KCEA Advocate

The

KCEA Officers President Sherry Morgan Secretary Jennifer Owen Treasurer Tanya T. Coats Past President Jessica Holman _____

Executive Board Representatives Support Personnel Peggy Thomas High Schools Jason Gulledge Middle Schools Karen Peterman Kim Waller Elementary Schools Judy Barnes Tiffany Watkins Heather Wallace Joan Washington Alternative Schools Amy Arnold Administration Brad Corrum Minority at Large Sherry Hensley Parliamentarian Paula Brown _____

TEA / NEA East TN Minority Paula Hancock

KCEA: Still in Business!

KCEA President, Sherry Morgan

The Knox County Education Association is still in business. Contrary to attacks from State legislators, denial of leave for the KCEA President, and other hurdles meant to impede our progress, the Knox County Education Association is getting stronger daily.

Remember the old saying “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.”

KCEA will be stronger.

Your KCEA President is teaching full time, yet working nights and weekends to conduct association business.

KCEA will survive and thrive. Recently at the KCEA office, we found the original charter from 1921. An organization that has been around that long is not going away anytime soon.

KCEA will continue to advocate for our members. KCEA still will represent you. KCEA will be advocating and representing you in Collaborative Conferencing.

This month, KCEA will be implementing the first steps toward Collaborative Conferencing, the new legislation that replaced the Educators Professional Negotiations Act. TEA’a legal department is making plans to help Associations across the state, without contracts. As your KCEA President, I have written a letter to Dr. McIntyre indicating our intent to be involved in Collaborative Conferencing. As a KCEA member, we will need your support for KCEA in Collaborative Conferencing.

Remember KCEA is your association and we are here for you. Please come to meetings we have for you in your building and at the KCEA office.

Don’t hesitate to call us at 522-9793 or 660-0822 (KCEA cell). KCEA is here for you. KCEA is not going away. KCEA will continue to be a strong voice for educators.

Advocate

PECCA

Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act

Q&A What is PECCA? It is the new law that replaced negotiations.

What does it cover? It limits the subjects professional employees can discuss with their employer. The “conferencing” will only apply to base salaries or wages, grievance procedures, insurance, fringe benefits (not to include early retirement incentives), a limited set of working conditions, leave and payroll deductions.

What does it not cover? Differentiated pay plans, other forms of incentive-based compensation, how grant money is used, evaluations, staffing decisions in innovative programs, “all personnel decisions” and “payroll deductions for political activities”.

Am I protected? Yes, you may choose your representative and you can self-organize, form, join, or be assisted by organizations to participate in collaborative conferencing.

Why should I participate? It is a local association’s decision.

A written request representing 15% or more of employees starts the initiation.

When will the written request happen? This will happen between October 1, and November 1 of any year.

When will “collaborative conferencing” start? The Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents will develop the training by January 1, 2012. The training program will be implemented no later than July 1, 2012.

Will KCEA be represented? You can bet on that. KCEA members will be represented based on the proportional share of how many members ask for KCEA to represent them. KCEA will select and appoint the appropriate number of representatives based on their proportional share of the vote.

Source: The Truth About Collaborative Conferencing – Rumors, Misstatement and Fact – (TEA Legal Services Division on July 1, 2011.)

TEA-FCPE, Dist. 4 Bill Bell NEA Resolutions Anthony Hancock _____

KCEA Office UniServ Jon White Admin. Assistant Abbie Hoover

Ask a Colleague to Join Today!

After the changes made in last year's legislature, teachers need to be more active in their association than ever. This coming year could bring about more changes, but with vocal teachers and active members, Tennessee's teachers will prevail.

Other associations are promoting their non-partisan ways, but don't be fooled! Last year other organizations either sat on the sidelines or blatantly supported the legislation that has moved the education profession back in time.

Take a stand. Ask a colleague to join an association that promotes, advances and protects public education, the education profession, and the rights and interests of our members. Ask them to join TEA today!

THE ADVOCATE

NEA Resolutions Committee Anthony Hancock, NEA Resolutions Committee

Resolutions A resolution is a formal expression of opinion, intent, belief, or position for the Association, adopted by the Representative Assembly and providing the direction in which the Association should be moving.

Resolutions Adopted at the 2006 National Education Association Representative Assembly: We, the members of the National Education Association of the United States, are the voice of education professionals. Our work is fundamental to the nation, and we accept the profound trust placed in us.

