What Teachers Are Talking About This Week
January 5, 2017 | Sign up to receive The Teachers Edition.
 Improving Outcomes through
Pay for Success
To advance the understanding of how Pay for Success grants
for preschool programs can be used to expand and improve the quality of
preschool programs for low-income and disadvantaged preschoolers, ED announced
more than $3 million in grant awards to eight government organizations. The
Preschool Pay for Success feasibility pilots will support innovative funding
strategies to expand preschool and improve educational outcomes for 3- and
4-year-olds. The grants will allow states, school districts and other local
government agencies to explore whether Pay for Success is a viable financing
mechanism for expanding and improving preschool in their communities.
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 Charting the Teaching Profession
For the past several years, Teaching Now has captured charts from their in-house research center and outside organizations—to visually capture the state of teaching. In 2016 they mainly focused on how teachers feel about certain policy issues; challenges teachers are facing right now; and what is going on in the classroom that policymakers and administrators need to know about. Checkout the ten categories and graphs to find out what teachers had to say (Will, Education Week/Teacher).
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Looking
to share ideas for the New Year in our profession? Join the #TeachersAtED chat
on Tuesday, January 10 from 7-8 pm EST. Educators from around the nation will
convene for an hour on Twitter to give and get, hear and be heard. Join us and
use the hashtag #TeachersAtED to participate. |
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 A
lot, it turns out. And high school English teacher Brielle Rue (Anderson
Preparatory Academy, Anderson, Ind.),
helps her 10th-grade students
experience those similarities through archery lessons, hand-to-hand combat
instruction, and an interview competition. There are also more direct comparisons to be
discovered related to themes, names, and culture. Rue explained her approach,
saying “It’s
just bringing what they read to action. It piques their interest. It cements
ideas from the book” (Knight, Photos; Bibbs, The Herald Bulletin).
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Read a Short Story from NaNoWriMo
As part of National Novel Writing Month (known as NaNoWriMo), last November Education Week invited educators and students to submit a short story to their contest. The winner has been selected. Marit Rogne, a fiscal analyst at the New Mexico Legislative Education Study Committee and former 8th grade language arts teacher wrote Twenty-Six, the story of "a young student using the power of writing to deal with loss for the first time" (Stoltzfus, Education Week).
 These education stories may not have led the evening news, but they inspire us by depicting small acts of kindness. If you want to look back at some of them -- like an Indiana school that donated unopened lunch food to charity, Illinois students who learned ASL to communicate with their deaf classmate or Virginia middle school students who collected socks for the homeless -- check out these 16 unforgettable acts of kindness at schools for 2016 (Johnson, the 74).
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In the documentary, the Bad Kids, the audience gets a look into the hardships of children attending a school for at-risk students. The Atlantic writer, Emily Deruy, assumed the bleakness of these students' situations would be the focus, but was pleasantly surprised by the balance of small and large wins and the tough love needed to push students forward. Read about the development of this new documentary and watch the movie if you can.
South
Carolina Looks to Add Computer Science Standards
Aiming
to fill anticipated gaps in computer science graduates, the South Carolina Department of Education
has proposed standards requiring that all students from Kindergarten-8th
grade learn the fundamentals of computer science, from password creation at
lower grades to algorithms in the higher grades. According to computer science teacher Darwin Shorters (St. John’s High School, Johns
Island, S.C.) this kind of education provides equitable
access to opportunity for all students in South
Carolina: “When you push an initiative like K-8 standards for everyone in
public schools in South Carolina,
yes you do start to balance things out”(Pan,
The Post and Courier).
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Be a School Ambassador Fellow. On Monday, January 9, ED will host a webinar from 8 to 9 PM ET. It will cover the application process and feature current and alumni Fellows who will share their experiences and answer questions. (Once registered, log-in information will be emailed.) ED's 2017-2018 School Ambassador Fellowship application is open
until January 23rd at 11:59 pm EST, so it's not too late to apply.
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College and Career
Readiness. On Tuesday,
January 10, join the Work-Based
Learning: Promoting a Well-Rounded Education for All Students, a College and
Career Readiness and Success Center webinar from 2:00-3:15 pm EST. Participants
will explore various work-based learning models, key principles for effective
work-based learning, and learn how states can support work-based learning.
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Last chance to apply for the 2017 Fishman Prize. Tuesday, January 10 is the final deadline for teachers to submit their applications for TNTP’s Fishman Prize which honors 100 inspiring public school teachers each year for their ability to create challenging and engaging classrooms for all of their students. Four winners receive $25,000 and six finalists receive $1,000.
 5. "This year I
would like to focus on exposing my students to global education, and making
them into global citizens." Teacher, California
4. "I
will cultivate green, healthy, and sustainable schools." Teacher, Pennsylvania
3. "I want to learn
to manage the adverse childhood experiences so my Kindergartners can learn to
read." Teacher, Montana
2. "My resolution
is to surround myself with other educators who challenge me to grow in the
profession." Teacher, Texas
1. "I
will intentionally nurture joy in my classroom so that my teaching and our
learning absolutely sing." Teacher, Indiana
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