As schools opened after Labor Day, radio stations across the state presented tips on bus safety from transportation expert and Stafford Education Association member Linda Powell.

Powell urged parents to talk with their children about bus safety, noting that when kids get rowdy at the bus stop, "We've had instances where children have been pushed out into the traffic, either in front of a bus or an oncoming vehicle." Powell also said parents should ask their children about what goes on at the bus stop and to let the school know if bullying or other problems are cropping up. "Parents need to pay attention to what's going on down there in order to keep the children safe," she said.

The bus safety story was prepared by Public News Service (PNS), a cooperative broadcast service with which VEA participates, and distributed to radio stations statewide. PNS said the 30-second piece was aired by at least 19 different stations in areas such as Charlottesville, Roanoke Harrisonburg, Martinsville, Lynchburg, Bristol, and others.

In a news release prepared for fall distribution, the VEA urged parents and educators to remind students to exit the bus one at a time, never walk in front of the bus, and stay within the bus driver's line of sight.

Congratulations to Powell! For this and other instances of VEA members making the news, go to:
www.veanea.org/press-room/newsarchives.html

Linda Thompson, a member of the Education Association of Norfolk, is an eight-year veteran who contributed to the most recent VEA New Teacher Guide. In this excerpt from the guide, she provides tips on staying on top of the curriculum. If you’re a veteran teacher yourself, consider sharing this piece—and the web link at the end—with someone new to the classroom.

•First and foremost, become very familiar with what you’ll be teaching. Get any and all information you can from the other teachers in your grade level or subject area. Don't try to re-create the wheel at first. It's great to come up with new and innovative ideas, but save the flashy stuff until you really feel comfortable with your students. You don’t want to appear like you don't know what you’re doing.

•Always plan your day. It’s extremely important to be ready before you start a lesson. Have all your supplies, copies, etc., ready to distribute so you have as little down time as possible. It doesn’t take long for the students to find other things to spark their interest.

•When transitioning to a new subject, always explain what the lesson is before beginning. Let students know what your expectations are and provide any instructions they might need. This helps put students in the right frame of mind and gives them an opportunity to ask questions.

•Keep a binder for your daily lesson plans. Use page protectors to keep each day's plan and supplemental pages. If you have a binder for each quarter, using the page protectors will help you locate information to use in the future.

•Create a quarterly road map for all content areas to help in pacing what you teach. This will help you plan ahead and gather necessary materials.

•To cut down on stress, do your best to stay current on grading papers. They can pile up quickly.

Want more tips? Check out our help for new teachers at www.veanea.org/classroom/new-teacher.html.

Would you like to increase your retirement benefit—or perhaps even retire earlier? If you are currently employed in a VRS-covered position and have served in the military, you may receive service credit at no cost for active-duty military service as long as you return to a VRS-covered position within one year of honorable discharge or release from active duty.

Other kinds of leave are also eligible to be purchased. Contact your human resources department for more information.

Q: I’ve had a Facebook account since I was in college and it is not racy in any way. But I hear warnings that teachers shouldn’t even have a personal online presence. Is there any legal reason why I couldn’t keep my account?

A: Lawyers are notorious for careful language and cautious answers. So I will carefully answer that, yes, you can keep your account and maintain your presence online. But I will also ask you to consider not only what you can do, but what you should do.

As a teacher you must comply with laws that make student records confidential. Your personal Facebook account is not the place to write about students or classroom work. Your school may have a web presence with pages for teachers to post assignments and exchange messages with students and parents about the classroom and school work. Your VEA/NEA UniServ Director can help you review the policies of your school board employer, and Association colleagues can offer suggestions on using the computer and web as teaching tools.

You started a Facebook account in college, but your life is different now. Many college students avoid 8 a.m. classes or run to lectures dressed in sweats. Now you report to school early dressed for your professional duties. Your life has changed, and your on-line presence should probably change, too.

You don’t consider what you have posted racy. But racy or controversial is in the eye of the beholder.

And the standards set for children are different than those for adults. You simply can’t predict whether a student, or that student’s younger sibling, or that student’s parent, will see your page. Nor can you predict their reaction to pictures of you hoisting a can of beer, smoking a cigarette, wearing a T-shirt with a funny slogan, or posing with friends on the beach.

You have been warned about maintaining your on-line presence for many of the same reasons you are warned against driving students in your personal automobile, being alone with a single student, going out for social occasions with students or their parent/guardians, or inviting students and their parents/guardians to your home. If you would not allow students to follow you around or look through your windows, don’t make it possible for them to follow or look at you online.

— Dena Rosenkrantz, VEA Attorney

At its September meeting, the VEA Board of Directors approved the  legislative agenda we’ll pursue in the next session of the General Assembly.

