To advance learning, the blueprint calls for schools to build in time for teacher collaboration and for educators to cultivate high-trust classroom environments. Instruction should focus on priority standards with tiered supports for students through tutoring, small-group interventions, and enrichment activities. Students’ needs will vary widely, said MEA member Shantel VanderGalien, a national board-certified eighth- […]
The mental and emotional health of students and educators top the list of concerns that demand immediate attention at this stage of the pandemic. As the virus took its toll, as social distancing and masking became the norm, as schools shifted between remote and hybrid modes, young people experienced increasing rates of anxiety and depression. […]
Vision. Commitment. Staffing. Resources. Funding. Recovery from a months-long public health crisis that has spared no corner of society will require many things—including time, perhaps most of all. The MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery gives school districts a head-start on responding. Developed by a 30-member advisory council—appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer—of educators, health experts, community […]
By Richard Mui, Canton High School AP U.S. History and Civics teacher As a second generation Chinese American, I am proud to live in a country that has provided me and my family so many opportunities for a better life. As a veteran U.S. history teacher, I have the unique opportunity to teach students about the historical context of […]
The Aspiring Educators of Michigan (AEM)—MEA’s pre-professional wing made up of college and university student members—has taken home a national award of excellence. AEM leaders were honored with the 2021 NEA Aspiring Educators State Excellence Award at a newly redesigned ceremony in June that recognized the hard work of aspiring educators state programs across the […]
MEA member Gary Cooper could have relaxed after retiring from a 30-year career as an autoworker at Ford Motor Co. Instead the 64-year-old former UAW shop steward took on a new full-time role as a community assistant at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor. The support staff position requires him to wear “quite a few […]
Stories by Brenda Ortega MEA Voice Editor MEA member Ryan Ridenour has never known a teacher evaluation system other than the one used in Michigan since 2015. Still the world history and psychology teacher, in his sixth year at West Bloomfield, has found key problems with the state’s method for scoring, rating, and ranking educators. “I […]
When Ed Clements attends a dinner (or for now, a Zoom call) with other MEA members and their invited guest—a state representative or senator—he doesn’t expect the educators and politician will agree on everything. Sometimes they don’t agree on much. Yet the 22-year Bay City educator and current city commissioner keeps coming back for more of these […]
As MEA pursues fixes to problematic teacher evaluation reforms enacted in 2015, bargaining teams in some districts have had to contend with a legislative change from 2017 that seeks to add more weight to already high-stakes evaluation scores. At the state level, MEA’s bargaining wing has developed prototype contract language to knock down the threat, and many […]
Early in student teaching in January, Gillian Lafrate was operating from an empty classroom with her Warren third graders fully virtual and her host teacher working from home. The Saginaw Valley State University senior elected to come in, given a choice. “My little sister is in seventh grade. She was learning virtually. My stepmom is a middle […]
