“We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present.”

This excerpt from New York Times bestseller The Body Keeps the Score resonates with Michelle Moyer and her students for different reasons. During Michelle’s fifteen-year career as an elementary teacher, she experienced domestic abuse and subsequent diagnoses of Multiple Sclerosis and breast cancer. Her second graders at Mohegan Elementary in Uncasville, CT, also exhibit physical symptoms of trauma caused by a different set of issues, including:

• being bullied by sibling with no adult intervention
• witnessing arguments and verbal abuse between divorced parents
• fear of caregivers, and
• parents’ substance abuse and serious health issues.

“Due to my own life experience with trauma and anxiety, I can identify and understand many of the [trauma-induced] behaviors the students are exhibiting,” wrote Michelle in her grant proposal. “I know the challenges and difficulties associated with processing and moving past these feelings and I want to help my students successfully conquer, or in the very least, begin their journey to conquer them.”

Their mutual path to wholeness involved a Fund for Teachers grant and a rowboat.

Last summer with a $5,000 grant, Michelle learned to row a single shell on lakes in Italy. She designed this unique fellowship to engage in personal trauma recovery as a role model for students with trauma and to revise a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum using skills and strategies learned to build a safe, supportive classroom community.

Rowing with a local club was already playing a role in Michelle’s recovery. The activity aligned with the four steps to trauma recovery documented in Dr. Jennifer Sweeton’s book Trauma Treatment Toolbox by:

1. Providing a safe space of acceptance and individuality;
2. Fostering community, healthy connections, and a sense of belonging;
3. Helping to realign emotional systems, and;
4. Igniting a new self to dream and hope for a joyful and successful future.

Designing this particular fellowship was the next step for her and her students.

“My fellowship provided intensive, guided instruction with a one-on-one coach designed to focus on skills such as self-trust, risk-taking, adapting to unfamiliar circumstances, physical challenges, asking for help, receiving constructive criticism, trusting someone else, potential trauma triggers, and facing failures,” said Michelle. “It encompassed the same four steps I want my students to experience, so this grant supported my own journey through trauma to inform and increase understanding of my students with trauma.”

“My very first day of rowing, was in a coastal boat, which I had zero experience in. I was soooo nervous!” she said. “It was also one of the hottest days of the summer. Being nervous, and now fearing my MS may come into play due to the heat, I hesitated. I paused, took some mindful moments, processed my fear, and said ‘I will NOT allow fear to take this from me.’ I got in the boat. Acclimating to the boat, I began to row. I began to row strong! Best Rowing! Best Rowing! the Italian coach cheered!”

Michelle is now modeling for her students what resiliency and healing look like. She’s also refining an SEL curriculum that includes specific activities to help students begin to think about, define, and create a positive self-identity.

“I want to show them the possibilities truly are endless for their young selves, IF they ALLOW themselves to try!” Michelle said. “Through journals, role play, read alouds, discussions (I researched, bought, and organized many new books), and relationships (making sure I dedicate time to talk and listen to each student), I am committed to connecting and discovering the needs of each student.”

She is also leveraging her personal growth to see her students through a new lens and guide a pedagogy switch from behavior management to behavior modification. “No more reacting to behaviors,” she said, “but leaning-in to them with the student to understand ‘the why.’”

“Through therapy, personal reflection, and exercise I am only now discovering myself, my authentic self,” said Michelle. “It has been a long and difficult journey, but very rewarding. One that equipped me to help my students on a new level — especially vital in this new world of pandemics. I want to be that one person, that one place, where my students have the chance to find out how the beautiful the world really is!”

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Michelle Moyer is a second-grade teacher who has taught in Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. She believes teaching and learning in the elementary classroom should be meaningful, integrative, value-based, challenging, and active. Michelle empowers her students through comprehensive SEL and restorative practices, collaborative environments, and high standards. A teacher for 15 years, her career accomplishments include being an FFT Fellow and earning a master’s degree in education.

The post Teaching Trauma Recovery by Example first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

“It has been almost 80 years since the end of WWII and the horrors of the Holocaust. The survivors of a people’s systematic and institutional genocide are passing away, and their stories are being forgotten. However, the perpetration of genocide and intolerance continues throughout our world. Unfortunately, it seems that the lessons of the past have been pushed aside at times. It is the duty of every educational institution, including our own, to teach and remind students of the history so that they, and those who come after them, actively speak and work to prevent such events from happening again.”

