TIP Open House

This year’s Open House will be held on December 4, 2012 from 4:30 to 6pm at the University of Pennsylvania’s Houston Hall (3417 Spruce Street) in the Benjamin Franklin Room (Rm. 218). Seminar Leaders will be in attendance and will introduce their respective topics to prospective Fellows.

The history and English seminars are open to K-12 teachers in public schools in West and Southwest Philadelphia, while the biology and mathematics seminars are open to teachers in public schools throughout the city. Beginning on November 13^th, consult your school’s TIP Teacher Representative to obtain an application, which is due on Friday, December 14, 2012. Seminars begin on January 15, 2013 and run through May 7, 2013. Enrollment is limited. For more information, call 215-746-6176 or email teachersinstitute@sas.upenn.edu.

TIP 2013 Seminar Topics Finalized

The topics for TIP’s 2013 seminars have been finalized. The seminars and the University of Pennsylvania professors who will lead them are:

From Slavery to Civil Rights – Steven Hahn, Professor of History

Modern and Contemporary American Poetry – Al Filreis, Professor of English

Painless Statistics for Teachers and for Teaching – Ross Koppel, Adjunct Professor of Sociology and Medicine

Understanding the Process of Science and the Evaluation of Evidence – Ingrid Waldron, Professor Emerita of Biology

Full seminar descriptions can be viewed by visiting the About TIP section and clicking the Seminar Descriptions subheading. They are also included in TIP program brochures, which can be obtained from Teacher Representatives in TIP schools (see the Representatives tab for a list).

TIP’s First Video

The Teacher’s Institute of Philadelphia has created its first video. It includes reflections on the 2012 program year by TIP Director Alan Lee and program participants at our Spring Gathering in May.

Speaking for each seminar were:

Meg Flisek (University City HS)                     “Understanding Human Health and Disease”

Joan Taylor (Middle Years Alternative School)           “But Mostly I Lie A Lot – the African-American Short Story in the 21st Century”

Monica Brundage (Tilden MS)                       “American Racial Politics”

Please view and share with any of your friends/colleagues who may be interested in TIP!

To view, click here.

Curriculum Units Created by 2012 TIP Fellows Are Now Available

The 2012 TIP program year ended with 31 teachers completing attendance in our American Racial Politics, “But Mostly I Lie A Lot” – The African-American Short Story in the 21^st Century, and Human Health and Disease seminars. Fellows developed curriculum units based on seminar content, guidance from Seminar Leaders, discussion with fellow participants, and independent research, and will implement them in their classrooms. The units are now available for viewing and reference in TIP’s archive. Fellows are awarded a stipend and receive Act 48 credits after successful completion of the program requirements. Congratulations and many thanks to our TIP teachers for their extraordinary work and efforts to enhance their content mastery as they create innovative and engaging curriculum units for their students.

Four Fellows Represent TIP at the Yale National Initiative Summer Institute

The Yale National Initiative’s summer Institute program was held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut from July 9^th to 20^th. Four TIP Fellows participated in the program, which brought together 68 teachers from 16 school districts across the nation. Institute Directors and professors from colleges and universities in the various program locations gathered to observe seminars and engage in discourse about the Institute model of professional development.

During two weeks of daily seminar sessions led by renowned Yale professors, Fellows and Seminar Leaders shared concepts, collaborated in writing and research, and forged relationships. Fellows have returned to their communities reinvigorated as advocates of the Institute model of effective professional development, and will share their curriculum units, based on seminar content, discussion, and independent research, with other teachers.

TIP is very proud of Tara Ann Carter, Sydney Coffin, Jessica Shupik, and Deborah Smithey for representing Philadelphia, the School District of Philadelphia, and TIP with energetic scholarship and professional collegiality. For more information about the Yale National Initiative and to view the curriculum units created by all National Fellows, please visit the YNI website.

Jessica Coldren, Tara Carter, Director Alan Lee, Deborah Smithey, and Sydney Coffin

TIP Wraps Up Year Seven with Spring Gathering

The 2012 Institute program wrapped up on Tuesday, May 29th with a final plenary session of participants in Houston Hall on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. The event was a casual and spirited reunion of the seminars that ended their formal sessions on May 8th.

TIP Directory Alan Lee addresses the Fellows and Seminar Leaders at the Spring Gathering.

After refreshments and conversation, Director Alan Lee welcomed the Fellows and Seminar Leaders, and then turned the program over to speakers, each of whom represented one of the three seminars. The Fellows shared some of their experiences and wisdom gained from the seminar program, leavened with humor and insights.

Speaking for each seminar were:

Meg Flisek (University City HS)                        “Human Health and Disease”

Joan Taylor (Middle Years Academy)           “African-American Short Stories”

Monica Brundage (Tilden MS)                                “American Racial Politics”

Meg Flisek (University City High School) reflects on her experience in the “Human Health and Disease” seminar.

