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Extended Length Courses
Extended length courses are a series of six to eight connected workshops that meet throughout a semester or school year. Experts from academic institutions, local organizations, and from within the MƒA Master Teacher community engage MƒA teachers in topics at the cutting edge of their content area and/or pedagogical practice.
Building Learning Communities in Our
Classrooms p Facilitators: MƒA Master Teachers Scott Gallagher, Ph.D., and Anoopa Singh
THURSDAYS, SEP 30, OCT 28, DEC 2, FEB 10, MAR 31, APR 28
MƒA INQUIRY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP
How might we tap into our students’ pre-existing sense of community to develop a collaborative and engaged community of learners in our classrooms? In this course, we will identify which community connections exist in our classrooms and determine what conditions thwart or support our students’ growth. We will craft vision statements for how a class community should look; critically examine how our class communities function; and create, implement, and refine an action plan for reaching our vision. In the fall, we will focus on how to give our communities a much-needed fresh start and how to give students agency and ownership over membership. Throughout the spring, we will reassess our classrooms’ needs and reflect on how the community authentically grows and transitions. This course will function like a year-long PLT, with a structure of collaborative inquiry around our guiding question, grounded by a selection of texts on learning communities. We will encourage shared facilitation as we nurture our learning community. Teachers of all subjects and grade levels are welcome to participate.
Dr. Scott Gallagher is an MƒA Master Teacher and mathematics teacher at J.H.S. 383 Philippa Schuyler in Brooklyn.
Anoopa Singh is an MƒA Master Teacher and science teacher at Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics in Manhattan.
Caste: Reckoning With Our History and Changing
the Future p Facilitators: MƒA Master Teachers Leton Hall and Andrea Kung
MONDAYS, OCT 4, OCT 18, NOV 1, NOV 15, NOV 29, DEC 13
ONLINE INQUIRY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP + PLEASE NOTE: TEACHERS ARE EXPECTED TO PURCHASE A COPY OF CASTE BY ISABEL WILKERSON, AND CAN BE REIMBURSED THROUGH THE MƒA FLEX FUNDS PROGRAM.
Are you ready to dig deeper into the history of race in our country and its effects on our educational system? If so, join us as we explore race and equity in our classrooms through the lens of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. There will be varying levels of discomfort with this text depending on each reader’s understanding and comfort with their racial identity. We will work to create a safe space where all are prepared to dive deep into the conversation. This text will be used as the framework for accessing why educational and racial inequities exist and deepening our own racial identities in the process. We will discuss, investigate, and analyze race and the educational system as a whole with the expectation that we can work on things within the locus of our control and enact change in our classrooms, and possibly even our schools and communities. This course is for teachers who are willing to be self-critical, recognize areas of growth within their own practices, and believe that even if we can’t change our pasts, we can change the future!
Leton Hall is an MƒA Master Teacher and science teacher at Pelham Gardens Middle School in the Bronx.
Andrea Kung is an MƒA Master Teacher and mathematics teacher at Urban Academy Laboratory High School in Manhattan.
The Construction and Implications of the High
School Dropout Rate p Facilitator: MƒA Master Teacher Shana Elizabeth Henry, Ph.D.
TUESDAYS, OCT 5, NOV 9, DEC 7, JAN 11, FEB 8, MAR 8, APR 5, MAY 3
MƒA INQUIRY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP
Every single year, approximately 1.2 million students do not earn a high school diploma. This raises many questions including: How are high school dropout rates constructed? Are these rates important? If so, to whom? If 75.9% graduate and 7.5% don’t finish, what about the remaining 16.6% of students? Who’s accountable for reporting accurate rates? In this extended length course, we will explore the construction and implications of the high school dropout rate using components of the facilitator’s dissertation, “Keeping Count of All and Losing Count of a Few: The Construction of the High School Dropout Rate.” The first four sessions will look at the theory and literature around high school completion rates, exploring NYC as a case study and also coming to understand a quantitative overview of this data on a national level. In the final four sessions, we will collaboratively examine the implications of public school statistics, how they impact our work, and the action steps we can take to improve educational outcomes for our students. Together, we will explore these topics and use our experience as teachers to forge a path forward. This course is for all teachers who want to delve deep into research that focuses on the accountability of public school statistics.
Dr. Shana Elizabeth Henry is an MƒA Master Teacher and computer science teacher at James Baldwin School: A School for Expeditionary Learning in Manhattan.
