Letters

I wanted to share some good news about recruiting men to our field.

This year we got 131 young men who put working in Preschool as their first or second choice for the Mayor's Summer Youth Work Program. We were able to place 27 of them in Cambridge preschool. The young men are invited to come to sessions specifically addressing the issue of being a man in preschool.

[MenTeach: There were some postings to one of the elists about men and education. Two long time educators discuss a topic of interest.]

What about the men who succeed in what tend to be female-dominated careers, including nursing, travel, marketing, and childcare? Is there such a thing as a reverse glass ceiling for men?

Hello MenTeach,

Here's a great opportunity for men and women in Massachusetts to learn about how to have an impact on education policies, develop professional networks, and to build advocacy skills. Diverse leadership connected to community - architects of change.

Schott happens!

Kitt


It's that time again!

We are looking for great people to be Fellows in 2009. The application, due September 15, 2008, can be found on www.schottfellowship.org.

[MenTeach: Occassionally we receive e-mails from readers that we like to post.]

The little comic strip posted at: http://www.menteach.org/news/male_teachers , left me feeling slightly less alone.

[MenTeach: A person posted an interesting question in the forums.]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience in trying to teach superheroes to preschoolers.

[MenTeach: A director wrote asking advice about how to respond to parent's concerns. You can read her letter here. The following is one reader's comments.]

In your recent MenTeach newsletter you had a response for a director who had a parent that did not want his child to have contact with an excellent male teacher.

I had to laugh in frustration at the recent article by Corinne Hess on why more men don't teach in schools.

I'm a elementary substitute teacher with a master's degree in education, who in 2002 switched from working in the business world for more than 14 years and went back to school to get my degree.

When I entered the program, I was told of the shortage of teachers and especially male teachers at the elementary level.

[MenTeach - A director of a program sent the following e-mail and below it is our response. Do you have any additional suggestions?]

I have a family at my center who is very uncomfortable with my preschool excellent male teacher. His postion is that this male teacher can't be left alone with girls because he is a guy.

I already explained to him our rigorous background check process and talked to him about how good of a person and teacher he is. Still, Mom and Dad are not confortable.

We've been loading some of the letters from our old website and found them very interesting.

Look them over and tell us what you think.

Go to: Letters and scroll to the bottom of the page to see them.

A note from the author:

One of our members, Ron Blatz, Executive Director of Discovery Children's Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada is the proud grandfather of a new child.

The hand is the child's father and the mother (Ron's daughter) took the photo.

(photo by Kristi Noelle Lepage)

[MenTeach: This letter was sent to teachers at Bemidji State University in northern Minnesota.]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I am teaching down here in the great state of North Carolina! I am teaching 6th grade Language Arts. It is great, I love it. It is a dream come true!!!! I am working in the Windsor County which is a very low income county. It is amazing that these little kids want a gigantic Mid Westerner teaching them! I have never had so many kids ask me if I could be their teacher!

I recently read an article you co-authored in Dimensions of Early Childhood entitled Reducing Aggression with Touch. I thought it was a great article.  You even referenced positive touch with young children as including back and should rubs. I wanted to share a horror story of mine with you regarding student touch and allegations against male teachers.

I have completed a doctoral dissertation entitled Male Elementary Teachers: Myths and Realities. It will be available from Proquest/UMI in the next two or three months. If you want more information, please feel free to contact me.

You can read the Abstract in the FORUM.

I have a contact with KCET that is looking for family child care providers to be part of a nation-wide early care and education show that has been successful in california... you can nominate a Family Child Care provider from your community, it is no longer limited to california!

I wanted to put it out there to the men first!

The program has welcomed men - CAEYC board member Moises Roman is a featured curriculum expert.

I, Gregory Uba from Beach Cities AEYC, have appeared several times. 

Here's the scoop...

Greetings,