These were the first sentences of the grant proposal submitted by Sandi Burgess and Marymargaret Mineff, teachers at Chicago’s Morgan Park Academy. With a $10,000 Fund for Teachers grant last summer, they gathered materials, impressions, and insights pertaining to the Holocaust across eight European countries to inform the creation of a student-led podcast series around the Five Steps to Genocide.

They shaped their itinerary based on Holocaust sites of deportation, cultural and artistic loss, memorialization and remembrance, and/or forced labor and experimentation with the goal of providing students with primary resources connected to themes of identity, choice, and responsibility. Experiencing sites in Germany, Poland, Austria, Czechia, Hungary, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France surfaced more than historical awareness.

“I think that while I was going through all of these different countries, I saw how each country had chosen to address their truth by maybe not taking away their bias,” Sandi reflected. “As a history teacher I am constantly trying to view history through so many lenses and to address my own bias and saw the result of what happens when you don’t.”

“I know a lot about the Holcaust from scholarly study, but seeing these spaces really made me look differently at the ‘facts’ as I know them,” added Marymargaret. “For example, we could not figure out why Budapest was so ‘different’ from the other places we visited and stayed until we realized that 95% of Budapest Jews did not survive and so the ‘ghetto’ never was repopulated after the war.”

Students are now using these materials in their research and scriptwriting as they curate a series of episodes outlining the history of the Holocaust for middle school and high school peers.

“Our school has a new makerspace and expanded technology center, which contains a small recording studio with video and audio capabilities,” the teachers explained. “Students are using this studio to produce the podcast series. We are also collaborating with our IT and music/broadcasting teacher, who will also be bringing back our
in-house internet radio station.”

Teams of students are now in the process of creating and producing 12-15 episodes on one of five topics:

1. Resistance
2. Rescuers
3. Cultural Genocide
4. Children as Victims, and,
5. Remembrance and Memorialization

Today, for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Marymargaret and Sandi’s middle school students remembered those who died in the Holocaust with a special ceremony. Students created luminary bags for individuals using small biography cards distributed by the United States Holocaust Museum and Memorial to create their own symbols of remembrance.

“Holocaust education is important and has been important for a long time, but I feel an especially urgent call for Holocaust education in today’s world,” Sandi said. “I hope that from this unit and its projects, our students will share what they have learned with their families and friends. I also hope that their podcast series is a hit and is used by other schools and organizations seeking to help middle level students understand the significance of this history.”

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Marymargaret and Sandi documented their fellowship on Instagram. For more of their learning and photographs, visit @sburgessmpa.

The post Remembering the Holocaust first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

“We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present.”

This excerpt from New York Times bestseller The Body Keeps the Score resonates with Michelle Moyer and her students for different reasons. During Michelle’s fifteen-year career as an elementary teacher, she experienced domestic abuse and subsequent diagnoses of Multiple Sclerosis and breast cancer. Her second graders at Mohegan Elementary in Uncasville, CT, also exhibit physical symptoms of trauma caused by a different set of issues, including:

• being bullied by sibling with no adult intervention
• witnessing arguments and verbal abuse between divorced parents
• fear of caregivers, and
• parents’ substance abuse and serious health issues.

“Due to my own life experience with trauma and anxiety, I can identify and understand many of the [trauma-induced] behaviors the students are exhibiting,” wrote Michelle in her grant proposal. “I know the challenges and difficulties associated with processing and moving past these feelings and I want to help my students successfully conquer, or in the very least, begin their journey to conquer them.”

Their mutual path to wholeness involved a Fund for Teachers grant and a rowboat.

Last summer with a $5,000 grant, Michelle learned to row a single shell on lakes in Italy. She designed this unique fellowship to engage in personal trauma recovery as a role model for students with trauma and to revise a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum using skills and strategies learned to build a safe, supportive classroom community.

