Help 4 Teachers Gain Their Voice
Donation protected
That’s us: Karuna Skariah, NBCT (talented and gifted); Lesley Van Bokkem-Boone, NBCT (2nd grade); Brandie Cole (instructional program coordinator) and Yau-Jong Twu, NBCT (high school physics), four hopeful visionaries, who want to organize a Teacher Leadership Lab event to create a Teacher Action Committee in Prince George’s County Public Schools, a district of 128,000 students, in Maryland. The Teacher Leadership Lab event scheduled for May, 2016, is the first of its kind in the history of Prince George’s County Public Schools!
This is our story:
In the summer of 2015, four teachers who had nothing better but to worry about students, convened to chat about truly speaking to be heard. On weekends and weekdays, in rain and shine, we met to brainstorm ideas and kick around questions. On snow days, we hung out on Google chat, multitasking from the kitchen, amidst domestic bustle of children, pets and spouses, to discuss how teachers could bring their expertise to the policy table. Parents, educators, policy-makers, education researchers, media reporters/ bloggers, and basically everyone, have often asked teachers--Why isn’t Billy doing well? Why are the scores so low? Why aren’t students learning as they should? Why can’t students read, reason, think, act, be 21st century ready? What are you doing to shape the future generation? … such questions are varied and endless. We want to respond, speak the truth, voice our opinions, and share our teaching expertise. Truly, we, teachers, want to provide solutions that shape education policies for the future generation of high functioning workers, reflective leaders, and global citizens. Ask us, teachers! We have ideas, suggestions and solutions to student learning issues because we, meticulously, work through them, each day, every day.
Teachers have questions about the rapidly increasing gap between education policies and classroom instruction, as well. During our intense team discussions, we often pondered:
What if teachers could talk directly to the CEO, Central Administration and the Board of Education? What if the CEO, genuinely, wants to know the climate of the classroom we teach in, like-- How do we instruct our students from diverse backgrounds, with various learning needs? How do we manage when textbooks arrive too late in the year? How do we manage when teaching materials and supplies are so low that we dip into our own income to sustain the quality of our teaching? What instruction related decisions are successful, so they can be replicated? What policies are not working so they can be reviewed? You get the picture. We envision a vibrant, trust-based communication between teachers and policy makers, one that fosters dialogues and collaboration on a regular basis.
Consequently, we formed a 4-member Educator Board Partners team. Our team created a Teacher Action Committee proposal, a first of its kind, information-sharing platform to bring teachers and Central Administration together. Given our compelling argument, we are convinced that our Teacher Action Committee will serve as a model for other education districts, nationwide.
In 2015, our proposal, for a Teacher Action Committee, was selected as an actionable idea by the US Department of Education and National Board sponsored Teach to Lead Initiative. Out of 165 ideas submitted from around the nation, we were one of 30, and the only one from Maryland invited to the Teach to Lead Regional Teacher Leadership Summit 2015, in Seattle, Washington. Our team members, paid to attend the 3-day Summit, where we developed a Logic Model to roll out steps to implementation. Back home, we presented our Action Committee proposal to the Board of Education in Prince George’s County Public Schools and the local educators’ union. Our one-page document evolved into a 7-page proposal after more than 200 voluntary hours of meetings, research, and group chats. After 9 months of planning, we, finally, presented our proposal to Prince George’s County Public Schools’ CEO and his Executive Cabinet on March 22nd , 2016, and invited them to the Teacher Leadership Lab Event.
The Leadership Lab in May, 2016, will be hosted by our team, and facilitated by the US Department of Education, National Boards, and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, aspires to bring together 100 attendees: accomplished teachers, education officials, stakeholders, policymakers, local community partners and media for a common goal—to give teachers a voice in instruction and student learning through a Teacher Action Committee. This Leadership Lab is a culmination of a yearlong effort, activism and vision for teachers to actively shape a future generation of knowledgeable, skillful and responsible citizens.
We don’t have an education super PAC, but we have you, friends, families, and education supporters to help us amplify our voice. We urge you to be a partner in education by donating to our leadership effort--any amount, big or small, will directly fund the Teach to Lead Teacher Leadership Lab activities and essentials, such as, a large conference hall space, food for speakers and attendees, stationary, education materials, digital equipment, and miscellaneous must-haves. We are deeply grateful for your donation.
Please share and spread our work. Thank you.
