What Teachers Are Talking About This Week
August 11, 2016 | Sign up to receive The Teachers Edition.
Let's Read Where You Are
What do Tatyana Ali, the NASA
Hubble Telescope and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh have in common? They were all part of Read Where You Are. Reading over the summer makes a difference during the school year. When students keeping reading, they keep learning, and are more prepared when the new school year begins. That's why ED makes an annual call to action which encourages more reading time out of school, especially over the summer months, as a part of the My Brother's Keeper Initiative. On Friday, #readwhereyouare was trending for six hours, reached
28 million people and was seen 61 million times! In addition, Secretary King and Interior Secretary Jewell read to YMCA science campers at Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, following the annual Let's Read, Let's Move event at the U.S. National Arboretum where VIPs included Secretary King, White House Executive Director of Let’s Move! Deb Eschmeyer,
White House Chief Horticulturist Jim Adams, Chef Carla Hall from ABC’s “The Chew" and more.
 Glimpses of Mars in 3D and Other Amazing Sights
|
 Good Idea? Teacher Leadership Summit Wants You
Teach to Lead will be hosting the next
Teacher Leadership Summit in Washington, DC on November 3-4th, 2016.
The summit will focus on teacher preparation programs, leveraging
teacher leadership to strengthen teacher prep programs. Teachers
and institutions of higher education (IHEs) are welcome to apply. IHEs must
identify and collaborate with alumni teachers to develop a proposal which
addresses a current area of growth or problem of practice within their teacher
preparation program. To attend, you must submit your idea (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TeacherPrepSubmission)
by September 6th, 2016. The Teach to Lead team
will notify you if your idea is accepted for attendance by September 23rd.
|
 Lack of Diversity Concerns Spur Change
Responding
to black educators over how they and their students are treated, Denver Public
Schools commissioned a study to understand the experiences of African-American
teachers in a school district that acknowledges a history of racism. The report about working conditions substantiates concerns and provides an action plan around solutions (Wright, Chalkbeat). Loundon County (Va.) similarly responded to concerns about
their lack of teachers of color by analyzing hiring data and reviewing it with their local board – the result is a new diversity leader
in their district office tasked with finding solutions.
|
During the month of August, the Center for Teaching Quality community will continue to host a virtual book club to discuss topics from The Novice Advantage: Fearless Practice for Every Teacher by Jonathan Eckert (TAF 2008), which include defining the novice mindset, learning from mistakes, sharing expertise, and going public with practice. The book explores the concept of teachers thinking of themselves as novices who are constantly growing and learning instead of experts complacent with their practice.
-
The Full Potential of Working Together. Unsurprisinly, there is growing evidence that there is positive impact on student achievement when all stakeholders--labor, management, and community leaders--work together. Find out more about "the intervention that works across settings with all children" in this blog (Marietta, d'Entremont, and Murphy).
-
Helping Two Generations At Once. A new resource from Jobs for the Future highlights programs that help vulnerable students by simultaneously delivering services and programs to both the students and their parents. Find examples of successful two-generation approaches.
-
Inspiring Girls to Lead. Girl Scouts of the
USA (GSUSA) and Disney Channel are teaming up to inspire girls and their
families to practice leadership. The collaboration brings GSUSA’s focus on
leading like a G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) to the animated television
series Elena of Avalor with the
debut of The
Elena of Avalor Leadership Guide by
Girl Scouts and Disney Channel. Available
in English and Spanish.
-
Investing in Our Youngest. As children move from pre-K classrooms into kindergarten, they need support and strong ties between the pre-K program and the feeder elementary school. A new report summarizes state statutes, rules and regulations related to K-3 quality (Auck, Hechinger Report).
 5. “As school leaders, even when we try to do so much, there
is still so much that is out of our control…You can give your kids virtual
reality goggles, but when they go home, they can’t turn on the light to do
their homework” (Principal, Maryland).
4.“It’s one thing to feel you do have efficacy, but there
is an initial barrier of people feeling they should have efficacy” (Teacher, South Carolina).
3. “We need to have education leaders saying that racism is
taught and learned - therefore it can be untaught and unlearned” (Teacher, Washington, DC).
2.“It’s amazing to me what [the Dreamers] in my district
are capable of … If they had access, they are going to be contributing,
successful members of our community, all of these things. If they don’t, they
have nowhere to go” (Superintendent, Washington).
1. “Please remember that teachers at low-performing schools
aren’t worse than teachers at high-performing schools” (Teacher, Connecticut).
|
|
