PDK Voices from the Field
May 10, 2019
Throughout the week, we have featured stories from PDK International staff on the teachers who shaped and inspired them. For the final day of Teacher Appreciation Week, see how Kappan Managing Editor/Design & Production Carol Bucheri experienced two generations of great teaching:
“Sometimes you can walk into a classroom and know that the children there feel appreciated, respected, and cared for. Generally there’s a hum of activity, but it’s quiet enough for students to concentrate. No one seems intimidated, no one’s acting out for attention. Clearly everyone is busy learning (although they might call what they’re doing just fun). You know you’re in the presence of a great teacher. That was my 4th grade teacher Mrs. Wagner. And, years later, it was my son’s teacher Mrs. Hall.
My son attended an elementary school with multi-grade classes — a setting that allows children time to develop their skills at an individual pace. But multi-grade classes pose a real challenge to teachers to create an educational setting that can engage a broad range of learners. Mrs. Hall taught a combined 2nd- and 3rd-grade class rich with opportunities for children working at many different levels to explore projects in math and science. Younger students learned to wire a preset light board, advanced students helped younger ones and also used those skills to create their own projects. Mrs. Hall designed a classroom with reading corners, maps, art materials, manipulatives, and areas for individual and group study. A warm and engaging person who really liked children, Mrs. Hall eventually moved on to become the school librarian. A loss to the classroom, but a position that allowed her to reach and engage with even more children each year.
The real genius of these great teachers was not just in how they related to each child, but in their ability to create a learning environment that lifted up all children.”
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Get the Educators Rising Academy Curriculum for 2019-2020 at a 35% Discount
Have you been looking for a comprehensive, fully customizable curriculum for a new or existing intro to education course at your school? The Academy Curriculum (normally $10,000) is available for $6,500 from now until May 31st. Rooted in the Educators Rising Standards, the Educators Rising Academy Curriculum emphasizes fundamental teaching practices that are critical for high school students as they take their first steps on the path to becoming accomplished professionals. The curriculum includes more than 60 lesson topics! The local teacher has the opportunity to select which topics to cover from the Academy program. Additionally, each topic offers three lesson plans of varying lengths (1-period, 3-period, or 5-period), so you can choose how deep you want to explore any given topic.
This includes full access to the digital curriculum for two users, two registrations for teacher training at the 2019 Educators Rising National Conference in Dallas where we will help you customize a scope and sequence, and implementation support from the national office throughout the year.
For more information, please contact Lucy Berrier, Program Manager, Educators Rising, at lberrier@pdkintl.org.
May 9, 2019
The staff of PDK International is permanently indebted to the teachers who shaped our lives. As part of Teacher Appreciation Week, we collected stories of the teachers who changed our life. Today, learn how Director of Development & Engagement Boosaba Tantisunthorn’s teacher helped her overcome the intimidation of a new school:
“My geometry teacher, Mr. Wright, was the bomb! When I was in eighth grade, I was bused to the local high school to take his class. I was intimidated by my surroundings and the high school students in my class. Part of me thought that the subject matter was beyond me, and part of me wanted to fit in with the “cool kids.” After getting straight C’s on my assignments and feeling pretty bad about it, I finally gathered the courage within me to reach out to Mr. Wright for help.
He took the time to help me work through and understand the concepts, and encouraged me to ask as many questions as I needed to. And beyond that, he cared for us as people! Thanks to his support and encouragement, not only did I end up really loving geometry and earning the highest score on the test, but I learned the power of a great teacher who really cares about his students. A fond memory I have is when Mr. Wright went the extra mile to pack my small crew of middle school students (read: nerds) into his van at the end of the semester, so that he could take us through the McDonald’s drive-through. He let us order whatever we wanted! He is a truly special, patient, generous person that definitely left an impression on me.”
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Calling all current and former educators! Join us for three days of professional learning focused on maximizing student outcomes from June 23-25, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, TX. Choose between two tracks centered around curriculum development:
- Creating Systems for Improving Student Achievement
- Developing Quality Curriculum – To improve teaching and learning
These sessions can start you on the track to becoming a curriculum auditor through CMSi Curriculum Audit™ and PDK International. Don’t miss the chance to expand your professional knowledge as well as access new earning opportunities in the education field! Discounts available for PDK members!
In honor of teacher appreciation week, we would like to extend the early bird rate to all educators over the next 2 weeks through May 15th. Register now to take advantage of this great deal!
Visit https://pdkintl.org/audit-training/ for more details and how to register.
May 8, 2019
For Teacher Appreciation Week, we reached out to the staff of PDK International to learn which teacher in their life inspired them the most. Teresa Preston, Kappan Managing Editor/Content, shared the story of the teacher who helped shape her into the writer she is today:
My 9th grade English teacher, Janet Walter, put me on the path to studying literature and seeing myself as a writer. I was a quiet, studious kid who did well in all my classes but rarely got recognized for it. But Mrs. Walter challenged us with our literary analysis papers, and, after our papers were done, she selected mine as the one to share as an exemplar of how to do it right. (Interestingly, she never revealed that it was my paper, but I didn’t mind and was probably better off staying under the radar.) What’s fascinating, though, is that she then took the paper apart with the class, explaining how, even though it fulfilled the assignment and was exactly what she was looking for, there was still lots of room to improve. I learned that day that even excellent work can be better. And that’s exactly what I think my work today as an editor is all about, making good work better.
