Lessons from the 2024 National Teacher of the Year
Meet Our Guest(s):
Missy Testerman
2024 National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman is a kindergarten through eighth grade English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher who is a staunch advocate for students, teachers, and families. Missy prioritizes instruction that ensures her students have the skills and knowledge necessary to achieve. She served as a first and second grade teacher at Rogersville City School in Rogersville, Tennessee, for three decades before taking advantage of the state’s Grow Your Own initiative and adding an ESL endorsement three years ago.
During her year of service as National Teacher of the Year, she’s empowered teachers to advocate for students and fellow educators by using their voices and sharing their experiences with those outside the classroom.
Meet our host, Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert is the Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Humanities at Amplify, and the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.
As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Lambert is dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.
Quotes
“Find a mentor. Someone you trust. Listen to that person, watch that person, ask that person questions. You know, you don't have to figure this out on your own. People want to help you and you have to take that help. It's not a sign of weakness. It's a sign that you want to be better.”
“I want them to be proud of where they came from, always, because that's part of their story. It's always going to be an important part of their story.”
“I have no magic answers. I have some experiences and I have a little bit of wisdom from three decades of time spent in the education field, but I absolutely do not have it all figured out.”
“The reality is that the journey toward wisdom in any career, especially in education, has to be slow and steady.”
“We have to help guide our younger cohorts with our wisdom. But we also have to take pointers from them. They know lots of things that I do not know, things that I never learned how to do. They also were students more recently than I was … they remember what it feels like when this or that happens to you.”