Our next presenter, I mean, she could come up here and just like pass out and you'd still appreciate her because she's a public school teacher Or we're through a visit company, thank-phrase Until she cleared jobs a few months ago Because The stuff that bumper and she did this big awesome human courageous thing and started her own company to help out kids and Filming apps where she saw that maybe the schools weren't healthy well. I mean, get too much she can do it for you ladies Tell her please be like for heaven grenade I'm so excited. I know that I wanted to be a teacher since I was 11 years old My record with little kids was obvious to me even with everything else in my world was pretty awkward and insecure Look it's just made sense to me. That was a role that fits me I have this sixth sense for noticing things like haircuts and new shirts and lost teeth and in return I receive all the musings of young kids and their masters are keeping it real Make sure Now from time to time my teacher role does spill over into my home I have been known to ask my husband are you sure that's a choice you wish to make? So I loved them and they loved me very much. I found my calling I'm sitting my stride It's the goal of every career, right? So I do the most unexpected thing. Why did I meet public education? The truth is there was this annoying feeling that was keeping me from my sleep because I was worried about the well-being of the students I loved so much because I knew that all of it the country even in my own classroom Students are being asked to do things that are developmentally inappropriate for many of them Teachers are asking this because of a top-down pressure. You want federal and state money for education? Earn it with test scores Now we have decades of research that tells us how children's brains develop and learn and It's unequivocally agreed upon that young children especially learn best through play Play targets the whole child and it just creates a generally well-rounded person plus Mr. Rogers says it so it simply is so When children play their brains their brain cells grow Their memories stimulated and it's just an awesome thing for them and teachers know this This is why so many teachers strive to create classrooms to their very collaborative and hands-on Teachers are awesome and they are not part of this problem, but educators are not calling shots Public education is big business Standardized tests and the mountains of test-prite materials that accompany them cost a ton and we are basically paying for a billion dollar snapshot Students teachers schools and districts Is it common court Some people think so I actually think that those standards are pretty great and it's more the interpretation and application of the standards of our problem So here's a true story in February of 2012 I had to give my third grade students the reading tea cap test here in Colorado This was the test designed to measure how well I taught and how well my students learned the standards for a whole year in February So please understand that teachers are not afraid of accountability Nor do they have any problem I expect teachers students If you're going to be responsible for other people's kids, that's part of the game It is when that accountability flies in the face of what's developmentally appropriate for kids that we have a problem That problem is even worse Test scores are tied to student our teacher pay So this creates this overwhelming pressure to prepare students for standardized tests And this is going to be super overwhelming for some kids another kid to rail against the system the curriculum is essentially moved up a year and Kindergarten is the new first grade So it's a better way One option is to create digital portfolios for students to track their growth across a year or several years And it can be done for all content areas First to three programs have also been proven to increase math literacy and social skills in the future And they're pretty good at mitigating some environmental factors that are tough on skin on kids This next one is actually very close to my heart as I tried to implement it in school where I was working What about a supplemental year of schooling in between kindergarten and first grade? This is not a retention but rather an opportunity for kids to shore up in a gaps in learning that they have with math reading and social skills Let's make sure they're ready before we make them move on Now whether or not you have kids or despite your political leanings This is something that we all have to deal with eventually we're all gonna pass this ship along My goal is to put people at the helm that can think critically Problem solved and see the world through a broader lens I'm Heather Crane and I believe in children Thank you, Heather Take the big league