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“No Greater Calling” spotlights Carol Midgett and the positive
impact that community involvement can have on education. At
Southport Elementary School, just outside of Wilmington,
North Carolina, Carol Midgett has enlisted Margaret
Connaughton and Jean Fairly—two of Southport’s elderly
citizens—to help teach her students to read. The video
illustrates how Carol, her students and the volunteers all benefit
from this added classroom dimension. At the same time, this
section highlights Carol’s work with the UNC-Wilmington’s
School of Education on Professional Development. Carol
models how teachers are members of learning communities
through activities that extend beyond classroom teaching.
Learning Communities
Carol Midgett noted, “The steering current for my professional
development has been my involvement in learning
communities. The four networks having the most profound
impact on my continuing growth are: student-led conferences,
the Professional Development System of the University of North
Carolina at Wilmington, the Standards 2000 Writing Team of
the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.” Carol
believes that:
Daily use of authentic assessment creates shared
responsibility for learning in our classroom.
Helping students recognize academic targets and
measure their progress toward them using uniform
criteria maintains and sustains a true learning
community.
Parents’ investment results when their children share
products, successes, and struggles during student-led
conferences.
Goals and responsibility for attaining them are set
based upon identified strengths and needs.
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