Our Vision is a great public school for every student.

Our Mission is to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

Do We Have the Courage?

Bill Bell, Legislative Contact Team TEA’s Government Relations Chief, Jerry Winters stated it well: “We can’t change minds, so we’ll have to change faces.”

Certainly - with the notable exceptions of State Representatives Joe Armstrong and Harry Tindell - our elected legislators have literally ignored educators and fallen in line with the bidding of out-of-state (and out of the United States) corporate interests. “Don’t bother us with the facts” they have said, “we have made up our minds.”

In statewide discussions with these legislators, we have learned that there is more anti-teacher legislation to come. This includes drastic changes in our retirement.

We cannot change their minds. We will have to elect new faces . . . . . . or perish.

But will we? It will take a certain kind of courage to change the way we have been voting, to come to grips with the fact that the persons we have trusted have betrayed us, and to vote for someone else. For some of us, it may take courage just to register to vote.

The time has come for us to take a long look in the mirror. Does the person staring back have the courage to do what needs to be done?

Our Core Values: These principles guide our work and define our mission: Equal Opportunity: We believe public education is the gateway to opportunity. All students have the human and civil right to a quality public education that develops their potential, independence, and character.

A Just Society: We believe public education is vital to building respect for the worth, dignity, and equality of every individual in our diverse society.

Democracy: We believe public education is the cornerstone of our republic. Public education provides individuals with the skills to be involved, informed, and engaged in our representative democracy.

Professionalism: We believe that the expertise and judgment of education professionals are critical to student success. We maintain the highest professional standards, and we expect the status, compensation, and respect due all professionals.

Partnership: We believe partnerships with parents, families, communities, and other stake-holders are essential to quality public education and student success.

Collective Action: We believe individuals are strengthened when they work together for the common good. As education professionals, we improve both our professional status and the quality of public education when we unite and advocate collectively.

Six KCEA Presidents (and many other members) attended the August KCS Board Meeting to show solidarity in standing up for our members’ right to be represented and have a voice. Pictured from Left: Jessica Holman, Kimberly Waller, Terry Uselton, Sherry Morgan, Paula Brown, and Dana Stanfield Bayiates.

THE ADVOCATE

Why Get Involved?

Sherry J. Morgan, KCEA President

Members have been calling to ask me why they should get involved.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

Together, We Can Improve Evaluation Gera Summerford, TEA President In recent weeks, TEA held twelve regional “Let’s

First, this is your profession. When I started teaching years ago, Woody Watson was my mentoring teacher. (This was before we had formal mentors.) Woody told me, “You want to leave your profession in better shape than you found it.”

Second when you advocate for your profession you are advocating for your students. At one time in Tennessee’s history, students did not have free textbooks. Through the efforts of teachers and TEA, students were able to receive free textbooks. Our students need us to advocate for them to ensure they get the best education possible.

Finally, we are teachers and educators who must work together.

Working collectively, we can accomplish great things. Especially in these times of changing education, we must hold hands and work together. We must work together and be involved for the betterment of our profession and our students.

Talk” forums across Tennessee and engaged in conversations with nearly 600 educators. It was a wonderful opportunity to glean information and share our stories.

As I listened to our members, I was struck by the sense of urgency and responsibility they expressed. Our members are hungry for details about the evaluation system and eager to get to the truth behind the rumors. Administrators, teachers and support professionals take their work very seriously and want to do the best they can to help children learn. And they want to perform at the highest level possible in their job assignments.

During this time of change in public education, it’s important to remember what unites us and why we chose this profession. We believe education is the key to a brighter future. We know that public schools are best equipped to provide equal opportunities for all children. And we know that it takes all of us working together to create a great place for kids to learn. The culture of teaching is collaborative, not competitive. Within our schools, we know we have to function more like a family than a business.

TOGETHER, WE CAN! While we struggle to adapt to a new evaluation system, let’s not lose sight of the inherent value of our profession—it is a noble, heart-and-soul way of life. We must continue to take pride in what we do, combine our efforts for improvement, and unite our voices.

We can’t allow the external forces of change to affect our internal core of compassion for children and joy in teaching. Regardless of how we are evaluated, we will always preserve our commitment to students, our passion to stand up for public schools and our reputation as professionals.

