December 2021 IL Newsblast No images? Click here Reinvigorating Our Alumni: Teach Plus's First Alumni Advisory BoardTeach Plus Illinois is proud to present the very first board of education professionals comprised completely of all alumni of our Illinois programs. The alumni advisory board was formed for a variety of reasons, but primarily to:
We'd like to welcome (pictured from left to right: Robert Chikos, Jeanette Delgado, Anita Thawani Bucio, Jennifer Smith, Paula Barajas, Lisa Caputo Love, Margeaux McReynolds, Jody Bosomworth, Jessica Kibblewhite, Aubry Stapleton, Marquita Jones, Ashley Lanfair, LaDwonda Hill and Tai Basurto. All board members have served in our Teaching Policy Fellowship, Early Childhood Education Fellowship, Rural Teacher Collaborative, and Change Agent Fellowship Spaces. We are ecstatic about the work they will lead, and can't wait to see what they do! From Teach Plus Illinois Dear Teachers, The end of a really hard, strange calendar year is finally here. I hope you’re able to spend quality time with your students in these last days and then rest and renew yourself after an incredibly draining year. The 100+ teacher leaders that Teach Plus Illinois is privileged to work with have a lot to celebrate in what they’ve already accomplished this year. Early Childhood Policy Fellows participated in the launch of We, the Village’s new campaign, #RightToCareIL. The fellows are advocating for the state to include teacher voice in the development of the Early Childhood Regional Systems, and for more transparency in implementing the Funding Commission’s recommendations. K12 Policy Fellows met with legislators in support of the Racism Free Schools campaign, met with state board members about supporting English Learners, and developed one-pagers and research protocols to address teacher shortages. Chicago Change Agents finalized their goals and launched their projects, making the case for change with teams of teachers at their schools. Teacher Leaders in Melrose Park and in Chicago’s Network for School Improvement are meeting regularly with their teams, developing cultures of collaboration and distributed leadership, and are starting to leverage distributed leadership to improve student learning. And all this during the hardest teaching year on record! Looking forward, I want to share two opportunities with you. The first is from our national team. Rooted in the ideas of 175 educators from across our network, our new report, “The Phoenix Project: Building an Equitable Educational System Beyond the Pandemic,” focuses on what it would take to create a better, more equitable education system for students. The Phoenix Project is our blueprint for innovation and we are resolved to advocate for the systemic changes necessary to build a better educational system. We're looking to gather education resolutions for 2022 from our network of teachers that would help us get there and want to hear from you. Share a resolution here." The second are priorities for the upcoming Illinois legislative session that we believe will help students and teachers for whom the school system has not worked in the past.
Thank you for the incredibly important work that you do each day, under very trying circumstances. I hope you can really relax and rejuvenate over the coming days and that you can begin 2022, reenergized, to keep working for a better world for your students. Warmly, Josh Kaufmann Senior Executive Director The Practice Corner Happy almost winter break! We have heard from our teachers and principals how devastatingly exhausting this year has been for everyone working in schools--the human capital shortage, the mental stress of the pandemic and enforcing safety measures and quarantine policies, meeting the SEL needs of students who have not had a normal school year in three years, and the already demanding job of being an educator. If you are more tired than you've ever been and feel like you are on the brink of burnout, you are not alone. Please take this upcoming break to rest and take care of yourself. When I was a teacher, I liked to set aside a full day of my break to plan out the rest of the year and really do some deep thinking on what would make my life easier as a teacher (and the rest of the time I did not think about school at all). My Teach Plus colleague, Bill Curtin, wrote this a few years ago and I think it is some of the most salient advice I've ever heard on how to create a lens for yourself to figure out the best way to manage everything on your plate: How do you find the time to take care of essential school duties, pursue passion projects and teacher leadership, allow time for yourself and your family, and still provide excellent classroom instruction? Dave Stuart Jr. (one of my favorite authors, bloggers, and educators) has an answer: "satisficing." A few years ago I invited him to give a keynote address at a conference, where he spoke about the importance of being clear about what matters most, and then letting the rest slide. Not completely, of course--we still have to take attendance, and participate in the evaluation process, and answer emails, and all of the million other daily tasks that make up our jobs--but we don't have to let them dominate our lives. Print out an unanswered email, and hold it up next to a student, and it becomes pretty clear which one is the priority, right? So when things feel like they're piling up, remember what matters most - and give yourself permission to be "good enough" at the rest, because what we do for kids is our number one priority. And yes, me cutting and pasting this excerpt instead of writing something completely new is definitely a version of satisficing! If you or your school has come up with other creative solutions this school year, I'd love to hear about them--please drop me a line at kciciora@teachplus.org. Warmly, Kristen OpportunitiesEducator Recognition Opportunity! Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest honors for K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teaching, has kicked off its annual nomination drive for K-sixth-grade teachers. Please consider nominating a teacher or promoting the program within your school and community. The pandemic has shown us that so many teachers across the country are dedicated to giving students access to high-quality, STEM education. Now, more than ever, it’s important to recognize teachers for their incredible hard work. Winners will receive the following:
