Breakthrough Application Workshop

1. Breakthrough Application Workshop Monday, Feb. 23rd 6-7 PM, 41 Evans Vincent Ho, Michael Kung, Melody Mo

2. Introduction Opening the Application: • http://teachbreakthroughs.org/apply-to-teach/ • “Click here to apply now”

4. 1 * 2 3 4 The application consists of four sections:

5. Sections • Who Are You? • Basic information – personal information and contact info, education history • Tell Us More • Interests, skills, talents, jobs and volunteer activities

6. Section 3: How Do You Think? • Breakthrough serves a very particular set of students who require a unique type of support. How do you understand challenges and opportunities facing high-potential, talented youth in underserved communities and communities of color? Tell us why you will make a strong mentor and teacher for these students. (3000 characters - about 500 words)

7. Section 3: How Do You Think? • Included with the pure joy that comes with pushing yourself to make a real difference in a community, teaching with Breakthrough can be at times physically and emotionally taxing. Tell us about a time that you faced such challenges. What did you learn about yourself? How will you overcome these pressures to succeed in Breakthrough? (3000 characters - about 500 words)

8. Tips • Though the experience can do a lot for you, how and what can you contribute to the program?

9. Tips • Show, don’t tell • Draw on specific experiences • Be careful when speaking in general terms • Can provide context to your motivations, but don’t let generalities drive your essays • Reflect on an experience that can show the most about you as possible • Make a scene: show how you changed after you interacted with a person or group of people

10. Tips • If you write about someone you mentor or someone who’s influenced you, be careful not to make the response about them • Show how they influenced you and what they inspired you to do or become • Avoid a laundry list of achievements • There’s space for this in section 2 • Utilize the most significant ones

11. Tips • Make sure you’re answering the question! • Double-check for grammar, structure, and flow • Use active verbs and tense • Read it aloud to make sure it sounds natural

12. Section 3: How Do You Think? • For returning teachers: You would be returning to Breakthrough this summer with more experience than many of your peers. What challenges might this "veteran status" present to you as a learner and a member of the community? How will you make your leadership felt on staff this summer? (3000 characters - about 500 words)

13. Section 3: How Do You Think? • At some sites, faculty members are expected to organize interesting and challenging academic elective courses. Think of an academic elective course for middle school students (i.e., multi-cultural folklore, government, journalism, mock trial, anthropology, etc.). Write a brief description, for a student audience, that outlines the material, study skills, and learning objectives you will focus on in your class. These skills can include development of vocabulary, expository writing, organization, and public speaking. Please be specific about the skills you will reinforce. • Make certain this description will get middle school students excited about your academically rigorous, hands-on class. Give the course a captivating title as well! (75-100 words) • When completing this question, please remember that this is a course you may be asked to teach.

14. Tips • Some overall skills to consider: • Active reading • Essay writing (thesis, outlining, paragraph structure, drafting/editing, etc.) • Note-taking • Organization • Quiz/test preparation • Time-management

15. Tips Other Skills • For science classes: • Scientific inquiry • Lab work and reporting • For humanities classes: • Reading • Writing • Critical Thinking

16. Tips Titles • If you’re proposing a class on the Revolutionary War, don’t call it “Revolutionary War.” Instead, try “America’s Freedom Fighters” or “The Story of Independence” • Titles should be short and sweet, but should also hook people in

17. Examples Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes (Anatomy) • The body is capable of performing so many amazing actions, such as walking, talking, swimming, and even note-taking! Have you ever wondered how the human body can do so much? Or why a yawn is so contagious? Well in this class you can learn the answers to these questions in addition to learning the parts and functions of the human skeleton. A lot of time will be devoted to learning methods of memorization and organization, which can be applied not only to human anatomy, but also to almost every aspect of your life.

18. Examples Heroes & Villains • You don’t need to go to the most recent movie to hear about monsters, swordfights and battles. Long before The Lord of the Rings, people have been telling stories of risk and adventure. We will travel back thousands of years and discover heroes from ancient civilizations.

19. Section 3: How Do You Think? • Use the template provided to design a 50-minute lesson for Math, Science, English (please do not write a plan for a creative writing class), Foreign Language, or History. • Do not write a plan for the first day of school. • Include the class Title, Objectives, Materials, Hook, Procedures, Assessment, Homework, and Closure.

20. Tips • Think of a vivid experience in your K-12 years where you learned something • What did you do? Who or what did you interact with? What was the lesson on? • Write a lesson plan for something you might’ve done before • You can find ideas for lesson plans online, but please don’t copy them

21. Example Class Name: English 7 Objectives: • Students will be able to define and describe the elements that make up iambic pentameter • Students will be able to scan a line of poetry

22. Example Materials: • Iambic pentameter cards (iamb, syllable, stress, feet, pentameter) • Iambic pentameter worksheet • Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130

23. Example Hook (How will you get their attention?): • Begin class with a reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 together, as a class, to get a sense of the imagery and rhythm of Shakespeare’s works.

24. Example Procedures: • Read through the Prologue of Romeo and Juliet individually • Reread in a variety of ways. Read all 14 lines as a class out loud. Then have pairs of students read each quatrain and couplet. Finally have each student read each line individually, going around in a circle. • Council of Experts activity: students will share information with each other, reading from cards provided to them, and fill out a worksheet • Take a few lines of the prologue and scan together as a class

25. Example Assessment (How will students show you what they've learned or understand?): • Returning to Sonnet 130, students will be asked to scan the line, identifying iambic pentameter, the number of feet within a line, how many syllables are in each, and which syllables are stressed.

26. Example Homework: • Write an eight-line poem in iambic pentameter Closure: • Shakespeare carefully crafted all his poems and plays. He was so good at it that he made it look easy. Next time we’ll talk about the imagery and emotions that he evokes in his poetry and plays.

27. Section 4: What Are Your Preferences? * 1 2 3 4

28. Site Roster • Provides information on each Breakthrough site • Number of applications last year and number admitted • Important dates • Student ethnic breakdown • Program information – each site is unique! • Website • Homestays: families, dorms, limited, or none

30. Conclusion • Application deadline: Monday, Mar. 2nd, 5 PM Pacific • Send in transcripts and recommendation letters after you get a phone interview • Any questions?

31. If you have any questions, email us at vncnth@berkeley.edu, melodymo@berkeley.edu, or kungm@berkeley.eduGood luck and thanks for coming!