TLN in Action

In his blog, Lead from the Start, TLN Forum member John Holland shares how this picture illustrates what he loves about teaching preschool students. "I love the manner in which they are able to move from imagination to reality in a seamless fashion. I love how playing music, pretending, and learning become one in the classroom."

The Teacher Leaders Network is not just a website. TLN is a network of active communities populated by highly accomplished teacher leaders from across the nation who are dedicated to student success and the transformation of teaching into a true profession.

TLN is a national initiative of the Center for Teaching Quality. Much of its work is virtual and takes place in this web environment — a cutting-edge, secure learning platform that combines many functions familiar to users of blogs, wikis, and social network environments. Our difference? This dedicated platform is custom-tailored for daily use as a professional learning environment for educators involved in TLN's work.

As you read this message, hundreds of expert educators at the heart of TLN are:

• Engaging in daily discussions around practice and policy,
• Collaborating on action research and other projects for improved student learning,
• Sharing their content and pedagogical expertise with pre-service and in-service teachers, and
• Refining their policy insights and contributing their voices to the decisions that affect the students and communities they serve.

We invite you to learn more about this remarkable community. Visit our public blogs. And follow the Teacher Leader Network’s extraordinary history, from its experimental early days to its current status as a thriving organization of accomplished teachers who are helping shape the very future of teaching and learning.

The New Millennium Initiative is a major leap in TLN’s evolutionary journey. Launched in the fall of 2009, and supported by local and national partners, the Initiative is engaging young teachers in selected communities across the United States and connecting them to researchers, reformers, administrators and union leaders in an effort to grow and project their voices on matters of teaching policy and expert teaching practice. As they begin to market their ideas to policymakers, fellow teachers, and members of their local communities, they will also develop their knowledge, skills and relationships to become the next generation of teacher leaders.

NMI participant Ben Jackson, who teaches high school English in Denver, Colorado, perfectly describes the Initiative’s purpose: So often, Ben writes, decisions about education are made far removed from the classroom, without input from the newest teachers. Our think tank allows teachers – early in their career – an avenue to effect change on a large scale in the education world.

You can find out more about the New Millennium Initiative at the Center for Teaching Quality website.