Teaching Channel Names 2010 National Teacher of the Year as First 'Teacher Laureate'

Sarah Brown Wessling will be featured in video series, on "Tchers' Voice" blog

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teaching Channel (Tch) today launched its new blog Tchers' Voice and introduced the 2010 National Teacher of the Year Sarah Brown Wessling as the organization's first "Teacher Laureate." The Tchers' Voice blog will support Teaching Channel's goal of helping the nation's educators improve student achievement. The blog will feature insights, reflections and best practices from Wessling and other teachers around the country as they open up their classrooms and strive to improve their practice.  

"Sarah Brown Wessling is incredibly thoughtful about teaching and learning, and she is excellent at tackling the big challenges that educators are facing in classrooms all across America," said Pat Wasley, Teaching Channel's chief academic officer. "With Sarah as a featured member of our team, Tchers' Voice will be a great resource for dedicated classroom professionals who are looking to improve instruction and student outcomes. We are very lucky to have her as part of Teaching Channel."

As Tch's first Teacher Laureate, Wessling will write regularly for Tchers' Voice, appear in an on-going video series and work with the organization in a variety of other capacities. Her blog posts and "from the classroom" videos will allow readers to follow her as she works on improving her teaching. The blog, which will cover topics such as the Common Core State Standards, classroom management and innovation in instruction, will serve as yet another free, on-demand resource for the Teaching Channel community, and it further connects thousands of teachers who are already leveraging the website's online video library and curriculum tools.

"As I explore and reflect on my classroom experiences through my work with Teaching Channel, I am excited to share both my commitment to student success and the full range of experiences and emotions that go along with being a teacher," said Wessling. "Like the rest of Teaching Channel, Tchers' Voice is ultimately about what unites education professionals. It is designed to help make our work even more effective, and to aid teachers in their efforts to foster student success."

Wessling, who teaches English at Johnston Senior High School in Johnston, Iowa, was named 2010 National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers and was presented the award by President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan in May of that year. She has since taken on multiple roles in addition to her continued work in the classroom, including co-authoring a book entitled Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards: English Language Arts, Grades 9-12, speaking frequently at national conferences and leading discussions for administrators and teachers across her home state.

Teaching Channel is a robust resource for teacher professional development and lesson planning. Tch hosts a free, online video library that provides educators with inspirational content, practical tools and resources that are both aligned with the Common Core State Standards and categorized by subject and grade level.

In November, Teaching Channel launched its free Lesson Planner tool, which allows teachers and educators to weave content and resources from anywhere across the Internet into a single, organized workspace with timely reminders.

Teaching Channel (Tch) is a comprehensive showcase—online and on television—of inspired teaching in America's public schools. A nonprofit organization, Tch engages teachers across the country to reinvent and revolutionize professional learning through video content and online innovation. The Tch mission is simple: Working with teachers to improve instruction so that every student can succeed. On the Web at TeachingChannel.org, and on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, @TeachingChannel.

SOURCE Teaching Channel