Among other features, the legislative agenda calls on VEA to:

•Support full funding of the Standards of Quality, including revisions proposed by the Virginia Board of Education; 

•Support interventions to raise graduation rates, such as the Virginia Preschool Initiative, comprehensive school reform, dropout prevention, class size reduction, and increased salaries for education professionals; 

•Support the funding of stipends for teachers earning their national board certification and the restoration of funding of $1,000 grants for candidates;

•Support an improved grievance procedure and retiree health care credit for education support professionals;

•Support legislation to enable localities, small businesses, and nonprofits to participate in the state employee health insurance plan;

•Support the practice of requiring recorded votes in House of Delegates subcommittees;

•Support a requirement that elementary teachers have planning time;

•Oppose efforts to weaken the Virginia Retirement System;

•Oppose the provision of public money to private schools; 

The full legislative agenda will be posted on www.veanea.org/legislative and distributed at regional pre-legislative hearings October and November.

In other action, the Board: 

•Elected members to the VEA Campaign Practices Committee and confirmed appointments to several other statewide committees. (You can see the complete listing of committee rosters at www.veanea.org/about/governance/.) 

•Approved the creation of a VEA crisis response team. The VEA Emergency Assistance Team (VEAT) will provide assistance to local Associations and their members facing a sudden crisis, such as a natural disaster, an extreme act of violence affecting students and education employees, or similar situations.

Local Associations in Virginia and across the country will organize and participate in events drawing attention to American Education Week (AEW) during the week of November 16-22. And the National Education Association's web site, www.nea.org, has a great set of online tools to help you plan events and make the week a success.

Here's the lineup:
Monday, November 17
Open House Day. From national commemorations to local community events such as AEW house parties, millions of Americans will celebrate public education nationwide.

Tuesday, November 18
Parents Day. Schools will invite parents into the classroom for a hands-on experience of what the day is like for their child.

Wednesday, November 19
Education Support Professionals Day. The individuals who provide invaluable services to public schools are recognized for their outstanding work.

Thursday, November 20
Educator for a Day. Community leaders will be invited to serve as educators to get a glimpse at a day in the life of a school employee.

Friday, November 21
Substitute Educators Day. This day honors the educators who are called upon to replace regularly employed teachers.

The Association partners with numerous groups, including the National PTA and the U.S. Department of Education, to build the public's understanding of and appreciation for the role of public education. American Education Week was first celebrated in 1921.

At www.nea.org/aew, you can access numerous fact sheets and other materials, including press releases, certificates, and posters, to make your event a great occasion with a lasting impact.

Ready for a pick-me-up? VEA members write about the best ‘thank-you’ they’ve ever received from a student or parent. (Caution: hanky required.)

She Remembered

Back in 1987 I taught first grade at Graham Road Elementary School and midway through the school year, a very tall, beautiful, dark-haired, 9-year-old was assigned to my class. This lovely little girl had just arrived from Honduras with her family and spoke almost no English. She seemed so scared and alone and she almost never interacted with any other kids.

While observing her in class one day, I noticed that she loved to draw. I started getting closer and closer each time to see what she was doing and started to ask her questions. I would ask her "what are you drawing?", and she would simply smile.

I started to use some of the wonderful training that I had received from my Spanish for Educators course (my one word here and there paid off!) and suddenly the little girl started to smile more and more each day and also began to respond to me in English whenever she could. At other times she would reply in Spanish. Next I noticed that everywhere I went in the classroom, she would be up under my elbows, clinging to me like glue, for still she was not comfortable with the other students. I allowed it and went on with my day-to-day duties, but continuing to communicate with her in short commands (in Spanish and English), like escriba su nombre aqui o sobre el papel (write your name here or on the paper), but also requiring her to write her responses to me. She also loved to write, but was worried because she could not write anything in English.

I gladly told her, "don't worry, I will get someone to translate it for me, just keep writing!" She wrote letters, notes and even continued to write me letters as she moved on to 4th grade and again in middle school. After that time, I never heard from her again.

One day at my current school the secretaries called me to the office to say I had a phone call from a parent. This was nothing unusual, but when I got there, I was handed a memo that said, "Mr. Aguilar called.” The name didn’t ring a bell, but when I called I found I was speaking to the father of the same little girl that I had taught in 1987, who was now a graduating from high school as an honor student!

The family, especially the daughter and the father, wanted me to know that they wanted to thank me for allowing the little girl to cling on to me, to read and write to me in Spanish, and for continuing to inspire her and give her confidence. This same student was now about to pack up the car and head to Duke University with a full scholarship in engineering! Once I shared the story with my colleagues and others, everyone began to cry. I mean, who tracks down their 1st grade teacher 12 years later! That’s love. Love for children, love for education.

—Submitted by Brenda Barnet Torrence, teacher, Rose Hill Elementary School, Fairfax County

A Second Chance

I cried buckets when I read this note from one of my 4th graders that I kept up with. She wrote it just before she moved to New Orleans to begin a fresh new life and college.

Dear Deb,
Do you remember my 4th grade year at Cassell? Do you remember the stories I wrote, the books I read, the friends I made (or didn't make)? I had some good times and also some rough times.

