Eric.ed.gov – Languages for Learning: Granting All Students Access to New Skills. Fishman Prize Series

A single great teacher can change a life by introducing a new language, helping you master a new skill or opening a door you never knew was there. That’s why every year, TNTP awards the Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice: to celebrate a select cohort of public school teachers who demonstrate exceptionally effective teaching with students from high-poverty communities. Founded in 2012, the Prize is named for Shira Fishman, a TNTP-trained math teacher who has received local and national recognition for her achievements at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C., where she continues to teach today. Each year the selection process becomes more difficult. The winning teachers receive $25,000 each–one of the country’s largest monetary awards for practicing teachers. During the summer of their award year, they collaborate during a month-long virtual residency, reflecting on their classroom practices, exploring the larger issues that shape their profession and contributing to TNTP’s own efforts to understand and support great instruction. A central part of the residency experience is the chance for the winners to capture some essential elements of their practice in writing, telling the stories of their classrooms in their own voices. TNTP publishes the essays in an annual collection highlighting the skills and strategies the Fishman Prize winners use to achieve extraordinary results. This year’s essays are presented as follows: (1) Own Your Own Sound (Steven Sanders); (2) You had my Number (Kelly Zunkiewicz); (3) Room for Debate (Laura Strait); and (4) Use your Own Voices (Michael Towne).