Talks With Teachers

Curtis Chandler ELA teacher, 2011 Kansas Teacher of the Year (Wamgeo Middle School -- Wamego, KS)  Resource of the Week: Twitter Chats  #aplitchat #elachat  #apbiochat #engchat    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Curtis has taught for 17 years, just outside of Topeka, Kansas. He is at Wamego Middle School but he is someone that moved a lot as a child because his father was in the military. Curtis was not a stellar student but he had a few teachers that encouraged him, put books in his hands, and allowed him to learn through creative activities.   Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher?  – He has been helped by a lot of talented professionals, like the Center for Teaching Quality. Yet, his first set of models were his parents. His mom was a teacher and his dad was military. He spent a lot of time overseas and his parents dragged him to every museum, attraction, cultural center

David Knuffke Biology teacher, AP Biology Community moderator www.knuffke.com (Deer Park High School -- Deer Park, NY)  Resource of the Week: Poems By Heart from Penguin Classics - Penguin Group USA Each new poem you learn becomes an important part of you who are, and the Huffington Post describes Poems By Heart as “the best poetry app I’ve seen in a while.” Poems By Heart uses brain-training techniques to make remembering poetry easy and fun – in a fast and responsive game. The National Endowment for the Arts calls the app “smart and beautifully designed, with a skillful blend of iconic poetry, memorization techniques, and great gaming.”    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – David teaches Biology at Deer Park High School on Long Island. It was his first and only teaching job. He was hired in 2004. He works at a great district primarily because it doesn't put a lot of obstacles in front him to prevent

Steve Perkins Latin/Classics teacher, 2014 Indiana Teacher of the Year (North Central High School -- Indianapolis, IN)  Resource of the Week: With Rigor for All, Second Edition: Meeting Common Core Standards for Reading Literature Again and again the Common Core Standards state that students must read “proficiently and independently” but how do we achieve this when students are groaning about having to read demanding literature and looking for ways to pass the class without turning pages?      Carol Jago shows middle and high school teachers how to create English classrooms where students care about living literate lives and develop into proficient independent readers. With 50% new material, With Rigor for All, Second Edition features: integration of the Common Core State Standards as teaching touchstones YA lit pairings with classic texts to aid comprehension for middle and high school students tips to motivate reluctant readers with immersion, encouragement, and small steps a study guide and guideline

Meenoo Rami English teacher, author of Thrive (Science Leadership -- Philadelphia, PA)  www.meenoorami.org  Resource of the Week: www.commonlit.org  It was founded in December by a group of about 15 former middle school reading teachers who are current graduate students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It thinks scripted curricula disempowers teachers, so Common Lit provides four valuable functions: 1) It collects the best supplemental texts for middle school curricula, 2) It negotiates the copyright permissions to disseminate these texts, and 3) It formats, levels, and organizes these texts by theme, and 4) It puts them online so that teachers can download and print them immediately--no paywalls or subscriptions or "district codes." (email me your favorite resource talkswithteachers@gmail.com)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration   Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Meenoo started teaching in 2006 in Philadelphia, where s

Dave Burgess       US History, author, workshop/seminar presenter (West Hills High School -- San Diego, CA)            Resource of the Week: www.newsela.com (Bethany Whinnem, Fairhaven High School) NewsELA provides high interest nonfiction articles about current events that are updated daily. There are several benefits of the website: 1. The same article can be adjusted to various reading levels. 2. At least one article each day has a four question quiz attached, which is tied to specific reading standards indicated by the anchor in the corner. (The questions are also worded differently depending on the reading level selected. 3. When students log in and create an account with the teacher code, it corrects and keeps track of the questions for each student. So, teachers can track problem areas for the class. 4. They usually send out a monthly progress email to the teachers. (email me your favorite resource talkswithteachers@gmail.com)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration   Tell your story. Where are you f

