TGIF -Teachers Get Informed First / T.G.I.F. January 2011

T.G.I.F - Teachers Get Informed First E-Newsletter

In This Issue

Welcome to T.G.I.F.

The Keys to Effectiveness - CLASS KEYS™

Classroom Pro - Belita Hamilton

APS Wins $39 Million of Race To The Top Funds

Teachers Embrace EasyTech to Boost Student Achievement in Core Subjects

Building Agility Within Middle School Transformation orange bar2

Announcements

ETECⁱⁿ⁵

Do you want to know the characteristics of an effective teacher? Are you looking to raise academic achievement? Would you like to learn new strategies to increase student engagement? Well, give us five and we’ll give you the keys to teacher success where an Effective Teacher is in Every Classroom.

Atlanta Public Schools will feature a series of podcasts called “ETECⁱⁿ⁵”. The podcasts will provide teachers with tips on best practices and information relating to the Effective Teacher in Every Classroom initiative (ETEC). Each of the four podcast will run five minutes and will help clarify questions regarding ETEC.

Seize the opportunity to contribute and win by taking a moment and giving us 5!

Welcome to T.G.I.F.

Teachers Get Informed First

Teachers, we are excited to welcome you to the inaugural issue of the T.G.I.F (Teachers Get Informed First)

e-newsletter. The feedback from our teacher focus groups has made one thing clear to us—teachers want to be informed. You spoke, we listened, and here is our response—an e-newsletter to provide you with critical information to support your effectiveness as teachers.

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The Keys to Effectiveness - CLASS KEYS™

teacher effectiveness

Teachers are undeniably the most important factor in raising student achievement, but a clear and universal understanding of what it means to be an effective teacher continues to be elusive. This is why teachers like Tara Sealy have a special appreciation for the CLASS Keys™ component of APS’ Effective Teacher in Every Classroom initiative. The new APS initiative focuses on helping teachers improve their skills, hiring the most qualified teachers, and retaining and rewarding the most effective teachers.

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Classroom Pro - Belita Hamilton

“Never feel like you are not making a difference. Once you build rapport, respect and a relationship with your students, they will live up to the high expectations that you have set for them,” Brown Middle School’s Belita Hamilton advises new teachers.

Named APS Teacher of the Year for the 2010-2011 academic year, Hamilton’s teaching strategy creates a learning environment based on student’s multiple intelligences. “In the beginning of the school year, I give them a multiple intelligence assessment to figure out what their learning styles may be,” says Hamilton. “I need to know whether they are visual learners, musical learners, logical learners, and so on.”

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APS Wins $39 Million of Race To The Top Funds

Atlanta Public Schools (APS) teachers, students and administrators scored big when the U.S. Department of Education announced that Georgia was a Race to the Top (RT3) recipient. APS received $40 million of the $400 million awarded to the state—the largest amount of any Georgia district. The grant will be disbursed over a four-year period, and APS will receive $10 million each year. RT3’s impact throughout the district will be significant. Unlike Title I funding and many other federal grants APS receives that frequently bypass some schools, RT3 will be used to support every school in the district.

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Teachers Embrace EasyTech to Boost Student Achievement in Core Subjects
Technology Awareness for Global Citizens Initiative (TAGC)

APS has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing technology in Georgia classrooms, and now, through the Technology Awareness for Global Citizens Initiative, the district is applying another innovative approach to technology by integrating technology into core subjects. The web based technology curriculum, EasyTech, is one of the resources teachers will receive as part of the initiative.

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Building Agility Within the Middle School Transformation Initiative

Transitioning into middle school can be very overwhelming for many students. But Atlanta Public Schools has provided online tools for making your students’ learning experience more rewarding.

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