December 2022 Teach Plus IL Newsblast No images? Click here From Teach Plus Illinois Dear Teachers, As we move into the holiday season, it’s not too early to take note of some of the new education laws that may impact you or your students next year. Thanks Dr. Carmen Ayala, Illinois’ State Superintendent, for providing this information in her weekly update last week:
All of these laws are intended to expand opportunity and access for our students. If you see that your district has not implemented any of these, read up about the law to understand its timeline and provisions, and schedule a meeting with an administrator to discuss. But be warned -- you may yourself “voluntold” to be on a committee that helps your district implement the new law! I hope you have a wonderful holiday, are able to take some true downtime this season, and return refreshed in 2023. Warm regards, Fellow Highlights Illinois ECE Policy Fellows and Alumni Meet with U.S. Legislators to Inform Them About Play-Based Learning in Kindergarten Pictured: Teach Plus Illinois ECE Fellows Erean Mei, Alli Bizon, Margi Bhansali, and ECE Policy Manager Sinthu Ramalingam with U.S. Representative Danny Davis and U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky. Illinois Policy Fellows Present at National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellow Alumni and 2021 Early Career Educator of Color awardees Dillin Randolph and Briana Morales were invited to present. Briana Morales presented a session on “Radical Healing Like Magic: Power in the Poetry of Witness”. Dillin Randolph presented a session on “Black Lives Ain’t Never Gon Matter til Black English Does” -- expanding on an article he wrote for ASCD magazine when he was a Policy Fellow! Chicago Change Agent Alfonso Rapun-Mairal Receives 2022 Distinguished Educator Award 2022-23 Change Agent Alfonso Rapun-Mairal received the 2022 Distinguished Educator Award from the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (IAHPERD). Alfonso is a physical education teacher at Schubert Elementary School. Chicago Change Agent Anita Hill Secures Arts Education Funding for her School 2022-23 Senior Change Agent Anita Hill helped to secure a grant for arts education in Jackie Robinson Elementary, in excess of $4,000. Illinois Affinity Group Facilitator Linda Wilson Featured in WCBU Article On Teacher Recruitment and Retention in Peoria "At Monday night’s Board of Education meeting, Grow Your Own Coordinator Linda Wilson presented an update to the board, sharing that the program will reach ten total graduates come spring. With an overall goal of recruiting and retaining teachers in the Peoria area, the program is a branch of the central Grow Your Own Teachers program based in Chicago. By partnering with school districts and higher education institutions, the initiative aims to diversify teaching populations across the state. Wilson says that that assistance is essential for the candidates, and echoes the overall goal of the program. 'We like to meet our candidates where they’re at,' said Wilson. 'Sometimes, our candidates don’t have a lot of confidence in themselves, and we just want them to know that we’re here to knock down any barrier that may present itself on their journey.'" (Mike Rundle, WCBU) Read the full article here. Opportunities Along Teacher Leader Fellowship Teach Plus is excited to partner with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and Gradient Learning to bring educators Along, a free tool designed to enable strong connections between students and their teachers through shared reflections. This fall, we’re launching the Along Teacher Leader Fellowship and will be selecting a group of diverse teachers dedicated to strengthening teacher-student connections in their classrooms and schools. As an Along Teacher Leader Fellow with Teach Plus, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with and pilot Along in your own classroom and to explore what works best for your schools, students, and families. Selected Fellows commit to 5-6 hours per month to learn about and use Along, and participate in bi-weekly PLC meetings as they hone their craft alongside other users. In Spring 2023, the PLC meetings will shift to a monthly cadence and Fellows begin leading their own novice-user-focused PLC’s each month. Throughout, Fellows receive coaching support from their Education Leadership Coach. To honor their time and engagement, Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend. Learn more and apply here. Free Virtual ECE PLC (Earn a Stipend & CPDUs) for Chicago Teachers Teach Plus is thrilled to announce that we're accepting participants for our first ever teacher-led ECE professional learning community! This monthly virtual PLC will focus on alignment between pre-K and kindergarten classrooms and is free for public school teachers in Chicago (both CPS and charter). Participants who successfully complete the learning series will receive a stipend and CPDUs. If your ECE team has been interested in aligning what happens in pre-K and kindergarten classrooms, this is a great learning space that is designed for teachers and led by teachers who have done alignment work in their schools last year. You can find out more information here (including dates, topics, and facilitator bios), and you can express interest by filling out this google form. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kristen Ciciora (kciciora@teachplus.org). Illinois Affinity Group Network Interest Form The Illinois State Board of Education, RoE 51, Teach Plus, and the Golden Apple Foundation would like to invite you to check out the state's new Affinity Groups for Educators of Color. Illinois Affinity Groups seek to cultivate authentic, inclusive, intersectional spaces, shaped by and for educators of Color. These will be affirming and supportive spaces, rooted in an asset-based understanding of diversity, which support educators in navigating and improving their school environments and are connected to a larger network to build alliances and address systemic issues, particularly around retention of educators of Color. If you are interested in exploring a safe, supportive space for you to be your authentic self, check out the Illinois Affinity Groups Page to see if there is one in your area. If there is, you can fill out a short interest survey and the facilitator will reach out to you shortly. Submit Proposals for Educators Rising Illinois Annual Conference Educators Rising Illinois’ annual conference is March 6, 2022 at Illinois State University, and they are requesting proposals to present! The majority of our student members attending this conference are teenagers, but their teachers will also be in attendance. You can suggest a proposal aimed either at the students or the teachers. If you’re interested, you can submit a proposal here. For more information, please reach out Educators Rising IL State Coordinator (and former IL Teacher of the Year and Teach Plus Policy Fellow) Lindsey Jensen at illinoisteacheroftheyear@gmail.com. Apply for the School Ambassador Fellowship Founded on the principles of partnership, collaboration and cooperation between the Federal Government and school-based educators, the U.S. Department of Education designed the School Ambassador Fellowship program to enable outstanding teachers, administrators, and other school leaders, such as school counselors, psychologists, social workers, and librarians to bring their school and classroom expertise to the Department and to expand their knowledge of the national dialogue about education. The School Ambassador Fellowship is a professional learning community designed to improve educational outcomes for students by leveraging the expertise of school-based practitioners in the creation, evaluation, and dissemination of information around national education initiatives. The School Ambassador Fellowship Application window is now open! Applications for the 2023-2024 cohort of the School Ambassador Fellowship will remain open until 11:59pm ET on December 18, 2022. Illinois Teacher Leadership Summit The Sixth Annual Illinois Teacher Leadership Summit (ILTLS) invites teams of teachers, an administrator, and a teacher leader to join together to create an action plan to address a specific local challenge. The Summit offers both time and space for collaboration where each team is supported by its own "critical friend", someone with expertise in the "problem of practice" identified by the team, as well as input from all of the other statewide teams. Attendees will receive classroom and teacher resources, along with opportunities to network with multiple conference presenters. Register your team by January 15, 2023. Good Reads Margi Bhansali Why I teach despite profession's modest compensation "When I tell my extended family that I am an early childhood educator, they either smile politely and say something like, 'How great, you get summers off with your children!' or give me a questioning look, 'But your husband is a doctor, why do you work?' My career choice is written off, even though I have an advanced degree and am National Board Certified. It isn’t respected, even though I work hard and make an impact. And as a woman, I’ve even had family tell me that it would be a better use of my time if I didn’t work at all, but rather raised my own children instead of 'just watching other peoples’ children.' Today, teaching is more than just a job, it’s my passion." (Margi Bhansali, Illinois ECE Policy Fellow Alum) Read the full article here. Margi's op-ed was also syndicated by The Desert Sun! |