It would be in my own school: a floating high school on a cruise ship where students learn by interacting with other students, other cultures, and by visiting significant historical and scientific locations around the world. We would float where the sun shines and students would be home for the holidays and for the summer.

Kimberley Miller

English teacher

South Salem High School

Salem, Oregon

I'm living my dream teaching assignment: I'm trusted as a professional, people respect my expertise, and we work as a team to help students improve. We discuss children and learning styles, not test scores that make or break assistant superintendents' resumes. I'm invited into others' classrooms to share lessons and there is time for a cup of tea to discuss and reflect on our own lifelong learning. Every school I have worked in claimed: "It's about the kids." But this school really is all about the students! What more could I ask for?

Carol Reed

Teacher specialist, Writing and English

Key School

Annapolis, Maryland

To have my own classroom. I have substituted the whole time I have been certified as a teacher (since 2003). The schools tend to hire people from certain universities or teacher prep programs from this area. I will be a first-year teacher and I want to be where I can make a difference, not be a substitute.

Stacy Esquibel

Substitute/certified teacher

Lubbock, Texas

To be teaching exactly what I teach now (business education) but to have rooms full of students who really appreciate the opportunities presented them to learn while in K-12. Many do, but not nearly enough!

Gail Springsteen

Business education instructor

Waupaca High School

Waupaca, Wisconsin

To have the ability to inspire all my students to bigger and better ideas so they would feel the passion for discovery and learning. In my thirty-five years of science teaching, I have had this dream fulfilled at times, when a student returns and says, "You're the reason I became a doctor!" or "I went into science or engineering because of your class!"

Mark D'Andrea

Teacher

Carl Albert High School

Midwest City, Oklahoma

I have been living the dream for the past fifteen years in a school created by teachers. We teach to meet individual needs in multiage groups of students. We provide authentic activities in all the eight areas of multiple intelligence in a home-life atmosphere. We use integrated themes and concrete, hands-on activities. It is a joy to work so closely each day with the parents of the students we teach. I feel truly blessed.

Margaret L. Hill

Lead teacher, 5-7 year olds

The Capitol School

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Right here. Right now. I teach each day in an elementary computer lab, so I spend my day with children excited about using technology. We are using good software on an older Windows network, but every student has his or her own computer. In my dream classroom, we would have Windows and Mac OS X on one machine, a new iMac for everyone.

Tim Olinda

Computer lab

Cedar Lane Elementary

Middletown, Delaware

My dream job would be as a special projects coordinator. I would like to work with teams of teachers and assist them with integrating special programs such as architecture in the classroom, the Jason Project, the Chesapeake Bay Choice and Challenges, robotics in the math and science classrooms, or becoming a NASA Explorer school. These are just a few of the projects I have integrated into my classroom and small learning community.

I am presently located in a stationary room in a high school but I would prefer traveling from school to school to guide teachers in learning the real meaning of technology integration and to help the students have fun while learning with technology.

Paula Shelton

Smart Lab Facilitator

Friendship Collegiate Academy

Washington, D.C.

Home-schooling my kids with my husband (who is also a teacher) and traveling the globe together -- with all expenses paid!

Bari Brumfield

Texas

I am living my dream job! I am the media specialist in a small school. I have created thirteen centers where students come to learn about digital storytelling, movie making, writing books, practicing fluency by reading stories to other classes, creating educational games, and more. It is so much fun! All we do every period is create! I get to enjoy each student without having to grade or evaluate them.

Mary Pat Callihan

Media specialist

Orange Park Elementary

Orange Park, Florida

A class of about eighteen students from a lower economic class who really want an education.

Kathy Healy

St. Patrick Catholic School

Charlotte, North Carolina

A class of students with intrinsic motivation to learn.

Gordon Chan

English teacher

Beyer High School

Modesto, California

In my classroom I would have the teaching tools I needed to teach and to facilitate learning for the students. We would have communication with the rest of the schools in the district and Internet access without problems or interruptions. We would have opportunities for all to excel in their strengths and all to strengthen their weaknesses. Creativity and diverse thinking would thrive; intolerance wouldn't exist. My classes would be part of a global community, and the students would take an active role in their futures.

