I Did It - CSNYC CS Pedagogy Meetup!

I was asked this year to present a workshop at the CSNYC CS Pedagogy Meetup, a monthly meeting of educators and others to hear about and discuss the things that are afoot in the CS teaching world.  Now you may be thinking to yourself, why is Meredith there?  Doesn't she teacher theatre and English?  Its true, I do but I have been working on creating interdisciplinary learning experiences for my 9th graders that use the tools they are learning in their CS class (Scratch) to explore the content we are covering in theatre.  While I knew I was not going to be the big draw of the morning, I had a great group of about 10 educators who stayed to hear about my work, try and few things out and talk about how they can bring collaboration and innovation to their own teaching and learning communities.  I also got some great ideas about how to use some of the things I am doing to teach sequencing when we are exploring narrative.

Overall, a very positive morning.  Thanks to Maor, Sean and CSNYC.

Day 23: Which Came First- The Teacher or The School? #aprilblogaday challenge

Do you make your school community or does your school community make you?

A variation on this was used as an essential question for my AP Lang class this unit. Does the individual make the group or place or is the place shaped by the people who occupy it. All terms used loosely.

Image Via

Tonight, I sat next to one of my dearest friends in a room of distinguished alumni from the Program in Educational Theatre at NYU, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary. Phillip Taylor, who was the chair during my time there, interviewed playwright John Patrick Shanley ('77) who is perhaps best known for his play and later film: Doubt. There were a plethora of quotable quotes (would you expect anything less from a Pulitzer winning playwright?) that I wish I had written down. I, and I am sure many of my colleagues, would say the program gave me the space to become who I was meant to be: a teacher.  I don't know that my presence in the program made any sort of indelible mark on it however, which is ok. I picked NYU strategically because it provided an opportunity for me to study teaching both theatre and English. My time at NYU was a benchmark in my development as a pedagogue. 

It was nice tonight to get to see and talk to professors, some who knew exactly who I was and others  I was sure thought I was someone else. They were teachers who pushed me and prepared me to challenge and provoke the thinking and learning of young people. (Thanks Christina and Joe.) Now as I do more and more work with new and pre-service teachers, I appreciate my professors more than ever. 

That community shaped me.

 

I have had the honor of shaping two different schools now. Being a founding member of a school is a challenge especially in the era of small "boutique schools" here in NYC. Our school (afsenyc.org) is now at capacity with about 125 students per grade and about 55 teachers. (11 make up the English Dept. We have 5 content, 3 SPED, 1 ELL, and 2 teaching residents who were with a mentor teacher for the year). A science teacher said to me today that a strong English department is essential to creating and maintaining a strong school. Last year we sat our first cohort of students for the state exam- Common Core English. We had 99% passing. We are indeed strong. I think we have had a huge influence on the evolution of our school culture, academically. Some good things, some that need shifting and revision to become stronger. 

I have helped to shape this community.

As you can see, I still don't have a definitive answer to my question: which came first- the teacher or the school?  I am simply thankful I have been able to create and be created.

Day 18: Teacher Traning #AprilBlogADay Challenge

-->Prompt: What was your favorite part of your teacher training?

Tes, Jill, Me and Toni: My 3 best friends from NYU.

Last week my friend Kathleen, an 8th grade teacher here in NYC, emailed me: 

 Hey Meredith,

I'm changing up my next unit, like, a lot. Normally I mirror it with what they are learning in history but the history units are different this year....so I am spicing things up. 

I am starting a creative writing unit. We already did a few days of writing workshop and it's great! I am incorporating Postsecret as well. With all the tests done, they really need this. BUT... I want it to be differentiated  everywhere---especially with choosing what they actually create. Essentially, their final project can be any genre of writing BUT I wanted to give the option of a play. The problem, is I have little experience with theater. I was wondering if you have a relatively short play that follows a general story mountain to use as an example? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Miss you. 

Kathleen and I did our English student teaching together in the fall of 2007.  I relied heavily on her that fall as she had done ST in undergrad and was already far more seasoned than I was. Here we are, almost 10 years later still supporting one another.  I went into my materials and threw together a readers theatre version of Oedipus as well as a play writing template and rubric. 

Hi Kathleen: 

This is one of my favorites do read aloud- it is a really easy version of the play and follows the dramatic structure.

A play should have: 

inciting incident

rising action

climax

falling action 

denouement (in theatre- this is the resolution- we don't use the R word though)

To which she replied: 

You're amazing! Thank you!

 This is what my teacher training gave me: COMMUNITY.

Meredith and Kathleen! Summer 2015

In undergrad, I briefly thought about teaching.  A family member advised me to study what made me happy because I could always go back to school to become a teacher.  To be honest, I never thought it would happen: becoming a teacher.  I was so done with school after 5 years of undergrad that I was ready to just have my career.  This is what I did for a spell. But teaching called me back and in the fall of 2006 I started my MA in Educational Theatre and English at New York University. My program trained me well.  I felt confident leaving theory and moving into practice.  I, as all teachers are, was in for a rude awakening.  

The first few years were challenging and amazing.  I knew I was where I was supposed to be.  I was extremely grateful for my network of teachers I had built while in grad school.  The community and friendship it offered served as the backbone of my teaching practice.  

With Erin and her daughter.

Some teacher-friends have gone on to create amazing humans and I feel fortunate for our history and know that no matter what I could reach out and support is there.  This is one of the best parts of my teacher training.  Longevity.   

My extended teacher family from NYU continues to challenge me and remind me #whyiteach.  The articles they post on social media or the sharing of the work they are doing in the cities they work in inspires my own work.  It is not simply about networking, it's about COMMUNITY. 


So when picking a teacher traning program, ask about the community of teachers.  Ask what life has been like for them after they leave.  Ask to talk to teachers about what the program offered them.