Are You a Leader?

Leaders are teachers and education support professionals who work in schools every day. They represent the interests of the members who elect them. They also represent the interests of the children we teach. At least one Association Representative is elected by members in every school in Tennessee.

Members also elect local, state and national officers, as well as delegates to both the TEA and NEA Representative Assemblies.

These delegates are charged with setting association policies, annual budgets, action priorities and electing state and national officers.

Would you like to make a difference in your local Association?

To find out how, please contact TEA President, Gera Summerford (gsummerford@tea.nea.org), KCEA President, Sherry Morgan (sjmorgan1@yahoo.com), or KCEA UniServ, Jon White (jwhite@tea.nea.org).

Thousands of our members have shared their concerns with us by email and phone calls, by attending a “Let’s Talk” forum and by responding to the online survey. As always, TEA staff and leadership are working to ensure that our members stay informed and have access to the support and guidance they need. In addition, we continue to represent educators across our state in communications with Commissioner Kevin Huffman, the State Board of Education, and the General Assembly, especially with regard to evaluations.

As TEA works to offset the negative effects of the recent legislative and regulatory changes, we need consistent feedback from our members to help guide the process of turning things around for our students and our schools.

Educators accept responsibility for helping children learn, and we know we can’t do it alone. The effort to create true school reform requires all of us working together for change. I’m proud of our TEA family and the work we all do to provide a quality education for every child.

Now, more than ever, you are more than a “3” to me!

THE ADVOCATE

YOU Are KCEA, TEA, & NEA Association membership — local, state and national — represents your opportunity to do more for public education, your students, and yourself than you could ever do alone.

When you join your local Association, you are joining 55,000 educators across Tennessee and 3.2 million educators across the nation who care deeply about public education. Among Association members, you’ll find classroom teachers at every grade level, media specialists, school counselors, instructional assistants, school secretaries, bus drivers, school psychologists, cafeteria workers, custodians, school nurses, principals, college and university faculty, and students preparing to become teachers.

TEA has 139 local affiliates representing educators in every public school district and state special school in Tennessee.

Among the many reasons to join TEA, now more than ever: TEA advocates for Tennessee’s teachers, public schools and students. We do this through eight registered lobbyists, a legislative contact team and state board of education contact team comprised of members, our full-time released president and professional staff. TEA advocates at the state level in the legislature and with the state department, state board of education and state advisory committees.

At the local level, affiliates advocate through Collaborative Conferencing, political action and communications programs. TEA supports members and affiliates through training, conferences, research, and communications programs. This support becomes even more valuable to teachers with implementation of the Tennessee First to the Top initiatives.

Teachers will be able to appeal their evaluations under the new system, and TEA will assist teachers with those appeals.

Members have access to outstanding professional development workshops, conferences, and award-winning publications. Some of these are available free or at reduced rates for members, and some are not available at all to non-members. Examples include TEA’s New Teacher Conferences and the handbook, “First Class: A Success Guide for Teachers Beginning Their Careers.”

TEA defends members against unfair treatment through our legal services program, liability protection, and UniServ program. Four TEA attorneys and 34 UniServ staff provide professional assistance wherever our members and affiliates are located.

UniServ coordinators are skilled professionals who assist local affiliates in all program areas and work with individual members on evaluation concerns, certification issues, employment questions and contract enforcement. You can find the UniServ coordinator working in your area by asking your local Association president, by checking the back page of teach, or by going to http://www.teateachers.org.

Whenever and wherever decisions are made about public education, you'll find TEA and NEA representing educators and standing up for children.

Working together as Association members, we can do more than any of us can as individuals. Together, we send a powerful message as advocates for students and public schools. Together, we can influence the profession and the policymakers who make decisions affecting our classrooms and schools.

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

Response to the Recent Communication from Commissioner Huffman Gera Summerford, TEA President On September 23, you received an email from Commissioner Huffman, which includes a review of the First to the Top Act of 2010 and contains the following statement: "This legislation, including the new evaluation parameters, became a centerpiece of Tennessee's Race to the Top application, which was signed by all 136 school districts, every major candidate for governor, and by all educator stakeholder groups including TEA."

This implies that TEA supports the current evaluation system.

That is simply not the case.

