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Updates from the Field - Engaging students through innovative teaching
Updates from the FieldUpdates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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Recent Updates from the Field
- Oct 6, 2009 - Inspired Teaching Progress Report
- May 22, 2009 - Exciting news from Inspired Teaching!
- Feb 12, 2009 - An Update from Center for Inspired Teaching’s Executive Director
- Aug 1, 2008 - Project Update- Letter to Presidential Candidates
- Mar 14, 2008 - A Letter from Inspired Teaching's Executive Director
- Sep 10, 2007 - CIT featured in the Washington Post
- Mar 22, 2007 - A Letter from Center for Inspired Teaching's Executive Director, Aleta Margolis
Inspired Teaching Progress Report
By Aleta Margolis - Executive Director, October 08, 2009 12:18 PM
Dear Friends,
With another school year underway, Center for Inspired Teaching continues to provide intensive mentoring and transformative coursework to District of Columbia Public School teachers and schools. Each day we’re reaching thousands of children with challenging lessons, engaging activities, and teacher support. Our high-quality teachers are making an impact in all grade levels throughout the city. I would like to share a few powerful stories of change involving new teachers that are part of our newest initiative, the Inspired Teacher Certification Program:
1. At the beginning of the school year, a student in Inspired Teaching Fellow Tim Street’s kindergarten class destroyed the class sign-in sheet, frustrated that she could not write her own name. A few weeks later with Mr. Street as a teacher, she called him over to see the perfectly formed “S” that she made on the sign-in sheet. As he enthusiastically congratulated her, the student lingered over the page, writing more and smiling all the while. Initially, Tim and his Inspired Teaching Mentor had concerns about this student, who had difficulty adjusting to school. With her significant victory over the sign-in process, the student has become motivated, eager, interested, and cooperative!
2. When Hart Middle School lost power in September, Inspired Teaching Fellow Travis Barnwell used the opportunity to give his 8th grade students a cultural lesson. He shared his teaching experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, Africa, where students went to school and learned without electricity every day. The class also received lessons in Sesotho, Lesotho’s native language. While other teachers allowed their students to sit unengaged, restless in class or roam the dark halls, Travis provided engaging instruction that piqued his students’ curiosity and expanded their knowledge.
3. Inspired Teaching Fellow John Fantuzzo is currently teaching a unit on Ancient Greece to the students in his 9th grade English class. Though it is the second or third time that these students are taking the course, they have been fully engaged in making connections between their lives and the ideas of ancient philosophers.
After reading about Plato’s Ring of Gyges, a mythical artifact that makes a person invisible at will, the students wrote about and shared what they would do if they could be invisible. John’s class responded to the statement “People are only good because they fear getting caught” in their journals. The students were asked to split into groups based on whether they agreed or disagreed with the prompt. Groups developed points to defend their stance and began a thought-provoking debate on morality that involved everyone in the classroom. Some felt that belief in a higher power motivates people to behave morally, whether they ran the risk of being caught or not. Other students felt that even if a person tried to do good deeds with the Ring of Gyges, he or she would inevitably hurt someone. The debate ended without establishing a “correct” answer, but all students left class intellectually challenged and deep in thought.
Inspired Teaching Fellows are new teachers enrolled in the Inspired Teacher Certification Program, having a positive impact on hundreds of students’ lives in DC public schools. Fellows are selected through a rigorous application process and receive intensive mentoring and research-based coursework that addresses national standards for teacher preparation. Inspired Teaching Fellows are committed to education, social justice, and most importantly, improving education in the DC community. Fellows connect with students every day, assisting and challenging them to achieve beyond their perceived abilities.
If you would like to learn more about sponsorship opportunities for the Inspired Teacher Certification Program, please contact Eneida Alcalde at eneida@inspiredteaching.org or at 202 462 1956.
We hope that you are enjoying the new school year. Many thanks for your ongoing support!
