Activities
The Goldin
Foundation participates in several "connecting activities" in
addition to the selection and recognition of award recipients,
Exemplary Projects Awards, and Educators Network.
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Goldin
Foundation Educators Forum
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Visits
to Award Recipients
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Goldin Foundation Seminars
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Educators Network and Professional Development Grants
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Baby Brain Connection: Parenting for Early
Childhood Literacy Project
GOLDIN FOUNDATION
EDUCATORS FORUM
Recipients
of the Goldin Foundation for Excellence in Education awards are
recognized for their outstanding achievements and contributions
to their classrooms, schools, and communities at an annual
Educators Forum in early April. They share their experiences,
projects, and insights with an audience of colleagues,
administrators, family, friends, and students. A host school, usually a
"home" to one of the recipients, sponsors the event, which
includes a Dessert Reception 7:00-7:30, and a Panel
Presentation, 7:30-9:00, at which award recipients are
introduced by members of the Goldin Foundation Advisory Board
and then have opportunity to make presentations to the
"community."
TEC Educators Forum 2002
EDCO Educators Forum 2002
EDCO Educators Forum 2010
Lincoln Sudbury High School Wellness Team
Educators Forum 2010
Michelle Balmeo
& Students
Educators Forum 2010, Sunnyvale, CA
Educators Forum, Mountain View CA 2011
Educators Forum, Saratoga CA 2013
Ken Fisher & his Law
Education students
Educators Forum,
Galena Park, TX, 2013
VISITS TO
AWARD RECIPIENTS
The President of the Goldin Foundation or an Advisory Board member
visits with each award recipient in March, prior to the
Educators Forum. It is a good opportunity to visit and observe
the award recipient with his/her students in the classroom or
other setting and to share perspectives and experiences about
learning, instruction, professional development, and personal
vision.
 
Visit
with Susan LeBlanc, Director of Food Service, and students at
Barbers Hill Elementary School, Mont Belvieu, Texas, 2011
Maria Gonzales,
Principal Sandra Arredondo, and Maricela Moreno display
students’ recycled artwork at Hinojosa Early Childhood
Pre-Kindergarten Center, Aldine, TX
Civics Bee, Needham, MA coordinated by Susan Duncan, 2015
GOLDIN FOUNDATION SEMINARS
Lead Teachers Group, 1993-2001
Award recipients participated in a Lead Teachers
"job-alike" group that encouraged lively discussion about
education practices, issues, and topics of interest. The group
sponsored professional development workshops for teachers in
specific areas, i.e. " Planning for Discipline," "Teaching and
Learning Styles," "Communicating with Parents and Colleagues,"
and "AVID Cinema for Classroom Teachers." They also hosted
receptions each Fall for new teachers in order to share "tried
and true" advice.
"Resiliency in Adults: the importance that mindset, resiliency
and stress hardiness have in our personal and professional lives
and their impact on the children and adults with whom we
interact”, December
4, 2003
The Goldin Foundation for Excellence in Education invites you to
a special symposium. Date: Thursday, December 4, 2003,
Time: 4-7 P.M. (A light dinner will be served) Place:
Bennet-Hemenway School , Natick. Speaker: Dr. Robert
Brooks, a well known psychologist and nationally recognized
speaker, author, and television commentator, will speak on a
this timely topic.
The Goldin Foundation wishes
to further its goals by encouraging its award recipients, both
active and retired, to network with each other and provide
connections with other educators. We will have a short
discussion about how interested award recipients might link with
other school systems to offer professional development and with
local colleges of education and their future teachers. We
welcome your thoughts and look forward to your participation.
This symposium marks the
first of future regional events that the Goldin Foundation will
sponsor as part of its Educators Network. With the help of our
Advisory Boards, we have come up with several ways to enhance
the goals of the Foundation as well as to continue making
connections beyond the award presentations. Clearly we have an
amazing group of educators, both active and retired, who can
continue to communicate with each other as well as share their
expertise with others. Two of the Foundation’s goals are to
support the retention of quality educators and to support
efforts to attract and inspire creative, motivated, intelligent
people to our profession
Leadership Seminar: Enhancing
Consultation and Presentation Skills,
May 4, 2004
As part of its Educators Network,
the Goldin Foundation host a Leadership Seminar,
Enhancing Consultation and Presentation Skills
on May 4, 3:30-5:30 at the Eliot School in Needham.
Dr. N. Jerome
Goldberg, a well
known consultant at Teachers 21, will be leading the workshop.
Jerry is a Goldin Foundation award recipient, and he also was a
Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent. in Natick, MA.
