Educators deal with a major challenge every day, the
lack of funding and devastating budget cuts that leave schools without
the supplies teachers need to help their students learn, achieve, and
excel.
Too often, dedicated teachers end up spending hundreds of dollars of
their own money on classroom materials, and it's still not enough.
My Teacher, My Hero
is excited to announce a partnership with ClassWish.org, a new nonprofit
which offers a simple alternative:
- Teachers visit the site to create a Wish List of the
things they need to equip great classrooms, as easily as shopping
online.
- ClassWish helps
attract parents, alumni, local businesses and other potential
supporters to see exactly what is needed and to inspire their help.
- Contributions are tax-deductible and ClassWish
provides a receipt
- ClassWish sends the supplies directly to teachers at the
school
The result? Teachers get the support they need.
Parents and communities are engaged in supporting classrooms and
funding the things they care about. And everyone is united in
helping children learn, grow, and perform at their best. We
encourage you to participate at
ClassWish.org
In conjunction with MAT@USC we want to give thanks to those who inspire us...
Dear Ed Bloggers,
We're in the peak of the Holiday Season and want to thank all of you who have been a positive force in the education world with $100 in Donor's Choose Giving cards to support a classroom project anywhere in the country.
Education in the United States has been through a lot this year, the ongoing debate around standardized assessments, H1N1 and swine flu, to the roller coaster ride that is educational funding. Through it all you've captured the debate and informed the community with your writing, which has inspired MAT@USC and we'd like to return the favor.
Here's how it works:
Step 1. Write a blog post about an event or experience in 2009 that gave you hope for the future of American education.
Step 2. Conclude the post with this line that we hope will encourage others to take part:
This post is part of the MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching Hope for the holidays event. Did you have an experience or witness something in 2009 which gave you hope for the future of American education? If so, please see this post for more information on how to share it.
Step 3. Email Crystal (crystal@myteachermyhero.com) with a link to your post, and they will send you your Giving Cards within 24 hours.
Here are a few Donors Choose Projects you might consider:
New York City
With Tech, All Things are Possible... ,
Einstein Science Show to Engage Students in East Harlem
Washington D.C.
Technology in the Classroom ,
A Rug to Grow On!
Southern California
One LapTop Per Student ,
Trying to Turn the School Paper Digital
Louisiana
Making Learning Easy: Donate a Easel! ,
Dress Up to Learn
Chicago
Learning in motion- Physics Day at Six Flags ,
"I Wanna Play Drums!""
Happy Holidays!
Thank you for your contributions to the educational community.
Best wishes,
Crystal
Sean Quinn teaches a special needs class in an urban area in Illinois. Even though these students have special needs, they all exhibit the desire to utilize technology. Mr. Quinn has found many useful websites that his students love to visit. He has created a Donors Choose Project named We Need More Technology! to raise money for a computer in his classroom. You can submit a video to MyTeacherMyHero.com and receive a $25 "Giving-Card" to donate to Mr. Quinn's Class.
Tis the Season to be Thanking and Giving!
Together with MyTeacherMyHero.com and Donorschoose.org we can make a difference!
Founder of Myteachermyhero.com, Jeremy Johnson, was reunited with the teacher that changed his life, Mr. Cameron Virrill. Good Day NY's, Julie Chang, joined the reunion and learned more about MyTeacherMyHero.com.
Check out the video:
MyTeacherMyHero on Good Day NY
Julie Chang shares with us the teachers that made a huge impacted on her life.
VIDEO: Julie Chang
"I just think our class is going to change the world.” This quote comes from one of my five year old students in Ms. Murphy's Special Education class in New York City. She has created a Donors Choose Project named Change the World: Learn To Read to raise money for books in her classroom. You can submit a video to MyTeacherMyHero.com and receive a $25 "Giving-Card" to donate to Ms. Murphy's Classroom. Together with MyTeacherMyHero.com and Donorschoose.org we can make a difference!
It's that time of year again- You can feel it in the air. The decorations are going up in all the stores, radio stations will start to play non-stop holiday tunes, and people are thinking of different ways to help each other out.
Donorschoose.org has partnered up with Myteachermyhero.com and we are giving away $25 "giving-cards" to each person who posts a video. We would love to help as many classrooms as we possibly can.
You can all help! Whether you are a teacher who needs digital cameras for their whole class, a parent of a child whose class needs new books, or even a person who wants to thank the teacher who has changed their life, together we can all make a difference this holiday season.
Teachers who have an idea of a class project to fund can create your project at Donorschoose.org
We want to help your classroom! Email Crystal ( cgrandison@2tor.com ) the link to your project. She will send you an email that you can personalize and send to all your friends, family, colleagues, and students with instructions on how to earn $25 giving cards for your Donorschoose.org project.