Very best,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. I've been nominated for the 2009 Jewish Community Hero of the Year for Center for Inspired Teaching's work to transform education, and I'd love to have your vote. You can click here to vote: http://shar.es/1sn6A. No registration is required and voting ends just before midnight on October 7. Thanks very much for your support!
With another school year underway, Center for Inspired Teaching continues to provide intensive mentoring and transformative coursework to District of Columbia Public School teachers and schools. Each day we’re reaching thousands of children with challenging lessons, engaging activities, and teacher support. Our high-quality teachers are making an impact in all grade levels throughout the city. I would like to share a few powerful stories of change involving new teachers that are part of our newest initiative, the Inspired Teacher Certification Program:
1. At the beginning of the school year, a student in Inspired Teaching Fellow Tim Street’s kindergarten class destroyed the class sign-in sheet, frustrated that she could not write her own name. A few weeks later with Mr. Street as a teacher, she called him over to see the perfectly formed “S” that she made on the sign-in sheet. As he enthusiastically congratulated her, the student lingered over the page, writing more and smiling all the while. Initially, Tim and his Inspired Teaching Mentor had concerns about this student, who had difficulty adjusting to school. With her significant victory over the sign-in process, the student has become motivated, eager, interested, and cooperative!
2. When Hart Middle School lost power in September, Inspired Teaching Fellow Travis Barnwell used the opportunity to give his 8th grade students a cultural lesson. He shared his teaching experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, Africa, where students went to school and learned without electricity every day. The class also received lessons in Sesotho, Lesotho’s native language. While other teachers allowed their students to sit unengaged, restless in class or roam the dark halls, Travis provided engaging instruction that piqued his students’ curiosity and expanded their knowledge.
3. Inspired Teaching Fellow John Fantuzzo is currently teaching a unit on Ancient Greece to the students in his 9th grade English class. Though it is the second or third time that these students are taking the course, they have been fully engaged in making connections between their lives and the ideas of ancient philosophers.
After reading about Plato’s Ring of Gyges, a mythical artifact that makes a person invisible at will, the students wrote about and shared what they would do if they could be invisible. John’s class responded to the statement “People are only good because they fear getting caught” in their journals. The students were asked to split into groups based on whether they agreed or disagreed with the prompt. Groups developed points to defend their stance and began a thought-provoking debate on morality that involved everyone in the classroom. Some felt that belief in a higher power motivates people to behave morally, whether they ran the risk of being caught or not. Other students felt that even if a person tried to do good deeds with the Ring of Gyges, he or she would inevitably hurt someone. The debate ended without establishing a “correct” answer, but all students left class intellectually challenged and deep in thought.
Inspired Teaching Fellows are new teachers enrolled in the Inspired Teacher Certification Program, having a positive impact on hundreds of students’ lives in DC public schools. Fellows are selected through a rigorous application process and receive intensive mentoring and research-based coursework that addresses national standards for teacher preparation. Inspired Teaching Fellows are committed to education, social justice, and most importantly, improving education in the DC community. Fellows connect with students every day, assisting and challenging them to achieve beyond their perceived abilities.
If you would like to learn more about sponsorship opportunities for the Inspired Teacher Certification Program, please contact Eneida Alcalde at eneida@inspiredteaching.org or at 202 462 1956.
We hope that you are enjoying the new school year. Many thanks for your ongoing support!
Very best,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. I've been nominated for the 2009 Jewish Community Hero of the Year for Center for Inspired Teaching's work to transform education, and I'd love to have your vote. You can click here to vote: http://shar.es/1sn6A. No registration is required and voting ends just before midnight on October 7. Thanks very much for your support!
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Exciting news from Inspired Teaching!
By Aleta Margolis - Executive Director, May 23, 2009 07:49 AM
Dear Friends,
I have some exciting news regarding the future of Center for Inspired Teaching!
