Boston Teacher's Residency Program

Giving Teachers the Tools to Make a Difference

Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) recruits talented college graduates, career changers and community members of all ages and gives them the tools to make an immediate impact in the classrooms of the Boston Public Schools(BPS). Combining a yearlong classroom apprenticeship with targeted master’s-level coursework, the program offers much more than just an affordable route into teaching. BTR provides every Teacher Resident with the practical learning, hands-on experience and ongoing support essential to any successful career in teaching.

The Residency Year

After an intensive two-month summer institute, Residents spend the entire academic year in a BPS classroom. They work under the close guidance of an experienced mentor teacher four days a week, devoting one evening and all day Friday to rigorous coursework and seminars. This combination helps Residents link classroom experience to the latest in education theory and research, all within the context of the local education environment and the district-specific goals of the BPS.

• Yearlong classroom apprenticeship
• Rigorous, aligned coursework
• Focus on BPS/Boston context
• Collaborative learning environment

The program’s unique blend of theory and practice, combined with an emphasis on collaborative learning and peer support, gives Residents a field-tested foundation for success in the urban classroom. By the time BTR graduates become teachers of record in a BPS classroom, they already have a year of experience in their schools, an understanding of the challenges that lie ahead and an ever-expanding support network of fellow educators.  Learn more about the residency year.

From the Mouths of Babes

This is exactly how I felt at 12, and how I still feel at 40.
Too bad ADULTS rule the world.

"'Do what I tell you to do because I'm the boss' isn't the way the world works anymore."

Kids at the Innovations Academy learn the new way.

The method flies in the face of traditional school discipline. Child psychologists typically fall into two camps: Behaviorists believe in using punishments and rewards to train kids to follow directions from adults. Humanists deride them as bribes; they argue for building relationships with children to respect others' needs. David Strahan, a Western Carolina University education professor who has studied discipline, said most educators have only experienced a traditional classroom in which adults have control. It's more familiar -- and it can be much easier for a nervous teacher to handle.

Humanists have an uphill battle to convince others that their methods will work, said R.T. Tauber, professor emeritus of education at Pennsylvania State University. "To the uninformed, it sounds like you're turning over the institution to the inmates."

As schools across California try to curb detentions and referrals, "positive discipline" is the zeitgeist. But educators don't even agree on what that means or what it entails. Few are trying anything as bold as Innovations, where discipline falls at the far end of the humanist spectrum. Experimenting is easy because it's a charter school, free from school district and many state rules.

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End of Network Neutrality: Corporations Rule The Internet

The court has ruled that the FCC has no jurisdiction over the internet!



Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski can simply change the FCC regulatory rules to give the Federal Communications Commission jurisdiction over the internet.

People have to remember, all media—television, radio, phone service—every type of media other than the printed page, will soon be delivered by a broadband or internet connection. That means these wonky sort of arcane rules that are being played out at the Federal Communications Commission and in the court ruling yesterday, these will shape the media for generations, what it looks like, whether independent voices like Democracy Now! can get into the suite of options that people have across the country when they turn on a television. It will determine whether we can bridge the digital divide that currently has the United States slipping from fourth in the year 2000 to twenty-second in broadband adoption and speed and affordability. It will really determine whether or not we will have a twenty-first century internet economy or whether we’ll continue to lag behind the rest of the world.

Call him [(202) 418-1000, and 888-CALL-FCC (888-225-5322)], email him [ Julius.Genachowski@fcc.gov ], and tell Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski you want Network Neutrality, all information on the internet must be equal, or we loose free speech and we loose our democracy!