Rowing with a local club was already playing a role in Michelle’s recovery. The activity aligned with the four steps to trauma recovery documented in Dr. Jennifer Sweeton’s book Trauma Treatment Toolbox by:

1. Providing a safe space of acceptance and individuality;
2. Fostering community, healthy connections, and a sense of belonging;
3. Helping to realign emotional systems, and;
4. Igniting a new self to dream and hope for a joyful and successful future.

Designing this particular fellowship was the next step for her and her students.

“My fellowship provided intensive, guided instruction with a one-on-one coach designed to focus on skills such as self-trust, risk-taking, adapting to unfamiliar circumstances, physical challenges, asking for help, receiving constructive criticism, trusting someone else, potential trauma triggers, and facing failures,” said Michelle. “It encompassed the same four steps I want my students to experience, so this grant supported my own journey through trauma to inform and increase understanding of my students with trauma.”

“My very first day of rowing, was in a coastal boat, which I had zero experience in. I was soooo nervous!” she said. “It was also one of the hottest days of the summer. Being nervous, and now fearing my MS may come into play due to the heat, I hesitated. I paused, took some mindful moments, processed my fear, and said ‘I will NOT allow fear to take this from me.’ I got in the boat. Acclimating to the boat, I began to row. I began to row strong! Best Rowing! Best Rowing! the Italian coach cheered!”

Michelle is now modeling for her students what resiliency and healing look like. She’s also refining an SEL curriculum that includes specific activities to help students begin to think about, define, and create a positive self-identity.

“I want to show them the possibilities truly are endless for their young selves, IF they ALLOW themselves to try!” Michelle said. “Through journals, role play, read alouds, discussions (I researched, bought, and organized many new books), and relationships (making sure I dedicate time to talk and listen to each student), I am committed to connecting and discovering the needs of each student.”

She is also leveraging her personal growth to see her students through a new lens and guide a pedagogy switch from behavior management to behavior modification. “No more reacting to behaviors,” she said, “but leaning-in to them with the student to understand ‘the why.’”

“Through therapy, personal reflection, and exercise I am only now discovering myself, my authentic self,” said Michelle. “It has been a long and difficult journey, but very rewarding. One that equipped me to help my students on a new level — especially vital in this new world of pandemics. I want to be that one person, that one place, where my students have the chance to find out how the beautiful the world really is!”

[minti_divider style=”1″ icon=”” margin=”20px 0px 20px 0px”]

Michelle Moyer is a second-grade teacher who has taught in Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. She believes teaching and learning in the elementary classroom should be meaningful, integrative, value-based, challenging, and active. Michelle empowers her students through comprehensive SEL and restorative practices, collaborative environments, and high standards. A teacher for 15 years, her career accomplishments include being an FFT Fellow and earning a master’s degree in education.

The post Teaching Trauma Recovery by Example first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

Q: For middle schoolers, acceptance can be as elusive as the next TikTok dance. What made you think that biking could unite this age group and, specifically, students who have Autism Spectrum Disorders and those who do not?

A: For many of our students, not just those with spectrum disorders, typical team sports don’t work for them.  That in itself is unifying.  Everyone in the bike club belongs to a team with the goal of personal growth.   Kids see more in common than differences.

Additionally, the practice groupings are based on skill sets which allow for everyone to have a starting point based on their comfort level.  Challenges students with ASD face are well camouflaged during mountain biking because the overall skill sets of participants are so diverse that no one particular individual stands out from the rest.  Overall, the participants are all having such a good time challenging themselves and enjoying the mountain biking experience that a student’s impairments go unnoticed by their peers.

Q: Five years ago, you collaborated with a non-profit cycling organization to create the school’s cycling club and today it’s the largest in the state with more than 60 members, the majority of whom are special education and/or “504 students” who have a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity.” How has this outlet impacted these students?

A: Anxiety, inattention, feelings of failure, and academic disabilities are obstacles many students with autism associate with school. These obstacles prevent them from crossing peer/friend barriers and taking risks. During cycling, those obstacles are removed and replaced with opportunities for new friendships and an appreciation of their uniqueness. Students who have not felt success in other organized sports come to cycling and are invested in their team and love to ride.