Beginning in summer 2009, Inspired Teaching will build on its track record of high-quality teacher training and first-hand knowledge of DC Public Schools by preparing, certifying, and supporting exceptional individuals who wish to serve children in the District of Columbia as new public school teachers. In its first year, the 15-month Inspired Teacher Certification Program will transform 30 Inspired Teaching Fellows into Inspired Teachers—pioneering change-makers who champion a student-focused instructional approach to positively impact learning and achievement for all students.
But that’s not all.
By 2011 this program will become a teacher residency model, embedding the Inspired Teacher Certification Program in the first Inspired Teaching School—a groundbreaking teacher and student development center where teachers who are being certified will collaborate with Master Teachers to gain hands-on experience, on-the-ground insight, and individualized support in Inspired Teaching’s philosophy and methodology. In this dynamic setting, accountability and creativity will not be mutually exclusive, but integrated in order to nurture engaged and inquisitive students who think critically, understand information, solve complex problems, and develop the desire and ability to become life-long learners.
If you are interested in learning more about our new initiatives, I encourage you to visit our website at www.inspiredteaching.org. And, if you’d like to learn about sponsorship opportunities for the Inspired Teacher Certification Program, please contact Eneida Alcalde at 202-462-1956 or at eneida@inspiredteaching.org.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support!
Best,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. You can now start following our day-to-day activities on Twitter. Please find us at http://tiny.cc/InspiredTeaching.
I have some exciting news regarding the future of Center for Inspired Teaching!
Beginning in summer 2009, Inspired Teaching will build on its track record of high-quality teacher training and first-hand knowledge of DC Public Schools by preparing, certifying, and supporting exceptional individuals who wish to serve children in the District of Columbia as new public school teachers. In its first year, the 15-month Inspired Teacher Certification Program will transform 30 Inspired Teaching Fellows into Inspired Teachers—pioneering change-makers who champion a student-focused instructional approach to positively impact learning and achievement for all students.
But that’s not all.
By 2011 this program will become a teacher residency model, embedding the Inspired Teacher Certification Program in the first Inspired Teaching School—a groundbreaking teacher and student development center where teachers who are being certified will collaborate with Master Teachers to gain hands-on experience, on-the-ground insight, and individualized support in Inspired Teaching’s philosophy and methodology. In this dynamic setting, accountability and creativity will not be mutually exclusive, but integrated in order to nurture engaged and inquisitive students who think critically, understand information, solve complex problems, and develop the desire and ability to become life-long learners.
If you are interested in learning more about our new initiatives, I encourage you to visit our website at www.inspiredteaching.org. And, if you’d like to learn about sponsorship opportunities for the Inspired Teacher Certification Program, please contact Eneida Alcalde at 202-462-1956 or at eneida@inspiredteaching.org.
As always, thank you for your ongoing support!
Best,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. You can now start following our day-to-day activities on Twitter. Please find us at http://tiny.cc/InspiredTeaching.
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An Update from Center for Inspired Teaching’s Executive Director
By Aleta Margolis - Executive Director, February 12, 2009 10:06 PM
Dear Friends,
Inspired Teaching is delighted in the progress we continue to see at Orr Elementary. Turnaround stories in Washington, DC are few and far between. When they make it into the headlines they usually involve a school that has replaced all of its staff and started from scratch. Orr Elementary’s turnaround story is different. The school has seen remarkably low teacher turnover in the past five years and the experienced staff is challenging the theory that veteran teachers can’t change their practice.
For Principal Michelle Edwards the turnaround is all about creating an environment where teachers and students can realize their full potential.
When Michelle walked into Orr Elementary in Southeast DC in the fall of 2004 as a brand new principal, her arrival was greeted with uncertainty from a staff that had persevered through a string of short-term administrators. As she got to know her students and staff, Michelle identified goals for the school and started bringing in partners, including Inspired Teaching, to help meet them. Michelle wanted to raise student achievement and create a professional learning community—but in order to do that she knew she had to ensure a positive climate for teachers and students.