Connie Brass

Richfield School District, #316

Richfield, Idaho

To work in conjunction with a women's shelter, helping women learn to read and write. When I think of the plight of women worldwide, I know they are denied basic rights because they are illiterate. As much as I believe that children are our future, we cannot in the meantime forget their mothers.

Tracey McCormick

Secondary language arts

Hoehne School

Hoehne, Colorado

Teaching engineering fundamentals to students taking trigonometry or pre-calculus. Subjects I would have students work with include Newton's first law (bridges), second law (ballistics and rocketry), electric circuits and magnetism, energy (thermodynamics, energy production, etc.), AC practices (house wiring), and computer networking. As a retired engineer, I believe I could inspire the next generation of engineers.

Jim Earhart

Math and technology teacher

Westmont High School

Campbell, California

What is a dream job to one teacher can be a nightmare to others. To many educators, I have the most distasteful job in teaching: I work with children with emotional and behavioral problems in a middle school in rural Kentucky. Using applied behavioral analysis that focuses on rewarding the positive behaviors, requiring constant student accountability for behavior, and teaching appropriate social and classroom behaviors in a myriad of ways, students can realize success in the classroom. For most of my students, success in school is a new experience.

Of course, there is the occasional crisis during which a student may express anger in ways that most teachers would find not only unacceptable, but possibly hurtful. Even these occasions, however, are opportunities for learning -- both for students and teacher. I have my dream job -- working where and with whom I want.

Glenda J. Conner

EBD teacher

Phillip A. Sharp Middle School

Butler, Kentucky

My ideal teaching assignment: A school where teachers are not forced to "teach to the test." A classroom where I could lead students to self-discovery, personal growth, and actual learning (not memorizing facts without being able to apply them later). Being able to inspire students instead of just having to show them the shortcuts and strategies that will lead to passing scores on state-mandated testing.

A. M. Gonzalez de Freire

Bilingual/ESL instructional specialist

My dream teaching assignment would involve teaching classes of Spanish and French, separately of course, in a room and building conducive to learning. The air would be well ventilated, and the climate at a comfortable temperature. The room and building would be clean and well maintained. There would be lots of board space, or a smart board, and options to use modern, up-to-date technology. All materials, including computers, headphones, speakers, large monitors, LCD projector, etc., would be readily available. A variety of materials, including books, magazines and photos containing additional practice and information would be stored within the classroom.

Beverly Fradis

Retired from Detroit Public Schools

Cass Technical High School

Detroit, Michigan

My dream teaching job is wherever and whatever I happen to be teaching at that moment. A teacher should never have a dream teaching job. It's our job to adapt to the needs of our students. I've learned to make the best of the hands I've been dealt and have found that I enjoy my work as a result. I've always tried to maintain a positive environment in the classroom. I don't expect kids to love their class. I just don't want them to hate it. I feel the same way about my job. There are things I'd rather do than work all day. But in the real world that's not an option, and I don't ever dread going to work.

Clint Carter

Special education teacher, math and science

Larue Carter Memorial Hospital

Indianapolis, Indiana

I'd love to swap my job and my house (but not my husband) with a Scottish colleague for a month.

Sheryl Kindle Fullner

Librarian

Nooksack Valley Middle School

Everson, Washington

My dream assignment wouldn't be in a children's classroom. I would be a teacher of teachers. Many of our teacher colleges and alternative certification programs give their students the theory of teaching and not the real "everyday" of teaching. Having new teachers just learn about Piaget and phonemic awareness deprives them of what really happens in classrooms on a daily basis. We have to give them the tools to work the system as it is now. We have to teach the new teachers about social services, divorcing parents, abuse, too much television, gifted minds, and English language learners.

AnitaMarie Murano

ELA resource teacher

Denver Public Schools

Denver, Colorado

I was fortunate enough to actually have the dream teaching job -- it lasted a whole semester. In fact, I would come home every night afraid that if I said how elated I was to anyone, the job would disappear. I collaborated with an English teacher in a humanities class. The class was only open to juniors and seniors in our high school. I taught art, architecture, sculpture and my colleague taught history, literature, economics, and we collaborated on the music. Because we are both humanities geeks, this was heaven on earth. And it was what education should always be about -- fully integrating our knowledge base. It just all makes so much more sense. I still have students with whom I am in touch from just that one semester. They, too, agree that it was magic in a classroom. It sadly and abruptly came to an end when I was called upon to fill-in as an assistant principal for our middle school while my colleague went on emergency maternity leave.