Now it's time to Thank. Anyone can upload a video thanking a teacher who has impacted his/her life on Myteachermyhero.com
It can be your 2nd grade teacher who made teaching fun, your High School Social Studies teacher opened your eyes to new ways to learn, or even your college professor who made you realize your true potential. We want to hear about your story!
No worries, we didn't forget about the giving part. To receive the $25 "giving-card", you have to post a video on Myteachermyhero.com, you will automatically receive an email rewarding you with the $25 "giving card" in the form of a code. We will give you the link for the class project you are donating to and all you have to do is enter to the code. The money will then be added on to that classrooms' goal.
Let's end 2009 remembering those amazing teachers that have changed our lives and enriching education by helping our teachers.
Step 1. Earn
a $25 "Giving Card" from DonorsChoose.org, when you post a video thanking your favorite teacher on ;MyTeacherMyHero.com during November 2009.
Step 2. Visit
DonorsChoose.org, which lists requests by schools
and individual classrooms across the country for funding special
projects and supplies.
Step 3.
Donate your Giving Card to the project, school, or teacher you want to
help!
Tip: If you band together with friends, colleagues, and neighbors, just 18 uploaded videos will fully fund the average project budget of $450.
Just Tweet It!
Keep your eyes on your Twitter, because DonorsChoose.org, and MyTeacherMyHero.com are also kicking off a contest on Twitter to raise additional funds for schools in need.
To participate, tweet about your favorite teacher using this #hashtag and include the following information ; #MyTeacherMyHero Teacher Name, Subject, School, City, State
The teacher as well as the school that tallies the most mentions on #MyTeacherMyHero will each be awarded a special donation of $1,000 toward the supplies or project of their choice.
***
More About DonorsChoose.org,
DonorsChoose.org, is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from across America post classroom project requests, from pencils for a poetry writing class to violins for a school recital.
Then, you can search requests and give any amount to the project that speaks to you. Once a project reaches its funding goal, we deliver the materials to the school. Whether it's books or beakers, for second graders or sophomores, in Honolulu or Hartford there are thousands of classroom needs represented. Donors receive classroom feedback including photographs, student and teacher thank-you notes and an expenditure report showing that their gift was spent as directed.
Since launching in 2000, DonorsChoose.org, has empowered more than 200,000
teachers and citizen philanthropists to become change makers and
channeled over $40 million to 2.6 million students in classrooms across
the country. For more detail, view our real time impact-to-date report.
About My
Teacher, My Hero
A social video-driven website, MyTeacherMyHero.com
was created to recognize and thank teachers for their important role in
our society, with the ultimate goal of inspiring more talented,
intelligent people to join the teaching profession. Anyone from
anywhere in the country can share their personal story of a teacher who
has influenced his or her life by simply uploading a video, or filming
right from their webcam to the site. Through education-based sponsors
and partners, MyTeacherMyHero.com
also allows visitors to instantly support teachers across the U.S. -
and to find out more about becoming teachers themselves.
My Teacher, My Hero is sponsored in part by the MAT@USC, a Master of Arts in
Teaching program delivered online from the University of Southern
California's Rossier School of Education. The MAT@USC combines online learning
with carefully selected field-based experiences and provides ongoing
support for new teachers, including job placement assistance and
partial tuition reimbursement opportunities. For additional information
on requirements and admissions, please visit http://mat.usc.edu or call (888)
628-1872.
On Tuesday, October 20th, “My Teacher, My Hero” hit the red carpet at the 2009 Angel Ball. In it’s the sixth go-around, the Angel Ball drew a number of celebrities, attending to show support for Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research and to participate in a night of entertainment and auctioning in order to generate money for the cause. The event, initiated with a gala in 1998, took place in New York City at Cipriani Wall Street.
Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research was launched in response to actress/model Gabrielle Rich Aouad’s struggle with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Following a battle Hodgkin’s disease in 1993 and a period of remission, Gabrielle was diagnosed with AML in 1996. She passed away that same year, but not without bestowing her family with the vision of a better method of treatment for Leukemia and other forms of cancer; one that would not cause the pain and damage of chemotherapy. Her mother, Denise Rich, would start the foundation in 1997 so that her dream could be one step closer to realization.
The gala is an illustrious event that attracts a multitude of big name celebrities and well-to-do guests ranging from Ivana Trump to astronaut Buzz Aldrin who are given the opportunity to enjoy live entertainment and bid on several items up for auction. The items are provided by sponsors and can range from items provided by Audi to Louis Vuitton.