“The Inspired Teaching staff didn’t come in here trying to change everything about Orr, they came in trying to strengthen Orr,” says Michelle. Michelle credits Inspired Teaching with helping to foster a positive, more collaborative work environment. As a result, five years later, Orr’s test scores in reading and math have gone up. The school is part of a district-wide model-school learning community, and teachers within the building are active participants in daily site-based professional development.
Orr Elementary exemplifies the positive gains we have seen in our partner schools. Thank you for supporting our work with teachers at Orr and other partner schools throughout Washington, DC. I look forward to sharing more about Inspired Teaching with you in the coming year!
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. If you are in the Washington, DC area on February 26, please consider joining us for the 2009 Chocolate Inspiration! At this event, educators, funders, and supporters of quality education will come together to feast on the finest chocolate desserts and cocoa inspired beverages. You can learn more about the event at
http://chocolate.inspiredteaching.org/
Inspired Teaching is delighted in the progress we continue to see at Orr Elementary. Turnaround stories in Washington, DC are few and far between. When they make it into the headlines they usually involve a school that has replaced all of its staff and started from scratch. Orr Elementary’s turnaround story is different. The school has seen remarkably low teacher turnover in the past five years and the experienced staff is challenging the theory that veteran teachers can’t change their practice.
For Principal Michelle Edwards the turnaround is all about creating an environment where teachers and students can realize their full potential.
When Michelle walked into Orr Elementary in Southeast DC in the fall of 2004 as a brand new principal, her arrival was greeted with uncertainty from a staff that had persevered through a string of short-term administrators. As she got to know her students and staff, Michelle identified goals for the school and started bringing in partners, including Inspired Teaching, to help meet them. Michelle wanted to raise student achievement and create a professional learning community—but in order to do that she knew she had to ensure a positive climate for teachers and students.
“The Inspired Teaching staff didn’t come in here trying to change everything about Orr, they came in trying to strengthen Orr,” says Michelle. Michelle credits Inspired Teaching with helping to foster a positive, more collaborative work environment. As a result, five years later, Orr’s test scores in reading and math have gone up. The school is part of a district-wide model-school learning community, and teachers within the building are active participants in daily site-based professional development.
Orr Elementary exemplifies the positive gains we have seen in our partner schools. Thank you for supporting our work with teachers at Orr and other partner schools throughout Washington, DC. I look forward to sharing more about Inspired Teaching with you in the coming year!
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. If you are in the Washington, DC area on February 26, please consider joining us for the 2009 Chocolate Inspiration! At this event, educators, funders, and supporters of quality education will come together to feast on the finest chocolate desserts and cocoa inspired beverages. You can learn more about the event at
http://chocolate.inspiredteaching.org/
Want to support this project's continued work?
Project Update- Letter to Presidential Candidates
By Aleta Margolis - Executive Director, August 05, 2008 07:34 PM
Dear Candidates,
Though there are many issues in this election, few are more important to the future of our country than education.
Center for Inspired Teaching is transforming education by investing in teachers. Our work with thousands of teachers, through courses, mentoring, and whole school partnerships over the past 13 years has proven that teachers are the solution. They are where the rubber meets the road in our schools. Yet all too often teacher quality is not the focus of school reforms. Improving accountability systems, establishing programs to attract new teachers and retain experienced ones, and encouraging new curricula are all valuable strategies in and of themselves, but they will accomplish little if we are not simultaneously investing in the quality of our nation’s teachers.
Inspired Teachers like Carolyn Wells prove this point. Carolyn teaches second grade in a school where less than 30 percent of students are reading on grade level. Her school tried every intervention you can imagine to get kids reading: after school tutoring, new textbooks, less recess, more testing. But what Carolyn noticed was that none of the one-size-fits-all strategies were working for her class filled with 22 individuals. So she came to Inspired Teaching looking for new ways to reach the students who were struggling to keep up. She took an Inspired Teaching course in which she learned to teach vocabulary through movement, to tap into students’ imaginations through storytelling, and to let her children’s various interests guide the reading material – not the chapters in the textbook. She applied what she learned in the classroom and at the end of the year she had the highest reading scores in the school. Carolyn was the solution, and there are hundreds of thousands of teachers out there just like her who have the potential to change what happens in their schools.
