New York TeacherJune 1, 2017
Volume LVIII, Number 10
Cover Stories
Why we’re #PublicSchoolProud
District 20, in the southwest corner of Brooklyn organized a month-long celebration of the arts as part of the UFT’s #PublicSchoolProud campaign
An app to wipe out hunger
Eleven computer science seniors at the Secondary School for Journalism in Brooklyn have won a national award for an app that connects hungry students at their high schools to local restaurants with food to spare. The problem of hunger is a real one for the Park Slope school, where nearly 80 percent of the students qualify for free lunch.
Professional support is a big part of the day
Educators explored a wide range of learning tools and classroom practices at eight interactive workshops at the UFT’s Spring Education Conference.
No recess ‘until teachers are respected’
This was a Spring Education Conference that was all about a new militancy and an urgency to mobilize nationally to defend public education.
Latest News
Honored for investing in children
Family child-care provider Carlene Stone named Winnie’s Day Care in the Bronx in memory of her brother, Winston.
Brown re-elected to TRS board
Tom Brown, the UFT’s assistant treasurer, has been re-elected as a trustee on the Teachers’ Retirement System board.
In lockstep
A resounding feeling of togetherness characterized this year’s UFT 5K Family Run/Walk, which took place on May 6 in Coney Island.
City to expand pre-K for 3-year-olds
Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed an ambitious expansion of his popular prekindergarten program to all 3-year-old children in New York City.
‘We do our jobs with pride’
Camille Falci, the pupil accounting secretary at IS 5 in Elmhurst, Queens, and the borough’s UFT Secretary of the Year, says it’s easy for her to go to work every day. “I love my job,” Falci said at the 31st annual School Secretaries of the Year Awards Luncheon on May 6 at UFT headquarters in Manhattan. “We’re a family.”
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Feature Stories
Night glow
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Bright blue glow sticks lit up the evening sky as 800 students, parents and community members circled the PS/MS 124 track in South Ozone Park, Queens at the Light It Up Blue Autism Walk on April 28.
Teacher Alexi Girlando’s hopes were high when she ordered 400 T-shirts and 400 glow sticks for the event. But she was thrilled when 800 showed up.
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“The shortages didn’t matter because there was so much community spirit,” she said. And there was plenty of paint for the face painters, ink for tattoos and chocolate lollipops her mother had made.
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The event began at 6, but the walk itself didn’t start until sundown when blue tea lights lit…
Silence is golden
Meditation program reaping benefits for students and staff at Bronx HS for Law and Community Service.
Black gold
For two hours, more than120 students danced, sang and read poems and prose that showcased black achievement at PS/IS 45 in Bushwick.
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Member Spotlight
What I Do
What I do: Liz Galvin, IEP teacher
Liz Galvin at PS 46 on Staten Island is tasked with identifying and addressing learning issues before students are referred for evaluation for special education.
Around the UFT
District 11 Scholarship Dinner Dance in the Bronx
More than 400 people attended the union’s inaugural District 11 Scholarship Dinner Dance on April 26.
Welfare Fund Medical Learning Series
UFT members attended a seminar on exercise and sports-related injuries, the school year’s final event in the Welfare Fund Medical Learning Series.
District 24 Scholarship Dinner Dance in Queens
IS 93 Chapter Leader Subrina Cek, who passed away in February, was paid tribute at the UFT’s annual District 24 Scholarship Dinner Dance, which drew more than 300 educators and other members of the public school community on April 25.
Say yes to the dress
Nearly 600 middle and high school girls, including groups from around the city that traveled on 10 UFT-sponsored buses, went "shopping" at the Prom Boutique on April 29 at Nassau Community College on Long Island.
Art exhibit at PS 249, Brooklyn
PS 249 in Flatbush saw its gymnasium transformed into a gallery on May 17 as students, teachers and parents celebrated the school’s ninth annual student art exhibition.
You Should Know
You Should Know
Help for struggling tenured teachers
The Peer Intervention Program (PIP), a collaborative program between the Department of Education and the UFT, helps tenured teachers who are struggling in their schools or who wish to further refine and improve their pedagogical skills.
You Should Know
New school-employee parking procedures
Starting on May 18, the school’s on-street parking spots became available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Secure Your Future
How to handle your Tax-Deferred Annuity
Figuring out what to do with your Tax-Deferred Annuity when you retire is extremely important since for most of us, it's our largest financial asset.
Opinions
President's Perspective
Spring awakening
The inspiring address by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II at our Spring Conference on May 13 couldn’t have come at a better time.
VPerspective
Standing with our immigrant students
Federal immigration agents visited PS 58 in Maspeth, Queens, on May 11 in search of a 4th-grade student.
Opinion
Shame on Eva
House Speaker Paul Ryan — fresh from celebrating passage of a health care bill in the House that would leave 24 million people uninsured and give a generous tax cut to billionaires — headed to Success Academy I in Harlem on May 9 for a personal guided tour led by Eva Moskowitz.
Opinion
Lessons in respect
Students should feel safe and supported in our schools, no matter what else is going on in their lives — or in the nation.
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Teacher to Teacher
Getting students to lead the lesson
I find my students are more active and motivated when a classmate is leading the class discussion. But what are some steps that teachers can take to create a foundation that will support meaningful accountable talk?
Learning Curve
Understanding math has replaced ‘drill and kill’
There’s been a seismic shift in the way teachers approach math instruction over the last few decades. Rote memorization of mathematical algorithms — or so-called “drill and kill” instruction — has given way to experiential learning.
Research shows
Scores lower for students with vouchers
Students in the nation’s only federally funded school voucher program perform worse on standardized math and reading tests when compared with their public school peers, a new rigorous study from the U.S. Education Department has found.
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
Post-it notes as visual aids
The Post-its on the chalkboard consist of annotations my students made during our class reading.
New Teacher Articles
Stay organized, reflect and celebrate
With summer inching closer, here are some tips to get your classroom together, review the work you’ve done this year and commemorate a job well done.
Retired Teachers News
We must organize the organized
Organize the organized! That’s an old labor saying to remind union leaders that simply signing up individuals as members should not be the end of the process. If anyone thinks that, they are flirting with dead-end disaster. There must be followup, an ongoing grass-roots relationship between members and union leaders. Today, that’s called member engagement and it’s seen as an antidote to the toxic attacks on public employee unions by right-wing, anti-labor forces that have gained a foothold in…