GOLDIN FOUNDATION 20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
Spring, 2010
Past award recipients of the Goldin Foundation
for Excellence in Education were re-honored at the annual Goldin
Foundation Educators Forums held in Massachusetts, Texas, and
California.
The four events provided
wonderful opportunities for Educators of Excellence to
re-connect with one another at the dinners and regional events.
Harriet Goldin introduced her new book written in honor of the
20th anniversary and give copies to all award
recipients. “Above and Beyond: Excellence in Education
is an inspiring reminder of the power of teaching and the
unlimited creative ideas available to all teachers. We meet
more than twenty men and women, impassioned and dedicated
educators who share with us the projects and directions that
have not only motivated and increased the learning capacity of
their students, but have sent energy beyond the classroom and
into the community.” (back cover)
EDCO celebration in Sudbury, MA
GOLDIN FOUNDATION EDUCATORS
NETWORK*
The Goldin
Foundation for Excellence Education recognizes and rewards
educators who have made outstanding contributions in their
classrooms, schools, and communities. Since its inception in
1990, the Foundation has sought to foster the respect for and
appreciation of educators.
The following Goldin Foundation award recipients are available
for consultation and professional development with other
educators and school districts. They may also be available for
seminars, meetings, and/or discussions with college students
pursuing careers in education. Any consulting or professional
development fees are arranged directly by the participant and
host. Some professional development grants are available each
year for participating school districts.
To contact a Goldin Foundation Excellence in Education award
recipient, you may directly email, write, or call the educator;
or you may email the Goldin Foundation:
[email protected]
*Please
click on "Educators Network" link on the sidebar for a
listing of the educators and their profiles.
Grants
for Professional Development
(for
member school
districts)
Sharing best practices is a good and natural consequence
of recognizing educators for “excellence in education.” The
Goldin Foundation will continue to fund professional development
workshops and/or consultation by participating Goldin Foundation
award recipients, “consultants,” to member school districts.
These educators have been recognized by their peers for their
best practices and outstanding contributions in their
classrooms, schools, and communities. Each is listed in
the updated Educators Network, a cross referenced listing
by subject area of award recipients and their projects.
See "Educators Network."
This
non-competitive
opportunity on a first-come, first-served basis, maximum of one
per school system, for
2014-15. A school district
can shape the
opportunity to meet its needs, for example: teacher workshop,
consultation with department chairs, model lesson. It will
make direct arrangements with the consultant: date, time, place,
and fee. (Information for contacting him/her is on the
Educators Network. A school district will apply for the grant and learn
quickly about its acceptance (determined only by the order in
which it is received). The school district will pay the
consultant, submit an evaluation of the program to and receive
reimbursement from the Goldin Foundation.
A. At least 15 of these
local professional development/consultation grants (within a
state) will be provided, each of which cover:
1) cost for the
consultant’s fee and travel up to $500 to the receiving school
district
2) substitute fee of up to
$100 to the sending school district
(to relieve an award recipient still teaching) if the workshop/consultation is held during the school day.
B.
At least 2 of these local professional development/consultation
opportunities (inter- state) could be provided, each of which
cover:
1)
cost for the consultant’s fee and travel up to $1000 to the
receiving school district
2)
substitute fee of up to $200 to the sending school district
(to relieve an award recipient still teaching).
If a school district does
not use the maximum amount of funds, the funds will be extended
to create additional professional development grants.
It is suggested that
Assistant Superintendents for Curriculum &
Instruction/Professional Development share this information with
principals as they may have interest in some of the excellent
projects being done in schools.
GOLDIN FOUNDATION
EDUCATORS NETWORK
Professional Development Grant Process
1.Review Goldin Foundation
Educators Network listing.
2.Contact
Goldin Foundation award recipient, who is listed, about
providing professional development/consultation in your
school system. Discuss potential date/s, time/s fee.
3.Complete
“Request for Funding” below and submit to Goldin Foundation to
reserve your place (first-come, first-served, maximum of one per
school system).
4.Goldin
Foundation will notify you shortly by email and letter about
your approval, and you will make your own arrangements with the
speaker.
5.After
the professional development opportunity is completed, forward
the evaluation form, which will come with the notification
letter. Send the evaluation form to the Goldin Foundation, which
will then reimburse your school district.
GOLDIN FOUNDATION EDUCATORS NETWORK
Professional
Development: Request for Funding
Date……………………
School
System………………………………
Address……………………………………………………………
Contact Person……………………………………
email…………………..............
