- Indoor Tele-Trivia League
Virtual pub trivia starts this week. Stay connected with colleagues, have some fun, and engage in some friendly inter-school competition. Make a team or join on your own. Join us live on Tuesday 3/31 at 8:00 p.m for a practice round. More info at bostonpublicschools.org/telescope. (Register/ Calendar Link) -
Group Discussion: Virtual Project Based Learning (Wednesday, April 1, 2020, 11-12 p.m.)
During this group discussion we will focus on strategies for teaching virtually, creating lists of soft skills kids might need to further develop in order to work from home, and ways we can encourage, strengthen, or even just address those skills from afar. (RSVP) -
Panel Webinar: Math Tech Tools (Thursday, April 2, 2020, 1-2 p.m.)
Come see how math teachers are using various math tech tools in their online classrooms. Find out what’s working, what challenges they face, and spend time digging in with one tool of interest with colleagues.(RSVP / Calendar Link) -
Group Discussion: Student Engagement (Thursday, April 2, 2020, 11-12 p.m.)
Join with colleagues to discuss ways that you are engaging students online. What is working? What are your challenges? What do you need? (RSVP) -
Group Discussion: Parenting while Teaching Remotely (Friday, April 3, 2020, 11-12 p.m.)
Come together with other parents to discuss the challenges of working from home, trying to parent, and ensuring our own self-care.(RSVP / Calendar Link)
- Boston Oracy Project: April – June
Join the Boston Oracy Project to make your classroom a place where oral language thrives. This exciting in-person and self-guided cohort experience runs from February through June. - Teacher Leadership Fund Deadline: May 1
We are excited to announce the call for proposals for year three of the Teacher Leadership Fund a feature of our contract which grants teams of educators up to $15,000 to create and share solutions which improve the learning and well-being of our most marginalized students. This year, we have two types of grants available: Action Grants will support teams interested in designing and implementing an intervention to address a challenge impacting marginalized students. Study Grants will support teams interested in learning more about the various dimensions of an identified challenge impacting marginalized students and developing an action plan based on that learning. For complete information about the program see here. Contact tlf@bostonpublicschools.org with questions. Writing supports are available. Applications due April 1st.
- Postponed- BTU Paraprofessionals & School-related Personnel Annual Conference: Now on June 13
Save the date for the annual conference! Planned workshops include why building positive relationships matters, OSHA protections, survival tips for PSRPS and member benefits. Learn more here!
- Passion to Teach Deadline: April 6
A small cohort of BPS teachers will be selected to participate in the third cohort of Passion to Teach, a year-long fellowship designed to help teachers deepen their understanding and implementation of project-based learning that is engaging and rigorous for students and teachers alike. Passion to Teach is a special initiative of the Shah Family Foundation, in collaboration with the Teacher Collaborative. Applications are due Monday, April 6 (priority deadline). Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until April 15th. Learn more about or apply for the Passion to Teach Fellowship here. - Novo Foundation/Education First Deadline: April 10
Now accepting applications for two categories of SEL in Action grants. School-based educators seeking to implement SEL initiatives in classrooms or schools in the 2020-2021 school year; max award: $7,000. District-level applicants seeking to implement SEL initiatives district-wide and/or across multiple schools within one district may apply for up to $25,000.
- Digital Well-Being Course: Through April 27
How do you spot cyberbullying? Are students on phones too much? Does it seem like social media is listening to you sometimes? Join BPS’s Digital Well-Being course in March & learn effective digital citizenship strategies for schools/classrooms.” - The Strategic Substitute: April 28 & 29
This course with work on helping the Substitute Teachers develop a process with useful and meaningful instructional strategies to support student learning and growth. Substitute Teachers will be able to successfully engage with students, while managing the behaviors of diverse groups of students in our distract. Dinner will be served. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/r6qP9cjqcGozYpNF8 - Call All Educator-Writers
Writers are you out there? If you are working on a short story, essay, poem or novel, the BTU paper is looking for short writing to be considered for a teacher as writer edition in the Peer 2 Peer column. Send your entries to Anne Slater (aslater@bostonpublicschools.org) for consideration.