She’s also the teacher who introduced me to classic literature (Dickens, Shakespeare, etc.). And she coached the academic team that I was on for most of high school. Sadly, she died at the start of my senior year and wasn’t there to guide us when I captained the team, but I thought of her at all our competitions, especially when we trounced a team that defeated us earlier that year in our final tournament. I had so few teachers who really singled me out as a top student, even when I got top grades, and the fact that she did (while also being a teacher with a reputation for being more severe than others) made a huge difference in my confidence.
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Get the Educator Rising Academy Curriculum for 2019-2020 at a 35% Discount
Have you been looking for a comprehensive, fully customizable curriculum for a new or existing intro to education course at your school? The Academy Curriculum (normally $10,000) is available for $6,500 from now until May 31st. Rooted in the Educators Rising Standards, the Educators Rising Academy Curriculum emphasizes fundamental teaching practices that are critical for high school students as they take their first steps on the path to becoming accomplished professionals. The curriculum includes more than 60 lesson topics! The local teacher has the opportunity to select which topics to cover from the Academy program. Additionally, each topic offers three lesson plans of varying lengths (1-period, 3-period, or 5-period), so you can choose how deep you want to explore any given topic.
This includes full access to the digital curriculum for two users, two registrations for teacher training at the 2019 Educators Rising National Conference in Dallas where we will help you customize a scope and sequence, and implementation support from the national office throughout the year.
For more information, please contact Lucy Berrier, Program Manager, Educators Rising, at lberrier@pdkintl.org.
May 7, 2019
In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we reached out to the staff of PDK International to learn which teacher in their life inspired them the most. Throughout the rest of the week, we will be sharing their responses. Today, learn about the teacher who inspired PDK Chief Operating Officer Albert Chen to be a better person:
“Glenn Patchell, AP English, Irvine High School (IHS), 1987 made the difference for me by giving me an identity after living in my sister’s shadow for years. My older sister was valedictorian, would go on as top of her class in electrical engineering at MIT, MD from Johns Hopkins, Dermatology residence at Emory, fellow at Stanford, professor and Vice Chair of Dermatology and many more directorships at Emory today. Similarly my younger brother was chasing me and would also be valedictorian, top of his class at in EE at MIT, UCLA Computer Science, VP at Sapient, and CTO at Buildium.
But you see, I was barely top ten percent in my class and did not go to MIT for EE. At IHS, there was this award given every year to the best student in each course, so there would be a Heritage Medallion for the best in AP History and so forth. My sister had a number of them and my brother as the smartest of the kids, was already poised for a whole lot more. In Advanced Biology, my sister and I happened to be in the same class together; I had the highest scores in the class, and was sure I would get the Heritage Medallion, but it went to my sister because she was a senior and I was only a sophomore. Suffice to say, I was deep in her shadow. Mr. Patchell was my AP English teacher and he had been my sister’s as well. I remember doing well in his class, but always feeling that while I was better than average at a lot of things (not only in my family, but with all of my friends who were the 40 gifted kids ahead of me in the program) I was never the best at any one thing.
Then one day, I had a one-on-one with Mr. Patchell and he told me that I did not live in my sister’s shadow, that I was my own person, and that I stood out as my own person. As you might guess, Mr. Patchell gave me the Heritage Award Medallion in AP English that year, beating out 40 people with GPAs better than mine and I got the one medallion that my sister never did. I also got a 5 on the AP Test, my only one that year. Mr. Patchell did not just teach me to be a better writer, but he taught me to be a better person, and one that was not dependent on the comparison with others. He taught me that I was competing with myself and that I should strive for excellence – what every teacher should inspire in their students.
After so many years, I was afraid to reach out fearing the worst, but then last year, wanting to let his family know what a great man he was, I wrote to reach out to his son who had become a teacher after his father at IHS, and to my surprise, found that Mr. Patchell, my Mr. Patchell and not his son, was alive and well. I wrote him and told him what a difference he made in my life. He not only remembered me, but both my brother and my sister. He is 81 and just retired from UCI after having taught generations of teachers to be educators there. I would love to recognize him for his service and the impact he has made. I would love to honor him because without him, I would not be the person I am today.”
—
Calling all current and former educators! Join us for three days of professional learning focused on maximizing student outcomes from June 23-25, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, TX. Choose between two tracks centered around curriculum development:
- Creating Systems for Improving Student Achievement
- Developing Quality Curriculum – To improve teaching and learning
These sessions can start you on the track to becoming a curriculum auditor through CMSi Curriculum Audit™ and PDK International. Don’t miss the chance to expand your professional knowledge as well as access new earning opportunities in the education field! Discounts available for PDK members!
In honor of teacher appreciation week, we would like to extend the early bird rate to all educators over the next 2 weeks through May 15th. Register now to take advantage of this great deal!
Visit https://pdkintl.org/audit-training/ for more details and how to register.
May 6, 2019
Welcome to PDK Voices from the Field, the new space where PDK will be sharing the experiences, feedback, and research of our members, our staff, and researchers and policymakers from across the country. We are launching during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6 – 10, 2019) so that we can share the stories of impactful teachers that continue to inspire!
PDK would love to hear your story about your best teacher and what they did to inspire you. We will spotlight select teachers here on our blog and will share many more via our Facebook and Twitter channels.
To submit your teacher appreciation story, just click here! Please submit all stories before May 10, 2019.
