Some Background about Deborah Bambino
and Central East Middle School
I am a teacher at Central East Middle School, located in the Feltonville
section of Philadelphia, PA. Feltonville is a culturally diverse, urban
community, and the school reflects that population. Our school was established
eight years ago in response to community demands for a middle school. Prior
to our existence, students were being bused all over the city to desegregate
other schools and relieve the overcrowding of Feltonville's K-8 elementary
schools.
Central East has been adopted by Johns Hopkins University and is a pilot
site for their "Talent Development Model" of instruction. Our
school was also the middle school link in the IBM "Reinventing Education"
grant in Philadelphia. I serve as the science leader for our school and
as such, I facilitate regular meetings of our science department. I also
serve as the "coach" of a Critical Friends Group (CFG) of teachers
drawn from our school and the elementary and high school involved in the
IBM grant. The CFG is linked to the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF)
of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. (See
the CFG's goals.)
This year I hope to initiate a process of "looking at student work,"
using protocols that I have learned to use through my work with the Annenberg
Institute. I also hope to explore methods to insure that a tone of decency
exists in our school for all who pass through our doors.
I'm co-chairing the School Council with a parent this year. With a new acting
principal and lots of new staff members, the Council will have a busy agenda.
Teaching is a second career for me. I worked at many other jobs in factories,
a hospital, and in quite a few restaurants, before returning to school to
pursue a teaching career. I became a teacher at my husband's urging because,
as he said, I spent all my spare time volunteering at my children's schools
and might as well do it full time!
Our blended family of four children kept me very busy with home and school,
soccer, baseball, gymnastics and scouting activities. Our kids are grown
now -- getting ready to finish college and grad school -- but their early
learning experiences sparked my interest in education in general.
I earned a BS in Early Childhood-Elementary Education at Temple University.
Since graduation I have taken many Science Education courses as well as
classes in Design Based Education, Children's Literature and Leadership
Training.
When I completed my teacher training, I was looking forward to working with
kindergarten children , but (as so often happens!) I became a teacher of
a 7th grade, self-contained class instead. Prepared by the often rocky adolescence
of my own children, when I entered my first assignment 11 years ago, I was
pleased to find that my seventh graders were bigger versions of the younger
kids I had enjoyed as a student teacher. I taught all basic subjects to
my self-contained classes for four years, before moving to Central East.
AS a native of Philadelphia and as a resident in a nearby community, I became
aware of the Feltonville parents' organizing efforts. I was excited by the
possibilities of being part of a new school from its inception, and I began
attending the community planning sessions. My decisions, first to become
a teacher and later to transfer to Central East Middle School, have been
very rewarding. Our staff is an exciting one, where you can always find
colleagues who are ready to look at the hard questions and develop new initiatives.
And the students, well, they make sure that school is never boring.
I enjoy learning about new things and feel
that teaching adolescents is a constant voyage of discovery. This year will
definitely involve Discovery with a capital "D". I'm tackling
a new teaching assignment. On paper, I am (take a deep breath) a Technology
Assisted Problem Solving teacher (TAPS). In reality, none of us are exactly
sure what that means. In the summer months, TAPS is a wonderful enrichment
program organized around a central theme. We use computers to teach critical
thinking to smaller classes in a relaxed vacation-time environment.
Fast forward to September. What will TAPS be like full-time? I'll be responsible
for 11 sections of about 33 students each. The position and curriculum will
evolve as the year progresses. At this point I'm hoping to continue with
the summer program's focus on critical thinking and technology, as I struggle
to support the 8th-grade exit project requirement which our district has
recently adopted. (Exit projects must be cross curricular and include both
research and presentation components.)
This year's "voyage of discovery" will probably be a bit bumpy.
But with lots of staff collaboration, my Critical Friends Group for support,
and my diary ready for ongoing relection, I am anxious to cast off!
Deborah Bambino kept a diary at MiddleWeb last year.
Here's the index.
Back to Deborah's 1999-2000
Diary Index