quiltersmuse.com Blog

Applications now available to serve as Teacher-in-Residence during the 2011-12 school year

Since 2000, the Library of Congress has recruited teachers to work with Educational Outreach staff to help teachers incorporate the Library’s collection of over 16 million digitized primary sources into high-quality instruction. Previous Teachers-in-Residence have led professional development workshops for teachers in Washington, DC, and across the United States. They have represented the Library at various conferences and meetings and developed teaching materials and lessons that use the Library’s digitized primary sources for national distribution.

The successful Teacher-in-Residence candidate will be innovative and collaborative, be fluent with the Library’s digitized primary sources with experience using them in instruction, and have a history of leadership and staff development. The Library will give preference to applicants who teach students considered to be underserved based on ethnicity, socio-economic status or geography.

The selected teacher will participate in this program via an intergovernmental personnel agreement between the Library and his or her home school district. The Library will reimburse the district for salary and benefits paid to the teacher during the school year, and will release the Teacher-in-Residence for all district holidays and vacations.

The teacher will receive a $1,500 monthly housing stipend if he or she teaches outside of the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The Library cannot pay for travel or moving expenses.

In addition to assisting Educational Outreach staff, the Teacher-in-Residence will undertake a project to benefit his or her home school or district to be implemented during the following academic year. This project could be a workshop on teaching with primary sources for fellow teachers, a unit using Library of Congress primary sources, or some other product or activity using Library of Congress digitized primary sources that can be implemented with students or fellow teachers. As part of the application process, teachers should propose projects that were designed in collaboration with teacher colleagues and have the support of appropriate school and or district administrators.

To be considered, teachers should fill out and submit the attached application with an accompanying letter from a school or district administrator authorized to approve an intergovernmental personnel agreement. Applications will be evaluated based on the teacher’s creativity and willingness to contribute to the educational community as evidenced by his or her description of past activities and recommendation letters, and the feasibility and value of the project that the applicant proposes.

The Deadline for applications is June 17th. Please direct any questions to edoutreach@loc.gov

CALL FOR TEACHER-IN-RESIDENCE APPLICATIONS

The Educational Outreach Division of the Library of Congress is seeking applications from secondary teachers for a Teacher-in-Residence position during the 2011/12 school year.

Since 2000, the Library of Congress has recruited teachers to work with Educational Outreach staff to help teachers incorporate the Library’s collection of 11,000,000 digitized primary sources into high-quality instruction. Previous Teachers-in-Residence have led professional development workshops for teachers in Washington, DC and across the United States. They have represented the Library at various conferences and meetings and developed teaching materials and lessons that use the Library’s digitized primary sources for national dissemination.

The successful Teacher-in-Residence candidate will be innovative and collaborative, be fluent with the Library’s digitized primary sources with experience using them in instruction, and have a history of leadership and staff development.

The selected teacher will participate in this program via an intergovernmental personnel agreement between the Library and his or her home school district. The Library will reimburse the district for salary and benefits paid to the teacher during the school year, and will release the Teacher-in-Residence for all district holidays and vacations.

The teacher will receive a $1,500 monthly housing stipend if he or she teaches outside of the Washington DC metropolitan area. The Library cannot pay for travel or moving expenses.

In addition to assisting Educational Outreach staff, the Teacher-in-Residence will undertake a project to benefit his or her home school or district to be implemented during the following academic year. This project could be a workshop on teaching with primary sources for fellow teachers, a unit using Library of Congress primary sources, or some other product or activity using Library of Congress digitized primary sources that can be implemented with students or fellow teachers. As part of the application process, teachers should propose projects that were designed in collaboration with teacher colleagues and have the support of appropriate school and or district administrators.

To be considered, teachers should fill and submit the attached application with an accompanying letter from a school or district administrator authorized to approve an intergovernmental personnel agreement. Applications will be evaluated based on the teacher’s experience using primary sources, creativity and willingness to contribute to the educational community as evidenced by his or her description of past activities and recommendation letters, and the feasibility and value of the project that the applicant proposes.

Important Dates:

Applications due: June 17, 2011
Selection decision: June 24, 2011
Residency period: Dates match those of the home district’s school year

Sending an Application:

Security measures cause a delay in the delivery of regular mail. Applications should be sent to the Library by email to: vawu@loc.gov, or by Federal Express, to: Vivian Awumey, Teaching with Primary Sources Program Manager, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20540-1300.