Name of Goldin Foundation Educator……………………………
Amount requested (includes
workshop/consultation and travel)………………………
maximum of $500 (in state)
maximum of $1000 (out of
state)
Send to: Goldin
Foundation for Excellence in Education
Harriet Goldin, President
85 Grove Street #408
Wellesley, MA 02482
Baby
Brain Connection: Parenting for Early Childhood Literacy Project
Since 1990,
the Goldin Foundation for Excellence in Education
has had long experience in recognizing outstanding educators for
their outstanding contributions to classrooms, schools, and
communities. Collaborating with 85 school districts
across the country, Goldin Foundation representatives visit many
schools in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Foundation
educators are concerned about the continuing needs for enhancing
school readiness, increasing academic performance, and bridging
the achievement gap. In Spring, 2013, they decided to
tackle a project that focuses on early childhood literacy and
provide outreach to organizations and individuals working with
new and prospective parents, who are less privileged, and the
people who support them. The research shows that a
baby's 1st year of life is a time of rapid brain development
when interactions of talking, playing, and reading with babies
and toddlers are critical. The data on early brain
development is so compelling that parents must be provided with
encouragement, support , and activities to foster children's
literacy skills long before they enter school. This new
emphasis on early childhood literacy development when babies'
brains are developing at a rapid rate might just help change the
paradigm for readiness to learn and future achievement.
The Foundation developed a website
“Baby Brain Connection: Parenting
for Early Childhood Literacy.” For more
information, go to
www.babybrainconnection.org
“We have some different strategies for connecting with
parents that are free and can be adapted to introduce and/or
complement in-house training within your organization.
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We have developed a website, free guide, and modeling and
coaching support for 1) support people whom we call “Parent
Providers ” and 2) new parents that tie in with the latest
research on early brain development for infants and toddlers
birth-12 months.
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It uses a different approach to hook people’s attention with
short video vignettes as a fun and informative training
device, user-friendly talking points, and direct strategies
taken from many resources.”
Here is a blog that was developed for the ISIS Parenting Group.
Dear Parents,
From the very minute that your precious child is born, you are
your baby's 1st teacher.
Research shows that the 1st year of life is a
critical period in helping infants become aware of language.
Your baby’s brain is developing rapidly. His brain is making
many connections as he learns about his world. Every time you
talk, touch, cuddle, rock, sing, or read to him, you are helping
his brain develop. Does this surprise you? It’s a fact.
Although he may not understand the words, your baby will slowly
begin to make connections between words and their meaning.
By the end of the 1st year babies begin to use some
words. The time you have spent talking, playing and
interacting, and reading to your child will provide a strong
foundation for his learning to talk and then learning new words
as he grows. These skills will better prepare your child for
successful learning in preschool and kindergarten. There is
even evidence that talking to babies in the 1st year
can help them become better learners throughout grade school and
help them in later life too.
How can you, as a parent, best help your baby’s brain
development during the 1st year and at the same time
develop his literacy? Here are some suggestions developed by
child development specialists and then tried and tested by
parents to help you and your baby reach their developmental
goals. Many more Talking,
Playing & Interacting, and Reading activities are
found in a
free Parents Guide for the 1st
Year
on the website:
www.babybrainconnection.org
Brain Development:
Stimulating early experiences lay the foundation for later
learning. Through repetition, brain connections become
permanent….if a connection isn’t used at all or not often
enough, it is not likely to survive
Talking:
Talk to your infant about everything you do when you are
together. "I am taking you to the kitchen." "I am changing your
diaper." Talk about what you are doing, what your child is doing
and what your child sees….. when you feed, play, dress, bathe,
take walks, go to stores, and visit friends. Point out things
and name them. Use “Parentese,” a sing-song
speech that has a higher pitch, slower tempo, and exaggerated
facial expressions. Babies love it; their brains are “mapping”
the sounds they are hearing, and talking in a way that gets
their attention helps them learn to speak and understand
language.
Playing & Interacting
Children learn language concepts through play.
The “serve and return” interaction between parent and baby – in
which 1) young children naturally reach out for interaction
through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures and 2) adults
respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturing back at
them – builds and strengthens brain architecture and creates a
relationship in which the baby’s experiences are affirmed and
new abilities are nurtured.
Begin Reading
to children early, and make reading aloud a daily
activity. Mother Goose rhymes and songs stimulate
language and listening. Select picture books with short
sentences and simple illustrations. Choose books about animals,
routines (bedtime, getting dressed), or foods. Talk about what
you see on each page and don’t worry about following the actual
story.
There is nothing here that you can’t do. You are your child’s 1st
teacher, and probably the most important.
Enjoy teaching your baby -- all the
learning activities are easy, fun to do, and free!
For more information, contact [email protected]
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