No images? Click here From Teach Plus Illinois Dear Educators, This month I want to celebrate Teach Plus IL Policy Fellow alum Keisha Rembert, whose new book The Antiracist English Language Arts Classroom was just published. Keisha was an award-winning teacher who co-authored the report Equity and Diversity by Design: Recruiting and Retaining Educators of Color in Illinois which helped lead to ISBE’s affinity group initiative, and who now prepares future educators at National Louis University. She is also just a magically beautiful writer, whose prose might as well be poetry. Just take a look at the first two sentences of her preface: My first ELA classroom As a little girl, I remember my cousins and I sitting on the floor shoulder to shoulder wide-eyed and eager to consume stories that prompted occasional nudges, making it hard to suppress the giggles welling up in our bellies and also the tears clouding our vision and thoughts. Our stories were my family’s first texts when a set of encyclopedias (still being paid off) were among the only books on the shelves: stories of our great-grandparents working their land, of our grandparent’s southern pride and fear and of our parents coming to Chicago to construct their own skyscrapers--their dreams, an ocean of possibilities, contained in a lake. Keisha’s book just arrived yesterday, so I can’t give it a full review. But I can tell from the first 20 pages that she has written a book which is deeply personal, which combines memoir with rigorous scholarship, and which is focused on both the personal and pedagogical steps to help create classrooms grounded in antiracism. And as a bonus, she has interviewed a lot of teachers for this book, and you will see their stories within it. It’s well worth a read as you begin the school year and think about how to ensure your classrooms are truly inclusive and help students develop a critical perspective on the challenges that face our schools and communities. In community, Fellow Highlights Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellowship Alumna Precious Allen Named Board Member of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year Teach Plus Illinois alumna Precious Allen was named to the board of the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. As a Fellow, Precious created and advocated for the Racism-Free Schools Act that was signed into law this August and wrote an op-ed to support the adoption of Illinois' Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards. She teaches STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine) to her second grade students at Betty Shabazz International Charter School. Teach Plus Illinois Alumna Briana Morales and Teach Plus Nevada Alumna Juliana Urtubey Featured in Multilingual Illinois 2023 Statewide Conference The 2023 Multilingual/ESSA Statewide Conference will return in person Dec. 5-7 at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort and Conference Center. Coordinated by the Illinois Resource Center and the Illinois Principals Association, in collaboration with ISBE, the conference promises to provide attendees with best practices and practical approaches to everyday school management, as well as information on critical and timely issues. The agenda features outstanding keynote speakers, including national and state teachers of the year; dozens of concurrent sessions; and roundtable discussions. The conference also offers the opportunity for attendees to connect with publishers, technology companies, and other vendors who may aid in your continuous school improvement journey. State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders and the ISBE leadership team also will attend and look forward to connecting with you! Register today. Teach Plus Illinois Alumni Moving Into Leadership Roles Congratulations to the following Teach Plus who have recently moved into new leadership roles: Breana Calloway, Policy Fellow alum, now resident principal at Lenart Regional Gifted Center Violeta Cerna-Prado, Policy Fellow alum, now assistant principal at Hancock Preparatory High School Zachary Korth, Network for School Improvement AP, now Principal at Morton School of Excellence Olimpia Bahena, Change Agent Principal and Distributed Leadership Fellow, now Deputy Chief of the Office of Language and Cultural Education at Chicago Public Schools Opportunities Teach Plus ECE Alignment PLC for CPS TeachersDo the pre-K classrooms in your building feel like they are part of the school community? Is the work in those early learning spaces aligned to what happens elsewhere in the school? If not, join the Teach Plus ECE Alignment PLC! Once a month, Teach Plus will convene the ECE Learning Community via Zoom to engage in hands-on, collaborative virtual learning around the alignment of Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms (including curriculum, assessments, and instructional methods). This PLC will be led by two CPS Teacher Leaders who have done components of this alignment work in their schools last year, and will be a safe space for teachers to have authentic conversations and collaborative problem-solving. We strongly encourage pairs of teachers from the same school (pre-K and Kindergarten) to participate in this PLC together and will prioritize spots in the PLC to Pre-K/Kindergarten pairs. Participants will receive a stipend for completing the 8 session learning series (final amount will be based on the number of participants, but stipends will be at least $250). Each of the eight PLC sessions will be 1.5 hours after school (see here for dates and topic), and teachers can receive CPDU credits for completion as well. If interested in participating, please fill out this interest form before September 22nd. If you have any questions, please contact Josh Kaufmann (jkaufmann@teachplus.org). Teach Plus