With this in mind, as you continue to develop your education agenda Center for Inspired Teaching asks you to consider the following:
1. If our nation is to remain strong and healthy, it is time to establish a higher, and more meaningful, standard for student success. It is not enough for young Americans to do well on standardized tests that assess a narrow set of basic skills. Rather, the graduates of our K-12 system must be prepared to engage fully in civic life. All of our children deserve a rich, relevant, and rigorous school experience that prepares them to think critically, demonstrate understanding, solve complex problems, and apply their learning to the challenges facing our communities.
2. A higher goal for students requires a new role for teachers. It is time to redefine the role of the teacher in the United States from deliverer of facts to developer of future citizens in our democracy. Redefining the role of the teacher will require rethinking our policies and practices in the areas of teacher recruitment, preparation, and evaluation. The effectiveness of an excellent teacher cannot and should not be measured by credentials or test scores alone. Rather, teacher quality policies for a strong democracy will encourage fresh approaches to evaluating what matters: the quality of actual classroom instruction, and impact of that instruction on students’ abilities to be active, productive citizens.
At Center for Inspired Teaching we know there is tremendous potential in our nation’s classrooms. We are calling on the next President of the United States to push for comprehensive education reform that addresses the needs of the new global economy. In order to be successful this reform must include a strong focus on teacher quality. We urge you to bring the challenges we identify above into the current political debate so that the potential of our teachers can be turned into practice.
As you craft your education policy agenda, we would be honored to share with you our years of experience in schools and classrooms and our advice on the best and most effective way to reform our schools.
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis, Executive Director
Though there are many issues in this election, few are more important to the future of our country than education.
Center for Inspired Teaching is transforming education by investing in teachers. Our work with thousands of teachers, through courses, mentoring, and whole school partnerships over the past 13 years has proven that teachers are the solution. They are where the rubber meets the road in our schools. Yet all too often teacher quality is not the focus of school reforms. Improving accountability systems, establishing programs to attract new teachers and retain experienced ones, and encouraging new curricula are all valuable strategies in and of themselves, but they will accomplish little if we are not simultaneously investing in the quality of our nation’s teachers.
Inspired Teachers like Carolyn Wells prove this point. Carolyn teaches second grade in a school where less than 30 percent of students are reading on grade level. Her school tried every intervention you can imagine to get kids reading: after school tutoring, new textbooks, less recess, more testing. But what Carolyn noticed was that none of the one-size-fits-all strategies were working for her class filled with 22 individuals. So she came to Inspired Teaching looking for new ways to reach the students who were struggling to keep up. She took an Inspired Teaching course in which she learned to teach vocabulary through movement, to tap into students’ imaginations through storytelling, and to let her children’s various interests guide the reading material – not the chapters in the textbook. She applied what she learned in the classroom and at the end of the year she had the highest reading scores in the school. Carolyn was the solution, and there are hundreds of thousands of teachers out there just like her who have the potential to change what happens in their schools.
With this in mind, as you continue to develop your education agenda Center for Inspired Teaching asks you to consider the following:
1. If our nation is to remain strong and healthy, it is time to establish a higher, and more meaningful, standard for student success. It is not enough for young Americans to do well on standardized tests that assess a narrow set of basic skills. Rather, the graduates of our K-12 system must be prepared to engage fully in civic life. All of our children deserve a rich, relevant, and rigorous school experience that prepares them to think critically, demonstrate understanding, solve complex problems, and apply their learning to the challenges facing our communities.
2. A higher goal for students requires a new role for teachers. It is time to redefine the role of the teacher in the United States from deliverer of facts to developer of future citizens in our democracy. Redefining the role of the teacher will require rethinking our policies and practices in the areas of teacher recruitment, preparation, and evaluation. The effectiveness of an excellent teacher cannot and should not be measured by credentials or test scores alone. Rather, teacher quality policies for a strong democracy will encourage fresh approaches to evaluating what matters: the quality of actual classroom instruction, and impact of that instruction on students’ abilities to be active, productive citizens.
