There are many courageous teachers who have made great sacrifices for the sake of their students. One of these was Quaker Prudence Crandall, a Connecticut teacher who lost everything in order to educate African American girls in a time when doing so was unheard of.
In 1831, Prudence opened a boarding school for young ladies in Canterbury,
Connecticut. By the end of the first year, she had earned the praise of
parents, community members, and students throughout New England.
Then
one day an African American student named Sarah Harris asked to be
admitted to the academy. Sarah said she wanted to learn how to be a
teacher so she could open her own school for black students. Prudence
knew admitting an African American student would generate some
resistance from her neighbors, but after some soul-searching, she
decided her conscience would not allow her to refuse the request.
Prudence had severely under-estimated the resistance.
Figuring the
complaint was that she was operating an integrated school, the intrepid
teacher closed her academy for white girls and re-opened as an academy
for "misses of color." That just made the situation worse, causing
ripples all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and resulting in
Prudence's brief incarceration in the local jail. Eventually, Prudence was forced to close her school and leave town.
Years later, however, the
courageous stance taken by this heroic teacher caused her to be named the Female State Hero for
Connecticut. Read the gripping account of what happened in my newly-released book, Chalkboard Heroes, now available onamazon.com.
Below you will find a review of my recently released book, Chalkboard Heroes, written by Mary Breu, author of Last Letters from Attu, the enthralling story of Etta Jones, an intrepid teacher and nurse from New Jersey who traveled to the Alaskan Territory as a pioneer. Etta Jones was incarcerated in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during World War II.
Chalkboard Heroes: Review
by Mary Breu
Terry Lee
Marzell, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve
Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor. Tucson, Arizona: Wheatmark,
2015. vii + 243 pp. Preface, photographs, glossary, bibliography, index.
Chalkboard
Heroes:Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their
Deeds of Valor is the author’s second book, a non-fiction compilation of innovative
teachers who have impacted their students and our society; some names are
familiar, others are not. Each profile has been thoroughly researched and
includes vivid descriptions that exemplify qualities that make an excellent
teacher. The reader can peek through a window and see the teachers’ early
lives, watch him or her develop and see what inspired their passion for
teaching. The teachers’ voices allow the reader to get a feel for the personalities
and qualities of people who encouraged them to become teachers. The teachers in
this book demonstrate the essence of what a teacher does; they find ways,
sometimes against incredible odds, to reach his or her students and make learning
more real as opposed to standing in front of the class and lecturing. Valuable
backgrounds and historical events are included. The author’s writing style
pulls the reader in by telling something striking about the teacher and that
makes the reader eager to find out more.
Horace
Mann’s niece, Olive Mann Isbell, was born in Ohio in 1824. Twenty-two years
later, she and her husband found themselves at a Mission in California. The
Mexican -American War was raging all around them, but Olive continued to teach
her twenty students, using “a long pointed stick to draw diagrams on the dirt
floor” and “charcoal from an extinguished fire to write the letters of the
alphabet on the palms of the children’s hands. And she kept a long rifle by her
side, just in case” (Page 2.) One
hundred forty years later, another teacher “discovered that much information
about the social history of the United States has been found in diaries, travel
accounts and personal letters. Just as the pioneer travelers of the Conestoga
wagon days kept personal journals, I, as a pioneer space traveler, would do the
same.” (Page 187.) The teacher’s name was Christa McAuliffe. The author wrote,
“Christa believed that such a journal, which would record space flight from the
perspective from a non-astronaut, would demonstrate to students that even an
ordinary person could contribute to history in very important ways” (Page
187).
Today,
when teachers are in the throes of bureaucratic paperwork, subjected to administrators
who make unrealistic demands, respond to parents who question a teacher’s
seemingly unreasonable assignments and deal with students who, the teacher
knows, come from incredibly difficult home environments, reading about these
teachers’ lives will be an inspiration because, in the end, all a teacher wants
to do is teach. The common thread woven into the fabric of this book is a quote
from Lee Iacocca: “In a completely rational society, the best of us would
aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something
less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought
to be the highest honor and highest responsibility anyone could have” (Page
1.) Christa McAuliffe understood that message when she proclaimed, “I touch the
future…I teach!” (Page 177.)
I
recommend this book to teachers of all grade levels. Middle and high school
students would also benefit from the author’s clear, concise and correct
telling of historical events and people.
Read More by Mary Breu
To view Mary Breu's web page, simply click on Mary Breu.
Within my professional learning community, my colleagues and I have been having a lively discussion about the purpose and value of blogs. So I was looking over my blog here, which I inaugurated on November 18, 2012. In the little over two years since I first started my blog, I have published nearly 300 posts. To date, I have attracted over 24,889 page views. I've been told this is pretty impressive, so I thank all my readers! I love to write about great teachers, and I hope that my posts and books will inspire respect for educators, and also reinforce a passion for the profession from current practitioners.
Even though my favorite thing to write about is remarkable teachers, it seems that the posts that garner the most response are the ones that offer tips and hints about how teachers can build upon their own practice. So this post is an offering in that vein.
