TIP News Archive

Highlights of the 2008 Program

The Teachers Institute offered five seminars that started in January 2008:

• Philadelphia and the Immigrant Experience
• From West Africa to West Philadelphia
• The Aesthetics of Hip Hop
• Teaching Science With Science Fiction
• Public Health Issues of Child Obesity

The 2008 TIP Seminars

The 2008 TIP program was a dynamic program of five seminars on diverse topics that commenced on January 15 and wrapped up on May 8. Along the way there were lively sessions, excursions, guest speakers, and workshops to help in the organization and the writing on curriculum units. A final plenary Spring Gathering was held on May 27 where a number of teachers from each seminar reported on their experiences and research. The TIP Fellows (teachers) then completed their final drafts by the end of their school year in mid-June.

We are pleased to report that 46 TIP Fellows were able to complete their units and all requirements. The curriculum units are posted online (in the “Curriculum” folder) for the viewing, referral, and use by teachers everywhere. A general consensus was that the Fellows found the Institute experience useful and stimulating, and most were excited about the prospect of putting their curriculum units into action in the classrooms in the coming school year.

National Seminars at Yale in July

The Yale National Initiative accepted eight TIP teachers for their National Seminars that draws teachers from eleven cities and counties across the United States. The Yale program replicates the Institute model of seminars but fits the entire experience into a two-week period. Teachers find the program (that is provided free of charge to the selected Teacher Fellows) challenging and exhilarating as they work in, and access, the resources of the stately Yale campus. The added dimension of working with teachers from ten other cities is informative and productive as teachers soon form networks of professional acquaintances that are often maintained long after the summer program has ended.

The Philadelphia teachers attending the seminars were:

Meagan McGowan	Lamberton K-8
Bonnee Breese	Overbrook HS
Sam Reed	Beeber MS
Deborah Samuel	Lamberton HS
Stuart Surrey	Lamberton K-8
Thomas Gaffey	School of the Future
Karen Brinkley	Cook-Wissahickon
Elizabeth Harvey	School of the Future