2021 AFT TEACH Conference

My name is Theresa Bruce and I am an educator in Baltimore City Public Schools. I am a middle school Social Studies teacher. I am looking forward to connecting with fellow educators invested in dismantling the white supremacy culture within the education system as well as concerned about student and teacher wholeness. I hope the sessions on student/educator well being and creating anti racist classrooms will do this. Additionally, I am very interested in content related sessions such as those for civic education.

I teach high school Biology and AP Biology serving a majority Latinx population. My students typically have major gaps in knowledge sans pandemic, and I know that they and their families have faced a lot this year. Absences are through the roof, and I am looking forward to learning more about how to fill those gaps while still moving forward.

I am a MN Licensed Parent and Family Educator working in Early Childhood Education primarily with infants and toddlers. I am hoping the conference will offer intensive tracks for those working in schools as licensed professionals with parents and/or with children in the first years of life.

s as our future leaders really need to be aware of. <br><br>Your positive examples in the classroom speak as loudly as your curriculum in any subject for your students who might even seek to identify with your positivity !<br><br>Best,<br><br>PJG<br><br>(Prof) P J Gammarano, M.A., JD (K-thru-Graduate level experience)<br><br>Author of - "Teaching: Not For Dummies// Substance Abuse Awareness: A Guidebook"<br>and other books<br>Publisher - wwwXLIBRIScom

Para from NYC

My name is Jacqueline Vargas, I am a Paraprofessional currently employed by the DOE in NYC. I also take part in the ladder program called leap to Teacher for Paraprofessionals. It has helped me along the way to answer my calling of becoming a teacher. I love working with students, to help them see their potential as part of the future of our society and country. As a mother of a special needs child I know the urgency of preparing our children for their greatest potential. I hope to receive the advice, strategies, and methods from experienced professionals, that I could implement in my classroom to better enhance my teaching style.

I am currently in a teachers preparation program. I hope to see strategies at the AFT conference on incorporating civics and social emotional learning in STEM classes!