“My Teacher, My Hero” took the opportunity to ask some celebrities walking the red carpet which teacher had the greatest impact on their otherwise well-documented lives, providing rare insight into a source of inspiration for some unusually successful people. Though this is not your everyday, gossip-fueled, fashion obsessed line of red carpet questioning, many stars were happy to oblige with some humorous, interesting, and genuine responses. Among the interviewed celebs were Kathie Lee Gifford, rapper/producer Swizz Beatz, model Bar Refaeli, and radio personality Howard Stern.
Howard Stern, a bit taken aback by the nature of the question: “Did a teacher change your life?”, discussed a professor at Boston University. “Adults never paid any attention to me. There was a guy named Jim Wilcox, a professor at Boston University who was actually very nice to me. He encouraged me to write and I became something of a writer in college…” After finishing, Stern turned in response to a commotion and quipped; “Oh, some controversy, must be my teacher Jim Wilcox!”
Bar Refaeli, Israeli model and 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition cover girl, graced our correspondents with her presence, offering a somewhat unorthodox answer. “Probably my mom, Tzipi. She always taught me to give, and the most important thing is to help other people...[put] yourself out there and you will get twice as much back, it works!”
Mr. Lee taught Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) the virtue of accountability. “If you were bad, you got hit with the ruler…He let me know that you are accountable for every action that you make, and I live by that.” While we do not endorse corporal punishment, the discipline he learned from first grade teacher Mr. Lee is an admittedly invaluable asset.
Finally, the ever-stunning Kathie Lee Gifford paid tribute to the woman who inspired her to develop her gift of communication and presentation in a Maryland state pageant. “It was my senior high school honors English teacher, and she threatened to flunk me if I didn’t enter the Maryland Junior Miss pageant. Now back in 19…70, ehrm…” pausing as she blushes with the realization that she has just all too precisely dated herself, “pageants were not the thing to do…but this teacher said ‘you must, it’s going to take you to the next level…’” Clearly, the teacher saw keenly what was one of the greatest television hostesses in America in the making.
Everybody has a teacher who has taught him or her something invaluable, inspired them to keep trying, or who saw something in them that they could not see themselves. Even celebrities have this source of inspiration and cultivation of talent and virtue. This year, at Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation for Cancer Research, “My Teacher, My Hero” was able to give some stars the opportunity to thank that special source, and to give us an inside look at what helped these celebrities rise to a life of limelight and affluence.
Special thanks to Gerardo Velez of Gerardo Velez Productions for giving “My Teacher, My Hero” the opportunity to attend this important event and spread appreciation for our teachers. For a full list of celebrity red carpet videos, visit "My Teacher, My Hero" today.
Today, on Education
Week, Andrew
Yarrow (Ph.D. History, George Mason University) writes about a
compelling and potentially controversial study, "Teaching
for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today.”
Nearly 900 teachers participated in this nationwide study, responding
to more than 100 questions each, and the results are a loud cry to
policymakers that it's time to listen to the teachers themselves.
Though you should read the micro-results of the study (e.g. how do
teachers rate their principals?), the overall results have been
captured into three personas:
- 40% Disheartened
- 23% Idealist
- 37% Contented
DISHEARTENED
teachers are more likely to:
• give their principals
poor ratings for supporting them as teachers
• express concerns about working conditions, student behavior, and
testing
IDEALIST teachers
are more likely to:
• say they became teachers
to help disadvantaged students
• believe their students’ test scores have increased a lot because of
their teaching
• say that good teachers can lead all students to learn, even those
from poor families or who have uninvolved parents
CONTENTED
teachers are more likely to:
• report excellent working
conditions
• be experienced in their profession
• work in middle- or higher-income schools
• believe their students’ test scores have increased a lot because of
their teaching
Whether you are a teacher in the field, a teacher in training, a
educational administrator, policy-maker, or parent - this is a
must-read study at the tip of today's educational reform movements.
How can we help disheartened teachers? Should we help disheartened
teachers? What core events take an idealist and transform her into a
disheartened teacher?
Conversely, how can we effectively learn and leverage idealist
teachers? Can disheartened teachers transform into idealist teachers?
What happens to students who learn from each of these teaching groups?
Are students only empowered to become eager and accomplished learners
when they are taught by idealists?
If so, should non-idealist teachers find another line of work?
Read the full article, "State
of Mind: America's teaching corp is made up of 3 groups with distinct
attitudes about their profession, which has implications for their
policymakers."
Credits:
The study was based on a nationwide survey, with more than 100
questions, of nearly 900 teachers. It was jointly conducted by Public
Agenda, a New York City-based nonprofit, nonpartisan research and
public-engagement organization, and Learning Point Associates, a
nonprofit education research and consulting organization based in
Naperville, Ill., that provides direct professional services at the
federal, state, and local levels.
The work was underwritten by the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and the Joyce Foundation. (Both foundations also provide
funding to Editorial Projects in Education, the publisher of Education
Week.)
