News – Page 2 – Teachers Institute of Philadelphia

2024 Spring Seminar: The Soviet Century October 23, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

With the war in Ukraine ongoing, teachers and students are in need of a deeper understanding of that conflict’s historical origins. The spring 2024 TIP seminar “Soviet Century: Russia, Socialism, and the Modern World” fills that need. Penn Associate Professor of History Benjamin Nathans, who specializes in Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union, modern European Jewish history, and the history of human rights, will lead the seminar. The course will posit the idea of a…

2024 Spring Seminar: Asian Meditation Traditions October 19, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

The idea of “meditation” and “mindfulness” has become increasingly popular in the contemporary world and has evolved into a globally adopted practice. However, people are often unfamiliar with the ancient and modern traditions that shape and inform what some call today’s “contemplative sciences.” Deven Patel, an Associate Professor of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, will help participants understand the early roots of meditation in the upcoming spring 2024 TIP seminar titled “Asian…

2024 Spring Seminar: Children’s Literature and the Immigrant Experience – Posted in: Uncategorized

In a world marked by mass migration due to war and climate change, it is important for educators to learn to navigate the diversity in their classrooms. The upcoming spring 2024 TIP seminar titled “Children’s Literature and the Immigrant Experience” led by Professor Gerald Campano who teachers Literacy, Culture and International Education at University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, does just that. Throughout the seminar, Campano will help participants investigate migration and human mobility…

Penn Conference Supports Educators in Troubled Times October 3, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

On Saturday, Oct. 14, The Philadelphia Writing Project (PhilWP), the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia (TIP), the Penn Museum, and the Penn GSE Mid-Career Doctoral and the Reading/Writing/Literacy Programs convened Creating Brave Spaces in Schools and Communities: A Celebration of Writing and Literacy. The event took place 8:15am-4pm at the Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia PA 19104. Throughout the day, teachers, administrators and scholars shared curriculum ideas and practices intended to promote truth-telling and preserve…

Philly Teachers Participate in Yale Summer Intensive July 16, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

Four School District of Philadelphia teachers joined their colleagues from around the country at the Yale National Initiative’s summer intensive program in New Haven. These Teachers Institute of Philadelphia fellows distinguished themselves by participating in a special round of seminars at led by Yale professors and writing curriculum units on the topic they studied. Like the seminars they take in Philadelphia, the Yale seminars require them to undertake in-depth study and adapt the content they…

TIP Professor Highlights Role of Women in Antislavery Movement June 22, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

A new book by recent TIP seminar leader Kathleen Brown shows that women—and especially Black women—led the way in the abolition of slavery. Brown’s book Undoing Slavery: Bodies, Race and Rights in the Age of Abolition corrects the conventional view that abolitionists were mostly White and motivated by their religious beliefs. The book points to the contributions of Black, female activists who drew attention to the physical harm inflicted on women as part of the…

TIP Fellow Awarded Science Grants May 25, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

In the world of science education, exceptional teachers like Eual Phillips inspire the next generation of scientific minds. An educator at Hill-Freedman World Academy, Eual has been recognized for his outstanding contributions with a series of prestigious grants in 2023. As a teacher of 10th and 12th-grade chemistry and environmental science, Eual joined the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia (TIP) as a fellow in 2016 in the seminar “The Evolving Universe.” In this seminar, he produced…

TIP Fellows Visit Seventh Ward, Site of W. E. B. Du Bois’ Famed Study April 26, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

As part of her TIP seminar, Penn Professor Amy Hillier led her fellows on a walking tour of Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward. The area, which covers the blocks between Spruce and South Street from 6th to 23rd Street was once home to thousands of African Americans, many of whom migrated from the South in search of better opportunities in the North. The tour focused on the research of distinguished sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist, W.E.B.…

TIP Presents at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Meeting in Chicago April 19, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

Teachers Institute of Philadelphia presented curriculum development work as part of a symposium at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 14. The annual event, which took place in Chicago this year, showcases groundbreaking studies across a wide range of areas of educational research. TIP was part of a group of Teachers Institutes from around the country that organized a symposium entitled “Teachers as Co-Constructors of Truth, Knowledge, and Curriculum: Exploring…

TIP Unit Explores the Identities of Latin Americans of Asian Descent March 30, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

Alisha Davis, an educator at Constitution High School and TIP fellow, is using her passion for teaching to explore the experiences of Latin Americans of Asian descent and challenge her students’ beliefs about belonging and identity. Davis teaches AP U.S. Government and Politics and World History to grades 10-12. In spring 2022, Davis joined the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia (TIP) as a fellow in the seminar “Asian Americans in U.S. Schools.” Through the program, she…