When TEA worked with Governor Bredesen and his staff on The Race to the Top application, no specifics of the evaluation system had been developed. A committee was formed to make recommendations for creating a new evaluation system, but in the end, the State Board of Education exercised its right to design the final system.

Throughout the process TEA has consistently opposed major components of the evaluation system, including the rush to use the results in employment decisions and the use of school-wide data for teachers in non-tested areas, among others.

Through TEA's regional "Let's Talk" forums, email communications, survey responses, and conversations with leaders and staff, our members are sharing the distress of their personal experiences. The stories we've heard confirm our worst fears about the implementation of the system and the unreasonable expectations our members are facing. We will continue to speak out on behalf of our members and work for an evaluation system that is fair, effective, and workable.

We must ALL continue to call and write to our elected officials on school boards and in the legislature to let them know this system of evaluating teachers and administrators is not working and must be changed. Also, be alert for further TEA communications in the immediate future.

Many thanks for all that you do for our public schools!

THE ADVOCATE

Engaging Families

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

Educator Resources

From TEA's new teacher handbook, First Class: A Success Guide for Teachers Beginning Their Careers In focus groups, teachers and families were asked what they meant by “family engagement.” Families thought that meant we wanted them to come to school and volunteer lots of time. Teachers actually wanted families to work with their children at home.

Remember to be specific about how families can help children learn:  Make sure families know what homework to expect.  If possible, inform families & students of a week's worth of          

homework so they can schedule it when there are fewer other family obligations.

Suggest ways families can help with homework.

Ask families to read to the child & listen to the child read.

Encourage families to ask children to talk about school activities.

Suggest things that families can do together at home (alphabetize items, balance a checkbook, measure distances).

Send suggestions for games or activities related to schoolwork.

Invite families to the classroom to see how you teach .

Encourage families to visit libraries, museums, & zoos.

In November, send home a list of books for families to consider for holiday giving.

Ask relatives to write or record a few memories that relate to the topic you are studying.

Send a welcome letter to new students' families, especially those entering your class mid-year. Include behavior policies, learning goals & homework expectations.

Resources for Engaging Families: Free Parent brochures from TEA are available to download in the Parent Center on the TEA Web site, http://www.teateachers.org. (Some are also available in Spanish.) TEA members can request single or bulk copies to distribute to parents.

http://www.thegateway.org The Gateway to Educational Materials provides free, quick and easy access to thousands of educational resources on various federal, state, university, non-profit and commercial Internet sites.

Access to the Gateway’s 50,000+ resources has been made possible through sponsorship by the National Education Association. The Gateway (formerly GEM) was developed with funds from the U.S. Dept. of Education to provide resources created by over 750 publicly funded organizations. In 2005 the Gateway’s US DOE funding ceased and the NEA stepped in to preserve this national education asset.

http://www.free.ed.gov Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) offers hundreds of federally-supported teaching and learning resources.

http://ocw.mit.edu/high-school/ Highlights for High School, created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, offers free video, audio, and print lectures and course material targeted for K–12 math and science teachers and students.

Teachers can search by topic for faculty lectures and assignments.

Parent guides, learning checklists & more free materials are available from the Education Publications Center at the U.S. Department of Education.

Many are shipped free of charge. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html Step-by-step activities for engaging families are available from the FamilySchool Linkages Project of the National Institute for Urban School Improvement at http://www.urbanschools.org/publications/lets_try.html

http://www.cbcbooks.org The Children's Book Council offers reading lists, teacher materials, reading encouragement materials and author read-alouds.

Cybrary Man's Educational Web Sites http://www.cybraryman.com The internet catalogue for students, teachers, administrators & parents. Over 20,000 relevant links personally selected by an educator/author with over 30 years of experience.

You can learn about many other resources and opportunities on the TEA Web site, http://www.teateachers.org.

THE ADVOCATE

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

KCEA & TEA stood beside you . . . when other groups stood against you.

The Tennessee Education Association (TEA) stood up for your right to bargain.

PET lobbied to end the current collective bargaining law in Tennessee.

PET stood with the Tennessee School Boards Association (TSBA) to end your right to bargain salary, insurance, working conditions, fringe benefits, and other items.

