Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/48466
FEATURE A TEACHER'S Evolution Story by Sherry Posnick-Goodwin Are good teachers born or English teacher teacher starting out. Most teachers, if asked to chart the trajectory of their careers, would probably say the same about their initial experi- ence as educators. As in any career path, a teacher's success depends greatly on the support, mentoring and professional development they receive along the way. The path wasn't always easy for Nicolls. She barely survived stu- Brooke Nicolls dent teaching and her first solo year. She got pink-slipped early on. She nearly quit from burnout, yet found a way to rekindle her passion. Her achievements over 25 years of teaching are noteworthy. Nicolls earned a master's degree in 1995, received National Board Certifi- cation in 2003, and was honored by the Carlston Family Foundation in 2009 for outstanding teaching. She is one of a group of teachers at Grant High School in Sacramento who created a new curriculum designed to change culture in low-performing schools. Still, Nicolls doesn't see herself as being particularly special. "I'm always trying to find new ways to improve," she says modestly. "There are lots of teachers who are just like me." It's a question worth pondering in an era when nearly half of all educators quit before their fifth year of teaching and the profession is under constant attack. made? admittedly was not the best The early years Nicolls knows a thing or two about personal transformation. Nicolls was always "the new kid" because she attended seven schools as a child, finding her niche as a basketball player. She doesn't recall being encouraged to go to college. Her father suggested she join the military. She assumed she couldn't afford college, but a high school coach urged her to apply to American River Junior College on the last day of registration. She transferred to CSU Sacramento, where she changed her major five times before earning a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in business adminis- tration. Three days before the deadline, she applied to the school's teacher credential program and was accepted. "I was incredibly lucky, even though I was uninformed about college," she says. "I always tell kids to ask questions, find information and make informed decisions. I tell them they have options." Student teaching at diverse Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento was "eye-opening," she relates. "I was naive thinking that I was going to walk into a classroom with students sitting there eagerly waiting to learn and their books open — and it's not like that. I went into the classroom and started teaching, and boy, I wasn't very good." With little direction from the master teacher, Nicolls did the best she could. A fight broke out in her classroom. A stu- 22 California Educator / November 2011