Socially, interactions between students in our social/emotional and autism classrooms and their typical peers happen organically on the bike trails. One example is when an academically gifted student struggled with a log on the trail; the student with autism was the one teaching and demonstrating; mentoring roles were reversed. Another example are twin girls who on the team who have difficultly speaking in specific social settings. After a race one of the girls pulled me aside and said she wore a shirt under her bike jersey that read “I love my team!” Her sister wore a special shirt under her jersey that read “Best Day Ever!” They take risks on the trails and it carries over to the classroom.

Q: What was the catalyst behind your Fund for Teachers proposal?

A: We are fortunate to have so many bikes for students to ride, but the maintenance of bikes has presented a significant challenge for us. There are often times when bikes need repairs, and we have to transport bikes to our local bike shop. This leaves a rider without a bike. The shop mechanic comes to our school when we host races, but there is a greater need for repairs and maintenance on a near-daily basis. There have also been times when we needed to change flat tires or put a chain back on a freewheel to get a rider back on the bike. These basic jobs piqued the interest of several students and this sparked the idea for students to take over basic maintenance. Our special education students who might not feel comfortable on the trails could be part of the team by keeping the bikes in working order.

Q: Describe what you and two colleagues will be pursuing this summer with your $10,000 grant.

A: We want to learn and then teach the students how to repair bikes. This will expand the cycling club to students who may not ride but like to fix things and work with their hands. The Principal of our school would like to expand our cycling repair into the school day for students on the autism spectrum and in our social-emotional classrooms. A larger plan is for a winter maintenance club for all students, a special needs opportunity for students to help us with bike and helmet cleaning and inventory, and a prevocational option for students during the school day. The FFT grant is allowing our team to go to the Barnett Bike Institute in Colorado Springs to attend a week-long bike assembly and maintenance class. There we’ll become certified for basic assembly and maintenance of bikes.

Q: Then what?

A: Once we learn the basics, we will be able to teach our students how to initially tune-up and adjust our fleet of bikes. This addresses our immediate need for bike repair and maintenance of our fleet. On non-riding days, the “mechanic team” will teach a small group of interested students predetermined maintenance skills. The greatest impact on students would be authentic learning for an authentic purpose. Students who in the past may not have connected with their peers would learn a useful and valuable skill to help their peers.

Another part of the plan is to add two or three bike stands into special education and general education classrooms by the spring of the next school year. Students are naturally curious and will ask questions about the stands and bikes; student-driven learning can occur. Some students on the autism spectrum or who have emotionally impactful obstacles to classroom participation can participate in cycling maintenance for the school. Our Principal envisions cycling maintenance creating prevocational opportunities and ways to make valuable contributions and connections beyond the classroom.

Q: How do you see this fellowship ultimately impacting your community?

A: The learning and teaching will not end with middle school. Part of our long-term plan is to have former middle school “wrenches” in high school come back to support our new middle school “wrenches.” This cycle will keep our program sustainable by addressing our bike maintenance needs. We will tap into our high school mentors as a resource and role models. Inclusion of high school students will create a cycle of students who become mentors and support our sustainability.

The ultimate community outreach and connection will be with a bike fix-it-shop. Students will repair donated bikes and give them back to children in the community without a safe bike to ride.  Receiving this grant is the starting point for actualizing the possibilities.

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To learn more about the Ledyard Middle School Bike Club and how a Fund for Teachers grant will strengthen its’ success, listen to this episode of Fund for Teachers: The Podcast.

The post Autism *Acceptance* Month first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

Standing before the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap]

Why did you design this particular fellowship?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]

Given the current political climate of our country, teaching civic education in schools is imperative. Students need to not only learn what it means to be a citizen, but also what it means to be an active and engaged citizen who strives to make a positive impact on their
communities and nation.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap]

Can you describe a specific moment from your fellowship that is particularly memorable?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]

One experience I had during my fellowship was learning about my own family members who were some of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama. Words cannot express the pride I felt when I saw my two uncles, Ulysses Blackmon, Jr. and James Gildersleeve, featured in an exhibit at the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, AL. Seeing my uncles being honored reminded me that anyone, no matter their social standing, can play a role in the greater collective good.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap]