Eva O'Mara

Principal

Highland Drive Elementary

Brecksville, Ohio

My dream teaching assignment would be working with students who do not read well but are motivated to improve. I'd have small class sizes (fifteen to eighteen) but I would have them for two periods so we could get deeper into reading, strategy use, and thinking skills without rushing to beat the bell. I'd have access to technology and would use the Internet constantly to locate topics of interest for students to learn about, build background knowledge, and practice reading. Come to think of it, my dream job looks a lot like the one I have right now.

Nicholas Kawalec (NBCT)

Reading teacher

Scott Carpenter Middle School

Denver, Colorado

I am living it! I work with K-12 students in a mental health hospital. I have one classroom. I meet with K-6 students before lunch and grade 7-12 students after lunch. My students are going through the most difficult of medical problems, ones you can't see just by looking at them. They suffer silently or strike out only to suffer the repercussion of intolerance. My job is to help them see themselves through others' eyes as well as their own, gain confidence by practicing learned coping skills, and tolerance toward those who do not understand. I learn every day from these amazing students. I have a deeper awareness of the needs of my husband and son, a deeper appreciation and awareness for random acts of kindness (it's alive and well, people! Look for it every day). I am a better mother, wife and teacher because of these amazing students with whom I have been given the privilege of sharing a classroom.

Kristie Ortiz

Special education teacher

Intermediate District 287 at Prairie St. John's

Minnetonka, Minnesota

My dream teaching assignment will be teaching a combination honors social studies and language arts to sixth graders. When I was in sixth grade, my teacher made ancient history seem like a fairy tale. I decided then to be a teacher just like her. For twenty-two years I've taught third, fourth, and fifth graders. Before I retire, I'd like to fulfill my dream.

Carmen Sanchez

Fourth grade math and science

Seminary Hills Park Elementary School

Fort Worth, Texas

After thirty years of teaching, I am finally doing something I really love. As the Pied Piper of reading, I sponsor the After-Breakfast Buddy Reading Club for first- and second-grade students. Students select from an assortment of reading materials, which include humorous, finger-puppet skits I have produced. This unique club allows students to engage in conversation and creative play. Students learn social skills and how to make choices. As a Title I Literacy Specialist I am doing more than just teaching. I am allowing my readers to open the door and step outside.

Sharon Oberne

Title I Literacy Specialist

Willoughby Elementary School

Norfolk Public Schools

Norfolk, Virginia

I had my dream teaching assignment: teaching teachers how to teach with new technologies and to use new methods. There was no routine; everyday was new and exciting -- it was great! But, grant funds dried up, priorities changed, and what had been viewed as an important issue slid by the side of the road. So now I have to get my thrills on my own time, grabbing any opportunity I can to share ideas with teachers who will listen.

Brian McLaughlin

Webmaster

Academy of Allied Health and Science

Neptune, New Jersey

I would continue to be an intermediate classroom teacher. The setting would be an area of the United States that celebrates technology and learning, probably on the West Coast. It would be a wireless one-to-one laptop program in and out of school, using unfiltered Web 2.0 applications to engage and motivate project-based research, science, and writing. Music, dance, and video would be a part of the process as well. We would output our projects for the world to see and respond to, and use interactive Webcam technology to communicate with other classrooms, students, community members, and authors throughout the world.

Paul Hardt

Fifth-grade teacher and Webmaster

Eastview School

Algonquin, Illinois

The ideal teaching assignment for me would be a place where the administration is supportive and approachable. Expectations would be clear and set forth on day one. Teachers would be part of a team in which everyone expressed their personal gifts and interests and explained how these things would benefit the children. While personalities and teaching styles may be different, the goal would always remain the same -- to teach the children. The students would span the continuum of learning styles, behaviors, and academic standing. Within it all, however, teachers would recognize their yearning to be taught.