At Center for Inspired Teaching we know there is tremendous potential in our nation’s classrooms. We are calling on the next President of the United States to push for comprehensive education reform that addresses the needs of the new global economy. In order to be successful this reform must include a strong focus on teacher quality. We urge you to bring the challenges we identify above into the current political debate so that the potential of our teachers can be turned into practice.
As you craft your education policy agenda, we would be honored to share with you our years of experience in schools and classrooms and our advice on the best and most effective way to reform our schools.
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis, Executive Director
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A Letter from Inspired Teaching's Executive Director
By Aleta Margolis - Project Update, April 09, 2008 02:42 PM
Dear Friends and Supporters,
At Center for Inspired Teaching, we are continuing to strengthen Washington, DC’s public schools by investing in their teachers. Through inspiring new and veteran teachers, we are enabling them to unlock the innate potential in students across the District and contributing to a positive trend of empowerment in our communities.
Our programs are designed to improve teachers’ ability to think critically and solve problems, so they can do the same for their students, resulting in higher student achievement in school and in life. Teachers are themselves taught how to improve the emotional climate of their classroom, so that children feel safe and can focus on learning, resulting in improvements in behavior and a change in students’ life aspirations. As a result of these changes, students are more engaged in learning and less disruptive, thus decreasing the time teachers spend dealing with discipline problems and increasing the time spent teaching.
Inspired Teaching's most recent evaluation results demonstrate that:
* Inspired Teaching teachers spend over 50% less time on discipline than those who have not taken our programs.
* Inspired Teachers increase student participation by spending more classroom time in productive learning activities (83% vs. 74%) and far more often require students to be active participants in their learning (60% vs. 17%).
* Inspired Teachers engage students in much higher levels of thinking. Students in Inspired Teachers’ classrooms spend more time performing higher-order skills (43% vs. 26%) and Inspired Teachers ask more questions that require students to think at complex levels (62% vs. 32%).
* Inspired Teachers create an environment conducive to learning by focusing their discipline strategies on problem-solving and building relationships, rather than punitive behavior modification systems (95% vs. 37%).
* Inspired Teaching measures five elements of the work environment that research has shown to relate strongly to teacher job satisfaction and retention: leadership/school culture; professional development; facilities and resources; teacher empowerment; and time. Evaluations at partner schools show improvement in all of these areas.
Our work continues to be in high demand with principals and teachers requesting more school partnerships and programming, in response we have nearly tripled our staff. This year we inaugurated the Inspired Principal Institute, designed to reinvigorate and support veteran principals leading DC area schools. And, in this academic year we have worked with nearly 20 different schools!
It is my sincere hope that you will join us as we continue to transform DC’s schools through the power of Inspired Teachers and the potential of all students.
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. To learn more about Inspired Teaching's research-based professional development programs, which range from in-depth school partnerships to professional development courses for teachers, please visit the organization's Web site: www.inspiredteaching.org.
At Center for Inspired Teaching, we are continuing to strengthen Washington, DC’s public schools by investing in their teachers. Through inspiring new and veteran teachers, we are enabling them to unlock the innate potential in students across the District and contributing to a positive trend of empowerment in our communities.
Our programs are designed to improve teachers’ ability to think critically and solve problems, so they can do the same for their students, resulting in higher student achievement in school and in life. Teachers are themselves taught how to improve the emotional climate of their classroom, so that children feel safe and can focus on learning, resulting in improvements in behavior and a change in students’ life aspirations. As a result of these changes, students are more engaged in learning and less disruptive, thus decreasing the time teachers spend dealing with discipline problems and increasing the time spent teaching.
Inspired Teaching's most recent evaluation results demonstrate that:
* Inspired Teaching teachers spend over 50% less time on discipline than those who have not taken our programs.