What are some specific plans you have to implement your fellowship in the classroom?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap] My specific plans are to reintroduce my students to the “Good Citizens” unit that is a part of our curriculum. The goal of this project is for students to identify what a citizen is and develop an understanding of their roles as citizens in the classroom, school, community, state, and nation. The product of this unit will be a multi-media presentation that will be exhibited on our classroom website. I want this unit to be an opportunity for them to learn not only about the roles of citizens in a society, but I also want them to learn that citizenship is a right that has been denied to many. I will do this by specifically focusing on the civil rights denied to African Americans in the American South and their struggle to be recognized as full citizens. Our study of the Civil Rights Movement with a focus on the state of Alabama will allow my students to gain a deeper understanding of how civic engagement can be used as a tool to shape
legislation and pressure lawmakers to protect the rights of all U.S. citizens regardless of their race, class, religion, sexuality, gender, etc. I want my students to see how everyday citizens can unite and organize around a problem and/or injustice in our communities and our society-at-large. My plan is to introduce my students to how citizens can utilize civic engagement strategies to push policy makers to create and implement change for the greater good.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap] What is one way you can leverage your fellowship to create an authentic learning experience for students?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap] I would definitely like to use this fellowship as a means of getting my students more involved with our community. My plan is to get students to start thinking about a problem or injustice within our school community and begin to brainstorm ways to get involved and put their ideas into action. I think allowing my students to determine a problem and figure out ways to address it will allow for them to feel a sense of connection and autonomy regarding how we decide to civically engage.

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]Q[/minti_dropcap] What did your fellowship teach you about teaching peace?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap] My fellowship taught me that achieving peace is always active and never passive and that everyone plays a role. I hope to instill within my students the value of seeing themselves as vital and active stakeholders in the pursuit of peace and justice in our communities, nation, and world.

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Amanda Hope is a K-5th grade Gifted/Talented Program teacher at Nancy Moseley Elementary in Dallas, Texas. Amanda has served as a classroom teacher for nearly 10 years. She most recently received the 2020-2021 Campus Teacher of the Year award at her school. In addition to teaching, Amanda is a senior policy fellow with Teach Plus, an organization that empowers teachers to advocate for policy changes at local, state, and federal levels to increase equitable opportunities for students. You can follow Amanda on @crayonsandsacapuntas.

The post Teaching Peace first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

Fund for Teachers created a new grant that provides the space for teachers to support each other. Beginning in May, select FFT Fellows will meet virtually in Innovation Circles focused on four topics: Social-Emotional Learning, Equity, Art & Design, and Accessibility. A summer of pursuing individual experiences with a $1,000 grant will be bookended with community building, brainstorming, reflection and application — together with and led by the following Fellows:

Social-Emotional Learning

2009 Fellow Beth Mowry (Brooklyn) will co-lead this Innovation Circle alongside 2021 Fellow Megan McCall (Daphne, AL). “I recognize and honor the power inherent in being able to guide a learner to deeper understanding through experiences, a well-timed question or a probing reflection question,” said Beth. “This Circle structure is designed to give learners the Goldilocks amount of support and structure that will lead to incredible innovation. 

Equity

2003 Fellow Mekiva Callahan (Houston) is not only a FFT grant recipient, but also a college professor and administrator. In a variety of classrooms, she’s witnessed the impact a “decentralized” classroom can make. “My classrooms are more participant centered, and that’s what excites me about this format,” she said. “The Circle Structure removes the burden from me to carry the cognitive load shifting to participant centered work. This pedagogical style is ideal, even for a classroom setting, as we will co-construct the learning and reform the curriculum together. We will learn from one another, and that is the most exciting part–what we all take away from the experience.”

Mekiva will co-lead with 2018 Fellow Josh Frost (Brooklyn). “It will be an invaluable learning experience to be able to discuss and help develop projects rooted in these same themes with educators/Fellows outside of New York that teach in diverse communities from around the country,” he said.

Art & Design

2019 Fellow Mia Corvino (Madison, CT) and 2015 Fellow Adam Burns (Troy, MI) brings experience from teaching at Columbia Teachers College and Adam from participating in our Innovation Circle pilot program last fall. “What I really liked was being exposed to so many different ideas. I could try them out, tinker, adapt, ignore, whatever,” he said. “What I love about the circles is they capture that idea of always questioning why you are doing what you are doing, of knowing that things don’t always have to be the way they are.” Mia added, “I am always happiest when I can be a facilitator rather than a lecturer, guiding and helping others to build and brainstorm, to be more creative and think outside the box, and to reflect back to the group what I am hearing and seeing so that they can reach their own conclusions.”

