News – Teachers Institute of Philadelphia

Spring 2022 Seminars

The Teachers Institute of Philadelphia (TIP) invites teachers from around the School District of Philadelphia to participate in its 15-week seminar program in 2022. Led by professors in the humanities, arts, social sciences, and STEM fields, the seminars enable participants (called fellows) to write original curriculum units based on the material they have learned. Participation in TIP helps teachers build their content knowledge and improve results in the classroom. Fellows develop creative ways to teach…

2021 Fall Program Launch

On Tuesday, September 14th, the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia will launch its Fall Curriculum Lab with an orientation reception at 4:30pm. As in the spring program participants (called fellows) will engage in content-based professional development over the course of a semester, but with more flexible scheduling. Fellows will acquire cutting-edge knowledge from university professors and write original curriculum units based on the material they have learned. They will develop creative ways to teach material required…

2021 Annual Celebration of Writing and Literacy

The Teachers Institute of Philadelphia is partnering with the Philadelphia Writing Project for the 5th time to present A Celebration of Writing and Literacy(CoWL). CoWL is an annual two-day conference presented by and for Philadelphia educators. The focus is teacher research and knowledge. This year’s theme, Making Stories Visible, invites participants to bring to light what has been obscured during a year of pandemic and political turmoil. The conference will be held on Saturday-Sunday October 16-17,…

2021 Annual Celebration of Writing and Literacy

TIP Seminar Leader Carol Muller Receives Award, in Partnership with West Philadelphia High School

Penn Provost Wendell Pritchett and Netter Center Director Ira Harkavy have named Dr. Carol Muller, Professor of Music in the School of Arts and Sciences, and her partners at West Philadelphia High School, recipients of the 2021 Provost/Netter Center Faculty-Community Partnership Award. Carol Muller, PhD, is Professor of Music and Director of the Minor in Jazz and Popular Music Studies. She was recognized for her exceptional work on projects that use music and the arts…

TIP 2021 Spring Celebration

On Wednesday, May 26th we held the 16th celebration of the completion of the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia seminar program, honoring 53 School District of Philadelphia teachers who attended 15 week long professional development seminars. Teachers shared what they learned and the curriculum units they are writing. The participants, called fellows, will implement their curriculum units in the fall of 2021, reaching hundreds of students throughout the School District of Philadelphia with new knowledge. Click…

TIP Fellow Jeri Johnson Wins 2021 Lindback Award and gets class visit from Marlon Fuentes of the Grammys

TIP Fellow Jeri Johnson is a 2021 Lindback award winner! The Lindback Foundation recognizes 60 distinguished teachers and seven principals from the Philadelphia public schools who demonstrate excellence in promoting learning at the highest levels. The teacher award recipients are chosen for activities that improve the intellectual and character development of their students. Marlon Fuentes from the Grammy Awards visits Jeri teaches ELA and social studies at Baldi Middle School and is enrolled in TIP…

TIP Fall 2021 Program Open House

TIP’s Open House will be held virtually on Tuesday May 18th, 2021 at 4:00PM. Please RSVP here and we will send you the zoom details. At this event, each seminar leader will give a brief presentation of what participants can expect in their seminar. There will be time for question and answer after each presentation. The Teachers Institute of Philadelphia (TIP) invites teachers from around the School District of Philadelphia to participate in its fall…

2021 National Fellows Selected

TIP Fellows Alex de Arana, Matthew Menschner, Christopher Sikich, Charlette Walker and Lisa Yau have been chosen to participate in national seminars hosted by our parent organization the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools. The summer intensive program provides public school teachers deeper knowledge of the subjects they teach and an opportunity to learn from internationally renowned Yale faculty members and colleagues around the nation. Alex de Arana is enrolled in U.S.…

TIP Units Teach against Hate

We at the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia are appalled by the recent uptick in attacks against Asian Americans. TIP strives to educate against and combat racism and xenophobia through the curricula that our fellows develop which are used throughout the School District of Philadelphia. Teachers wishing to address the recent violence against Asian Americans will find a useful resource in Lisa Yau’s unit “Boxing Asian American History,” completed during her 2020 fellowship at the Yale…

