FuelEd Schools

Three New “FuelEd Schools”

FuelEd — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:57:55 +0000

We are pleased to announce that three new Houston schools are preparing to come on board to work with FuelEd in the upcoming 2013-2014 academic year. Teachers and administrators at these schools will develop FuelEd’s six core social-emotional competencies through a combination of modalities: Instructional Workshops, Small Groups, and One-on-Ones. Read on to learn more about our partner schools.

Fifty four educators at Northbrook Middle School are preparing to participate in FuelEd’s program this year. Northbrook Middle School belongs to the Spring Branch Independent School District, which serves 32,100 pre-K through twelve grade students and aims to inspire and prepare students for greatness, using rigor, relevance and relationships to work hard and dream big. When asked “Why FuelEd?” Principal Valerie Johnson said: “Megan reminded me that teachers wear so many hats during the course of their day. Teachers get really great training in content and delivery, but are not always trained to be counselors, social workers, mentors etc. I know FuelEd will be very valuable for all of us.” FuelEd looks forward to working with Northbrook Middle to strengthen relationships and help them achieve their goals!

Thirty eight teachers and administrators at Harmony Science Academy will participate in FuelEd’s program this year. Harmony Science Academy belongs to the Harmony Public School system, a group of 38 high performing K-12 public charter schools in Texas that focus on math, science, engineering and computer technologies. Their focus on “safe, small, caring school environments” make them a wonderful partner for FuelEd! Principal Alain Frankiewicz says, “We are very excited about our upcoming partnership for the next school year with FuelEd. We anticipate not only social and emotional benefits for the staff but also for the children, and an ultimate goal of increasing student achievement by meeting the staff’s needs. When teachers and staff become better equipped to meet the social-emotional needs of our students, the children excel to the top.“

Fifteen volunteer teachers at Patrick Henry Middle School will participate in FuelEd’s program this summer. Patrick Henry is a part of the Houston Independent School District, which includes 279 schools and serves 204,000 students, making it the largest school district in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest in the U.S.

To learn about how to bring FuelEd’s program to your school or teacher preparation program, please contact Adwapa Donkoh atadwapa.donkoh@fueledschools.com.

FuelEd returns to Harvard i-Lab

FuelEd — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:54:01 +0000

On March 12th, 2013, FuelEd was one of five entrepreneurs who had the wonderful opportunity to present at the Harvard Innovation Lab’s anniversary event. The Harvard Innovation Lab, or “i-Lab,” is a new and innovative initiative fostering entrepreneirual activities among Harvard students, faculty, and entrepreneurs in Boston and is also the site of FuelEd’s early beginnings. FuelEd’s founder, Megan Marcus, spent many hours at the i-Lab while earning her Master’s in Education Policy and Management at Harvard University. The resources, mentorship, and classes were pivotal to FuelEd’s development. Read on to learn more about the event on March 12th….

Harvard University’s President Drew Faust and Dean of the Harvard Business School, Nitin Nohria, hosted the event in order to celebrate entrepreneurship and innovation across Harvard. It was an exciting and unique evening as every Dean from across Harvard University was in attendance. FuelEd wants to wish the i-Lab a big thanks for hosting this fantastic event and for inviting FuelEd to be a part of it! Hope to see you again soon.

Inner Strength Module

FuelEd — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 18:52:53 +0000

How much do you rely on the external environment to generate a sense of self esteem? In many ways, this is entirely natural: we are, after all, social creatures. But, for teachers, this natural tendency can be exacerbated. After all, their success hinges on the multitude of relationships they manage. It is therefore understandable that the boundaries between internal self-esteem and external self-esteem become blurred. The danger in this, however, is that one’s sense of personal and professional success can become overly dependent on others’ opinions—opinions that fluctuate daily. When this happens our sense of fulfillment and ultimately even mental well-being can be at stake. In contrast, those with a sense of self esteem that is internally derived are better able to cope with and filter emotions, difficult interactions, and sometimes harsh opinions that they are confronted with.

On March 6, 2013, teachers and administrators at YES Prep Southwest assessed their own levels of inner strength and learned techniques about how to withstand student resistance – without taking it personally – so that they ultimately could better serve students’ needs in the classroom and not, inadvertently, their own. Some quotes from teachers include…

“What I found most helpful was processing the reality that a student’s response to a situation is not related to me and that when I am triggered it is likely NOT the kid but sometimes something from my past. Take a breath and then respond.”

“It was just good to start thinking about why students do what they do and why they might be acting in certain ways that have nothing to do with me.”

Looking forward to sharing more data from our next trip where we will cover FuelEd’s module on “Self Care.”

Emotional Expression Module

FuelEd — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:17:21 +0000

Emotions are an integral part of life and sometimes even more so for many teachers who can experience a multitude of emotional highs and lows in the course of one day. Sometimes, teachers are told that it is unprofessional to express their emotions, despite the fact that the teaching profession is more often than not laden with emotions. If teachers don’t feel comfortable experiencing and expressing their own emotions, how can we expect them to be positive emotional role models to students?

