Over the past four days I have had the tremendous opportunity to do something sorely lacking all over the School District of Philadelphia: commiserate and contemplate with my colleagues. I spent time in three different contexts with educators from all different backgrounds and loved every second of it. As a proponent of the idea that teachers need to be more collegial instead of congenial, I hope to describe these experiences in a way that will entice other educators to join up.
The Teacher Leadership PLC - a program co-sponsored by the US Department of Education and led by innovative teacher Gamal Sharif, this group brings together teachers and educators from all over the city to debate what teacher-based leadership looks like (or should look like) in this country. By harnessing the power of dialog, interactive activities, and meaningful texts, I think these meetings will form the basis for a new support group for teachers ready for real change. Interested yet? Share your thoughts and come on April 19th.
Greater Philadelphia Innovation in Education - a program co-sponsored by Teacher For America (TFA) and Technically Philly and coordinated by the leadership in the northeast region of TFA, this group formed two months ago in order to craft projects that will change education in our city. By bringing together educators and non-educators from all over the city, they hope we will pitch new ideas to entrepreneurs and policy-changers who will support us in our endeavors. Current ideas include changing professional development to become more teacher-driven across the School District, leveraging parents in more meaningful ways, and creating web projects devoted to help make teacher's jobs easier.
PhilaSoup - a micro-grant program created by educators from the Philadelphia area endeavoring to provide needed funds for small projects that help kids across the city. The night consists of networking with teachers and teacher leaders, breaking bread over tasty, home-made soup, and listening to pitches from a few teachers trying to get money to develop projects for their students.
The only way for teachers to increase their voice is to provide contexts in which to do so - I am happy to have been able to participate in these events and look forward to continuing my involvement. See you there!
The Teacher Leadership PLC - a program co-sponsored by the US Department of Education and led by innovative teacher Gamal Sharif, this group brings together teachers and educators from all over the city to debate what teacher-based leadership looks like (or should look like) in this country. By harnessing the power of dialog, interactive activities, and meaningful texts, I think these meetings will form the basis for a new support group for teachers ready for real change. Interested yet? Share your thoughts and come on April 19th.
Greater Philadelphia Innovation in Education - a program co-sponsored by Teacher For America (TFA) and Technically Philly and coordinated by the leadership in the northeast region of TFA, this group formed two months ago in order to craft projects that will change education in our city. By bringing together educators and non-educators from all over the city, they hope we will pitch new ideas to entrepreneurs and policy-changers who will support us in our endeavors. Current ideas include changing professional development to become more teacher-driven across the School District, leveraging parents in more meaningful ways, and creating web projects devoted to help make teacher's jobs easier.
PhilaSoup - a micro-grant program created by educators from the Philadelphia area endeavoring to provide needed funds for small projects that help kids across the city. The night consists of networking with teachers and teacher leaders, breaking bread over tasty, home-made soup, and listening to pitches from a few teachers trying to get money to develop projects for their students.
The only way for teachers to increase their voice is to provide contexts in which to do so - I am happy to have been able to participate in these events and look forward to continuing my involvement. See you there!
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