Teacher of the Year Attends DSC National Conference

We had the pleasure of welcoming the Teacher of the Year, Lisa Rotenberger, from Dommerich Elementary School in Maitland, Florida to our First Annual DSC National Conference. The touching part of her story is that she chose to travel to Chicago to the DSC conference, by using the stipend she received for her most recent honor. We were moved by her story. Here are some words of inspiration from her:

As Dommerich's Teacher of the Year this 2011–12 school year, I had a year full of great surprises and opportunities! One of which was the realization that Dommerich Elementary's PTA offers a stipend to each year's Teacher of the Year to be used for professional development! As I started researching what I would like to do with this opportunity, I heard that DSC was having its first national convention in Chicago, and it caught my attention and interest! Out of the many choices that I could have made, I was excited to choose DSC’s Innovation in Education Conference at the Westin Michigan Avenue in Chicago!

I have tremendous respect and curiosity about your company and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the history of your company, to hear from your keynote speakers, to learn more about lesson study, to add perspective to my knowledge base on Common Core, and to be inspired by your presenters in regards to topics I am passionate about! I currently use the Making Meaning® and Being A Writer™ programs and I feel a close match between The DSC Way and my personal teaching philosophies!

I work very hard at building a classroom community in which children have a voice and learn to care for one another. I also work very hard at reflecting on how my teaching and the learning gains of my students match my intentions and support the natural curiosity and very different needs of children. I was so excited to visit Chicago for the first time. Each evening, after the conference I was busy walking around the city seeing all of the sights and trying out new great restaurants! I came home refreshed and I cannot stop thinking about Tim Shriver's presentation. I was moved by his words, by the video, 'For Russell,' and the message of the importance of being 'agents of change' in our world. I related to Peter Brunn's presentation when he talked about the need to support our new teachers and allow them the opportunities to grow and to have the support they need; to not underestimate the 10,000 hours of practice and the hard work that it takes to look like someone 'born to teach.' I was inspired by your training on lesson study and am excited to get to try it with my team! Those are just a few of the things I took away! But most of all, I felt welcomed by your staff, empowered to share my thinking, and happy to have this great opportunity to learn, make new friends, and build new connections!

Click here to read some local press on Lisa.

We are humbled by her choice to spend her stipend on us.

Tracy Arrowsmith is the Manager of Social Media and Outreach at Developmental Studies Center