Illinois Illinois Affinity Group Network Interest FormThe Illinois Affinity Group Network is launching 38 affinity groups across the state this school year. These affinity groups for educators of color offer spaces where educators can share their experiences pertaining to their racial and cultural identities as well as examine the barriers to retention that educators of color face in Illinois schools. Interested participants can visit the Teach Plus Illinois website and fill out an interest form for more information. ISBE Calls for Those Who Excel & Teacher of the Year Nominations and ApplicationsThe Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) issued a call for nominations for the 2024 Those Who Excel & Teacher of the Year Awards, the program that recognizes outstanding teachers, administrators, school personnel, and volunteers. These awards honor individuals who have made significant contributions to Illinois’ public and nonpublic preK-12 schools. Any person or organization may submit nominations for outstanding school personnel in their lives. Nominees complete an application after they have been nominated. Candidates also can apply directly for an award without being nominated. Applications are due by Oct. 15 to be eligible for award. ISBE will honor the 2024 Those Who Excel & Teacher of the Year award winners at the 50th annual banquet in May 2024. “It is the honor of a lifetime. I have been fortunate to travel far and wide as Illinois Teacher of the Year and see, hear, and marvel at the magic done for and with students in every community across our great state,” said 2023 Teacher of the Year Briana Morales. “When I was first nominated for recognition, I was deeply honored and humbled to have my work and impact acknowledged by my colleagues. The life-changing educators I have gotten to meet across the state deserve that same feeling.” Please see this application overview to review all eligibility criteria. ISBE accepts nominations year-round, but nominations should be submitted by Sept. 15 to give interested nominees enough time to complete the subsequent, required application. For
more information: Illinois Teacher Leadership Summit Have a 'Problem of Practice' or a new initiative your school or organization is working on? Bring a team of 5 to the Illinois Teacher Leadership Summit. Your team will be partnered with a Critical Friend, an expert in your problem area, and you will walk away with an action plan. The Illinois Teacher Leadership Summit is a great opportunity for teams to develop an action plan to implement ideas and innovations in their schools, districts, and/or education-focused organization. Participants are guided by the expertise of a network of fellow educators across the state. At this Summit, we will be combining the best elements of several organizations. Educators work to collaborate, problem-solve, develop, and scale ideas and innovations through action plans, putting their own expertise into action. We attract exceptional educators from across the state to use teacher leadership as a vehicle to change the face of education. It is a unique opportunity for teachers to spotlight groundbreaking teacher-led work happening across the state of Illinois. To learn more, click here. To register for the Summit, click here. Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship ProgramAre you wondering how you might blend your love of STEM teaching and working with other educators into an engaging, innovative, and sustainable leadership pathway? The Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship (AEF) Program provides a unique opportunity for accomplished K-12 educators in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to serve in the national education arena. Fellows spend eleven months working in Federal agencies or in U.S. Congressional offices, applying their extensive knowledge and classroom experiences to national education program and/or education policy efforts. At the end of the Fellowship, educators are equipped with access to a national network of education leaders and programs, a better understanding of the challenges and possibilities in STEM education, and a renewed passion for teaching, ready to make significant contributions to the educational community. Fellows spend eleven months working in a Federal agency or in a Congressional office. Current sponsoring agencies include the U.S. Department of Energy, the Library of Congress, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, the US Geological Survey, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Homeland Security. After the Fellowship, these exemplary STEM educators transfer their Fellowship experiences into new ways to teach students and engage colleagues. To learn more, click here. Submit a Nomination for the Barack Obama Library Award Do you know a teacher of 5th-8th grade students who could make good use of a classroom library? The Illinois Reading Council is honored to invite you to submit a nomination for the Barack Obama Library Award. This award is a classroom library, valued at $1000, which was created in 2006 through a generous gift to the Illinois Reading Council from (then) Senator Obama. He granted a generous gift to the Illinois Reading Council to support teachers with this award and continues to contribute annually. This collection includes culturally relevant and inclusive literature, representing Black and brown characters and cultures. The books is this collection focus on the middle-school (5th-8th) grade range. To learn more and submit a nomination, click here. If you have any questions about eligibility, the award, or how to complete the nomination, please call Jen Brooks at 309 454-1341 or email obamaliteracyfund@illinoisreadingcouncil.org. Good Reads How to Motivate Students to Work in Collaborative Teams "Students engage