Bardril Mosely Green

Third grade teacher

Love T. Nolan Elementary

Fulton County School System

Atlanta, Georgia

My dream job would be team teaching: Teaming with teachers, parents, and students to realize that we each have a part in "building" a well-rounded person. I do my job of teaching, the students do their job of learning, and parents assist both the child and teacher to facilitate that learning. I would go the extra lengths to find ways to excite the students to learn but the student would need to participate by doing their work in and out of the classroom and the parents would need to help both of us do our jobs.

I would teach a curriculum that is sound, balanced, and reasonable -- not what I call "diluted education" or teaching a curriculum with everyone's agenda, particularly the special interest groups. I want to teach the depth of the subject, without jumping around, to ensure a solid foundation of understanding. Every year, we need to teach to meet the needs of the students in any and every way we can and to take a detour from the curriculum guide to do so when necessary.

Kathleen Poe

Math and science teacher

Jacksonville Beach, Florida

My dream job would be teaching the fourth grade with a bunch of wonderful students who want to dig deep into all subject matters. Oh, wait, I already have that!

Terry Britt

Challenger School

Ardenwood Campus

Newark, California

My dream job wouldn't focus on an actual assignment but would allow the following things to occur:

• I learn at least as much as I teach.
• Stress and hopelessness are replaced by creativity and excitement.
• Adult needs and agendas are secondary to those of students.

In such circumstances, good teachers are successful and fulfilled. Ah! A dream come true.

Patricia Jordan Rea

Adjunct university professor and education consultant

Williamsburg, Virginia

What is every teacher's dream assignment? Smaller class size and pupil load! Every teacher will tell you, especially at the middle and high school level, that our discipline problems and highest failure rates are from our larger classes. Why not take some of the money from administrators and the useless studies that try to identify the problem and just hire more teachers so we can pay more attention to fewer students? Three hundred-plus kids per school year in my classes? Who doesn't get left behind!

Pamela Stover

El Paso, Texas

My dream teaching assignment would be in the classroom I'm in right now, teaching the kids I teach right now. The only major change I'd make is that the school would not be broke, that we could afford the new technology and books that other schools have, that all the staff members would rededicate themselves to the job, and that the administration would offer the support we need, regardless of funding issues.

Nancy J. Bissell

Abbott School

Irvington, New York

I have two dream jobs:

1. When I taught in a K-8 school as an ESL teacher, I dreamed of having a wonderful space to work in. As enrollment increased in my school, I was moved to smaller and smaller spaces, including a former librarian's office that was squeezed in between two regular sized classrooms -- one having been the former library. With each move, many of my materials went into storage boxes. When needed I had to sift through these boxes to find special materials needed for a unit of study or a particular lesson.

My students were often sitting very close together around a small rectangular table that was pushed up against a wall. We could do little in terms of interaction unless we moved out into the hallway or a platform area right next to a service elevator used by the custodial staff or for handicapped students. So, my dream teaching assignment would be the ability to work with my ESL students in a space that allowed us to work in pairs, triads, and cooperative learning groups, move around, use manipulatives and other materials, including classroom computers to do project-based learning research in small groups.

2. As a teacher-trainer my dream teaching assignment would be with a group of classroom teachers who are just experiencing an influx of English-language learners and they are excited about the challenge.

These teachers are all willing to try out new techniques and strategies to help their ELLs learn English and learn how to read and write in their subject areas. My dream teachers would tell me, "Yes, I can do this," and come to the course with ideas and techniques they have tried out in their own classrooms and want to share with their colleagues. There would be no negativity in the room -- everyone would be onboard with differentiating instruction for all their learners. They would help their colleagues and work in teams to help all the students at their grade level or in their subject area. Everyone would say, "I can do this." No one would say, "How do I do this with all the other students I have to teach?" That is my dream.

Judith B. O'Loughlin

Education consultant

Language Matters Education Consultants, LLC

San Ramon, California

My dream-teaching job involves two assignments. First, I would like to be a writing teacher for students in grades 3-5. I would come into each classroom once or twice a week and teach a lesson in creative or expository writing. My writing instruction would be a supplement to what the classroom teacher is teaching his or her students. Second, I would like to be a mentor teacher for three or four first-year teachers. Mentoring teachers is helpful for the new teacher's development as well as making the mentor a more diversified educator.