- The African Studies Center Outreach Program
View the flyer here. - Access 4 All (A4A) Initiative
In 2020, the Boston Public Schools will be launching the Access 4 All (A4A) Initiative to provide the technology necessary to unlock the full potential of our students. In the spirit of inclusion and collaboration, we are convening Advisory Teams of teachers, students, and administrators to provide vital feedback throughout the A4A planning process. They are also looking for Classroom Spotlights to document and share the strategies that teachers, students, and administrators are using to teach and learn with technology. These spotlights will be featured on our website and through video and potentially serve as learning sites for our BPS community for teaching and learning with technology. If you are interested in joining the advisory team or becoming a Classroom Spotlight or both- please go to www.bostonpublicschools.org/access4all and click on the application(s). - Teacher Leadership/Admin Licensure Certificate Programs
Join a local cohort (Cambridge, Salem, Revere) of educators earning a graduate certificate in teacher leadership, or a CAGS degree in educational leadership (leading to principal or assistant principal licensure). Contact program coordinators at edleadership@salemstate.edu with questions! See the flyer and program overview here. - Interim Assessments and Standards Committees – Stipended Roles
Office of Data and Accountability is seeking teachers to review and provide feedback on the schedule of assessed standards (SAS) and interim assessment items for the upcoming school year (2020-2021). For SY20-21, we are reviewing and revising interim assessments in ELA and Math, and creating new History assessments. See here for more info and to apply. - Restorative Justice Practices ALC Course: Through June 15
Join educators from across the Boston Public Schools to deepen and expand our use of Restorative Justice practices! This course is facilitated by Jess Madden-Fuoco, Instructional Coach at the English High School. The course is a combination of 8 in-person sessions and online learning. The in-person sessions are on Mondays at English High School from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.: February 24, March 9, March 23, April 6, April 27, May 11, June 1, and June 15. Earn 4 ALCs or 48 PDPs – if you successfully demonstrate competency in course competencies. ALCs can be used toward a salary lane change for BTU and salary differentials for BASAS members. The cost of the course is $320 ($80/ALC). This course is designed to support the learning of those who are new to Restorative Justice practices and those who are experienced practitioners. For information and to sign up, visit leadwithlovelovetolead.com.
- Closing the Literacy Achievement Gap in Elementary Education: August 17-18
Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to understand the role of language processes in word reading and reading comprehension and more. See the program page for featured speakers and more detailed information: https://info.mghihp.edu/closingtheliteracygap. CE Credit for Speech-Language Pathologists available. 14 PDPs for Mass educators - BRANDEIS TEACHER LEADERSHIP GRADUATE PROGRAM
Are you ready to take your teaching–and your career–to the next level without leaving the classroom behind? The Brandeis Teacher Leadership Program is a graduate program that prepares experienced and talented K-12 teachers to work with administrators and colleagues to improve instruction and strengthen school culture. For more information, see go.brandeis.edu/TeacherLeadership - Move events coming soon.
Add your name to the invite lists or suggest future topics here.
UPDATES FROM THE TELESCOPE NETWORK
- Learning Site @ McCormack Update
Thanks to all who joined us for our Learning Site in Neema Avashia’s Grade 8 Civics Class. One participant quote: “I was really impressed with this learning session. The piece before the observation was well planned and thought through, the observation was excellent, and the time spent w/ the teacher after lunch was so powerful. I think this is an extremely effective way to do PD. Thank you for having me.” Check out bostonpublicschools.org/telescope in the coming weeks for more Learning Site sessions. - Learning site: Bridging Adolescent Literacy Gaps: April 2020
Join colleagues on April 8 for a Learning Site on the topic: How do we address literacy gaps for struggling readers and help all students improve as readers, writers, and thinkers? This session is hosted by Frank Swoboda’s Grade 10 History Class @ English High School. Sub-coverage and PDPs/ALC available. Best for secondary teachers (and others if space allows). (Flyer / RSVP) - Updates from the BPS/BTU Telescope Network
Thank you to the 200+ educators from 78 schools who took our needs assessment. Check out the report of findings here.