Please read PET’s ACTUAL “Talking Points” to their members in the box below:

House Bill 0130 by Representative Debra Maggart *House Co-Sponsors: Casada Senate Bill 0113 by Senator Jack Johnson *Senate Co-Sponsors: Gresham, Summerville, Kelsey, Ketron Synopsis: This bill will abolish the teachers’ unions ability to negotiate terms and conditions of professional service with local boards of education. Teachers and school boards will no longer have to go through a “middle man” to determine what is best for both groups, and students will benefit from this as well. Based on the Tennessee Report Card, students in the 45 systems that do not negotiate score higher than students in the 91 systems that do negotiate. Based on the Tennessee Department of Education salary data, teachers in systems that do not negotiate are paid more than teachers in negotiating systems.

(PET) Talking points on HB 130 – SB 113:       

Negotiations between the school systems and teachers union has created a climate of antagonism between those who should be working together to educate the communities children.

Studies by TSBA and others have shown that those systems which negotiate do not advance in teacher pay as quickly as those systems which do not. [citation?]

Student achievement generally is not as high in negotiating systems as in those which do not negotiate. [citation?]

All contracts stay in place until they expire.

Nothing prohibits teachers attending any meetings that boards will have regarding contracts.

This bill eliminates the exclusivity that the TEA has.

Nothing prevents individual contacts with the school board.

PET – Now you know where they stand, and they ARE NOT standing in your corner!

Can teachers really ever count on PET . . . again?

Ask a friend to join the Tennessee Education Association (TEA) today.

TEA was the only association to stand up for your right to bargain.

TEA is currently the only association working to ensure Collaborative Conferencing takes place in school systems that want to collaboratively conference.

TEA is the only association to ensure that your voice is heard.

THE ADVOCATE

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

TEA Builds Bonds Lawmakers Don’t Understand

By Nancy Holland

NEA Member Benefits

The politicians who hope to destroy the Tennessee Education Association don’t understand what TEA really is.

800-637-4636 http://neamb.com NEA Members Insurance Trust 800-637-4636

A few years ago, one of my students was taken into state custody and transferred to another school. I was concerned and didn’t want the circumstances of this girl’s life to diminish her potential. I contacted a teacher at the girl’s new school, Mrs. Gilliam, whom I knew through our mutual involvement in TEA.

NEA Credit Card & Loan Programs Bank of America: 866-575-9070 NEA Home Financing Program Wells Fargo Home Mortgage: 800-NEA-4YOU(4968) NEA Auto & Home Insurance Program California Casualty: 800-877-7345

Mrs. Gilliam befriended this student, even though she didn’t teach the grade the student was in. The following year, when this student was a high-school freshman, she went back to visit Mrs. Gilliam. A few years after that, I learned that this student had graduated.

NEA Long Term Care Program John Hancock: 800-637-4636

My involvement in TEA allowed me to help this student in a manner I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

NEA Income Protection Plan American Fidelity Assurance Company: 800-637-4636

The bonds of the association extend beyond our professional lives. When I was flooded out of my house, I received some grant money to help pay utility bills from a fund established by TEA. When my father died, I received a card from the TEA president and my local association vice president.

NEA Homeowners Insurance Program Horace Mann: 800-637-4636 NEA Valuebuilder Program Security Benefit: 800-NEA-VALU (8258)

There’s a reason why we call ourselves an association: We built relationships that sustain us personally as well as professionally, thereby enabling us to do our jobs well. These relationships won’t be destroyed by the state legislature.

National Foundation for Credit Counseling 866-479-NEA2 (6322) www.debtadvice.org/nea

Nancy Holland is a reading specialist at Cameron Middle School in Nashville and a member of Metro Nashville EA.

NEA Member Benefits is acutely aware of personal and financial challenges faced by NEA members. The Member Assistance Program is an online resource center that provides guidance, information and tools to help unemployed members prepare for a job search and cope financially.

Find MAP online at www.neamb.com/assistance.

TEA’s New Teacher Conferences Teachers in their first three years are invited to sharpen their professional practice by attending TEA’s New Teacher Conferences. The conferences offer two day-long programs on two different dates: Nov. 5, 2011 & Feb. 25, 2012. Novice teachers can attend one or both events and earn up to 12 hours of professional development credit. Registration is limited on a firstcome, first-served basis.

Track 1: “I Can Do It” (Classroom Management Training) An interactive, highly acclaimed program addressing classroom transitions, reinforcements, rules & routines, dealing with difficult behavior and more - all designed especially for the less experienced teacher.