This is the main idea behind FuelEd’s module on “Emotional Expression,” which we rolled out with YES Prep Southwest staff on February 6, 2013. During this training, teachers uncovered various ways to cope with their own, as well as their students’ challenging emotions. We also explored the range of emotions that they either welcome or “ban” in their students and selves. Most exciting of all was the direct feedback we received from participants about their experience and feelings after the training.

“I thought the discussion about emotional expression was interested and fostered a time of good conversation. The time given for internal reflection with the opportunity to converse with a small group led to a productive conversational environment. I also appreciated the time given to focus on particular students at the end.”

“During action step time, I began thinking about specific kids who resent me and express feelings of being misunderstood and treated unfairly. I’ll be able to use mirroring to help them feel understood!”

“This pushes me to ask my students about their recent apathy or other emotions I see. I think I avoid doing so because I don’t know how to respond but this gives me a way to respond that I think I can try.”

We are proud of the growth of our participants and can’t wait to present our next module. Stay tuned for more great feedback and updates on our next module on “Inner Strength” on February 27th, 2013.

How Can Teachers Overcome Depression and Strife

FuelEd — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 20:26:06 +0000

Just yesterday, FuelEd received a disheartening email from a teacher. It read: “My fellow teacher residents and I are going through deep strife and depression right now and I’m holding a healing session tomorrow evening. Any meditative or healing resources you can share? Anything will do!”

This teacher is surely not alone. More than we realize, teachers experience “deep strife and depression” as a result of the multitude of pressures placed on them. In addition to instructional responsibilities, teachers oftentimes where many relational roles too – they are oftentimes parents mentor, counselor-figures to their students.

We tweeted this teachers’ plea and, as a result, Anthony Cody – an educator, writer, and public speaker on Ed Week, has written a follow up article entitled “How can Teachers Overcome Depression and Strife.” This article and the work of FuelEd sound the alarm: we must provide a new kind of support to teachers, if we ever hope to keep them in the classroom, where they want to be. Please take a moment to read the article, and share it with friends and colleagues to support teachers today.

Updates from Houston

FuelEd — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:30:46 +0000

On November 28th, 2012, teachers and administrators at YES Prep Southwest experienced FuelEd’s module on Self Awareness. In a two-hour instructional workshop, participants were are presented with child development research on how early attachment relationships shape behaviors, beliefs, and motives. They then explored their emotional triggers to better understand how their early relationships may be impacting their teaching style.

Most exciting of all however was the direct feedback we received from participants!

“The most helpful part of the workshop was identifying how teacher emotions could negatively impact the classroom, and acknowledgment that TEACHERS are in control of the extent to which they allow this to happen.”

“It was interesting to explore how similarities in attachment are observed from generation to generation. We recognize the importance of exploring our own attachment with our care givers and using this exploration to see how we can effectively create attachments in our classrooms.”

“I learned that it is important to know what you bring into a classroom as a person, and not just what the students bring to the classroom because it shapes your interactions with them.”

Last but not least we thrilled to have the opportunity to meet with Harmony Public Schools, Spring Branch Independent School District, Westside High School, and another Yes Prep school, to explore the possibility of adopting our program.

We also have begun to explore the possibilities of partnering with teacher prep programs to bring FuelEd to teachers before they enter the classroom!

What Do Teachers Want?

FuelEd — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:56:45 +0000

We asked teachers want they want and need. This is what they had to say!

FuelEd Enters Dell Social Innovation & Education Challenge

FuelEd — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:06:14 +0000

FuelEd is is thrilled to announce its participation in the Dell Social Innovation Challenge and Dell Education Challenge. The Dell Social Innovation Challenge identifies and supports promising young social innovators who dedicate themselves to solving the world’s most pressing problems with their transformative ideas. They provide university students with world-class teaching and training, as well as with start-up capital and access to a network of mentors and advisors. Five Finalists will be flown to Austin, Texas, in May for a Finalist Week full of networking and mentoring with social innovation leaders. They’ll pitch live in front of our judges for these Grand Prize Awards ranging from $10,000 to $50,000. There will also be a People’s Choice Award, selected via online voting – so please help out by clicking here to view our page and vote!

FuelEd Coming to the City of Angels

FuelEd — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 03:04:52 +0000

On Nov. 6 from 7-9 pm, FuelEd will present its Introductory Workshop to teacher candidates at California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles. We are very excited to be doing our first West Coast presentation and we invite teachers and administrators, past, present and future to attend.

We have received some incredible initial feedback from our time in Houston and we are thrilled to to dialogue with the students and instructors at Cal State Northridge.

Please RSVP to Megan Marcus at Megan.Marcus@FuelEdSchools.com *Space is limited*

FuelEd on the Huffington Post

FuelEd — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:19:49 +0000

FuelEd is very excited to announce that our article “Scorched Earth” was published on the Huffington Post and was also mentioned on The Root. This is incredible for FuelEd as we recently returned from a phenomenal trip to Houston, where we engaged with teachers and administrators in trainings and conversations about creating a more supportive school climate.

More importantly however, this is a fantastic and clear indication that there is a space in the current educational arena to have dialogue about teachers that is not vitriolic.We have received some wonderful feedback about the article and we look forward to continuing to work towards changing how we think about, engage, train, and retain the most valuable resource our country and our children have: teachers.

Thank you for reading and we invite you to let us know what you think.