* Inspired Teachers increase student participation by spending more classroom time in productive learning activities (83% vs. 74%) and far more often require students to be active participants in their learning (60% vs. 17%).
* Inspired Teachers engage students in much higher levels of thinking. Students in Inspired Teachers’ classrooms spend more time performing higher-order skills (43% vs. 26%) and Inspired Teachers ask more questions that require students to think at complex levels (62% vs. 32%).
* Inspired Teachers create an environment conducive to learning by focusing their discipline strategies on problem-solving and building relationships, rather than punitive behavior modification systems (95% vs. 37%).
* Inspired Teaching measures five elements of the work environment that research has shown to relate strongly to teacher job satisfaction and retention: leadership/school culture; professional development; facilities and resources; teacher empowerment; and time. Evaluations at partner schools show improvement in all of these areas.
Our work continues to be in high demand with principals and teachers requesting more school partnerships and programming, in response we have nearly tripled our staff. This year we inaugurated the Inspired Principal Institute, designed to reinvigorate and support veteran principals leading DC area schools. And, in this academic year we have worked with nearly 20 different schools!
It is my sincere hope that you will join us as we continue to transform DC’s schools through the power of Inspired Teachers and the potential of all students.
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. To learn more about Inspired Teaching's research-based professional development programs, which range from in-depth school partnerships to professional development courses for teachers, please visit the organization's Web site: www.inspiredteaching.org.
Want to support this project's continued work?
CIT featured in the Washington Post
By Aleta Margolis - Project leader, September 10, 2007 04:42 PM
Inspired Teaching is featured today on the front page of the Washington Post education section in an article entitled "Center Focuses on Teachers, Not Test Scores" by Valerie Strauss:
Standing in a circle, three dozen teachers listened to an instructor rattle off a math problem. "The square of 4 times 3 plus 5 times 7 minus 8."
They attempted to calculate it in their heads, but not everyone got the right answer, and it wasn't because they couldn't do the math. The teachers realized that not everyone accurately heard the instructions. Some thought the instructor said -- or meant to say -- square root of 4, rather than the square of 4. (So their first calculation was 2 instead of 16.)
"It may seem simple, but this is why it is so important to be sure that you and your students are on the same page," Aleta Margolis, founding executive director of the nonprofit Center for Inspired Teaching, told the D.C. teachers attending a summer workshop. "If teachers can get confused, think about what happens with children."
Relating to students, handling difficult administrators, designing inventive lesson plans and working well with colleagues are among the topics hundreds of teachers are tackling as part of a training effort by the D.C.-based center, which was founded to help teachers become better at what they do.
To read the full article, click on the link below!
Standing in a circle, three dozen teachers listened to an instructor rattle off a math problem. "The square of 4 times 3 plus 5 times 7 minus 8."
They attempted to calculate it in their heads, but not everyone got the right answer, and it wasn't because they couldn't do the math. The teachers realized that not everyone accurately heard the instructions. Some thought the instructor said -- or meant to say -- square root of 4, rather than the square of 4. (So their first calculation was 2 instead of 16.)
"It may seem simple, but this is why it is so important to be sure that you and your students are on the same page," Aleta Margolis, founding executive director of the nonprofit Center for Inspired Teaching, told the D.C. teachers attending a summer workshop. "If teachers can get confused, think about what happens with children."
Relating to students, handling difficult administrators, designing inventive lesson plans and working well with colleagues are among the topics hundreds of teachers are tackling as part of a training effort by the D.C.-based center, which was founded to help teachers become better at what they do.
To read the full article, click on the link below!
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A Letter from Center for Inspired Teaching's Executive Director, Aleta Margolis
By Aleta Margolis - Executive Director, March 22, 2007 06:18 PM
Dear Friends and Supporters,
On a daily basis we are bombarded with stories about the failure of our schools. A million students drop out each year. Nearly half of all African American, Hispanic, and Native American students fail to graduate. Research increasingly cites boredom and lack of engagement as leading factors influencing these dismal statistics. Luckily there’s a solution: Inspired Teachers.
