Holly Phillips

Second Year Teacher

A Complete 180

This is an email from Holly Phillips to Kagan Trainer, Dr. Rick Duvall, after a training. (Rick is amazing and has so much knowledge about literacy - he’s one of my faves/Jennie)

From: Holly Phillips

To: Rick Duvall

Hello Rick,

I was at your Kagan Cooperating Learning Day 1 training on January 26th. You may remember me as the teacher who was there until almost 5 pm, shopping and asking questions to you and the TIF Stem ladies with another colleague of mine.

First off, I want to start my email by saying how grateful I am that I attended your workshop. As a first year teacher, I can say that it has changed my outlook on teaching immensely. Before your training, I was waking up every morning regretting my career choice and not wanting to go to school. My students were "terrible" (so I thought) and didn't want to learn, and I turned into your typical Teacher A version. When I would go to data meetings, I felt all of my students' scores were just decreasing. Granted, I have the majority of IEP kiddos in my class, but still, I should have been seeing more growth than I was. My students were never engaged in my lessons and never really tried, and this ended up not only hurting them, but hurting me as well.

In December, when I went home (to Ohio) for the holidays, I told my family I would be coming back after the school year not knowing if I was ever going to teach again. I told them how I just didn't know if teaching was really for me. My mom was flabbergasted. I mean I've wanted to be a teacher ever since I can remember. When I was younger and most girls would want to be a singer or princess, my mom says even back then I would always say I wanted to be a teacher. When I was growing up, I remember the things my teachers did that were fun, yet still academic at the same time. Teaching has been a passion to me my entire life, and after only 5 short months of having my own classroom, I thought I lost that passion. As I was thinking of my own education experience, one word came to my mind: teamwork. Whether it was with a partner or in groups, teamwork was always put into my classrooms while I was in school. But when I started thinking about it even more, I realized that it ultimately wasn't really teamwork, as much as it was engagement and collaboration—two things Kagan has definitely taught me.

Nowadays school is all about the rigorous lesson plans that go along with the test item specs, deconstructed standards, and standardized testing, that us teachers (and schools) forget that concept. But, now after my training, I understand that yes I can still have rigorous lessons, but I can make them fun and engaging for my students by implementing Kagan strategies and structures throughout them. Even in the short amount of time (almost 3 weeks) since the training, I have seen huge improvements and motivation in not only in my class, but in myself as well. I'm now waking up each morning excited and energized for the school day. I feel much more prepared and confident in myself. For my class, I have noticed that not only have their scores been going up, but they are more positive in their answers and are behaving much better as well.

It seems crazy to say my classroom and I have done a complete 180, but it is so true. Even my principal and colleagues have noticed. My principal and I were talking this week, and she was saying how proud she is of me and how hard I have been working to improve my class. She even said she can see how I've changed because my confidence is making me glow. I can now say I am confident in my teaching.

With all of that being said, thank you. Writing a letter didn't seem like a big enough thank you to give you for what you and the Kagan training have done for me. You have given me back my passion for teaching, and I couldn't be happier with my career choice now; I know it's what I was made to do.

Again, thank you so much. I'm sorry if I rambled on in this letter; I just wanted you to see the impact you and the Kagan team have made on me. I look forward to the Summer Academy and all that I will learn there.

Sincerely,
Holly Phillips