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Occasional Paper Series

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Articles 211 - 240 of 389

Full-Text Articles in Education

Living In The World, David Penberg Nov 2017

Living In The World, David Penberg

Occasional Paper Series

Penberg's essay highlights that through teaching abroad, he learned to respect the variety of human associations and multiple forms of intelligence. Travel has been an inextricable part of his education. It has enriched his teaching and contributed to his personal development.


There And Almost Back Again, Holley Adcock Nov 2017

There And Almost Back Again, Holley Adcock

Occasional Paper Series

Adcock reflects on and asses her thirty years of experience living and teaching overseas in places all over the globe. This essay focuses on the changes to both individual and national identity that take place when immersing oneself in other cultures.


What We Bring With Us And What We Leave Behind: Six Months In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Virginia Casper, Donna Futterman, Evan Casper-Futterman Nov 2017

What We Bring With Us And What We Leave Behind: Six Months In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Virginia Casper, Donna Futterman, Evan Casper-Futterman

Occasional Paper Series

The authors, a family, reflect on their experiences living, volunteering, and going to school in South Africa for six months. They sought to live in a society in which white people were not the majority and to experience the transformation of the new South Africa, not as tourists, but as participants.


Introduction: Letters From Abroad, Linda Levine Nov 2017

Introduction: Letters From Abroad, Linda Levine

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to a series of essays by educators who reflect on their choices to live and work in other parts of the world. They offer a provocative range of personal and professional explanations for seeking out the strange and unknown.


Curriculum Drama: Using Imagination And Inquiry In A Middle School Social Studies Classroom, Catherine Franklin Nov 2017

Curriculum Drama: Using Imagination And Inquiry In A Middle School Social Studies Classroom, Catherine Franklin

Occasional Paper Series

This essay provides a vivid window into an eighth-grade class engaged in a legislative curriculum drama. Students acted as members of political parties within the Senate and participated in legislative hearings, discussed costs and benefits to legislation, and engaged in debates. Curriculum drama formed a bridge that linked the task of teaching and learning about a defined unit of study to the authentic interests, concerns, and energies of the students


Forever Undone [Poem], Kate Abell Nov 2017

Forever Undone [Poem], Kate Abell

Occasional Paper Series

Kate Abell shares a poem following September 11. It is a personal expression of never forgetting the images and events of September 11.


The Nyc Board Of Education Mandates Pledging Allegiance [Poem], Kate Abell Nov 2017

The Nyc Board Of Education Mandates Pledging Allegiance [Poem], Kate Abell

Occasional Paper Series

Kate Abell shares a poem following September 11. It is a criticism of the requirement of pledging allegiance to the flag in school.


Principles For Responding To Children In A Traumatic Time, Sal Vascellaro Nov 2017

Principles For Responding To Children In A Traumatic Time, Sal Vascellaro

Occasional Paper Series

A list of principles that aim to help educators in their struggle to respond to the range of traumatic experiences many children have to live with—the death of a loved one, serious illness, violence, drug addiction, homelessness. This list offers something tangible to use as they respond to the children in their care.


The Children Keep Reminding Us: One School's Experience After 9/11, Kate Delacorte Nov 2017

The Children Keep Reminding Us: One School's Experience After 9/11, Kate Delacorte

Occasional Paper Series

This essay reflects on the experience of a new preschool that was located a few blocks away from the World Trade Center and had not yet opened at the time of September 11. After the event, the school held meetings with teachers, parents, and their children. The conversations highlighted the overwhelming difference between the needs of the parents and the needs of the children. Through sharing of fears, experiences, and emotions, the new community grew closer.


Re-Visioning The World Trade Center, Alexandra Weisman Nov 2017

Re-Visioning The World Trade Center, Alexandra Weisman

Occasional Paper Series

This is a story that takes place more than a year after September 11, 2001. It is about the complex, ongoing ways that this event has affected curriculum. It is also about the thoughtful and ingenuous ways that eleven- year-old students at the Bank Street School for Children came to “re-vision” the World Trade Center site through three different perspectives.


Living In Question, Cynthia Rothschild Nov 2017

Living In Question, Cynthia Rothschild

Occasional Paper Series

September 11 and the following months found Rothschild's students asking: "Why is there suffering?" "What has real value for me and for my society?" and, most resoundingly, "Is there a God?" She had few answers. The value that came to the forefront in her post-September 11 teaching was the value of living in question.


