School: Highlands Elementary

District: Red Clay Consolidated 

Kathy has been a Fellow since 2008, having completed 5 Yale National Initiative seminars and 6 (just beginning 7th) DTI seminars.

Reflecting on the DTI Experience:

"Participating in seminars helps build confidence in my content area, knowledge and understanding of the standards I am responsible for teaching, and a helpful network of education professionals.

I wrote a unit on the structures of the brain and I collaborated with a teacher in Santa Fe, NM. Out students worked together on a google presentation to research and present information on the brain. My class presented their findings on brain structure and her class presented their finding on the development of the brain. We exchanged letters and gifts and continued to interact with them throughout the school year."

School: Paul M. Hodgson Vo-Tech High School

District:  New Castle County Vo-Tech

Reflection on DTI:

"I am a 5-time Yale Fellow since 2007, and a 6-time DTI Fellow (since it began); also part of the Planning Committee to start DTI!

Teachers Institutes are the BEST Professional Development  I have ever participated in. It is all of the best things about teaching – collaborating with other teachers from different schools, states, grade levels, learning content, finding ways to help your own students, and “walking out” with a product I can use in my classroom.

One highlight comes from my unit on Nanotechnology. My vocational students did research about a use of nanotechnology in their career areas and presented their findings to the class. The presentations were excellent and there was a lot of excitement and support during the presentations. They found similarities in the properties that made nanomaterials useful from one field to the next. Nanotechnology is an emerging field and my students are leaving high school with some background knowledge they can apply in college or to what they see or hear in the news."

​School:  William Penn High School

District:  Colonial School District

Mike has been a Fellow since 2016 and is a 2017 Yale National Initiative Fellow. 

Reflecting on the DTI Experience:

"This is a curriculum development unlike anything you have access to in your buildings or districts. You get to be in charge of the unit you develop, providing you with an opportunity to infuse your personality into your teaching.

My unit from last cycle replaced my final exam, and the project is really giving students an opportunity to explore topics of interest to themselves while also using the principles of chemistry we have covered this year."

School: Thurgood Marshall Elementary

District:  Christina School District

Reflecting on the DTI experience:

" Being part of DTI has really helped me grow personally and professionally.  It has given me opportunities to meet like-minded colleagues, professors and just amazing educators!  it is challenging and rewarding and has definitely made me a better teacher.

My favorite unit so far is about the Horseshoe crab, created while participating in a seminar with Jack Bartley. I was able to secure grant funding to take my students to the Delaware Bay for a mock crab count and to participate in some awesome scientific inquiry. One of my students gained international recognition for her artwork submitted to a contest at the end of the unit."