One of the most influential moments that year was when I broke one of your most important rules in the classroom—NO cheating. I remember it was a big test, math test, in the middle of the day, and I was using a calculator. You told every student before administering the tests—no calculators. Yet I used a calculator. I wanted the best score on the test, the best grade in the class, and, most of all, higher grades than my brother would bring home on his report card.

A few minutes into the test, you caught me using the calculator. Instead of sending me to the office or punishing me, you took me to the back of the classroom for a talk. I might have been crying, hopefully I said I'm sorry, but you looked me straight in the eye and even got down on your knees to talk.

I don't remember your exact words, but you told me that I was a bright girl and that I did not need a calculator to take the test. You asked me, "Jane, why would you cheat and use a calculator when you already know how to answer the problems?" You reminded me of a game we had played earlier in the week, and how well I had answered the math problems on the blackboard without using a calculator.

You took the test I had started, took away the calculator, and gave me a fresh, clean, unanswered test. You didn't say another word to me for the rest of the day, but I do remember you smiling at me when I handed you my completed math test.I got on the bus that afternoon feeling really bad, thinking that you called my parents. But when I got home I realized that you never did, that you really gave me a second chance to prove to myself that I could do something without cheating.

The next day during math you handed back the graded tests. When you handed my test back you gave me back my calculator and whispered, "I knew you could do it." I had gotten a 100. You gave me the confidence I didn't know I had.

Deb, you've been my friend for many years. I think it all started when you reached out to a scared little nine-year-old girl and told her, "You can do it."

I'm going to finish college and achieve dreams and goals, but I will always be thankful for the people who have made such a difference in my life. Thank you, Deb. I will miss you more than you'll ever know.

Love, your friend,
Jane

—Submitted by Deborah Powers, Wilson Elementary, School, Augusta County

Political gridlock must end. It’s time for elected officials to put the needs of the people first.

I have been traveling the Commonwealth of Virginia during these first weeks of my presidency talking about the new slogan that I am launching for the upcoming year.  I am replacing the former VEA slogan, “Issue Driven, Party Blind” with “Principle over Partisanship.” I am using this phrase because, like Barack Obama and most of his supporters, I believe the time has come to start urging our elected leaders to change course and stop putting partisanship and petty party politics above principle and doing the right thing.

So, what exactly do I mean when I say that the time has come for us to put Principle over Partisanship? I am talking about getting back to the basics. Our elected leaders are responsible for creating policies and legislation that will improve the quality of life for their constituents—ALL of their constituents—not just the ones who can make big campaign contributions. Lobbyists who lavish expensive gifts and large campaign contributions on their legislators have managed to cheapen the process that our founding fathers had in mind when they drafted the Constitution. Politicians who care only about their next election are not serving the citizens of their respective districts well, and they should take pause and reconsider how they have been behaving.

It is a time for a change.

One of the reasons that I believe Barack Obama has been successful in inspiring so many people to take action and get involved in the political process is that we all recognize that the politics of the present are not serving us well. Obama has pointed out the urgent need for change. He has talked about broken promises and he has offered to set our country on a corrected course if we will just give him a chance. He believes that he can effect a meaningful change...and I hope that he will get a chance to do that.

Principle over Partisanship requires our elected leaders to take stock of how they have conducted themselves. They need to decide if they are interested in what is in the highest good of the people they were elected to serve, or if they are more interested in their own self-serving ends. Whatever they decide, the VEA will be taking note and taking names, and we are going to come out of this election cycle already geared up for the next state election which will be held in Virginia in November 2009.

At that time, we will elect a new group of executive officers—Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General—along with all of the members of the House of Delegates. We will be keeping score, and this time there will be consequences for those who continue to play party politics instead of serving the citizens they were elected to represent. We will target those individuals who need to be sent home for good because they are not doing the job that needs to be done. We need leaders who can see beyond their next election. We need leaders who have the vision to plan for the next generation—and the generation after that. That is what our founding fathers did. That’s why, if our leaders aren’t doing their job, it becomes our job to oust them and elect those who will.

So, what exactly do I believe our elected leaders should be doing instead of constantly campaigning for their next election? They need to be making decisions that will have a positive, long-range effect on our state.

We desperately need improved roads and world-class schools that will graduate more and better prepared students. We need well-paid educators, and we need to provide school support staff a living wage. In short, we need public officials who are planning for our future...not just running for office.

I urge my VEA colleagues to join me in my efforts to call attention to our Principle over Partisanship movement. Start paying attention to what your legislator is doing and how he or she is voting. Please sign up to become a Cyberlobbyist at www.veanea.org/legislative. Participate in the process. We can make a difference—but it takes all of us working together for the common good, and it requires taking the time to participate in the process. Our collective future depends upon our efforts. The time has come and the time is now for the VEA to hold our elected officials accountable. Our students and the students of the future are depending upon it.