2002 Texas Teacher of the Year
Mrs. Dorff brings twenty years of teaching experience to the students in the seventh grade at Franklin Middle School in Dallas. She teaches Texas History and Broadcast Journalism.

What are your beliefs about teaching?
"'Far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing' (Teddy Roosevelt). I believe that teaching is a privilege. It truly is a chance to be challenged and make significant contributions to society every day. Teaching must be authentic to help students connect learning to life. Effective teachers show respect for students, are motivators, show enthusiasm for learning, provide structure and discipline, challenge students intellectually, stay current on issues and ideas, and collaborate with other teachers."

How are your beliefs incorporated in your teaching style?
"I accept the responsibility for involving each student in my class to the highest degree possible in order for them to be interested in learning and to begin to achieve at their highest level. To grasp concepts, we use simulations, technology such as web quests, collaboration skills and research."

What is your greatest teaching accomplishment?
"My greatest teaching accomplishment is my ability to inspire students to reach their own potential and beyond. Using my own life experiences as a learner, my natural abilities as a leader, and the training I continue to receive as a professional, I have developed a teaching methodology that reaches and teaches learners who enter my classroom. I have become a highly motivated motivator for learning. Giving a student a genuine love of learning is the highest achievement for a teacher."

What's the most critical issue facing educators today and what do you think can be done to resolve this issue?
"The most critical issue facing educators today is change. Students must be equipped to face rapid change and significant transitions. As we experienced on September 11, 2002, our world can change in a heartbeat. Almost as rapidly, technology and inventions can produce new possibilities, as well. Today's families relocate more often, and many times divorce or remarry, combining two or three families into new patterns.

To resolve this issue, schools need to plan ways to minimize the number of transitions a student faces at school by adjusting daily schedules to minimize class change and teacher change. Also, schools could use a technique called 'looping'. Looping allows students to stay with the same teacher for two or three years, minimizing transition for the student and encouraging the development of community bonding."

Inspirational thought:
"Teachers are all connected to one another, working together to inspire the children and young people of our world to become life-long learners and good citizens. Some day when we are old and gray and chance to meet a former student, they will look into our eyes and say, 'I remember you! You taught me something.'"