Laura Robb  Author, teacher, coach, and 43-year veteran of teaching  (Virgina)            Resource of the Week: New York Times most emailed articles   (email me your favorite resource talkswithteachers@gmail.com)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Laura taught for 43 years, yet she still teaches about three months a year and does consulting and workshops because she loves being in the classroom. She loves seeing kids as they begin school (kindergarden or 1st grade) and loves seeing them at the end, before they embark to high school (8th grade). She had worked in advertising in New York City after graduating Queens College with a Bachelor's in English and French. When her husband took a music job in Virginia, she moved with him and she obtained a teaching job in a rural school in Virginia. Laura was the only faculty member not related to the principal.  Who has helped you in your journey to become

Starr Sackstein  English and Journalism teacher (World Journalism Preparatory School --  Queens, NY)    January Contest: Win a Copy of Carol Jago's With Rigor for All by emailing me a lesson that worked (email)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Starr started at Far Rockaway High School. She obtained certification by teaching in a high-needs district. After the initial feeling-out-process passed, she fell in love with teaching and her students. From there she proceeded to Locust Valley High School, an affluent suburban Long Island district. She thought that was going to be it for her, she would stay there for the rest of her career. But the politics of the district got the better of her. Now she is at World Journalism Preparatory School and has been there since its second year, which has allowed her to grow with the school.  Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – Starr's h

Jeff Charbonneau  2013 National Teacher of the Year STEM Teacher (Zillah High School --  Zillah, WA)    January Contest: Win a Copy of Carol Jago's With Rigor for All by emailing me a lesson that worked (email)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Jeff was the 2013 National Teacher of the Year. He is out of the classroom right now but he will return next year. He teaches at the same high school that he attended, Zillah High School.   Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – Jeff asks for help about every 30 minutes. Yet, he had two outstanding cooperating teachers during his student teacher experience. They had completely different styles, one was traditional the other was affectionate and loving. Both were outstanding educators and what he learned was that you need to be true to yourself.  It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classro

Larry Ferlazzo  English and Social Studies Teacher (Luther Burbank HS -- Sacramento, CA),    January Contest: Win a Copy of Carol Jago's With Rigor for All by emailing me a lesson that worked (email)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Larry teaches at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, California… Sacramento's largest inner-city high school. He has taught there for 10 years. Prior to that he spent 19 years of his life as a community organizer.  Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – Larry finds inspiration from experienced teachers, especially Kate Hull a colleague and author. Her patience and understanding have been an inspiration to him. It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience. – He has had his fair share of

Tim Averill HS English Teacher (Waring School, MA), AP Community Moderator, St. Johnsbury Summer Academy Facilitator   January Contest: Win a Copy of Carol Jago's With Rigor for All by emailing me a lesson that worked (email)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Tim has taught for 44 years at Manchester Essex RHS and, most recently, The Waring School. He grew up in Topeka, KS went to Kansas University, where he obtained a French and English degree, and then Harvard for graduate school. He worked at Manchester from 1971-2005, where he also coached Debate.  The Waring School is a bi-lingual school where all students learn French and travel to France.  Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – He believes that example is a great teacher because he had great professors at Kansas University who inspired him. While in Springfield, Harvard had assigned him a master teacher to work wit

Sarah Brown Wessling HS English Teacher, 2010 National Teacher of the Year, Host -- Teaching Channel (Johnston, Iowa)   January Contest: Win a Copy of Carol Jago's With Rigor for All by emailing me a lesson that worked (email)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Sarah comes from a family of teachers and initially wanted to be a teacher and principal. Yet, she started university as a broadcast journalism major, then switched around from philosophy to psychology until she had an epiphany and realized that she could do all of those things if she were in the classroom. She turned right around and head to the education department.  Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – Sarah has had supportive professors and other teachers that have given her guidance, but it is an accumulation of a lot of factors. She conveyed the importance of experiences, whether it be going through National

Chris Lehman Educational Consultant, Author, Blogger -- Bronx, NY    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Chris has been in education for 12 years. He started as a middle school teacher in the Bronx, then moved to a high school in Brooklyn. He has also been a literacy coach, and he's worked with the Reading and Writing project with Columbia University, where he served as a senior staff developer. Now, he's working on the K-12 level effecting literacy and he has moved into the digital world with his blog.  Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – His family -- his parents and grand parents, who inspired his love of learning. A pivotal person was and made him believe in himself was his 7th grade English teacher, Mrs. Ekstrand, who took him from shy Chris and made him believe in himself. Caroline Wagner, at NYU, also believed in him and noticed that the way he listened to kids is sp