Accessibility

2013 April Chamberlain (Trussville, AL) is stepping up to this cohort. “The community aspect is key for me as I have had the opportunity to be a part of communities that I have taught me, challenged me, and supported my growth,” April said. “I wish to facilitate this experience for others and “coach” rather that lead the educators in the design and implementation of their learning plans.”

“Seeing teachers’ response to this opportunity for collaboration with other Fellows has been so encouraging,” said Liza Eaton, director of Fund for Teachers’ Ramsden Project, a new initiative focused on grant recipients post-fellowship. “Synergizing teachers’ collective years of experience and passion for a topic will result in authentic engagement for all of their students.”

Check back on April 30 for the names of FFT Fellows awarded $1,000 grants to participate in our first season of Innovation Circles.

The post Taking You To Our Leaders first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

“I felt like my life wasn’t real,” she said. “I had titles and positions that sounded interesting. And I felt like a blank slate. My family was proud, but I couldn’t get through the cognitive dissonance of achieving but feeling empty.”

Her next step came from an unlikely source – Craig’s List.

“The Helen Keller School for the Blind placed an ad for volunteers,” Naima said. “When I arrived, the social connectedness was there, the good cause, the good mission. “I think I knew I was on the brink of an aha moment, but had questions about vocational sustainability and  next steps.”

Her answer came quickly. After a few weeks, the principal of Helen Keller saw Naima’s potential and volunteered to write her recommendation for the master’s program in deaf and hard of hearing education at Hunter College. She eventually added this degree to her bachelor’s degree in communications and master’s degree in urban policy and planning to become an itinerant service provider for New York City’s Department of Education. As a teacher in the largest education program in the world serving students who are blind and visually impaired from preschool to 21 years of age, Naima goes onsite to provide braille and advocacy work for students who integrated into a general population setting. She turns print material into braille, either by hand or electronically, and makes tactile models of concepts using embossing tools and haptic construction materials to help students comprehend teachers’ instruction. She also teaches students how to advocate for themselves and ensures that schools are compliant in their educational delivery to this specialized population.

“I make stuff, teach stuff and get out of the way,” she laughed.

To expand the state’s core curriculum and further support her students, Naima used a 2018 Fund for Teachers grant to explore French historic sites attributed to the inventor Louis Braille and investigate French-inspired multisensory, experiential learning opportunities.

Read more about Naima’s fellowship here.

“Not a day that goes by that my students and I are not in proximity to the embossed system of writing Louis created during his life,” said Naima. “This fellowship was a career apex and reaffirmed my passion and sense of purpose within my own vocation.”

This experience, especially a teary eyed moment at Louis Braille’s grave, provided the inspiration to push through a difficult career aspiration – earning certification as a Library of Congress Certified Braille transcriber last fall. Fewer people pass this accreditation than the CPA or the bar percentagewise, making it one of the most difficult certifications to earn in the world.

The moral to Naima’s story? Don’t settle and don’t sell out.

“Sometimes young people jump in and stick in it for too long. I just kept leaving,” she said. “People looked at me like I was bananas when I left Tiffany & Co. and the United Nations. I couldn’t tell them why I left, but I knew I couldn’t stay, but I thought, “If I am dying on a long arc, I don’t want to go out with this being it. There’s a difference between quitting and reclaiming your life.”

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Naima invites everyone to follow virtually the New York City Braille Challenge, on March 8-10, 2021. This annual, city-wide event has four components: the academic competition, a braille experience, parent workshops and interactive activities.

The post The Unlikely Path to a Fulfilling Career first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

FFT Fellows Amanda Kline and Jenny Cooper‘s situation is a little different. They are teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Metro Deaf School in Sant Paul, MN. Metro Deaf School is a pK-12, free public charter school that provides bilingual and interdisciplinary curriculum using ASL and English for students who are primarily Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard-of-Hearing. Enhancing their curriculum are short, timely lessons they create for their YouTube series Did You Know That?!