Hard Conversations on Race and Equity
Continued: Support for Teacher Leaders p Facilitators: Lindsey Charles and MƒA Master Teacher Sharine Stevenson
WEDNESDAYS, SEP 29, OCT 6, DEC 1, JAN 5, FEB 9, MAR 9, APR 6, MAY 4
MƒA & ONLINE INQUIRY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP + PLEASE NOTE: PRIORITY REGISTRATION WILL BE GIVEN TO TEACHERS WHO HAVE TAKEN THE INTRODUCTORY LEVEL COURSES WITH LINDSEY CHARLES. THIS IS A HYBRID COURSE. SESSIONS 1, 3, 4, 7, AND 8 WILL TAKE PLACE IN-PERSON AT MƒA. SESSIONS 2, 5, AND 6 WILL TAKE PLACE VIRTUALLY.
Talking about race and racism is hard… LEADING that conversation in your school or other professional spaces may be even harder. In this year-long course, teachers will find a team of educators, dedicated to learning, building on, and practicing skills that can help teachers lead conversations that will influence the culture of their schools. Throughout this course, we will learn activities that support equity work, identify the risk levels associated with each activity, learn protocols to engage in hard conversations, and explore how to facilitate conversations with adults with various perspectives who are entering into (and possibly resisting) the conversation around equity. In addition, teachers will have the opportunity to facilitate activities and give and receive feedback from each other. This course is a great opportunity to share space and resources with colleagues who are taking the lead in facilitating this crucial work around equity, racial justice, and antioppression in their schools. This course is intended for teachers who are supporting and leading conversations about race and racism in school settings.
Lindsey Charles is a consultant for Vision Change Win where she works with clients on a variety of issues, including conflict resolution and mediation, restorative practice policies and protocols, diversity and inclusion strategies, and physical and verbal de-escalation. She is a licensed social worker and a certified health coach with over 10 years of non-profit experience. She is also the Associate Director of Support Services at Federation Employment Guidance Services (FEGS) where she Sharine Stevenson is an MƒA Master Teacher and science teacher at City-As-School in Manhattan.
How to Design Project-Based Learning Curriculum
Facilitators: MƒA Master Teachers John Derian and Cristina Rade-Anderson, Ph.D.
THURSDAYS, SEP 30, OCT 14, OCT 28, NOV 18, DEC 9, JAN 13
MƒA INQUIRY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP
Project-based learning (PBL) gives students a greater sense of purpose for the “why” of learning -- especially when the product has an impact in their community or their lives. As a result, teachers often see engagement and deeper learning increase during project-based classroom experiences. In this extended length course, teachers will use PBL design and evaluation tools, experience learning protocols and strategies they can incorporate into the curriculum, explore ways to align the projects with specific content and skills, and (if applicable) align their PBL unit with Regents standards and content. We will also examine what assessment looks like in a PBL classroom, how to scaffold and differentiate PBL to support all learners, and how to incorporate project management strategies to help support students throughout the unit. These topics and more will be explored collaboratively and purposefully to inform the project teachers will design over our six sessions. By the end of this course teachers will leave with a high-quality PBL unit to implement in their class. This course is for teachers who are interested in developing a new PBL unit or iterating on an existing PBL unit.
John Derian is an MƒA Master Teacher and science teacher at Brooklyn International High School in Brooklyn.
Dr. Cristina Rade-Anderson is an MƒA Master Teacher and science teacher at Frank McCourt High School in Manhattan.
Restructuring Resilience
WEDNESDAYS, NOV 3, DEC 8, JAN 26, MAR 9, MAY 4
MƒA INQUIRY, PRACTICE, AND LEADERSHIP + PLEASE NOTE: TEACHERS ARE EXPECTED TO PURCHASE A COPY OF ONWARD BY ELENA AGUILAR, AND CAN BE REIMBURSED THROUGH THE MƒA FLEX FUNDS PROGRAM.
How might we cultivate resilience within ourselves and think critically about advice given to teachers about resilience from beyond the classroom? The goal of this year-long course is to strengthen (or rediscover) our collective resilience by examining, revising, and implementing the advice given in Elena Aguilar’s Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators. Over our five sessions, we’ll read the advice offered by Aguilar and others with a critical lens, and flex our resilience muscles by rewriting the “rules” to work for us. If you are in need of support beyond your STEM content, and looking for a sustainable balance, this course is for you. It’s also for those who have felt like giving up, needed a push to get their teaching and personal life in order, or struggled to sustain themselves.
Jamie Kubiak is an MƒA Master Teacher and science teacher at Park East High School in Manhattan.
Anoopa Singh is an MƒA Master Teacher and science teacher at Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics in Manhattan.