Todd Feltman

Literacy coach

New York City, New York

Kylemore Abbey, Ireland, is where I'd take my media center. I'd live my ancestors' lives while teaching digital technologies. Advanced technologies lie in villages with thatched rooftops and livestock roaming streets. This is time traveling! Kylemore Abbey School closes in August 2010. Teaching personnel and trusteeship cannot be guaranteed due to a lack of women joining the religious order that runs the school. I would go live the dream today.

Jo Ellen Flynn

Media specialist

Creekside Middle School

Carmel, Indiana

My dream teaching assignment is one where I have lunch once a week with a politician. We know lots of things that are good for kids, but those things aren't put into place by lawmakers. My guess is that a lot of lawmakers don't talk to a lot of classroom teachers, so I would like to have a standing lunch date with them, I would get the added perk of having an "adult" lunch, which is one of the things that most teachers give up when they enter this profession!

Tammy Pyle

Loudoun Valley High School

Purcellville, Virginia

My dream teaching assignment is to have:

• twenty or fewer students
• enough technology for a great teaching station
• interactive whiteboard with student response cubes
• high quality laptop to interact with teaching station and to work with at home
• large bandwidth and good quality wireless Internet connection
• laptops when I need them for all students (could be shared)
• a visionary collaborative grade level
• a supportive administrator and district personnel
• a trusting state government that doesn't rely on one measure to measure student success
• a parent involvement program that brings parents in, educates them on how they can help, and insists they volunteer one or two days a year
• a safe, clean, modern school so students and teachers can be proud of the facility and all work toward maintaining it
• an ample supply of hands-on material for math, science, social studies, and language arts
• an opportunity to teach to the whole child -- and every child
• help in the classroom for clerical, supplies, technology, etc., so my lessons can be ready for students and so I don't get bogged down in the small things
• the trust and respect from the state/county/district/administration to teach the best lessons I can and set my own schedule -- not what some grant or government official says I should do.
• the opportunity to be creative and attentive to the students' needs.
• a fair and reliable testing system to really let me know what my students know, and how much they learn.

Dona Jones

Math coach

Howe Avenue School

Sacramento, California

I am in my dream teaching assignment, placed in a situation where I can use my gifts and experience to shepherd kids, who have hit some bumps along the way, past the obstacles and toward graduation. I've done it since 1989 and get to do it again this year! I am blessed.

Jim Reilly

Project Success

Southeast High School

Dalton, Georgia

To teach integrated seventh grade. It would incorporate all of the academic subjects. I would do this on a team with sixth- and seventh-grade teachers who were doing the same. The three of us would share these students for advisor-advisee, intramurals, teambuilding, field trips, etc., for all three years that the students are in middle school. This multigrade team would rely heavily on technology and collaboration to create twenty-first century learners.

Jo L. Peterson Gibbs

AIG specialist

Asheville Middle School

Asheville, North Carolina

I didn't have to look far to find my dream teaching assignment because I live it everyday. I am the physical education teacher and I work with a staff that strives for student success despite the challenges and stress that surround them daily.

Lindsey Tocco

Physical educator

Edison Environmental Science Academy

Kalamazoo, Michigan

I'm one of the lucky ones. I'm almost there -- I teach in a K-2 building as an Instructional Technology Specialist. I work with teachers and students to integrate technology into the classroom. I have student contact, which I love, and work with training teachers as well. The only thing I'd change is to have tech support readily available so I can focus on kids and teachers and not the fixes. This is a great level to teach because the kids are such sponges, willing to learn and try almost anything. The hugs I get daily are an added perk!

Margie Rogers

Instructional Tech Specialist

East Elementary

Waynesville, Missouri

I came close to my dream teaching assignment last year: five diverse learners around a table for an integrated eighth grade curriculum. These girls ran the gamut from insufficient preparation to learning differences to family issues interfering with academic performance. We studied American history and literature, biology, Bible, Jewish law, and English language arts. The informal atmosphere allowed us to move smoothly from one topic to the next, back and forth to the computers for writing assignments and Internet research, and to integrate personal issues and individual insights into the classroom discussion. Typical assignment: studying the consequences of Grant's blockade of the Mississippi river in light of our study of the human circulatory system and a Jewish prayer recited after a successful trip to the toilet!