in rigorous standards-based tasks while having deep discussions, participating in peer coaching, and working to assess themselves individually and as peers. Toth and Sousa say, 'The brain that does the work is the brain that learns.' Collaborative learning yields more work out of the student because they’re engaging with the content rather than just receiving it. This article highlights work that my students and I have done and will continue to do to motivate each other. It has taken a lot of shifts in paradigms on my part to really facilitate collaborative learning. Many of us who are high school teachers have struggled with getting student buy-in for collaboration. In the past, I was worried about my “classroom being too loud” when I released responsibility to students. Now, I have to be creative in getting certain students to engage in group work. Some students simply aren’t interested in working in a group, or they might feel anxiety about having to speak to someone in person. There are also times in groups when students struggle with focus because of their electronics. Despite these reasons, I had success with collaborative structures in my classroom. I hope to have more this coming year—it’s a work in progress. Students’ ease with participation in groups was the result of my working with them on understanding the learning structures, being more autonomous in their learning through meaningful roles, and focusing attention on the tasks and others in their teams." (Sarah Said, 2023-24 Illinois Policy Fellow). Read the full article here. What ‘Barbie’ Teaches Us About School Leadership "I walked out of the film 'Barbie' thinking about, among other things, my high school— just like Barbie’s Dreamland, it was led by women. My principal was a woman, along with the entirety of the district office. A woman led my school assemblies. A woman evaluated my teachers. A woman signed my diploma. In the classroom, gender didn’t dictate the subjects my teachers loved; I had female math and science teachers and even male English and theater teachers. Once I entered my teacher education program, I realized what an outlier my high school was. I was shocked that, as Ken would say in 'Barbie,' schools were doing patriarchy very well. My education classes were primarily—sometimes only—women, but at every practicum school, I was greeted by a male principal. I skated through my courses without a whisper that educational leadership degrees, where women could excel, even existed. And, like the world of 'Barbie,' I realized that the world of teaching is pink, too—a pink-collar job. Helping young girls visit more Barbielands than Kendoms starts at schools. At stake is not just the career advancement of teachers but the leadership landscape for all professions. A lack of women in education leadership creates deep dream gaps for future female leaders." (Shayla Ewing, 2023-24 Teach Plus Senior Writing Fellow). Read the full article here. The Cost of Misbehavior: Ticketing Students in Illinois’ Schools Amounts to More Than Just a Fine "Just before a nervous Yessica walked on stage to perform the first saxophone solo of her high school career, I smiled and calmly told her that one of two things was about to happen: She’d either perform beautifully or crash and burn! She laughed. I told Yessica if she was going to fail miserably, she should do so with confidence. At least then, we would both learn where we could target our efforts to help her grow. She went on stage and in typical Yessica fashion, performed exquisitely — the result of learning from her failures in the practice room.. I often tell students that failing with confidence is one of the best things they can do in school. Failure allows students to reflect on mistakes, learn and improve on new skills, and better manage their emotions in the face of disappointment. Had Yessica made a critical mistake on her very first solo, it would be absurd to think her future as a musician would be jeopardized. I would have simply helped Yessica regroup and set her on a trajectory to be more successful. This is because schools are places that should provide safety nets to students to support their learning. Yet if a student like Yessica makes a critical mistake by misbehaving, schools often turn the other cheek — and the consequences can be dire." (Justin Antos, 2023-24 Teach Plus Senior Writing Fellow). Read the full article here. Open Invitation to Florida and Texas Teachers: Come to Illinois. We Trust You "Teachers, has your state become hostile to your autonomy, your rights and the mission of education? If yes, I say: Come to Illinois. We’re hiring, and we’d love to have you. Illinois leaders have taken deliberate action to ensure our schools respect the role of the teacher, our laws respect the rights of women and our curricula honor the contributions of Black, Indigenous and people of color and LGBTQ+ leaders to our nation’s collective history. Here in Illinois, we do not shy away from our complex histories or identities. While Texas tries to ban discussions about race and Florida forbids teachers from 'saying gay,' we have revised our social studies standards in the opposite direction. We encourage dialogue from multiple perspectives. We require schools to teach about the contributions of Asian Americans, Black Americans, Native Americans and LGBTQ+ Americans. We protect the freedom and professional judgment of educators to choose instructional materials that represent and affirm the diversity of Illinois’ students. In Illinois, we are serious about our commitment to bolstering a diverse educator pipeline. We have state-supported affinity groups for teachers of color and statewide access to virtual mentoring and instructional coaching for all educators." (State Superintendent of Education Tony Sanders, The 74). Read the full article here. |