Amanda (who produces the videos) and Jenny (the host and who is deaf) created a Fund for Teachers 2020 fellowship to document pedagogies of Deaf cultures and communities across Iceland, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland to provide linguistically-accessible primary resources that increase world knowledge for and decrease language gaps of deaf students. Due to COVID, they had to defer their fellowship, but we wanted to touch base now to learn more about their plans through a Q&A interview…

The YouTube segment “Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman’s Speech & Auditory Processing Disorders”

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]In your proposal, you wrote: “Many of our students have grown up with world experiences; but without the language to accompany those experiences, they are unable to process, understand, internalize, or apply their experiences.” When your students experience everything, yet rarely have the language for processing and sharing, how do you build community?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]There is community building in the simple “same as me” experience among students. Empathy is a deep thread that runs throughout our student body DNA. When students transfer to our school at 12 years old having had 12 years of life experience with 0 years of language and are finally given access to ASL to process those experiences, we see so much growth. Then, when other students transfer in after them, those students can come alongside them to support growth. It is also important for them to see how far they’ve come! Taking language sample videos and then showing them those videos 1-2 years later is always a treat!

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]You have 12-year-old in your classes, deaf, 12 years old, and at a 3 year old math and 0 year old reading level, yet within less than two years, you have that student perform at a 5th grade math level and reading at a 3rd grade level. How do you motivate and inspire students with such obstacles to achieve at these levels?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]Honestly, they don’t need extrinsic motivation, it’s an innate need, passion and desire. When they can understand what’s happening, their cognition goes into hyper-speed.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]While your fellowship involves filming historically-significant sites, you also plan to focus on significant elements of the respective deaf communities such as: traditional folklore, celebrations, and language evolution. Can you talk more about that?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]Yes! We are excited to be visiting various Deaf Clubs, Deaf community gatherings, Deaf immigrant immersion programs, and much more. We can’t wait to see how these various cultures incorporate their local cultures and history overlap with Deaf culture and history. For example, by meeting with the Scottish Ethnic Minority Deaf Club, we will experience how members celebrate various diverse people groups within the Deaf community and take away ideas for events, programs, and approaches to be able to apply within our own community.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]Your research will also include interviewing organizations about building community with parents. Why do you feel as though that is vital?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]Students can grow and learn 8 hours a day when they’re with us, but when they go home in the evenings, weekends, and during school breaks, that’s where they need continued education and support in ASL. When families get on board with their child’s newly acquired language, we see significant growth in those students.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]Would you explain the SignPal program and your plans for implementing it with your students?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]We piloted a program like this within our own state a few years ago where we networked with another deaf school. This operated similarly to traditional Pen Pals, but in ASL using sign as opposed to writing in English only. We paired up students based on language levels, then they sent videos back and forth to one another, getting to know another person. We provided guided questions for suggestions. At the end of the academic year, we all met together at a local Deaf club where we had a tour and lesson about the history of the Deaf club, then had lunch together and played games. This proved to be a rich social experience for all students involved and formed lifelong connections. We would like to try a program like that, but to make it an international experience.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]Q[/minti_dropcap]Lastly, how do you foresee your fellowship impacting the Metro School for the Deaf school community?

[minti_dropcap style=”circle”]A[/minti_dropcap]We, as a team, as a school, and as a community, recognize American deaf culture is complicated and we recognize the ways the education system is failing our D/HH students; however, we also recognize our students are full of passion and drive. They need a global deaf identity, including more creatively-designed, visually-engaging, linguistically-accessible resources to be successful in their futures in the global society and marketplace. This experience will lead to opportunities for our students, staff, and community members to analyze their current cultural and educational situations and to problem solve with the support of an expanded global-knowledge. This is not a change that can happen overnight, it requires a community and a culture of first becoming aware of options, then being willing to adapt and change for the future benefit of each individual. Thankfully, the deaf community is a profoundly adaptive group of individuals willing to grow.

