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Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Brochure 2008

Dear Friends,

Teaching is both an art and science; the most difficult, most rewarding and most important of careers. While all classroom teachers should be recognized on a daily basis, the National Teacher of the Year Program is the oldest and most prestigious awards program that focuses public attention annually on excellence in teaching. Since 1952, the national program has recognized and honored the contributions of classroom teachers by granting one outstanding teacher a year's paid sabbatical. During that year, the teacher travels the nation and meets with a wide variety of audiences to address educational issues. The National Teacher of the Year Program, sponsored by ING, is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Program is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in partnership with Hannaford Supermarkets. Each year the program honors a Massachusetts teacher who exemplifies fine teaching in the Commonwealth. The purpose of the program is to select a teacher who is worthy of speaking for and energizing the teaching profession, and representing the positive contributions of all teachers statewide. The Massachusetts Teacher of the Year automatically becomes the state's candidate for the National Teacher of the Year Program.

The selection process for the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year begins early in the calendar year with a call for nominations. An independent panel of experts, including past Teachers of the Year, reviewed written applications, interviewed seven finalists, and recommended a candidate for my consideration for this year's honor.

I wish to thank the following corporations and organizations for supporting the 2008 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Program: Hannaford Supermarkets; the Massachusetts Teachers Association; SMARTer Kids Foundation; Dr. Sandra Stotsky; the Teacher Leadership Academy; and Verizon.

I am proud to present the 2008 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, Michael B. Flynn, of the William E. Norris Elementary School in Southampton. We wish him much energy and happiness in the year ahead.

Sincerely,

David P. Driscoll
Commissioner of Education

Meet the 2008 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year

Michael B. Flynn
William E. Norris Elementary School
Southampton Public Schools

Michael Flynn teaches second grade at the William E. Norris Elementary School in Southampton. He is the proud father of four children and is an active member of his community.

Over the course of his ten years of teaching, Mike has worked to create a classroom environment that is enriching and inclusive. Students in his class engage in authentic learning experiences throughout the year like raising salmon to release in a local river or designing rockets launched by air pressure.

The highlight of Mike's classroom is the television show his class produces throughout the year. When they finish a unit of study, the students work in small groups to develop segments (skits, news reports, interviews, experiments, etc.) highlighting what they have learned. The show is then played throughout the school and shared with families.

Mike has also established himself as a teacher leader by providing professional development on a wide range of topics including video production in the classroom, mathematics, and digital story telling. As a workshop leader for the math curriuculum Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, Mike travels throughout the country leading weeklong workshops during the summer.

Mike has contributed ideas, suggestions, and written material that have been incorporated into the second edition of Investigations in Number Data, and Space as well as two Developing Mathematical Ideas modules: Patterns, Functions, and Change and Reasoning Algebraically About Operations. He is currently a contributing author to an edited collection and DVD set about mathematics instruction in inclusive classrooms to be published by Heinemann in 2009.

As an active member of his community, Mike serves as a school committee member and recreation commissioner for the city of Northampton. He is also a board member for the Northampton Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money and awards grants to teachers in the Northampton Public Schools.

2008 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, Michael B. Flynn, contact information:
781-338-3635 or mflynn.ward7@gmail.com

Former Massachusetts' Teachers of the Year

* National Teacher of the Year Finalist