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>> Hey, everyone. Sarah Brown Wessling here from the Council of Chief State School Officers' National Teacher of the Year Program and I'm excited to introduce Voices from the Classroom, the State Teacher of the Year podcast. CCSSO's National Teacher of the Year Program provides a platform for exceptional educators to elevate issues that affect teachers and their students expand their leadership roles and inform policy and practice. I was named National Teacher of the Year in 2010 and since then, I've been committed to sharing the stories and elevating the voices of the State Teachers of the Year. It is my hope that this podcast will give you insight into the incredible work they do. The 2021-2022 School Year has commenced and many educators have used their experiences over the last two years to reflect on how they can better serve students to ensure their overall success. In these new episodes, the 2021 State Teachers of theYear will share how they use the shift in learning environments as an opportunity to refine their approach to teaching, so they can better support students and their varying needs. You can join the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #ntoy21 or by visiting us online at ntoy.org. That's N-T-O-Y.org.

>> This is Jasmine Estes, CCSSO's senior communication specialist and today we are speaking with Paul Timm. Paul, would you mind introducing yourself?

>> Absolutely. My name is Paul Timm. I am the Nebraska 2021 Teacher of the Year and I'm a middle school, high school science instructor at Lyons-Decatur Northeast Nebraska and in Lyons, Nebraska, a small D2 school in rural Nebraska about 60 miles northwest of Omaha.

>> Nice. Thank you. Thank you for all you do.

>> Thank you.

>> Thanks for joining us this -- of course. Thanks for joining us today. So, to get started, I'm going to ask you to share a practice, a strategy, or a concept that you decided to keep for the 2021-2022 School Year. And then a follow-up question will be if you can share one practice, strategy, concept, or ideology that you let go of for the 2021- 2022 school year. So --

>> Absolutely.

>> -- I'll let you take it away.

>> I think for the practice that I'm going to keep, and this is going to be my second year trying this, so I tried this last year in the rockiness of our first full COVID year after having gone home from March to May when we were sent home, right, as COVID was initiating, correct? But last year was the first year I instituted a cross spectrum with my junior high students, every student doing a science inquiry project on a topic that they were interested in, something that brought awe and wonder or inspired them or invoked a series of questions that they were really curious about. And in a COVID year, I had no clue how that was going to go. It was huge, I would say, risk because within the realm of your core subject especially science, you have a certain pace that you have to keep with kids as you're addressing specific standards according to Nebraska state science standards and next generation science standards if you look at the national scope. But by and large, I was just blown away by how interested and invested and curious kids were that it gave them something to cling to as far as they owned their research project and they were so excited about -- I mean, there were growing pains that time obviously but it just -- I was delighted at the response I got. And so for this year, we're keeping that in place. Every kid within my science program for junior high are going to be completing a research project of their own.

>> That is awesome. I'm happy that you saw that it worked last year and you were inspired to do it again this year. And that the kids really used their creativity and imagination. That's awesome. Did anything stick out in particular that you want to talk about?

>> Well, actually, what kind of seeded the idea was initially being sent home in the spring when COVID just came on the scene. I teach a research class and it's only been for sophomore through senior students that are really focused in that area looking to take some college credit. But what they discovered is that when we got sent home, that student that was doing research for me all of a sudden and having the flexible schedule that she had in addition of trying to complete all of her higher level math classes and everything else, all of a sudden, she could devote big chunks of time towards her research. And she was doing microplastics research. She ended up winning national honors for the work that she did for the month between March and April when everything was up in the air. We didn't even know she's going to be able to get to submit her research. She just worked like crazy and we daily Zoom-ed connecting with each other. She could ask questions. We could pursue lines of inquiry. And she just blossomed in making positive progress towards her end goal and measuring that hypothesis to see if it was correct or not. And so, I thought, well, if it worked for Sam [assumed spelling] in the upcoming year not knowing, at the time, we didn't know if we were going to be sent home from school again. With COVID, I thought -- I think every kid needs this sort of experience. And we stayed in school the whole year despite what was happening with COVID and even I ended up coming down with COVID in November, having to teach from home as my kids were still in the classroom and they did great. I was just delighted at what that did for them developing the science inquiry process and how they performed those skills. So, I was thrilled.

>> That is fascinating. Wow! And then, it was birthed from --

>> I think it's this evidence of how important doing is in the learning process in addition to that background research and reading and everything else. There has to be an element of doing because it produces ownership in the person of the person that's -- in the person of the student that's doing it.