TIP Fellow Sally O’Brien Featured in the artblog

TIP Fellow and Kensington Health Sciences Academy teacher Sally O’Brien collaborated with Artblog contributor Candy Alexandra Gonzalez on a poetry and book arts project called “Imagining Our Future Through Visual Poetry and Book Arts.” Together they applied for the Picasso Project Teacher-Based Grant, which supports innovative teacher-driven arts projects and in December, received news that their project had been funded. Their project has exposed Sally’s senior students to “book binding, word and image centered practices,…

TIP Seminar Leaders produce UN Report on Lead

TIP seminar leaders and University Advisory Council members Reto Giere and Marilyn Howarth along with Richard Pepino of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology co-authored a new publication for the United Nations Environment Programme. The publication calls for the eradication of lead paint worldwide to prevent lead poisoning. The use of lead paint is still permitted in 60% of all countries globally and lead poisoning is the cause of more than a million deaths…

TIP launches 2021 seminars

On Wednesday, January 20th TIP launched its 2021 program with a virtual orientation reception. We heard a brief overview from each of the seminar leaders of the topic they will present to teachers over the course of the next 16 weeks. Members of our teacher and university governing bodies also shared how the program has improved teaching in the public schools and strengthened relations between university and community. We warmly welcome TIP’s 2021 cohort and…

TIP seminar leader Rogers Smith shared his post-election thoughts with CNN

CNN political commentator Tara Setmayer, who is a former GOP communications director, spoke with constitutional scholar and TIP seminar leader Rogers Smith about the 2020 election’s impact on the identity of the Republican Party. The event was part of the Andrea Mitchell Center’s Race and Politics series. They discussed the power struggle taking place within the GOP between “Trump-apologist Republicans and more traditional Republicans.” Though Smith and Setmayer agreed that Trump will dominate the Republican…

TIP Fellows Present at Celebration of Writing & Literacy

Local educators met online for two days of learning, reflection, and joy as they shared innovative and topical curriculum ideas on the theme of “Educating for Justice in the Digital Age”! 2020 was the 19th consecutive year that the Philadelphia Writing Project hosted the Celebration of Writing and Literacy and the fourth year of The Teachers Institute’s cosponsorship of the event. The Penn Museum also joined us this year as a cosponsor and presented the…

Seminar Leader Marilyn Howarth featured in Penn Today

Seminar leader and UAC member Marilyn Howarth was featured in Penn Today discussing her work to identify children exposed to lead poisoning, develop intervention programs and educate Philadelphia communities about the risks of lead. She and her colleague Richard Pepino, who spoke at last year’s Celebration of Writing and Literacy, have worked together with multiple partners, from local entities like the Overbrook Environmental Education Center to federal agencies like the CDC and the Environmental Protection…

TIP Seminar Leader Nominated for World Fantasy Award

TIP Seminar Leader Ebony Elizabeth Thomas has been nominated for a World Fantasy Award which recognizes the best fantasy fiction books published in the previous calendar year. The awards will be presented at the World Fantasy Convention on October 29th – November 1st. Ebony’s book The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games examines the teaching of African American literature, history, and culture in K-12 classrooms. This year she…

Superintendent Hite Praises Fellows at Spring Celebration

On June 30th we honored the 64 School District of Philadelphia teachers who completed our semester-long seminar program via Zoom. Guest speakers William Hite and Otis Hackney congratulated the teachers on their accomplishments and Fellows in each seminar shared what they learned and the curriculum units they created. Although we were unable to celebrate in person this year the event was an uplifting conclusion to a successful seminar program. Click here for photos from this…

TIP 2021 Seminars

Next year’s program covers a variety of topics including renewable energy, urban studies, democracy, cancer biology and African music. To learn more about TIP’s spring 2021 seminars click here: https://theteachersinstitute.org/apply-to-tip/current-seminars/ 2020 seminar leaders are (top left to lower right): Professor Jorge Santiago-Aviles, Professor Sandra Ryeom, Professor Rickie Sanders, Professor Carol Muller, Professor Karen Detlefsen. To learn how you can participate next year click here: https://theteachersinstitute.org/apply-to-tip/application/

TIP 2020 Spring Celebration

This year TIP’s spring celebration will be virtual! A fellow from each seminar will present a summary of what was learned and discuss the curriculum units created. This years seminars were: Evolutionary Biology led by Dustin Brisson New Approaches to the History of Slavery: The View from the Penn and Slavery Project led by Kathleen Brown A Visual Approach to Learning Math led by Robert Ghrist Cinema and Civil Rights led by Karen Redrobe The…