Application Check List:

• Completed application form
• Current resume or curriculum vita
• Project plan
• Recommendation/support letters from one or two collaborating teachers and an administrator who will supervise your proposed project
• Letter from an individual authorized to approve intergovernmental personnel agreements

This announcement is brought to you courtesy of Quilter’s Muse Publications

The Internet is more complex than one would ever think and we are learning more about it daily. Yesterday, on a radio broadcast, I heard about “bots” for the first time. Wow! A “bot” is short for “robot.” Programs can be set up to target and track specific users based on information that is provided. That information can be used to ask for marketing purposes, charitable donations, and other uses, including fraud. It was somewhat amusing to hear about “bots” that competed in bidding in an online auction for a book. The price soared to $47 million dollars or some such outrageous figure. What do they know? They are just “bots,” and as such, are not responsible for paying the final auction price.

Be very careful about the type of personal information you divulge. We are all keen to interact with each other and be friendly. Keep in mind that some Internet users are criminals just looking for an opportunity at identity theft or worse.

Technology is infringing on personal security. The recent stir is about i-phones that track one’s every move and stores information about one’s whereabouts indefinitely. To be able to use the GPS indicator, which is driven by satellite, that feature was included. The company is now calling it a mistake that they will attempt to correct in the future.

While we are on the subject of personal information, how many times have you checked out at a store register, only to be asked for your zip code. Please decline. If you are paying by credit card AND provide your zip code, it is an entry point into other critical financial information about you that can be used for devious purposes. I guarantee that you won’t be happy with the results.

Initially, the Internet was created as a means of sharing scholarly information. It has morphed into a huge social media network. The danger of the kind of “sharing” that goes on is that one never knows how one’s information will be used, nor by whom or in what fashion. Use of the internet calls for a new kind of sophistication and insight. The word “ignore” is a very good one to learn when spam e-mails pop up that ask for ANY passwords or other personal information or warn you that your income tax return was not accepted or that someone has tapped into your bank account (just verify your bank account number, please!). Make sure you know with whom you are interacting and why, and be reluctant to click on any email with no subject line and a “curious” sender, whom you do not know. Never click on unknown attachments. A word to the wise…

For more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_bot

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 8, 2011

White House, Department of Education Announce 2011 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge Finalists

Six Public High Schools Selected to Compete for Presidential Commencement Address; Finalists Enter Next Phase of Competition Led by the Get Schooled Foundation

WASHINGTON – Today, the White House and the U.S. Department of Education announced the six high schools selected as finalists for this year’s Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge. As part of the next step of the Commencement Challenge, the Get Schooled Foundation will now work with each school to produce a video for the online voting portion of the challenge.

The President set a goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020 and the Commencement Challenge invited the nation’s public high schools to submit applications that demonstrate their commitment to preparing students for college and a career. Hundreds of applications were received and were judged based on the schools’ performance, essay questions and supplemental data. The six finalists were selected for their creativity in engaging and supporting students, academic results and progress in preparing students to graduate college and career ready.

Finalists:

· Bridgeport High School (Bridgeport, Washington)

· Wayne Early Middle College High School (Goldsboro, North Carolina)

· Booker T. Washington High School (Memphis, Tennessee)

· Science Park High School (Newark, New Jersey)

· Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12, School for Creative and Performing Arts (Pittsburgh, PA)

· High Tech High International (San Diego, CA)

“I want to congratulate the six finalists for all they’ve done to prepare their students for college and careers, and I want to thank all of the schools that applied,” said President Obama. “I look forward to meeting the students and teachers of the winning school at their commencement.”

“I am humbled by the hundreds of extraordinary applications we received this year and more importantly, by the tremendous work our nation’s public high schools are doing to ensure that our students are graduating ready to go on to college and careers,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The Challenge continues to be a wonderful opportunity to share stories of success from our nation’s public high schools and put a spotlight on the tough and exceptional work they do every day.”

Over the next few weeks, each school’s students will work with The Get Schooled Foundation, which includes Viacom among its founding partners, to create a short video highlighting how the school best fulfills the Challenge’s criteria. The six videos, along with portions of each school’s written application, will be featured on the White House website in the coming weeks and the public will have an opportunity to vote for the three schools they think best meet the President’s goal. The President will select a national winner from these three finalists and will visit the winning high school to deliver the commencement later this spring.

“Providing support for students across the country is essential to ensuring the long-term competitiveness of our future workforce. At Viacom, we are proud to use our powerful brands as a platform to motivate our audiences to get involved in their local communities to help improve education. Viacom and The Get Schooled Foundation are very pleased to work with the White House again on this important initiative,” said Carl Folta, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications, Viacom.

Watch a video of the schools being notified of their selection on Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8, 2011 at www.whitehouse.gov/commencement

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This is wonderful new as my great-niece is a senior at High Tech High in San Diego. Congratulations, Rachel, for being a part of creating a wonderful video!

Museum of Work and Culture, Woonsocket, Rhode Island

A photo essay of our visit on March 24, 2011.