Helene Bergman

My ESOL students would work in small groups in my own classroom. My time with my students would not be usurped for any reason. It would be important to the whole school. I would be allowed to teach the wonderful curriculum our district has provided for ESOL. My opinion would be valued by the staff. My students would have the joy of learning rather than the stress of passing the next assessment because AYP would not be an issue. They would read and write in English for the enjoyment of learning their second language.

Ann E. Walker

ESOL teacher

Cloud Elementary School

Wichita, Kansas

I currently have my dream teaching assignment. I get to work with students to show them how and why math, science, and technology are so powerful and important. I have a principal who is the president of my fan club and who will stop what he is doing even on a busy day to listen to the accomplishments of my amazing students. I have a FIRST Robotics team that is helping to change the culture of this nation and how everyone else views math, science, and technology.

Nancy McIntyre

Program director

Eagle Engineering Team, #1138

Chaminade College Preparatory

West Hills, California

Oh, wait, I already do! After teaching in a variety of positions in a number of schools across the country I finally landed the most rewarding job I could ever hope for. Don't give up when the going gets tough, new teachers -- dreams do come true.

Philip Steinbacher

Music teacher

Island School

Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

It is one that does not involve much "correction" work. I love the student interactions, the lighting up of faces, the lesson planning, but when it comes to evaluation, well, that is the fly in the ointment! I am all for seminars and presentations that truly show me how much the student has understood of his or her material and assimilated it. Checking answer sheets are so "phew." That is why I enjoy substituting -- no evaluation.

Meenakshi Srinivasan

Substitute teacher

Moreland School District

San Jose, California

Although I am now a principal who is not teaching, my dream teaching assignment is this: having a classroom full of eager learners who want to serve their fellow man. These students use their imagination to create solutions for problems of the world, especially in their local neighborhood. They are an inspiration to the adults around them and because of them, the world is a better place.

Sherry Prange

Administrator

Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School

Evansville, Illinois

My dream assignment is to develop or help develop an educational program that gets to the heart of educating American Indian young people. There is much rhetoric regarding, "Indian Education," a term that I believe to be a misnomer. Historically, Native Americans have had very little input regarding what is educationally appropriate for them as a cultural group. A good amount of the research that is available or speaks to this, is research that was developed from the outside-in, more meaningful research must come from the inside-out.

I want to be part of a movement that helps to develop these educational programs. I believe the people who are being educated must have some say in the way they are being educated. I am a product of "Indian Education" but have survived in spite of the experience. I have also experienced and seen the ill effects of miseducation and in some instances noneducation in the name of "Indian Education."

Fred Shunkamolah

Education specialist

Bureau of Indian Education

Albuquerque, New Mexico

To work with young people (six, seven, and eight years old), without the usual preconceived agendas, to help them recognize and support their intrinsic interests. We need to drop the charade, recognize people as the unique human beings they in fact are (regardless of age), and help people learn what they are truly interested in learning.

Jeff Campbell

Adjunct faulty member

Kirkwood Community College

Iowa City, Iowa

My dream teaching assignment has always been to teach students who are just like I was when I was a public school student. I loved to read and I loved to learn new things . I loved the smell of new books and notebooks. I loved everything about school, even tests and quizzes (except in math of course.) But guess what, in all my years of teaching I have never found another me. I still love learning and reading and new school supplies are heaven. But my students have always been and will always be reluctant learners, so I have to work much harder to impart the knowledge I treasure

Rachel Horwitz

McKinley Middle School

Albuquerque, New Mexico

My dream teaching assignment is teaching video editing in Tuscany, including Florence, Siena, and the small hill towns like Cortona. The countryside is beautiful with green rolling hills, sunflowers, wineries, and two thousand years of history.

Richard Baim

Francis Tuttle Technology Center

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

My Dream teaching assignment is the one I'm in now!

• I feel safe during the day.
• I have the freedom to implement curriculum that is meaningful to students and parents.
• I work with staff that are helpful and will listen with respect.
• Either by supplying materials or giving their time to work with the students, parents support the operation of my classroom.
• I know the majority of my population personally -- I either grew up with one or more of the parents or know close relatives.
• With pleasant weather, students can learn and work year-round in our garden area.

