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Autism Acceptance Month

Last year The Autism Society of America changed April’s designation of Autism Awareness Month to Autism Acceptance Month. “Awareness is knowing that somebody has autism. Acceptance is when you include (a person with autism) in your activities,” said the organization’s president and CEO Christopher Banks. That’s precisely the premise behind the fellowship of three Connecticut…

Fellow Friday – World Cultures Edition

To introduce you to our newest grant recipients, we’ve started Fellow Friday. Last week, we highlighted fellowships focused on health and well-being. Because April is Arab American Heritage Month, we thought we’d share the plans of teachers who will explore various world cultures this summer with their Fund for Teachers grants… Click here for a…

The Power of Mentoring

One of the most unique aspects of Fund for Teachers is how our Fellows (9,000+ to date) support each other. From providing feedback on potential Fellows’ applications to collaborating in Innovation Grant Circles, Fund for Teachers is an organization of teachers, for teachers. Perhaps the best example of this reciprocal relationship is our mentor program,…

Renewing Faith In Oneself

We’re in the middle of Arab American History Month, but Karina Escajeda‘s impact on education is just getting started. We asked her to share how her fellowship completing Arabic language & cultural immersion in Egypt informed her career trajectory that led to her work with the Curacao Ministry of Education through the US State Department……

Fund for Teachers’ Newest Grant Recipients

Last week, Fund for Teachers announced the names of 296 public, private and charter school teachers chosen to receive $1.19 million in grants for self-designed summer fellowships and experiential learning this summer. Click here for a complete list of grant recipients. Fund for Teachers is the only grant in the country that trusts teachers to…

Have the Difficult Conversation

As an FFT Fellow, I reached out to ask if I could share a post with all of you. The first generation of my Ukrainian family born in the United States, my heart aches as Russia’s invasion unfolds. Mine is an activist family – we fought for human rights in Ukraine, raised funds for humanitarian…

Student Equity & Self-Efficacy

Over the course of my career, I have observed the wide variety of background experiences that students bring to school and how those experiences impact learning. The more confident and savvy learners tend to get the lions’ share of the time, resources, and attention; these same students tend to be from stable homes rarely impacted…

Who Deserves to be in a Museum?

I teach three levels of English Learners: those emerging from the Newcomer program those who have been in the country 4-7 years, and those who have not reached English fluency after more than seven years of American schooling. Students in that last group — known as Long Term English Learners (LTELs) — may have been…

Making the Grade — Differently

“Will this be on the test?” “Can I get extra credit?” “Are you going to grade this?” Teachers can attest that these questions come up all the time as we introduce assignments, discuss grades, and present new material. We might get frustrated with students, feeling like they are only focused on what will be quantified,…

Letter to a Future Leader

Last week, we announced our second year of Innovation Circle Grants — an opportunity specifically for Fund for Teachers Fellows to pursue and create solutions, first independently and then collaboratively, to challenges they see in the classroom using a $1,000 grant. A defining aspect of these Circles is the fact that they are LED by FFT…

A $300 Grant + Harvard = Meaningful Math

Bette Sloane (Mineola High School – Garden City Park, NY) applied to join the Equity Innovation Circle last year because she wanted to figure out how to elevate the minuscule cross section of famous mathematicians representing her students of color. “If students do not see themselves represented in mathematicians,” she asked, “how can they see…

We Need You…to Lead a Circle

What are Innovation Circles? Innovation Circles is a new grant program at Fund for Teachers (FFT) designed to stimulate and enrich teacher innovation. Through self-designed learning experiences and virtual Circle meetings, Fellows have the funds and collaborative peer support to design outside of the box. What do Lead Fellows Do? As a Lead Fellow for…

Innovation Circles Grant 2.0

Building on the success of our inaugural grants specifically for FFT Fellows, we are excited to launch our second year of $1,500 Innovation Circle Grants. Based on Fellow feedback, we refined this year’s Circle topics and decreased the number of Fellows per circle to enhance interactivity and collaboration. Applications for 2022 Innovation Circle Grants open…

Highlighting Humanity

Joey Cumagun, a veteran special education teacher, seeks the human potential in every student of every ability. Through community-based instruction providing students with real life experiences, Joey helps prepare students aged 18-22 years old for their next steps in life. With a $1,000 Fund for Teachers Innovation Grant, Joey completed an online course on Teaching…

A Legacy of Learning

COVID continues to wreak havoc on schools and challenge teachers, parents and students alike. But an earlier global pandemic also thwarted (kind of) the plans of FFT Fellows Kerensa Elzy, Andy Gomez and Eric Bethel. In 2009, as the teaching team designed a Fund for Teachers fellowship to learn more about the Singapore Math concept,…

Releasing the Reins

Are you an Amazing Race fan? We’re pulling for these teachers in CBS’ 33rd season, airing on Wednesday nights. Akbar Cook Sr. is the principal of Newark West Side High School, where his wife, Sheri, teaches. Since they started the school’s “Lights On” program to provide a safe place for students from 6 am to…

Remembering Jane — and William, and Laurence…

As part of a partnership with Wesleyan University, my high school’s Humanities program exposes students to a wide variety of reading at a very rigorous level. Many of the students in my classes lack the cultural, historical, and literary background to effectively access texts at this high level of rigor. Wesleyan faculty present college level…

Adding Story to WWII History

On the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, we appreciate these words and plans of FFT Fellow Patrick McCarney (Stonington High School – Stonington, CT). Patrick is a 25-year teaching veteran who teaches a variety of social studies courses to 100 students, including two sophomore classes called Great Movements of the Sixties, two…