Science Education Advocate: Chloe Glynn – Posted in: Uncategorized

Chloe Glynn, a biology and environmental science teacher at Horace Furness High School and TIP fellow, was honored with a $10,000 Pittcon Science Week Grant in 2023 that will be used for the expansion of student projects in solar and wind energy solutions. Pittcon, an abbreviation for the Pittsburgh Conference on Analytic Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, has been generously contributing 90% of their annual conference fees towards supporting science education initiatives for almost 75 years,…

Seminar Leader Howarth on the Ohio Train Derailment March 16, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

TIP seminar leader and University Advisory Council (UAC) member Marilyn Howarth was recently quoted in Vox on the effects of the train derailment in Ohio. Earlier this month, 100,000 gallons of dangerous chemicals spilled into the air and water of East Palestine, Ohio after a Norfolk Southern train was derailed. Today, as residents of East Palestine return home, they are raising concerns about the long-term effects of the disaster. Some individuals have already reported smelling…

Units Posted from Fall Curriculum Lab March 1, 2023 – Posted in: Uncategorized

The curriculum units for the 2022 Fall Curriculum Lab seminars are now posted under 2022 Curriculum Units. The 2022 Fall Curriculum Lab seminars were Global Environmental Challenges and Potential Solutions; Social Justice, Monuments, Museums, and Heritage; and What Makes Something a Number. Global Environmental Challenges and Potential Solutions, taught by Earth and Environmental Science Professor, Reto Giere, covered several topics around our environmental footprint and ways to lower our consumption of resources in pursuit of…

Seminar Leader Reto Gieré Featured in Penn Today for Research on Charcoal November 17, 2022 – Posted in: Uncategorized

Reto Gieré, fall 2022 seminar leader, was just featured in Penn Today for his research on the charcoal supply chain and how it can be made more sustainable. At TIP, Gieré, Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, taught a seminar titled “Global Environmental Challenges and Potential Solutions.” In this course, participants analyzed current global waste streams and ways they can help diminish environmental and climate impacts of daily life, agriculture, manufacturing, and…

The Celebration of Writing and Literacy 2022 October 27, 2022 – Posted in: Uncategorized

On Saturday, October 15th, the Teachers Institute of Philadelphia in conjunction with The Philadelphia Writing Project and the Penn Museum, hosted the annual Celebration of Writing and Literacy focusing on teacher research and knowledge. This year’s theme was Teaching Environmental Justice, where educators in all disciplines explored how they can teach their students the effects of climate change and environmental contamination and ways to take action on these issues. Keynote speaker, Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished…

TIP Fellows Inspire climate action through storytelling July 27, 2022 – Posted in: Uncategorized

10 Philadelphia teachers have been working with TIP seminar leader and founder of the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities(PPEH) Bethany Wiggin to bring climate education into their classrooms. Six of those teachers are current/former TIP fellows. Workshops began in late June and as teachers planned their curriculum, their commitment to teaching their students civic engagement and climate literacy grew stronger. Prof. Wiggin plans to use the curriculum this group of teachers creates as a model…

TIP fellows attend International Robotics conference July 13, 2022 – Posted in: Uncategorized

TIP seminar leader Cynthia Sung took fellows enrolled in her Soft Robots seminar to the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) this summer. The annual conference “brings together the world’s top researchers and most important companies to share ideas and advances in the fields of robotics and automation.” Fellows visited the conference’s exhibition hall where 96 robotics-related companies had large booths to show off their products and recruit. To learn more about the conference…

TIP Fellows Present at District-wide Professional Development Sessions May 6, 2022 – Posted in: Uncategorized

This spring, three TIP fellows conducted workshops at the School District of Philadelphia’s “Tune-Up Tuesday” sessions in March and April. The twice-monthly, peer-led events enable teachers from around the District to improve their knowledge of both content and pedagogy. These sessions are organized by the District’s Office of Teaching and Learning and are held virtually on Zoom. TIP presenters led sessions on their curriculum units from various seminars. On March 8 and 22, Robert Amezola-Rivera…

TIP Teacher Helps Create a South Philly Mural May 2, 2022 – Posted in: Uncategorized

Teachers Institute of Philadelphia (TIP) fellow and Philadelphia public school teacher Lisa Yau and her students helped mural artist Shira Walinsky create a vibrant addition to South Philadelphia’s streetscape. One of many projects Yau has undertaken that link the arts to literacy, the mural Routing for You is an example of how TIP teachers inject interdisciplinary thinking and cultural diversity into the School District of Philadelphia curriculum. Routing for You, which adorns a wall opposite…

TIP FELLOW MONICA ROWLEY honored March 21, 2022 – Posted in: Uncategorized

This year TIP Fellow Monica Rowley received a $1,475 Dixie Goswami Bread Loaf Teacher Network Action Grant from Middlebury College. She will use the funds to build and diversify her classroom library at Julia Reynolds Masterman School. Monica is an 8th grade English Literacy teacher. Last June Rowley was also honored by Northwestern University for her personal and professional commitment. She was nominated as a Distinguished Secondary School Teacher by one of her former students,…