**Click Here for the 2020 Candidates**
NCTIES 2019 Candidates
West District Candidate
Brian Whitson
http://www.brianwhitson.me On Twitter: @scibri & @DTNRHS Bio Having grown up in Western North Carolina, I fully understand the value of education in transforming the lives of others. As a graduate of Yancey County Schools, my teachers equipped me with the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in the 21st century. Upon graduation from Elon College, I taught science at Salisbury High School for 15 years serving as department chair and coordinating the school’s STEM academy. I also developed several new courses including Virtual Reality I and II where students were challenged to be creative problem solvers. My affinity for technology resulted in a graduate degree in Educational Media from Appalachian State where I was encouraged to use emerging technologies in innovative ways. Most recently, I served as an Instructional Technology Facilitator at China Grove Middle School. In this capacity, I developed many useful instructional coaching practices to improve the use of digital tools in the classroom. I also focused on implementing digital citizenship school wide with the goal of transforming our students into digital leaders. Most recently, I was given the opportunity to return back to the classroom to teach Design Thinking and Challenge Based Learning at North Rowan High School. This has been an amazing opportunity to support students in non-traditional ways where we can focus on helping each student explore their individual strengths and talents. Professionally, I am very active with the North Carolina Digital Leaders Coaching Network, teach with the NC Virtual Public School and serve as a Digital Learning Competencies ambassador. Awards/Recognition Salisbury High School Teacher of the Year 2002; Rowan-Salisbury Schools Teacher of the Year 2002-03; Rotary International Group Study Exchange to Jamaica Summer 2004; Time Warner Star Teacher 2001, 2003, & 2005; NC Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing & Accountability 2007-08; Geoffrey G. Eichholz Outstanding National Science Teacher Award 2008 (Health Physics Society), Finalist for Burroughs Wellcome Career Teacher Award for Science and Math 2001, Lead Trainer Rowan-Salisbury Schools for Science Essential Standards for 6-12; North Carolina Digital Leaders Coaching Network 2016-17; Mentor for North Carolina Digital Leaders Coaching Network 2017-18 & 2018-19 Q&A Describe your experiences as a member of nonprofit or for-profit boards of directors. Most recently, I served on the North Carolina Science Teachers Association Board of Directors for Region 6. In this role, I was responsible for approving motions, budgets, and representing the views of our members. I also coordinated outreach to members in region 6 and shared updates regarding science instruction. I also provided social media support for the organization. I have also served on the Vestry at my church. This is the board of directors equivalent where we were tasked with approving budgets, provided leadership for our church, and coordinating the outreach programs of our church. In this capacity, we were responsible for a capital campaign for over $2 millions dollars for church renovations. Describe your experience as a strategic leader. I have had the opportunity to serve as a strategic leader in various capacities. As a local association president for NCAE, I represented over 800 professional educators in my school district. In doing so, I served as the main voice for teachers in our school system and was often called on to provide teacher input to the superintendent and board of education. In doing so, I had to consider the needs of our members and doing what was in the best interest of our students. Oftentimes, I had to make difficult decisions based on identified priorities of our membership. Additional I had to consider our professional obligations and the importance of ethical behavior. In this role, I learned how to listen carefully to our members and other educators. But I also developed the ability to ask really good and probing questions that helped explore issues and challenges at deeper levels. I learned how to find common ground in disagreement and sought to develop consensus in finding solutions to challenging problems. Often times, I had to represent and serve members in employment related issues. This was difficult since many times these cases resulted in possible dismissals. I have also served as the lead science trainer for my district with the implementation of the Essential Standards. In this role, I was charged with coordinating a committee of 10 individuals who were responsible for introducing and training all science teachers in grades 6 to 12. There were times when I had to provide the necessary leadership to the committee in making decisions. Often, I had to coordinate differing perspectives and find areas where we could agree. There were times when I had to make an executive decision in the best interest of the group. While I prefer to gather input and work through consensus when possible, there are times when a decision has to be made. In this case, I would make the best informed decision and move forward. Last year as an instructional technology facilitator, I coordinated a team of instructional coaches and technology facilitator to develop our plan for implementing the North Carolina Digital Learning Competencies (DLCs). We worked by gathering and sharing information at various conferences and meetings. We would share our findings with our technology coordinator who would then ask us to develop a response that would ultimately become our district's response to the DLCs. In this role, we carefully considered our district's history of digital learning, our current technology infrastructure, and the experiences of educators who would be impacted by the DLCs. We developed a policy that we recommended to the district for consideration that maximized the importance of the DLCs while honoring the current experiences of our educators. Provide an example of your innovative/teacherpreneurial or entrepreneurial vision. When I first started teaching at Salisbury High School in the mid 1990s, I introduced a new practice that was ultimately adopted by the majority of the teachers at the school. The practice involved test corrections in a very prescribed manner. While this would not necessarily be considered innovative in today's schools, it was cutting edge at the time. A lot of teachers were allowing students to correct their tests but there was not real evidence of cognitive growth. Students were simply correcting the tests to get points back but they were not demonstrating any growth in understanding the concepts. My practice of test corrections required students not only to correct what they missed but they had to write an explanation of explaining why the new answer was correct or why the previous answer was incorrect. Students were not allowed to write "I did not know." They were required to use their notes and other resources to show growth via writing in understanding the concepts. Over time, more and more teachers approached me to understand my reasoning in approaching test corrections in this manner. I also helped other teachers develop a test correction policy pertinent to their class to help students demonstrate growth in understanding the concepts involved. In a period of just three years, over 75% of the teachers implemented some variation of my test corrections where students had to show growth in understanding the concept. While I realize that in today's context, this may not stand out as innovative, it was definitely a move