Center for Inspired Teaching is changing the way children are educated by investing in their teachers. Since 1995, through innovative courses, mentoring, and intensive school partnerships, over 5,000 teachers have been transformed into Inspired Teachers, improving instruction for over 125,000 students.
We believe every child possesses the ability to think critically, learn and understand information, and solve complex problems. It takes an Inspired Teacher to develop this ability and enable students to reach their full potential.
Inspired Teachers employ a range of tools to keep their students mentally, physically, and emotionally engaged. They teach young people to become knowledgeable, self-disciplined, and compassionate citizens.
We’ve been committed to this kind of teaching for 11 years and our research shows that Inspired Teaching does three things for teachers:
• Decrease time teachers spend maintaining discipline; increase teaching time.
• Improve teachers' ability to think critically and solve problems, so they can do the same for their students, resulting in higher student achievement in school and in real life.
• Improve the emotional climate of teachers' classrooms, so children feel safe and can focus on learning, resulting in improvements in behavior and a change in students' life aspirations.
In our Intensive School Partnerships we see these changes on an institutional scale. Two years ago, partner school Tyler Elementary was labeled one of the lowest achieving schools in DC. In 2006 it was one of only 3 schools to show growth in reading and math, and posted the highest special education scores and the highest gains in student attendance in the District.
In response to our growing success story, we have experienced a significant rise in the demand for our programs. To meet the demand we have: doubled our staff and trained alumni teachers so we can expand our course offerings; tripled our school partnerships; and reached more teachers and students than ever before. Our goal is for every child to have an Inspired Teacher and we plan to continue growing to make that goal a reality. We are grateful for people like you who support us in continuing this vitally important journey.
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. We also have a new blog! Become part of our conversation by accessing it at, www.inspiredteacher.blogspot.com
On a daily basis we are bombarded with stories about the failure of our schools. A million students drop out each year. Nearly half of all African American, Hispanic, and Native American students fail to graduate. Research increasingly cites boredom and lack of engagement as leading factors influencing these dismal statistics. Luckily there’s a solution: Inspired Teachers.
Center for Inspired Teaching is changing the way children are educated by investing in their teachers. Since 1995, through innovative courses, mentoring, and intensive school partnerships, over 5,000 teachers have been transformed into Inspired Teachers, improving instruction for over 125,000 students.
We believe every child possesses the ability to think critically, learn and understand information, and solve complex problems. It takes an Inspired Teacher to develop this ability and enable students to reach their full potential.
Inspired Teachers employ a range of tools to keep their students mentally, physically, and emotionally engaged. They teach young people to become knowledgeable, self-disciplined, and compassionate citizens.
We’ve been committed to this kind of teaching for 11 years and our research shows that Inspired Teaching does three things for teachers:
• Decrease time teachers spend maintaining discipline; increase teaching time.
• Improve teachers' ability to think critically and solve problems, so they can do the same for their students, resulting in higher student achievement in school and in real life.
• Improve the emotional climate of teachers' classrooms, so children feel safe and can focus on learning, resulting in improvements in behavior and a change in students' life aspirations.
In our Intensive School Partnerships we see these changes on an institutional scale. Two years ago, partner school Tyler Elementary was labeled one of the lowest achieving schools in DC. In 2006 it was one of only 3 schools to show growth in reading and math, and posted the highest special education scores and the highest gains in student attendance in the District.
In response to our growing success story, we have experienced a significant rise in the demand for our programs. To meet the demand we have: doubled our staff and trained alumni teachers so we can expand our course offerings; tripled our school partnerships; and reached more teachers and students than ever before. Our goal is for every child to have an Inspired Teacher and we plan to continue growing to make that goal a reality. We are grateful for people like you who support us in continuing this vitally important journey.
Sincerely,
Aleta Margolis
Executive Director
P.S. We also have a new blog! Become part of our conversation by accessing it at, www.inspiredteacher.blogspot.com
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