Team members:
Lesley Van Bokkem-Boone, NBCT
Brandie Cole
Yau-Jong Twu, NBCT
Karuna Skariah, NBCT (Team Lead)
Follow me in Twitter: twitter.com/Kskariah
A special thanks to:
Dr. Dale Rooklin, The Chalkboard Project, our Critical friend
Dr. Eubanks, NEA, our mentor and critical supporter
Greta Nichols Thomas, NBCT, our erudite colleague and first supporter
Ivanna Ajakpo, our high school student member
Prince George's County Public Schools, Md
This is our story:
In the summer of 2015, four teachers who had nothing better but to worry about students, convened to chat about truly speaking to be heard. On weekends and weekdays, in rain and shine, we met to brainstorm ideas and kick around questions. On snow days, we hung out on Google chat, multitasking from the kitchen, amidst domestic bustle of children, pets and spouses, to discuss how teachers could bring their expertise to the policy table. Parents, educators, policy-makers, education researchers, media reporters/ bloggers, and basically everyone, have often asked teachers--Why isn’t Billy doing well? Why are the scores so low? Why aren’t students learning as they should? Why can’t students read, reason, think, act, be 21st century ready? What are you doing to shape the future generation? … such questions are varied and endless. We want to respond, speak the truth, voice our opinions, and share our teaching expertise. Truly, we, teachers, want to provide solutions that shape education policies for the future generation of high functioning workers, reflective leaders, and global citizens. Ask us, teachers! We have ideas, suggestions and solutions to student learning issues because we, meticulously, work through them, each day, every day.
Teachers have questions about the rapidly increasing gap between education policies and classroom instruction, as well. During our intense team discussions, we often pondered:
What if teachers could talk directly to the CEO, Central Administration and the Board of Education? What if the CEO, genuinely, wants to know the climate of the classroom we teach in, like-- How do we instruct our students from diverse backgrounds, with various learning needs? How do we manage when textbooks arrive too late in the year? How do we manage when teaching materials and supplies are so low that we dip into our own income to sustain the quality of our teaching? What instruction related decisions are successful, so they can be replicated? What policies are not working so they can be reviewed? You get the picture. We envision a vibrant, trust-based communication between teachers and policy makers, one that fosters dialogues and collaboration on a regular basis.
Consequently, we formed a 4-member Educator Board Partners team. Our team created a Teacher Action Committee proposal, a first of its kind, information-sharing platform to bring teachers and Central Administration together. Given our compelling argument, we are convinced that our Teacher Action Committee will serve as a model for other education districts, nationwide.
In 2015, our proposal, for a Teacher Action Committee, was selected as an actionable idea by the US Department of Education and National Board sponsored Teach to Lead Initiative. Out of 165 ideas submitted from around the nation, we were one of 30, and the only one from Maryland invited to the Teach to Lead Regional Teacher Leadership Summit 2015, in Seattle, Washington. Our team members, paid to attend the 3-day Summit, where we developed a Logic Model to roll out steps to implementation. Back home, we presented our Action Committee proposal to the Board of Education in Prince George’s County Public Schools and the local educators’ union. Our one-page document evolved into a 7-page proposal after more than 200 voluntary hours of meetings, research, and group chats. After 9 months of planning, we, finally, presented our proposal to Prince George’s County Public Schools’ CEO and his Executive Cabinet on March 22nd , 2016, and invited them to the Teacher Leadership Lab Event.
The Leadership Lab in May, 2016, will be hosted by our team, and facilitated by the US Department of Education, National Boards, and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, aspires to bring together 100 attendees: accomplished teachers, education officials, stakeholders, policymakers, local community partners and media for a common goal—to give teachers a voice in instruction and student learning through a Teacher Action Committee. This Leadership Lab is a culmination of a yearlong effort, activism and vision for teachers to actively shape a future generation of knowledgeable, skillful and responsible citizens.
We don’t have an education super PAC, but we have you, friends, families, and education supporters to help us amplify our voice. We urge you to be a partner in education by donating to our leadership effort--any amount, big or small, will directly fund the Teach to Lead Teacher Leadership Lab activities and essentials, such as, a large conference hall space, food for speakers and attendees, stationary, education materials, digital equipment, and miscellaneous must-haves. We are deeply grateful for your donation.
Please share and spread our work. Thank you.
Team members:
Lesley Van Bokkem-Boone, NBCT
Brandie Cole
Yau-Jong Twu, NBCT
Karuna Skariah, NBCT (Team Lead)
Follow me in Twitter: twitter.com/Kskariah
A special thanks to:
Dr. Dale Rooklin, The Chalkboard Project, our Critical friend
Dr. Eubanks, NEA, our mentor and critical supporter
Greta Nichols Thomas, NBCT, our erudite colleague and first supporter
Ivanna Ajakpo, our high school student member
Prince George's County Public Schools, Md
Organizer
Karuna Skariah
Organizer
Burtonsville, MD