Fellows are currently in the process of refining and completing the final drafts of their curriculum units. The Spring Gathering was a warm and encouraging event to celebrate the final stages of the program, and the impending end of the public school year.

All completed units will be posted for sharing and reference on this website by early fall. Successful teacher participants will receive 30 Act-48 credits and a stipend award.

Joan Taylor (Middle Years Academy) shares her reflections on “The African-American Short Story in the 21st Century.”

Monica Brundage (Tilden Middle School) reflects on her experience in “American Racial Politics.”

Institute Teacher Honored with Lindback Award

Each year since 2008, the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation sponsors an award that recognizes outstanding teachers in the high schools of the School District of Philadelphia.

The Foundation’s website notes that it “established the Lindback Award for Distinguished High School Teachers to honor one teacher from every Philadelphia public high school who demonstrates excellence in promoting learning at the highest levels. The award recipients will be chosen based on their activities that improve the intellectual and character development of students.”

This year, 63 teachers were honored in the School District’s high schools. Jessica Coldren from Motivation High School, a current TIP Fellow, was selected as one of the winning teachers. Ms. Coldren is in her second year as a TIP participant, and will also attend Yale National Initiative seminars at Yale University as a National Fellow in July. We salute Jessica for her excellent efforts in the classroom and in her school.

Also, two past TIP participants were award winners as well. Alison McCartney of Constitution HS, and Tim Woods of Randolph Career Academy were honored by the Foundation at their current schools.

Since 2008, fourteen current or past TIP teachers have been honored with the prestigious Lindback awards. The Institute is very proud to have been associated with such extraordinary classroom educators.

Four TIP Teachers are Accepted as National Fellows at Yale University Program in July

TIP is pleased to announce that four TIP Fellows have been named as National Fellows for the Yale National Initiative’s 2012 annual seminar program.  The prestigious program attracts teachers from all five Teachers Institutes and a total of 20 school districts across the nation.

Our TIP National Fellows and their schools are:

Tara Ann Carter          Bartram High School

Sydney Coffin             University City High School

Jessica Coldren           Motivation High School

Deborah Smithey        Philadelphia Military Academy at Leeds

All four are active participants in 2012 TIP seminars, and serve as Teacher Representatives for their schools.

A total of 75 teachers will attend one of seven seminars on the Yale campus in New Haven, CT.  National Fellows will be attending daily two-hour seminars on specific content topics, and will be guided by the professors and vigorous peer review as they create substantive curriculum units for their students.  The units will be shared with colleagues and made available for reference and use by teachers everywhere online at the YNI website (which can be accessed at the “Links” folder here at the TIP website). The National Fellows represent the Institutes in Philadelphia, New Haven, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, and Delaware, as well as programs in Chicago, the Diné (Navajo) Nation, Richmond, Tulsa, and Emeryville, San Jose, and San Mateo, CA.

 

TIP Fellow Honored: 2012 “Teacher as Hero” Award

Rita Sorrentino, the computer and technology teacher at Overbrook Elementary School was one of 20 regional teachers honored on March 14 by the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia for the annual Teacher as Hero Awards, sponsored by State Farm Insurance.  Ms. Sorrentino, one of the original co-founding teachers of the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia, was honored for her many years of classroom service, her willingness to go “above and beyond” in contributing to the success of both students and colleagues, and her prolific creation of well-researched curriculum units both in the local TIP program at the University of Pennsylvania as well as the national seminar program at Yale University.  Rita has also been active in Philadelphia Writing Project and numerous other teacher-centered programs.  All TIP program members should be proud of Rita’s accomplishments.  TIP is pleased to note that Ms. Sorrentino is the fourth teacher associated with the Institute to win this distinction in the past three years.

Ms. Rita Sorrentino, "Teacher as Hero" award honoree

TIP celebrates the start of the 2012 Seminar Program

Seminar Coordinator Bonnee Breese welcomes 2012 TIP Fellows

TIP kicked off its 2012 seminar series on January 17 with a reception and program orientation in the Terrace Room in Cohen Hall on Penn’s campus.  Excitement over the stimulating seminar topics made for a festive occasion while providing introductions for new and returning Teacher Fellows and Penn scholars who will lead the seminars for this year’s program.

The seminars will meet fourteen times during the period between this event and the final sessions in May. The TIP Fellows will learn new materials in their seminars and be guided by the University Seminar Leaders in research that will culminate in the creation of curriculum units that span a wide variety of topics and include innovative and appropriate lesson plans for their classrooms. These units will be implemented in the classrooms of 20 public schools next year, and shared with teachers everywhere as they will be made accessible online at no cost on the TIP website (www.tip.sas.upenn.edu).

Professor Rogers Smith opens the American Racial Politics seminar

The program was followed by an orientation meeting and tour for using the University Library system on January 24. The regular seminar sessions began their meetings on January 31.