>> Yeah.

>> They own their project. It's their project. They're the expert on it. They get to teach the other kids in the classroom about plastics or raccoons or oak trees or whatever, you know. It just, it's really neat. It's really neat.

>> Yeah. They probably feel so empowered.

>> Absolutely. That's a great word for it. They were empowered.

>> That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that.

>> Absolutely.

>> How about something that you decided to maybe let go or adjust? Did you have that experience coming into this school year?

>> As far as the let go, I'm going to go with maybe adjusted rather than let go. I've always been a person that -- I realized the importance that relationship plays in student ownership and buy-in to anything that you do, right? As a teacher, you're always casting that fishing pole, trying to hook conversation pieces, trying to show that student value, so that when it comes time for you to say, "Hey, I need you to do this," "Hey, I want you to do this," and they're feeling a little bit unsure about that, they realize that they're more than just a warm body in a seat but, you know, you really are interested in them. With this past year and all the challenges that we experienced with COVID and I would say that students have a myriad of challenges that they face as they're growing up, COVID just being one of them, right? As we think back to our years and growing up through adolescence, the whole idea of approaching students with even greater curiosity and patience. I saw a greater need for that and a need to shift in my own mindset, being extremely prepared to before I start the lesson, making sure that I'm taking kind of almost inventory of my students' social-emotional needs without them realizing I was doing it. Because these kids were bringing so much to school that it's so often -- you know, if we look at the definition of what prom is according to -- forgive me, the name of the agency is escaping me right now. Any experience that leaves a person feeling hopeless, helpless, fearing for their lives, their sense of survival or their safety can be a real trauma in a person's life. And that's whether it's perceived or whether it's real, whether that threat is perceived or whether that threat is real. These kids are bringing so much to school with them that is not who they are but has influenced how they're having to live their daily lives. And when they come to school with those real concerns, those real fears and I think as they have been faced with things such as COVID, it has put some real concerns in their minds to the point where the periodic table might not be their priority that they're focused when they walk on into my classroom. And so as a teacher, for me, having that curiosity, that approach that, "OK, how is Johnny [assumed spelling], how is Susie [assumed spelling] doing today? What have I done to show value and interest in them through curiosity? And are they ready to engage the material?"

>> Yeah.

>> I think, you know, it's so easy for us to get into teacher mode. This is what we got to get accomplished today. And for me, I just had to put up my antenna and be extra sensitive in trying to detect where is everyone in the room today, how are we going to do at making progress towards our goals, not just educationally in content area but social-emotional awareness and being able to handle the weight that some of these kids are bringing to school. So, that for me, as far as an adjustment was concerned, I had to be very cognizant and aware of that need because it just -- there's a sense this year that there's an even higher need than ever among the student population.

>> Well, thank you. I'm sure your students and their families and your colleagues all appreciate you taking that temperature check because that's always helpful to your point when trying to assess like how to even move forward in the lesson. So, we appreciate that. Thank you for sharing that.

>> Absolutely.

>> So, those are great. Is there anything else that you wanted to add? And we'll check back in with you to see how those projects are going, but feel free to add anything else if you want [inaudible].

>> Well, I just think the joy of education and the joy of learning comes in the awe and the wonder. And so, if you aren't seeing the awe and the wonder, you need to dig a little deeper and that's true with the content, whatever it is that you're studying and that's true with relationships. And so, I think the more that you can practice that curiosity and trying to understand, "OK, what is making this person tick?" or "Wow! Look at that insect on the ground. Let's get a closer look at that. What's that thing look like? Why is this thing this way?" I think the more that we can practice those inquiry practices and look for the surprise that you may not be expecting but realizing that it's there if you just dig deep enough, I think that can bridge a lot of broken bridges or just a lot of stalemates when it comes to learning as well as relationships with people.

>> That's awesome. Thank you so much and thank you, Paul, for everything you do and are doing for our students. We appreciate you and, yeah, thank you for joining today.

>> It was my pleasure. Thank you.

>> Thank you for listening to the latest series of Voices from the Classroom, The State Teacher of the Year podcast. This podcast is brought to you by the Council of Chief State School Officers' National Teacher of the Year Program. It's our honor to elevate the voices of educators across the country and provide them with a national platform to amplify their message and advocate on behalf of their students and colleagues. Please, share these lessons on social media with the hashtag #ntoy21. That's #N-T-O-Y-2-1. Let's keep the conversation going.