Track 2: “The Road to Success” Differentiated Instruction Strategies for Classroom Success Learn practical tools and techniques for implementing differentiated instruction to improve learning opportunities for every student.

Professionalism and Education: A Common Sense Approach Learn about danger zones in teacher-student relationships & how to avoid them.

Your Annual Teacher Evaluation: Making the Process Work for You Learn how to survive your annual evaluation and make the process work for you.

Complete details and registration information can be found on TEA’s website: http://www.teateachers.org/new-teacher-conference

Start to Finish: Collaborating with Families Effective, ongoing collaboration with families throughout the year is critical in providing every student the best education possible. The teacher, as the professional, is responsible for facilitating communication from the start of the school year until the student is no longer in his/her care.

The objective of this workshop is to help teachers improve family-teacher communication from the first day to the last day.

Workshop materials will include numerous examples of teacher -made tools for communicating with parents, whether you teach Pre-K or high school students, in an inner city, rural, or suburban setting.

When:

October 24, 2011 – 4:30-7:30

Where:

KCEA Building, 2411 East Magnolia Avenue

Phone:

865.522.9793 Fax: 865.522.9896

Email:

kceaintouch@bellsouth.net

Cost:

Members: Free - Non-members: $25

THE ADVOCATE

OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2011

Farewell & Welcome

Calendar of Events

Retirement Our TEA Uniserv Director, Jim Petrie, is beginning an exciting new chapter in his life, and is now eligible to join the Retired Teachers Association. Congratulations, Jim! Jim’s guidance, insight, and wisdom have been invaluable to us, and he will be greatly missed. (Though we are glad to hear that he plans to stay in Knoxville and will be ready to rally with us, as needed.) Jim has shown us that there are many ways to look at a situation, that apparent difficulties are often superb opportunities, and that the best protests usually happen in the rain.

Thank you, Jim, for giving a huge part of your life to public education.

You have made a difference for all of us!

October 18

“Navigating Teacher Evaluation” Workshop KCEA Office, 2411 Magnolia Ave.

October 18

Board of Education Mid-Month Work Session

October 21

NEA Southeast Regional Minority Leadership Conference

October 22

Teacher Supply Depot

October 24

Start to Finish: Collaborating with Families KCEA Building - 4:30-7:30 Workshop for all teachers & building admin

October 28

TEA Fall Advocacy Conference Embassy Suites, Murfreesboro, TN

November 1

Board of Education Work Session

November 2

Board of Education Regular Session Meeting

November 8

Election Day (Students in School)

November 18

Civic Education Day (Students in School)

November 21

Board of Education Mid-Month Work Session

November 23-25

Thanksgiving Holiday

Welcome Please welcome our interim Uniserv Director, Jon White! Jon comes to us from the West Virginia Education Association, where he served as President of his local association, Regional Director, and Director of Field Services.

As a teacher and coach in Boone County, West Virginia, he taught at the junior and senior high school levels, as well as evening adult education classes.

Jon has served NEA State Affiliates in Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina as an Interim-UniServ Manager. In those positions, he supervised, trained, and directed UniServ staff, while developing the organizing and membership plans for each state.

As an NEA staff member and Organizational Specialist, Jon gained experience working with a variety of NEA State Affiliates, including Louisiana, Illinois, South Carolina, and Georgia, Mississippi, and Colorado. We are excited to have Jon with us to share his wealth of knowledge, expertise, and enthusiasm!

Coming Soon: In addition to the Professional Development opportunities listed on page 6, KCEA will also present: “True Colors” - December 8, 4:40-8:30 “Reaching the Struggling Learner” - January 10, 4:30-7:30 “Critical Thinking: Strategies and Practices for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in the Classroom “ - TBA “What is Inclusion and Collaboration?” - TBA

The Advocate

Contact KCEA

is published by the Knox County Education Association.

2411 Magnolia Ave. Knoxville, TN 37917

Please direct questions & comments to: Jennifer Owen, Editor KCEA@OwenWebs.com

Office: 865.522.9793 Cell: 865.660.0822 Fax: 865.522.9866

Find us Online: http://KCEAinTouch.org http://Facebook.com/TNKCEA

Our Mission To promote quality education in Knox County, the Knox County Education Association will provide a support system that guarantees the opportunity for professional growth, secures and improves benefits, and protects the rights of educators of Knox County.