[…]teaching English for over a decade, she became an instructional coach in 2019. In 2023, her first book, Choose Your Own Master Class: Urgent Ideas to Invigorate Your Professional Learning, was published. Reach Katie at […]
[…]in diameter, and it is easily a foot taller than I am at the peak of its growth in the fall. As “my” plants grew and developed, I was also growing and changing as a teacher. One of the integral parts of my professional development was being accepted into the Knowles Teacher Initiative (“Knowles”), a program that aims to develop high-quality math and science teachers. As part of my work with Knowles, we completed yearly inquiry projects which were informal studies about the ways that our own individual classrooms functioned. While I enjoyed this work, I sometimes felt the same […]
[…]their learning and are now sharing it with us. This leaves us back at the beginning, asking new questions. Our reflection on the pieces might lead us in different directions, but their learning is still evident. We are all trying to find our place in the world and the only way we can do it is through asking questions and working our way through them, even if we never find the answers. In “Burnout by the Numbers,” Cassie Barker asks, “What does sustainability look like in teaching and how does it compare to the typical American worker?” Her exploration leads […]
[…]President Jimmy Carter. In my letter, I asked curious questions—“How did you become president?” “How did the buildings in Washington get built?” “How did cars get built?—and shared a wish: “The world has grass and rock and beautiful things. I want to keep these beautiful things” (Figure 1). Later, I begged my mother to buy me a microscope from Sears and Roebuck, which I still have and use to this day (Figure 2). These artifacts remind me of my childhood curiosity, my nature of asking questions and my drive to explore the world around me. As a teacher, I realize […]
[…]tiny success is getting my grant for graphing calculators! My school has one scratched, leaking TI 83 for every two students. Ten TI 84 Plus CEs help alleviate that issue. – Madelyn Lin, 2022 Knowles Teaching Fellow Sometimes the smallest thing can make the greatest difference. I have a student teacher who is doing a wonderful job and is leading most of my classes. I’m still often present in the room and get a lot of time with my students, specifically supporting those who are struggling or who have missed a lot of class. This morning, while cleaning random marks […]
[…]found that the most common words teachers chose to describe their jobs were “exhausting,” “stressful,” “frustrating” and “overwhelming” (Heart Research Associates, et al. 2022). Lessons Learned When “exhausting,” “stressful,” “frustrating” and “overwhelming” are the top four words used to describe the working conditions of our profession, it is the sign of a crisis. In that same survey, 58% reported low satisfaction with their workload and 47% reported low satisfaction with their work-life balance (Heart Research Associates, et al. 2022). While I am only a single data point, I would not be surprised to learn that many of these teachers feel […]
[…]where you can learn from and share ideas with other like-minded educators.” Lidia’s Story For more than 20 years, Lidia Ortiz has taught science at Chicago’s Northside College Preparatory High School, where she has chaired the science department since 2009. She teaches advanced courses in biology and chemistry, including interdisciplinary experiential learning courses that she has created and implemented. She achieved National Board Certification in 2007 and was recertified in 2016. In 2022, she was awarded the Distinguished Secondary School Teacher Award by Northwestern University. She is the recipient of two student-nominated Outstanding Teacher Awards from the University of Chicago […]
[…]of experience in the field of education. In May 2016, he received the “Teacher of Excellence” award from the New York State Senate. The award honors a teacher of “excellence, dedication and commitment that serves to inspire students to greater levels of achievement and success.” He holds a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education with a concentration in math from Concordia University Chicago and a Master of Arts in secondary mathematics education from SUNY Albany. Additionally, he completed the Leadership Academy program at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts for administration certification. Jon and his educator husband reside in upstate New […]
[…]data, measured the brightness of stars, and developed tests for tidal disruption events. He worked for California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo from 2020–2021 as a STAR Teacher-Research Fellow in the Cosmic Evolution Project, which used Net Logo to investigate the universe’s evolutionary history. He also worked as a research intern for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory during the summer of 2021, developing and evaluating physics experiments using microelectromechanical sensor sets in phones. He has spent the last four years working as an education research assistant for the Colorado School of Mines, where he evaluates students’ experiences with […]
[…]being able to design real-world applicable learning experiences and chemistry allows me to do that for my students!” Professional Experience During her undergraduate studies, Alaina worked as a teaching assistant for Organic Chemistry I and II courses for two years. In 2021, she spent a semester working on the Chemistry Curriculum Development Project, a research experience that sought to find effective teaching assistant programs for organic chemistry. Alaina was awarded the Breakthrough Collaborative Teaching Fellowship in 2020 and again in 2021. Through this experience, she served as the lead teacher for chemistry, French, environmental science, and nutrition courses, while also […]