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Jenny Cooper (right) teaches American Sign Language and more to deaf/hard of hearing high school students at Metro Deaf School. Her passion comes from her family who are also deaf, making her a third generation deaf person in her family. She obtained her Masters from the only deaf university in the world, Gallaudet University. Amanda Kline teaches deaf and hard of hearing middle school students reading and language arts at Metro Deaf School. She is passionate about making learning exciting, impactful, and memorable. She enjoys combining world knowledge with creative film making and editing to create accessible videos for ASL users throughout the country and world.

The post Q&A with Teachers of D/HH first appeared on Fund for Teachers.

Today, meet Laurel Cardellichio, science teacher at Croton-Harmon High School in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. Currently, she teaches AP Environmental Science and Regents Chemistry, but she’s also taught Biology, Animal Physiology, Forensic Science, and Psychology. Prior to being named a 2020 FFT Fellow, Laurel earned recognition as a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellow, Regeneron STEM Teacher Fellow, and her National Geographic Certification.

On her CardClassroom global education guide/blog, Laurel shares her mission statement:

[minti_blockquote]“Create scientifically and geographically literate students who, have passion for discovery of the natural world around them have the knowledge, the confidence and the skills to communicate ideas respectfully and, have the drive to become positive agents of change as globally competent citizens”[/minti_blockquote]

The Fund for Teachers fellowship Laurel designed, not surprisingly, is right in line with her mission. With her grant, Laurel will research traditional knowledge-based agricultural practices in Italy to create partnerships with local farms and learning that promotes traditional farming methods:

• mitigating climate change
• improving food security, and
• conserving biodiversity.

Laurel explained the reasoning behind this fellowship in her proposal:

“Just like my students, I learn best through experience and I propose to immerse myself in the history and culture of traditional agriculture ecosystems of Italy. There are two Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in Italy designated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). These GIAHS, dominated by olive groves and vineyards in the Umbria and Veneto regions of Italy, provide significant examples of historical and modern human agricultural practices in harmony with nature. The traditional knowledge based practices conducted in these regions date back to the Roman Empire and smallscale family farms are exemplars for sustainability, biodiversity, and climate change mitigation. My teaching practice will be strengthened as I learn how historic food ecosystems reflect culture and sustainable land management, and how modernization and climate change has impacted them.”

Laurel’s goal for her students is for them to learn how sustainable management of agricultural land must be approached as an ecosystem and how that supports the Slow Food Movement. While she will pursue experiences and information across Italy to support this goal, her students’ work will be tied to farms surrounding their school community north of New York City. Three small-scale farms in Westchester County (Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Hilltop Hanover, and Cabbage Hill) will serve as her “homebase” from which she and students will learn best practices and develop mentoring relationships for future research projects.

Her keen interest in land sustainability stems from her personal interest in gardening, professional love of teaching environmental science and unique professional learning experiences.

“As a Regeneron Fellow, I took a course centered on the impacts of climate change on the ability of Athabascan Indians of Alaska to preserve their heritage largely centered on seasonally-based traditional methods for obtaining food,” said Laurel. “When I learned that I was going to Morocco [through the Fulbright program], I immediately started researching environmental issues in the country and the preservation of oases came up. I had never thought beyond movie depictions of the oasis mirage. I am thankful to my host teacher, who brought me to an oasis upon my request. When my research lead me to the GIAHS – completely by surprise – I found out the the FAO also has an interest in preserving human culture in the form of traditional agriculture.”

According to Laurel, the postponement of 2020 grant recipients’ fellowships until next summer gives her that much more time to prepare for an even more meaningful learning experience. COVID permitting, she plans to go ahead with her stateside portion of her fellowship, filming interviews at local farms and aligning her research for use in the classroom this year. This initial contact will lay the groundwork for students’ participation in the farms’ hands on workshops, guided tours and internship opportunities for seniors.

“Although I wish I could have carried out my fellowship this summer, I believe the delay for the Italy part will be very beneficial for multiple reasons. This extra time will allow me to: further develop my video production skills this summer for lesson plans, conduct the local farm research/visits/filming this summer giving me valuable time to better prepare for the two weeks that I will be in Italy ; and learn a lot more Italian so that I may communicate respectfully and effectively to the people I meet on my adventure.”

The post Fellow Friday – Meet Laurel Cardellichio first appeared on Fund for Teachers.