Nancy Wilcox

K-1 tech mentor

Tres Pinos Union School

Tres Pinos, California

I would like administration to actually handle discipline so we could just teach. And I'd like to get rid of the NEA and put that money into local educational pots.

B. Scott

Hudson Middle School

Working with elementary Inuit students in a remote yet "connected" part of Alaska. Each morning, I would drive a team of dogs to the school and light the classroom wood stove. Each student would have his or her own laptop with a high speed connection. Every student would also have a digital camera that could record still and moving images. We would learn about places they have never seen, people they've never heard of, and concepts that they never thought possible. Our learning would be evaluated through student-produced, technology-based portfolios. Students would be rewarded for making personal gains even if they weren't meeting government standards. The students would then go home and share with their parents the knowledge they had gained.

Stu Shoots

Instructional technology coach

Wayne Central School District

I am very fortunate to be teaching in my dream assignment. I teach AP and honors English. It is a multidisciplinary "school within a school" that combines math, history, science, and English in a two-year program. We get our students as juniors and seniors for a four-hour block that we split as needed. We team-teach many lessons, travel, and create a family with our 80-100 students. In my thirty-ninth year of teaching, I can honestly say I've never worked so hard -- or had so much fun!

Art Carlson

The Lyceum Academy of New Hanover High School

Wilmington, North Carolina

My dream teaching assignment is about to come true. I have accepted a position teaching English in Southern China. I think all geography teachers should travel and teach in other countries and cultures first before they teach about it.

Dave Somerville

Formerly of Tri-City College Prep High School

Prescott, Arizona

Teaching fourth grade in the state of Utah. Fourth graders are becoming independent learners. They are not clingy like the younger grades and they do not know it all like the older grades. The young people of this age tend to be inquisitive and often show a strong desire to please others and to take responsibility for their actions. They are becoming very creative and are willing to take educational risks. I find this group of students social, but not overly focused on the opposite sex. They are just fun to be around.

Jimmy W. Jones

Business education instructor

Clearfield Job Corps Center

Clearfield, Utah

An environment in which learning is a priority, creativity a must, and mandatory testing inconsequential. Add to this mix, appreciative parents, caring colleagues, and a supportive administration -- pure heaven!

Madeline McDougal

Special educator

Pocantico Hills School

Sleepy Hollow, New York

A student-centered, project-based, multi-curricular pedagogy in a technology rich environment where the teacher acts more as a facilitator than a "sage on the stage." The students choose their projects based upon a perceived need in their community; working either in teams or individually. They take their projects from start to finish; developing problem solving skills while interacting with their peers and industry professionals, utilizing state-of-the-art design, documentation, and presentation tools with the goal of presenting to a higher body and possibly implementing their project within the community. The teacher monitors their progress, establishes guidelines so that the projects meet state curriculum standards, and acts as a facilitator and mediator when resolving conflicts or problem solving.

Todd R. Curry

Technology and curriculum coordinator

Northern Humboldt Union High School District

Northern California

My dream job would be a place where I could work with students doing what I love the most, teaching writing. We wouldn't have to worry about state testing and I would get paid enough that I wouldn't have to work a second job just to make ends meet. Students could be involved in the designing of lesson plans and creating of rubrics. I would offer more than one option for students to achieve the goal of the assignment. I love my job and want to share the love of learning with my students!

Julie Vanek

Media specialist

Caldwell Schools

Caldwell, Kansas

My dream assignment is to have the software that is capable of performing a computer-based nutritional analysis on my L.I.F.E. students so that they can evaluate their nutritional needs. I teach high school females and because of the high rate of eating disorders among teenage girls, I feel that theirs is a great need. I also teach health and it would be a valuable teaching tool for that class as well.

Lisa Robinson

L.I.F.E. teacher, grades 9-12

Jemison High School

Jemison, Alabama

My dream teaching assignment would be to work as a teacher for the visually impaired (I am currently waiting to enter this field). I have always had visual problems beginning in the second grade. As a child and now an adult struggling with poor vision, I think I will be able to relate to visually impaired students.

I know that there are a group of visually impaired students out there that are mine and that are waiting for me to come into their lives. This is my dream!

Myleah Rhynes

Pre-K teacher

Elder Elementary

Joshua ISD

Joshua, Texas