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A teaching fellow leads a classroom during Breakthrough\u2019s programming. The teaching fellows teach the class as if it\u2019s their own, being able to decorate and lead the class in their own style. (Courtesy of Breakthrough)\n<\/p>\nThe summer program currently serves rising fifth through ninth graders in the Philadelphia area, with this year\u2019s fifth grade cohort being the first. Breakthrough also provides opportunities for students from fifth through 12th grade during the year.\n<\/p>\n
The programming during the school year also includes \u201ccareer conversations,\u201d Palmer said. \u201cWhere students can hear from different professionals in different varied backgrounds to just know that there\u2019s so many different career paths out here.\u201d
\nA teaching fellow leads a classroom during Breakthrough\u2019s programming. The teaching fellows teach the class as if it\u2019s their own, being able to decorate and lead the class in their own style. (Courtesy of Breakthrough)\n<\/p>\n
Teaching fellows, such as Banks, receive two weeks of intense training from teachers at Germantown Friends School, then spend the rest of the time teaching the Breakthrough students and getting feedback from teachers in the Philadelphia area.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the feedback throughout the summer was just super important,\u201d Banks said.\n <\/p>\n
Banks also liked the freedom she had in designing her own electives, such as \u201cLet\u2019s Talk Money,\u201d which was about financial literacy, and \u201cWho\u2019s Got Talent,\u201d which was designed to help students gain confidence in areas they had talent.\n<\/p>\n
This freedom is what separated Banks\u2019 time as a teaching fellow from the traditional college teaching experience.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have control of how the classroom is managed, so how the students act, what expectations you want,\u201d Banks said. At \u201cHoward, it\u2019s kind of like we have a mentor teacher, so yes, it\u2019s their classroom and we\u2019re kind of just following along with what they\u2019re doing while putting our twists or spin on it as well.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Banks was a teaching fellow for three years until she got hired by the School District of Philadelphia recently.\n<\/p>\n