[…]practices. Rashmi will begin her first year of teaching physics at Technology High School in Newark, New Jersey, during the 2023–2024 school year. Hobbies In her free time, Rashmi enjoys reading fantasy and science fiction, as well as poetry, which she also writes. She watches YouTube video essays on film, art analysis, and progressive politics. She actively tries to learn more about resistance movements that have risen to fight against oppression of marginalized folks. She is passionate about mental health and has spent several years volunteering with national and international mental health and education organizations, including Crisis Text Line and […]
[…]Experience After graduating college, Erin worked in Guanica, Puerto Rico researching a new forest plot in the tropical dry forest. Also, she interned with a conservation biologist at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, where she assisted with several local re-introduction projects, including the re-introduction of the New England cottontail and timber rattlesnake. Erin began teaching at Blackstone Academy Charter School during the 2016–2017 school year. Hobbies Erin spends her free time rock climbing around New England and playing all types of board games. Academic Background Brown University (Master of Art of Teaching in Secondary Biology) Brown University (Bachelor of Science […]
Teachers are responsible for modeling how to obtain information and how to analyze and apply that information to solve problems. A teacher should enable students to discover ideas and build their own understanding.” Alicia’s Story Teaching Discipline Chemistry Why Chemistry “I love discovering the widespread applications of science, and I want to share the joy of science with my students.” Professional Experience Throughout college, Alicia worked as an undergraduate teaching assistant in general and organic chemistry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. For several semesters, she also worked as a field trip docent at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, where […]
[…]this not only helped us get our feet wet in working with protocols, but also in becoming more comfortable with one another before we started talking about deeper issues. Another takeaway for our group on this day was understanding the importance of listening and of silent reflection. Since my trainees were all leaders in their own departments, they were very used to being the ones doing the talking in their meetings. Hence, when a protocol required that they be silent for a period of time, I could feel the anxiety level rise in some people. I remember hearing one teacher […]
[…]helping others learn new skills and her first teaching experiences came through sports. After working for several years in science research, she realized that she enjoyed teaching others about her work more than doing the research herself. “I became a teacher because I love to be with kids. I want to be a positive role model and promote the value of education.” Janae’s teaching career began at a small private school before making the switch to public education. She serves on the school and district Math Leadership Teams and has helped create her school’s curriculum documents and assessment system. Janae […]
[…]to turn inward to support each other and lean on the community we had built. Now was not the time for new projects or for bringing others in; it was a time for drawing on our relationships for the strength to cope with an impossibly difficult year. So we asked ourselves: what if we wrote this issue ourselves? It could be a way to give something back to our community, who have given us their time, insights, and wisdom through sharing so many stories with us. So here it is, our offering to you—authored by current members of the Kaleidoscope […]
[…]more about the process behind teacher storytelling, listen to Teacher Voice: The Podcast. Download Article Download Podcast […]
[…]coach, curriculum developer, and supervisor for the other four math and science teachers. I felt comfortable as an instructional coach and curriculum developer but was anxious about my role as an evaluator. What I saw in classrooms was mostly effective teaching. In spite of this, we were not meeting our accountability goal in terms of student success on state exams. Eventually, I was asked to answer a question that is being asked of school leaders with increasing frequency: “How is it that you wrote a predominantly positive performance review for a teacher who is not meeting the required pass rate?” […]
[…]is to help him or her develop life-long collaborative problem solving skills and critical thinking skills.” She plans to stay in the Midwest and hopes to teach in a high school with a large immigrant population. A former business analyst at a major retailer, Kaitie loves creating art, traveling and finding new […]
[…]values that I had identified that I wanted to keep in mind throughout the school year. These were “compassion,” “flexibility,” “grace,” “relationships,” and “keep it simple.” These were the things I want to focus on. What was validating was that a lot of students felt very cared for. They highlighted my kindness and the level of understanding that I had with them in their student feedback forms. And that felt validating, because I did not prioritize rigor. Rigor was not on this list of values. Compassion and kindness were my intentions, and I’m glad that I stuck with that, because […]
