Obama Honors National Teacher Of The Year Michelle Shearer

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is honoring Michelle Shearer of Maryland as the 2011 National Teacher of the Year.

Shearer teaches chemistry at Urbana High School in Frederick, Md. In a Rose Garden ceremony, Obama says Shearer represents all teachers who are committed to improving their own skills in order to better educate their students.

Winners of state teacher of the year awards also joined the president at Tuesday's ceremony.

Obama reiterated his call for Congress to make the No Child Left Behind education law less punitive and more flexible, changes he says would help teachers be more successful in the classroom. He says America's future success depends on the strength of its education system.

Comments

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

11:04 PM on 05/14/2011

To follow current continuity such an example must lose her job at once. tsk. !

sarc

[RocheTm]

09:23 PM on 05/04/2011

If you can read, thank a teacher. If you are safe, thank a police officer. If you are alive, thank an emergency worker.

"But how do I thank them?" you ask....

Simple, you cut their funding because nothing says "Thank You" like a trip to the unemployment office.

[Jabandit]

09:00 PM on 05/04/2011

Michelle Shearer is the same woman that told my parents that I should be on ADHD medication as a 6 year old...

... spent years convincing my parents that i didn't need it...

... I didn't have ADHD, I WAS A SIX YEAR OLD BOY!

[BlueTexasWoman]

01:12 AM on 05/04/2011

Obama could start to honor teachers by firing Arne Duncan and hiring Linda Darling-Hammond.

[Eric Mann]

11:01 PM on 05/03/2011

Notice she is from what kind of school? PUBLIC! When was the last teacher of the year from a charter school or private school?

[researcher]

08:35 PM on 05/03/2011

the hero teacher idea. the home run idea. the results only idea. the idea that great teachers is all we need to be best in class education.

it is the system and teachers are one significant aspect of that educational system. we promote and blame those closest to the problems and overlook the system. a system is responsible for 85 to 95% of the problems any organization or nation has.

now what makes up a system? just about everything and everybody. culture, parents, teachers, politicians, administrators, school boards, resources, leadership, educational paradigms, etc.

visit a nation that is best in the world such as in elementary education. See the difference and it is not just hero teachers. It is an educational system and an understanding of what teaching and learning is about. Teaching children how to learn, how to teach others, how to work in groups, how to study, teachers helping teachers, etc.

instead we focus on tests and more tests to evaluate and rank teachers and use a carrot and stick approach as a leadership model. I.e. Skinnerism defined. After all this carrot and stick competitive fear based approach worked on wall street. Not!

[Caribbeana]

07:39 PM on 05/04/2011

True. Especially when you consider the fact that many "parents" see school as daycare. They leave the parenting and everything else up to the teacher, and have very little involvement in the child's education. A school is ultimately as good as the parents. It all begins at home.

[choco1996]

07:57 PM on 05/03/2011

there he goes again palling around with those millionaire teachers..the ones who have ruined our society..next he'll be seen with firemen and police..those tools of his socialist society

[Badbowler]

07:42 PM on 05/03/2011

The best vote I ever cast was for our President Obama.

[janie@atthelake]

08:04 PM on 05/03/2011

me too badbowler....me too.

[Frenchie08]

08:18 PM on 05/03/2011

Me three!

[Sonya Evans]

08:28 PM on 05/03/2011

Me four!!

[Duppy]

07:39 PM on 05/03/2011

our President = sheer fabulosity

[exclintonsupporter]

12:15 PM on 05/04/2011

LOL...f&f

[chouteau47]

07:30 PM on 05/03/2011

what a great week for Navy Seals and Teachers. Now we'll see who'll get the most support from DC the rest of the year.

[mombabytiger]

01:19 PM on 05/04/2011

Wall Street.

[julescator]

07:23 PM on 05/03/2011

Great picture. God Bless her. Teaching isn't easy these days with the working parents, single parents, horrible TV role models, violent video games etc.

[cadawa]

07:19 PM on 05/03/2011

It would be better if he made sure they could keep their jobs. How long will it be till we read the teacher of the year is waiting tables?

[julescator]

07:22 PM on 05/03/2011

He did. Her gave stimulus money to the states to save teachers' jobs. The GOP govs, fired the teachers and used the money for their budgets. Look it up. This is a state problem, not an obama problem. Call YOUR govenor! States Rights!!!!! lol lol

[janie@atthelake]

08:06 PM on 05/03/2011

Hey julescator.....( long time fan)I am in Texas and completely agree with you. Perry is a nightmare to teachers...

[changing]

10:18 PM on 05/03/2011

No Obama is just as right wing as any Repub on his education policy. He is out to privatize education and just may be the death of our system of equal education for all.
He applauded the firings of teachers and promotes corporate charters, testing companies making millions off of poor kids, merit pay, large class sizes etc. Biggest hypocrite ever-send his own kids to an elite private school with low class sizes, no high stakes testing, stable staff. Makes Bush look tame.

[jingles32]

07:25 PM on 05/03/2011

Ask a Republican near you.

[cadawa]

08:06 PM on 05/03/2011

Ask a Democrat that caves into the demands of an extremists minority.

[WAMom]

06:33 PM on 05/03/2011

I'm truly happy for her - such an honor! But. She has four classes a day - all of them AP Chemistry. She has the very best students already. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see this honor go to a teacher that performs the miracles that everyone expects of them with students who need the most help?

[pottedferne]

06:37 PM on 05/03/2011

not only that Urbana (where she teaches) is a very wealthy community.......

[myjs]

07:18 PM on 05/03/2011

I saw an interview with her this morning. She has taught chemistry, math & other science courses to deaf students using sign language.

She seems like a really great teacher.

[jbh2009]

06:28 PM on 05/03/2011

hopefully she has some seniority - or the union will fire her ahead of a less effective, more senior teacher

[trinity]

07:02 PM on 05/03/2011

Actually she better not have seniority or the school district will fire her because she is now too expensive to keep around...better to replace her with someone fresh out of college...

[myjs]

07:12 PM on 05/03/2011

Unions don't fire teachers.

[janie@atthelake]

08:07 PM on 05/03/2011

fanned!

[MamaBird62]

06:03 PM on 05/03/2011

Congrats to Ms. Shearer!