"Building Up": Block Play After September 11, Lisa Edstrom Nov 2017

"Building Up": Block Play After September 11, Lisa Edstrom

Occasional Paper Series

Like most people in New York City, the children in Edstrom's class were affected by the events of September 11. However, not until five weeks later did these particular five- and six year-olds begin to make sense of what happened. Through the use of block play, they were able to explore the difficult emotions and questions we all had about the World Trade Center attack


Monday, September 17 And Urn [Poems], Rella Stuart-Hunt Nov 2017

Monday, September 17 And Urn [Poems], Rella Stuart-Hunt

Occasional Paper Series

Stuart-Hunt recounts the difference in play styles of a four-year-old girl before and after losing her mother in the September 11 attack. This is followed by a poem she has written titled "Urn".


A Story To Tell, Megan Rose Nov 2017

A Story To Tell, Megan Rose

Occasional Paper Series

Rose recounts her experience on September 11 while being the teacher of an eleventh grade class. This essay demonstrates a teacher's need to be a leader and caregiver in the face of disaster, and subsequently allow for reflection and processing of emotions. Initially, her job stifled her own emotional response to the attack, but she was eventually able to use curriculum and creativity in the classroom to help herself and her students engage and reflect on their experiences.


Safe, Patricia Lent Nov 2017

Safe, Patricia Lent

Occasional Paper Series

The first four sections of this essay chronicle her attempts to make sense of September 11 in the succeeding weeks and months. The final section—”Corn, Beans, and Squash”—was written to and for her students at the end of the school year.


Introduction: Teaching Through A Crisis: September 11 And Beyond, Alison Mckersie Nov 2017

Introduction: Teaching Through A Crisis: September 11 And Beyond, Alison Mckersie

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to a volume of essays that provided a vehicle through which educators could share their experiences following September 11. This includes how teachers were addressing the troubling questions that the tragedy raised: What kinds of conversations had been sparked among children, teachers, and parents? How had curriculum shifted in response to this heretofore unimaginable event?


The Need To Be Apart In An Inclusive Educational Setting, Zenaida Muslin Oct 2017

The Need To Be Apart In An Inclusive Educational Setting, Zenaida Muslin

Occasional Paper Series

This paper illustrates the need for direct acknowledgement and support of children and faculty of color in inclusive educational settings. Muslin recounts her experiences at many different schools and how each offered a new perspective on diversity. The most profound impacts she has made in her community stem from her work at Bank Street School for Children, where she and her fellow faculty recognized the importance of having separate meetings and focus groups devoted to the concerns of people of color within the institution.


Conversations With Children About Death, Molly Sexton-Reade Oct 2017

Conversations With Children About Death, Molly Sexton-Reade

Occasional Paper Series

This paper emphasizes the need for conversations around death in the classroom. Today's children are exposed to information about death through a wide variety of media. Teachers have a responsibility to provide opportunities for children to process this information in ways that are developmentally appropriate - acknowledging children's "magical thinking" as well as experiences children may have surrounding death.


Wouldn't It Be Cool If Everyone Turned Out To Be Blue? Building A Curriculum About Sexual Orientation For Nine- And Ten-Year-Olds, Stephanie Nelson Oct 2017

Wouldn't It Be Cool If Everyone Turned Out To Be Blue? Building A Curriculum About Sexual Orientation For Nine- And Ten-Year-Olds, Stephanie Nelson

Occasional Paper Series

Nelson draws upon her experiences as an elementary school teacher to discuss ways in which sexual orientation can be addressed through curriculum. Aspects of the curriculum implemented in the Bank Street School for Children included "Gay Talks", read alouds, debates, and discussions about civil rights and how they relate to the LGBTQ community.


Performing Gender In The Elementary Classroom, Gail Masuchika Boldt Oct 2017

Performing Gender In The Elementary Classroom, Gail Masuchika Boldt

Occasional Paper Series

This paper raises questions about teachers’ interventions into children’s exchanges around gender in elementary classrooms. Masuchika Boldt argues that gender is ever-present in the classroom and children are constantly making assertions about the meaning of gender and the authenticity of their own and others’ gender performances. She speaks to the question, “If a teacher does interpret this exchange as being at least in part about gender, what, if any, response is called for?”


