On Friday, the California Teachers of English committee awarded me the Excellence in Teaching award in Los Angeles at their annual CATE convention during the keynote speech featuring former Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Shannon and I were able to eat dinner with Billy Collins, along with several colleagues and mentors of mine. It was a surreal experience, involving two pre-dinner gatherings of local, state, and national leaders in education. (It almost felt like I was a rock star. :) Shannon videotaped the acceptance speech I gave, so I thought I would upload it to our blog--now almost two years neglected :/. Nevertheless, it is an honor to be so recognized and genuinely has give me more motivation to push myself and truly teach and live at a higher standard of excellence. Thanks for everyone's love and support throughout everything!
Mark
I'll also try to post some recordings of Billy Collins reading a few of his poems. Absolutely hilarious!!
