When I submitted my application for the teacher institute at Colonial Williamsburg, one of the questions asked how I would share the experience with my colleagues.  Presenting professional development is something I have done for almost my entire career. ​This question also allowed me to present this website as evidence that I can share in another format - online.  I have highlighted two previous institutes in this way. The truth is I love public speaking, and I love writing, and I especially enjoyed writing the last line in the following response:

I am an established, returning trainer at the local and state level in Missouri.  I frequently present professional development sessions to my peers, to teachers across the district, and at annual state teacher conventions.  Also, I enjoy a strong relationship with our parent association.  My classes are often featured in local media, including newspaper, radio, and television reports and broadcasts.  I am confident that the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute will easily find its way into unique presentations in a variety of formats, as well as in private conversations with community acquaintances outside of education.
 
More importantly is the reach of my professional website and blog at hoggatteer.weebly.com.  I have maintained the extensive site for several years now, updating the blog daily with reports, reflections, interesting information, and lesson sets.  I would invite your attention to the lessons I have developed for our history classes at https://hoggatteer.weebly.com/uniting-the-states.html.  Additionally, please consider the reports I have kept for other teacher institute institutes I have been privileged to attend.  For Mount Vernon, find https://hoggatteer.weebly.com/george-washington-and-mount-vernon.html, and for Fort Ticonderoga, go to https://hoggatteer.weebly.com/americas-fort.html.  Thousands of teachers, parents, students, and others peruse the site and the materials I openly and freely share.  Both of those teacher institutes were incredible - probably the most valuable of my career - and have changed my teaching forever.
 
How will I share the Colonial Williamsburg experience?  I will do so with tremendous excitement, great emotion, and a deep appreciation to the donors who make the teacher institute possible.

Self-control is so difficult, this time of year.  With all of the thoughts of presents, lights, sweets and treats, family gatherings, decorations, shopping, wrapping, pageants, carols, holiday concerts, fund raisers for the less fortunate, and special programming on TV, school and learning can become the last things on a person’s mind.  People get cranky and grumpy, worrying about how many days are left until the holiday break. They long for a snow day. They fret about who’s going to whose house, what to wear on dress-up days, and how much they are going to eat. And that’s just the teachers.  This adult stress can affect students.  All of this is to say that I have two students who are still able to maintain their focus, their drive, and their happy expressions.  They can still anticipate the festivities without bouncing off the walls. I appreciate their desire to keep doing their best - even as others around them struggle.  Thank you, LACOTA and ELLA.

While Teach addressed teacher empowerment, Lead seems to try to cover the gambit.  Granted, it is a book for administrators and not for teachers, but the authors try too hard to drive in both lanes, speaking in places about trusting teachers and letting them use professional judgment, but then also spewing all of the current trends of administration (which limit and stifle the creative teaching process).  Our own district has done this in times past, shackling teachers to single teaching methods and fully contracting with a single "expert" to dictate teaching styles. I know that is not the balance that this book seeks to establish, but that is often the way administrators are perceived when they try to walk both ways at the same time.

PIRATE leaders know they have it within them to help make miracles happen for kids, so they work to make the kinds of schools where teachers are encouraged and supported to design the amazing learning experiences kids deserve - experiences that are both rich in content and wildly engaging.  They are intentional about transforming schools into extraordinary places where students and staff are willing to go the extra mile because they feel safe, valued, and supported by leaders who believe in their ability to create magic in the classroom.  Because of that belief, PIRATE leaders value and tap into unique talents and gifts of every crew member; they collaborate and aren't afraid to have others take the helm, PIRATE leaders embrace the notion that their primary role is culture first, culture next, and culture always.

I don't think my teaching philosophy has changed through the years; I do think my teaching philosophy developed through the years.  In fact, when I began, I did not have a philosophy at all; I didn't even know I needed one.  I have since discovered some plug-ins for my teaching philosophy, many in the past eight years. The application process for the Colonial Williamsburg asked for my teaching philosophy.  I didn't want to bog everything down with complicated educational jargon, but I did need to make sense of all of my thoughts.

A poem by Wendell Berry says, "The impeded stream is the one that sings."  Much of my personal teaching philosophy is rooted in that thought - the belief that obstacles and struggles make us stronger people. 
 
My fourth graders quickly conclude that not only must they discover their own solutions, but that they must wrestle with content, material, and each other in the process.  They actively participate in civilized discussions and disagreements about "hard" history topics.  They draw conclusions based on physical and inferential evidence.  They respectfully dig into difficult topics to successfully unearth innovative solutions.  They gather information, learn from failure, and build systems to serve future generations.  We go outside; we use real tools; we surround ourselves with exciting, real-life scenarios.  In our class, students are engaged with stories and activities that compel them to want to know more and conversations that force them to think deeper.
 
The history of our nation illustrates my teaching philosophy well.  I use it to inspire a mindset that struggle begets reward, that freedom requires investment, that hard work and perseverance result in success, that giving up is a weak choice, and that mistakes are stepping stones to understanding.  I lead my students to embrace the challenge and value the climb.  In this, I have been successful with students from diverse backgrounds and those who come to me with a wide range of levels of achievement and motivation.  My efforts to confront students with a unique experience are genuine, creative, and unique.  I leave students with a mindset of continuous improvement and the mettle to learn more.  I rest easier when they do, finishing the day with a satisfying fatigue and knowing I have made a positive difference that affects our community and our world.