Introduction: Talking Tough Topics In The Classroom, Jonathan G. Silin Oct 2017

Introduction: Talking Tough Topics In The Classroom, Jonathan G. Silin

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to this Occasional Paper, in which four educators describe their approaches to tough topics in the classroom—gender, sexual identity, death, and diversity. Despite differing subject matter, the essays have much in common from which we can learn. An important commonality is the involvement of at least three kinds of learning— cognitive, emotional, and social.


Normalizing The Need For Help: What All Teachers Need, Nancy Gropper Oct 2017

Normalizing The Need For Help: What All Teachers Need, Nancy Gropper

Occasional Paper Series

Gropper recalls her need for support when she first joined the graduate faculty at Bank Street College as a Supervised Fieldwork advisor. She explores the connections between her own most recent experiences as a newcomer and what all new teachers need in order to succeed - teacher support. This article describes critical components of a teacher support program, referencing the methods of the New Educators Support Team (NEST).


Learning To Keep My Heart Open, Marika Paez Oct 2017

Learning To Keep My Heart Open, Marika Paez

Occasional Paper Series

Paez's first year of teaching was a great challenge, but she recalls one moment when her second-grade class helped her learn that the job of a teacher requires much more than to be an organized dispenser of curriculum or an efficient manager of individuals. Rather, it requires being a person who can stay in the moment, listen carefully, respond authentically, and thoughtfully guide students closer to becoming their own best selves.


Wrong Place, Right Time, Rachel Mazor Oct 2017

Wrong Place, Right Time, Rachel Mazor

Occasional Paper Series

Mazor recounts working in the three distinctly different environments during her first year of teaching: sixth-grade math, pre-school social studies, and first-grade reading. Each of these experiences taught her specific skills that she later applied to assignments; additionally, each experience helped her develop her own style as a teacher.


Starting Over Again: Comparing The First And Second Years Of Teaching, Scott Moran Oct 2017

Starting Over Again: Comparing The First And Second Years Of Teaching, Scott Moran

Occasional Paper Series

Moran compares his experience during his first year of teaching with his second. After receiving his M.S.Ed. and completing a very successful first year of teaching, he thought that he had reached an important milestone. However, his confidence was shaken when he began his second year, realizing that the students as individuals and within the group dynamic can vary greatly from class to class. Each group offers new challenges and thus new learning experiences for teachers.


When September Comes Again, Elizabeth Huffman Oct 2017

When September Comes Again, Elizabeth Huffman

Occasional Paper Series

Huffman describes her first year teaching as extremely difficult and stressful. She reflects on her experiences and includes a log of events that she had written throughout that first year. Her stories remind her why she continues her journey as a teacher today.


Introduction: The First Years Out, Judith Leipzig Oct 2017

Introduction: The First Years Out, Judith Leipzig

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to a series of essays from former Bank Street advisees that reflect on their first-year teaching experiences. The essays reflect the voices of those in the midst of becoming the teachers they hope to be. They touch on important aspects of teaching such as being present, bringing one's whole self, recognizing the interdependence between students and teachers, and generosity.


Teaching My Child To Resist In Kindergarten, Christine Ferris Oct 2017

Teaching My Child To Resist In Kindergarten, Christine Ferris

Occasional Paper Series

Ferris describes how she taught her son to resist in his kindergarten classroom while drawing on her own experiences as an educator. Their experience draws attention to common teaching methods that do not promote socialization or free thinking. This also highlights the issues that can arise when the value system of a school does not align with a family's own beliefs - especially when alternative schools are not a viable option.


Student Resistance And Standardization In Schools, Frank Pignatelli Oct 2017

Student Resistance And Standardization In Schools, Frank Pignatelli

Occasional Paper Series

A criticism of the current climate of public schools where standardization is key, compliance is rewarded, and resistance is met with lowered status and increased scrutiny. This article asserts that acts of resistance can be crucial opportunities to promote a student’s moral, political, and intellectual development. Civic education, student agency, conflict management, and communities of inquiry are areas that require attention and application in the classroom.


The Power Of More Than One, Jane King Oct 2017

The Power Of More Than One, Jane King

Occasional Paper Series

Jane King reflects on her experiences as a preschool teacher eager to use methods outside of the norm. She resists activities that encourage homogeneity and strives to promote autonomy and free thinking in her students. After transitioning from teacher to parent, she still uses this philosophy to make small changes in her daughter's classroom and encourage her children to engage in acts of resistance and critical thinking both in and out of school.