Dan Sharkovitz English Teacher/Department Chair -- Martha's Vineyard Regional High School    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Dan has been teaching at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School since 1979. He began is teaching career at the Beacon Hill School in Boston before he officially became a teacher.  Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – John Morelli was his first department chair at MVRHS and gave him his opportunity. He was always willing to listen and made Dan feel that his ideas were worth listening to and valued. The second was Ken McCrory, who gave feedback on a paper Dan wrote in grad school. Ken wrote three pages (single spaced) of notes in response to the paper. It wasn't about fulfilling a rubric. It was the most thoughtful response that Dan had ever received. It showed how much he cared about his students. It is important for other teachers to know that

James Cross English Teacher -- Lakewood High School/ Director of AP Oxford Academy    Segment I – Background and Inspiration Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – This is his 40th year in the classroom. He was hired over the telephone in 1974... sight unseen at St. John Bosco High School. At Bosco he was allowed to grow professionally, becoming the department chair. He left there is 2000 because he wanted to stay in the classroom and not become principal. He is now at Lakewood High School, where he also coaches soccer, which he has done since he began teaching. Through it all, the students have allowed him to endure and prevent teacher burnout.  Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – He was taught by great teachers himself. His  5th grade teacher -- Sister Patricia -- was an early influence. She had 47 students in the class and had a handle on everything. He went to a Franciscan brother high school who were always re

 Ariel Sacks   8th grade ELA teacher at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School (NY)    Segment I – Background and Inspiration   Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?    – Ariel has been teaching for 10 years. She is currently at Brooklyn Prospect Charter School where she teaches 8th grade English. Before that she taught at two NYC DOE schools both of which were high-needs schools that served 100% poverty populations.   Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher?   – She had unbelievable training at Bank Street College. In particular, Madeline Ray, who was her mentor, also served as a prolonged influence, mentoring her for an additional two years when she began her teaching career.       It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience.   – In Ariel's first year she asked her students re

Kathy Thomas  English teacher   Paradise High School (CA) Segment I – Background and Inspiration    Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What   classes have you taught?    – Kathy went to Arizona State and was originally a business major but took a lot of language classes, especially French, and became a teacher of foreign languages for the first 12 years of her career. Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher?   – Not one specific person... a lot of people put her under their wing. Her math colleagues taught her organization and served as voices of comfort.      It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in which you struggled as a teacher and explain what you learned from that experience.   – Early in a career, while doing a lesson on telling time, only one student was paying attention. The clock that she had, made of card stock, hit the one student that was paying attention. But she

GRANT WIGGINS Segment I – Background and Inspiration   Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching? What classes have you taught?  – Grant's first teaching experience was as a sophomore in high school when his math teacher had to attend a wedding and asked him to run the class (back in the day when you could do those kinds of things). Some of his peers gave him grief and it led to an epiphany. It made him realized how difficult it was to teach. Later, in life he was motivated by the need to make learning an exciting activity, not boring. He taught for 15 years and now is a leader in curriculum development.   Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? – His father was in the foreign service so he had a diverse experience with school. Then, having gone to St. John's College, the so-called Great Books school, so he appreciated the importance of Socratic Seminar early on. He saw the power of giving students responsibility at the board or in student-led discussion ra

 Carol Jago  Nov. 18, 2013    Segment I – Background and Inspiration    Tell your story. Where are you from and how long have you been teaching?  What classes have you taught?   -- She started student teaching, which turned into her first job because the master  teacher called in sick and never returned. That turned into a 32-year career teaching     middle and high school English in Santa Monica, California. She had the same desk for  27 years.   Who has helped you in your journey to become a master teacher? -- Bill Clawson, 20 years her senior, took her under his wing. While he was different in size -- 6'3", 250 pounds -- and style it was the approach that he shared with her. It was the daily conversations of reflective practice that really made the difference. This is something she discusses in her book, With Rigor for All, Second Edition: Meeting Common Core Standards for Reading Literature   It is important for other teachers to know that we all have had setbacks in the classroom. Identify an instance in