in the right direction in the 1990s. Another way that I have shown innovative vision is through helping my previous school harnessing the power of social media. Too often, our schools do not tell their stories. Instead, others tell the stories of our schools. I had to work with administrators, teachers, students, and parents to understand the importance of telling our stories and sharing it with the world. I immediately started a school facebook account which was very popular with parents. Our facebook account was so popular that it was the first place that parents went to in order to find information. I also created our school's twitter account and revamped our ailing school's webpage. In working with each of these, a highly effective way of sharing our school's successes was developed. Even though I transferred to another school this year, the instructional support staff and administration has stepped up and continues to coordinate the telling of our school's story. I had other technology facilitators contact me for tips and feedback in helping them to coordinate their own social media outreach campaigns. Why are you interested in serving on the NCTIES Board? I believe strongly in the mission of NCTIES. As educators, we are in the best position to make decisions regarding the use of technology in our classrooms. We know our students and our communities as well as understanding the various factors that impact our students’ abilities to learn. As more and more of our classrooms more digital, we must learn how to harness the power of technology to support instruction in our classroom. I feel that NCTIES is in the best position to directly influence many of the decisions and policies regarding technology in our classroom. We also need to make sure that the voices of all educators, students, and other stakeholders are shared as these decisions are being made. In seeking a position on NCTIES, it will be my goal to incorporate the voices of educators and students into discussions that impact the use of technology and related funding in our classrooms. We must ensure that our students are equipped for a future where digital information and devices are readily available while being able to collaborate, problem solve, and critically think. Additionally, we must be certain that our students understand the rights and privileges of living in a digital age. If selected to serve on the NCTIES board, I will work tirelessly to advance policies and practices that support creating digitally responsible students who are leaders in using the power of technology to transform the lives of others. The board’s role is to stay close to members and reflect their needs in the visioning work the board does for the organization. How will you work with other board members to help set the direction for NCTIES's future? I have recently transitioned back to the classroom as a Design Thinking instructor after serving as an Instructional Technology Facilitator for the past three years. In taking on the challenge of teaching Design Thinking in a high school, I have found myself focusing on the importance of empathy. In doing so, I model this for my students who so desperately need this type of modeling. In working with the board of directors for NCTIES, I would apply the same principles that I teach and model for my students. As NCTIES is the primary voice for technology in education for North Carolina, we must always focus on student learning and helping educators more effectively integrate technology to improve these learning outcomes. I will work to integrate both the voices of our students and members to ensure that NCTIES is responsive to their needs. Additionally, I would regularly solicit feedback from our members and students to identify barriers to students learning and technology while finding solutions to these barriers. If elected to serve on the NCTIES Board of Directors, I would work tirelessly to advance the vision of NCTIES while creating a plan for NCTIES’s future that is reflective of the learning conditions in today’s classrooms. I will work collaboratively with others to find the best solutions supporting the integration of technology and maximizing digital learning in our classrooms. I would also support NCTIES’s efforts to advance policies that provide the maximum digital learning opportunities for all educators. Brian's Resume Brian's Video: https://vimeo.com/288627979 |
North District Candidate
Erin Wolfhope
https://erinwolfhope.blogspot.com/ https://sites.google.com/burke.k12.nc.us/ewolfhope/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ewolfhope Bio I was born in southeast Missouri, educated at York College of Pennsylvania, and transplanted to Burke County, North Carolina where my teaching career began in 2005. After teaching for eight years I pursued a Masters in Instructional Media with Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. I have served as an Instructional Technology Facilitator for 5 years. I am passionate about my job empowering others to lead, grow, learn, and achieve. My husband, Jeff, and I live in Hickory, North Carolina with our two boys, Lucas and Griffin. Awards/Recognitions NCDLCN Participant and Mentor CETL Certified Google Certified Educator Level 1 & 2 Q&A Describe yourself as a strategic leader. My leadership style is based in foundational relationships, service, and empowerment. My leadership experience consists of classroom leadership, as well as leading in the technology department for Burke County Public Schools. I have been a fundamental team member with our Golden Leaf Partnership in each stage of our grant. I am also a participant as well as a mentor for the NCDLCN. Describe your experiences as a member of nonprofit or for-profit boards of directors: I have served as the PTA secretary for Southwest Primary School in Hickory, NC for one year. Our board and entire PTA consisted of 3 parent volunteers and the principal. I completed the roles and responsibilities of the secretary; taking minutes, maintaining records, creating promotional documents, recruiting new members. Provide an example of your innovative/teacherpreneurial or entrepreneurial vision: I am the co-creator of the Burke County Public Schools PD Challenge. This challenge was developed to encourage teachers to display their digital know-how, as well as serve as a safe place to try new things without pressure, all while earning CEU credit. This year marks the third year of our challenge, which continues to grow and adapt to meet the needs of teachers. This challenge pairs beautifully with the NCDPI Digital Learning Competencies. Why are you interested in serving on the board of NCTIES? My interest in serving on the NCTIES Board is rooted in my never-ending thirst for knowledge and service. I yearn to learn new things, and tackle new challenges. Leadership is a challenge I feel I am gravitating to, and the experience of serving on the board will provide a wealth of experience for me. The board’s role is to stay close to members and reflect their needs in the visioning work the board does for the organization. How will you work with other board members to help set the direction for NCTIES's future? I feel that I can connect with folks in my local area via Twitter, as well as regional professional development offerings in order to stay connected with the pulse of needs, wants, and ideas. I work well collaborating with others both face-to-face and virtually, as well as independently. I enjoy seeking new ways to solve problems, and reaching out to others that specialize in various solutions. Erin's Resume Erin's Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1t6cGHzW8w&feature=youtu.be |