Almost everyone is already aware that the use of blogs for personal, professional, and educational purposes has exploded in recent years. In 2015, 6.7 million people published blogs on blogging sites, and 12 million people blogged via some sort of social network. Today, 31% more individuals are blogging than were publishing three years ago. It has been noted that approximately 70% of American students under the age of 18 are writing blogs. If you would like to read more statistics about blogs, click on this article: 10 Interesting Key Facts and Figures about Blogging.
As you can expect from teachers, most of the conversations I've had with my colleagues have revolved around how blogs can be used productively in the classroom. There are so many possibilities to use blogs as an effective instructional tool! Some of the purposes we discussed include providing opportunities for educators to personally reflect on teaching experiences, to provide tips and strategies to other teachers, to record lesson plans and other curricular materials, and to explore issues and topics important to the profession. You can use the platform to keep parents informed of your instructional program. You can create an online book club for your students, or post assignments, writing prompts, or online readings for students to react to. You could showcase your students' writing, art, and projects. You could build a class newsletter and record your students' activities, posting photographs and videos of them in action. Using blogs, students can express opinions about class readings or current events, complete class writing assignments, put together an online portfolio of their work, or showcase products of their project-based learning, all for a pre-determined audience: just the members of the class and their parents, groups of students in other schools, or even the world at large. This real-world application of the technology falls in line very nicely with Common Core State Standards---which is a genuine benefit. To read a first-hand account of a teacher successfully employing this strategy in her classroom, click: Blogging in the the 21st Century Classroom.
I've included here a ten-minute YouTube video to help you further explore the practice of classroom blogging. I selected this particular video because it was concise and relatively short, offering a brief overview of the history of blogs, the uses of blogs in general, how blogs can be used in the classroom, and examples of some blogs that are relevant to professional educators. I also liked it because it is a more polished and professional production than something created in an individual's bedroom.
Blogging---and other social networking tools---are becoming one of the most powerful tools a teacher can employ in their instructional program. But why is this the case? I can say from personal experience that part of the lure of blogging is the idea that people out there are interested in reading my thoughts and ideas. When I published my first blog post, I was excited by the idea that my online "voice" would be read by others, and that they would respond with comments of their own. I was pretty disappointed when, the first month or so, I had no readers at all, and zero responses. Writing is hard work, and blogging on a daily basis is an immense commitment! But I continued to plug away at it, and gradually my daily readership grew. It has come to the point now that I feel an obligation to my readers to publish at least once or twice a week. I can't let them down! Imagine how excited your students will be when they publish their classwork and projects online---they have a built-in audience ready and waiting: the other members of your class---and the feedback from their peers will quickly pile up. Furthermore, experts say that one of the best aspects of blogging is that the relative anonymity of online publishing gives a voice to the student who might not otherwise contribute to the academic conversation. How exciting would it be if your students came to feel motivated to write for their audiences daily or even weekly, just like I did?
Blogging is just one of the social media tools that can be used to enhance learning. Experts agree that the teacher who recognizes and employs blogging and other social networking strategies is tapping into extremely potent implements for learning. In the seven-minute video below, educator Don Olcott, Chief Executive of the Observatory of Borderless Higher Education in London, England, discusses the efficacy of social networking tools to facilitate learning in the classroom:
Finally, a really great resource to consult for more information about this topic is a nifty little book called Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson (Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Publishing, 2010).
If you are not yet using blogs in your instructional program, I hope that now you will feel motivated and confident enough to give it a try!
This week, February 2-6, is National School Counseling Week 2015. The purpose of this celebration is to focus public attention on the
unique contributions by professional school counselors within American
school systems.
National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping
our students to achieve school success. Day in and day out, these dedicated
professionals labor tirelessly to help ensure the academic
success, personal achievement, and emotional well-being of our kids.
On the campus where I work, their commitment to the success of each student starts with their very
first interaction with students through their eighth grade outreach
programs, and continues with assisting the freshmen with their
graduation requirements plans, one-on-one meetings with English-language
learners, counseling students who are failing classes, helping students
who are lacking credits with strategies for credit recovery, and making
sure seniors are on track to graduate. In between all this heavy-duty
work, counselors help students find scholarships to fund their
post-graduation education programs, write letters of recommendation,
judge senior projects, and attend IEP meetings. And as if all that
wasn't enough, they also organize small group counseling sessions to
help students deal with such issues as bullying, smoking-cessation, teen
parenting, or bereavement. When the inevitable quarrels between
students arise, they serve as competent conflict resolution
facilitators, and they have even been known to mediate the occasional
dispute between a student and a teacher. And then, just to top it all
off, if---God forbid---some tragedy such as a fatal traffic accident or a
suicide strikes, school counselors quickly mobilize into a
highly-effective crisis management team.
Phenomenal, aren't they?
Chalkboard champions, in the truest sense of the word.
There are many talented educators who have earned accolades in fields other than education. This is true about Taylor McDowell Mali, a teacher who has also earned fame as a slam poet, humorist, and voice over artist.