The nomination deadline is Jan. 7 and the application deadline is Feb. 6. To learn more about the program and past awardees from Illinois or across the nation, visit www.paemst.org. Teach Plus IL in the News Teach Plus IL 2021-2022 Teaching Policy Fellow Jeanette Delgado 2021-22 Alumni Board member knows all too well how the spread of coronavirus has impacted students and educators. Jeanette, a dual-language educator shares how she's navigating the transition in Chalkbeat Chicago's interview: "This Illinois Teacher Welcomes Back her Kindergarten Students-This Time, as Second Graders." "The last time Jeanette Delgado was in a classroom was 19 months ago, just before Illinois shuttered all school buildings to control the spread of the coronavirus. She was teaching kindergarten at the time. This year, she’s working with those same students — only now, they’re second graders...'I know them, and I knew what they needed back then,' Delgado said of her students. 'I can continue that process because I know that they might have not fulfilled those social-emotional goals in first grade since they were remote or virtual.' Read the full interview here. Teach Plus IL 2021-2022 Teaching Policy Senior Fellow alum Alex Parker was featured in an EdWeek article, "Teachers Are Divided on Teaching LGBTQ Topics." Alex shares his perspective on navigating the discussion with his students as an educator. "Alex Parker, a 4th grade teacher at Cossitt Avenue Elementary School in La Grange, Illinois, has had discussions around LGBTQ topics in class after students brought up issues related to the community based on what they’ve come across in their lives. For instance, during Pride month students mentioned seeing rainbow flags and wanted to learn more about what it meant and how the LGBTQ community is accepted more broadly." Read the full piece here. 2021-2022 Teaching Policy Senior Fellow alumna Shayla Ewing was featured in season two of the BCG/Atlantic Magazine podcast. "When K-12 public schools all across the US closed their doors at the start of the pandemic, the scale of the digital divide was abruptly unmasked. Many states and districts swiftly mobilized to address the needs of their digitally underserved students—purchasing devices, hot spots, and other resources—but an estimated 12 million students remained inadequately connected at the start of 2021. Black, Latinx, and Native American students and those from lower-income households were disproportionately affected, a fact that will undoubtedly inhibit the long-term success of these students as they look to their futures." Listen to the entire podcast here! Good Reads Chicago students walk out of South Side school over racial slurs: ‘We will not be silenced’"The walkout served as a way to call attention to what students said was a culture of unchecked racism at the school, which is 61% Latino and 37% Black, with 2% of students identifying with other races, said senior Kendall Canteberry, one of the organizers of the walkout. The student protest came amid increasing national scrutiny over the way conversations on race are handled in classrooms and schools. It also comes six months after the district said it was working to build an anti-bias culture at its campuses but has not fully detailed its plans." Read the full article here. Illinois wants parents, educators in the early learning conversation. Advocates say that is long overdue. Early in 2022, the state will launch the councils and start recruiting policymakers, educators, private providers, public officials and parents — the last group a particular area of priority, advocates say — who will provide community-level views on child care and preschool options in their area, how resources are meted out, and what is needed. The Build Back Better Plan, which passed the House and is currently the subject of negotiations in the U.S. Senate, would send billions to states to help launch or grow pre-kindergarten programs open to all 3- and 4-year olds. Read more here! Teaching Policy Senior Fellow alumna Gina Caneva published an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times, titled "When we talked about Native American stereotypes, my students asked about the Blackhawks" "A sexual assault scandal. A losing record. Declining attendance. It’s the perfect time for a name change, at least, for the Blackhawks. For the past five years, in honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Month in November, I have put up displays and held talks about books by Indigenous authors at my schools’ libraries. In nearly every class, we discussed the Washington Football Team’s previous name, the Redskins, and explained that the Cleveland Indians will drop that name after this year, several students asked, “What about the Chicago Blackhawks?” Read the full op-ed here! Teach Plus IL on the Advocacy Front Thank you to the following fellows and alum who met with their respective legislators about their proposal to create #RacismFreeSchools. 2021-2022 Teaching Policy Fellow Claire Annes, (pictured, top right) who met with Sen. Laura Ellman 2021-2022 Teaching policy Fellow Madeline Wood, (pictured, bottom left) who met with Sen. Jill Tracy 2021-2022 Teaching Policy Senior Fellow Daphne Whitington (pictured, bottom right) who met with Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, who signed on as a co-sponsor for the bill 2020-2021 ILSTOY Policy Fellow alumna Precious Allen, (pictured, top left) who met with Sen. Elgie Sims. If you’re interested in helping in any way, please visit RacismFreeSchools.org to learn more and to sign on as a supporter, and we’ll follow up in the coming weeks with opportunities to get involved. Alumni Spotlight Teach Plus Illinois congratulates 2020-2021 ILSTOY Policy Fellow Jessica Day, on being awarded the Southwestern Illinois College Faculty of the Year Award! At SWIC, Day teaches Growth and Development of Children, Introduction to Early Childhood Education, Intro to Educational Technology, Child Health Maintenance, and Safety and Sanitation. Day earned her Bachelor of Science in Workforce Education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 2008 and her Master of Public Administration and Policy Analysis from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville in 2019. Congratulations, Jessica! If you are an alum of any of our Teacher Leadership programs (K-12 Policy Fellowship, ECE Policy Fellowship, Change Agent Fellowship, or partnered school) please share your good news with us. Promotions, and other celebrations of note may be emailed to cjameau@teachplus.org. |