Taylor was born on March 28, 1964. His father was H. Allen Mali, a manufacturer of pool table coverings, and his mother was Jane L. Mali, a recipient of an American Book Award. In 1983, Taylor graduated form the Collegiate School, a private boys' school. After his high school graduation, he enrolled in Bowdoin College, earning his bachelor's degree in English in 1987 and his master's degree in English and creative writing from Kansas State University in 1993.
Taylor Mali spent nine years teaching English, history, and math, including stints at Browning School, a boys' school on the Upper East Side of New York City, and Cape Cod Academy, a K-12 private school on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He now lectures and
conducts workshops for teachers and students all over the world. In 2001,
Taylor Mali used a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts to develop the one-man show "Teacher! Teacher!" This show explores the combination of poetry, teaching,
and math. He is a strong advocate for the teaching profession, and in
2000, he set out to create 1,000 new teachers through "poetry,
persuasion, perseverance, or passion." He finally achieved that goal on
April 1, 2012.
Taylor has earned numerous accolades as a slam poetry artist. A slam poetry contest is a competition at which poets read or recite original work. These
performances are then judged on a numeric scale by previously selected
members of the audience. As a slam poetry performer, Taylor has been a member of seven National Poetry Slam
teams, six of which appeared on the finals stage, and four of which won the competition.
Additionally, Taylor is the author of What Learning Leaves and the Last Time as We Are. He has recorded four CD's. He is also included in various anthologies, and is perhaps best known for the poem "What Teachers Make." The popular
poem became the basis of a book of essays entitled What Teachers Make:
In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World, published in 2012. He appeared in Taylor Mali & Friends Live at the Bowery Poetry Club and the documentaries "SlamNation" (1997) and "Slam Planet" (2006). He was also in the HBO production Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, which won a coveted Peabody Award in 2003.
One of the most talented teachers of music education in American history was the celebrated educator Joseph Edgar Maddy.
Joseph was born on October 14, 1891, in Wellington, Kansas, the second son of two teachers. Joseph never graduated from high school, but as a young man, he attended the Wichita College of Music in Wichita, Kansas, where he studied violin. Later he became a member of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. In 1918, he became the first music supervisor of instrumental music in America when he accepted the position in Rochester, New York.
After a short time in Rochester, Joseph was encouraged by Will Earhart to take a job at Morton High School in Richmond, Indiana,
to revive the outstanding school and community music program Earhart
had developed there some years earlier. Joseph remained in Richmond for four
years. In 1924 Maddy was invited to Ann Arbor to become the supervisor of music in public schools and the chairman of the Music Department for the University of Michigan. There he developed one of the few conducting courses in the country,and he also conducted the Michigan All State High School Orchestra.
While teaching in 1925, Maddy organized the first National High School
Orchestra to play for the Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC)
in Detroit in 1926.
In 1927, Joseph was invited to bring the National High School Orchestra
of over 250 High School musicians from 39 states to the MSNC in Dallas
that year.
While in Ann Arbor, Maddy also pursued other approaches to music
education by developing teaching materials in collaboration with
Thaddeus P. Giddings for a radio teaching program.The radio program taught band and orchestra instrumentation with instruction books distributed by NBC.
By 1936 their radio program aired five times per week, and believed to
have reached 225,000 student listeners. It was sustained until 1940, and
employed professional musicians to help with technique demonstrations.
In 1928 Maddy formed the National High School Orchestra and Band Camp, incorporated as the National High School Orchestra Camp on July 6, 1927.The camp exists today in Interlochen, Michigan, as the Interlochen Center for the Arts and has generated several complementary entities including Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen College of the Creative Arts, and Interlochen Public Radio.Joseph also published and collaborated on a number of instructional
materials and courses for elementary band and orchestra including the
Universal Teacher, Tritone Folio, the Willis Graded School Orchestra and
Band Series, and the Modern School Graded Orchestra Books.
He was a member of the Epsilon Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and a recipient of the Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award. He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity, and he received an honorary degree from Earlham College in 1965.
This pioneering music educator passed away on April 18, 1966, at the age of 74, in Travers City, Michigan.
I am happy to announce that my second book, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and their Deeds Valor, has just been released. This new volume presents inspirational life stories about some of America's most amazing teachers. These educators were not only talented teachers, but they were also pioneers, trailblazers, and social reformers influential in America's history.
I love to tell stories about outstanding teachers. There are so many phenomenal stories that could be told! I believe that teachers represent the best our country has to offer, and, as a group, they are among the most dedicated, hardworking, and talented people anyone can know. It fills me with joy to be able to share the stories of just a few of the amazing individuals who have made such significant contributions to the lives of so many. And it fills me with pride to know that, every day, talented educators all over the country are making significant contributions to the lives of their students.
You can order Chalkboard Heroes from amazon in print now. Simply click on this link be taken to the page where you can order. The e-book versions will be ready, I am told, in about three weeks. Enjoy!
