PennGSE Teach for America :: Instructor Profiles

Instructor Profiles

Partial list of instructors

	Dr. Diane Brown Child and Adolescent Development Dr. Brown recently retired from Research for Action, where she was a senior researcher whose research projects included studying young African American girls in middle and high school. She was a long-time middle school teacher and principal in Philadelphia public schools.
	Philip Buckley, Esq. Education Law - Master’s Elective Philip Buckley is a lawyer experienced in educational law issues. He is currently a doctoral student in education at GSE.
	Carolyn Chernoff School & Society Ms. Chernoff is a graduate student in a joint doctoral program in Education, Culture and Society at GSE and in Sociology. Her experience includes a range of research projects as well as working with young people in the Girls’ DJ Collective and the Community Arts Partnership, and consulting with a range of arts organizations in Philadelphia. She has a particular interest in community arts projects and schooling.
	Dr. Ellen Clay Secondary Math Methods and Advanced Secondary Math Methods Dr. Clay comes to the TFA/GSE program with experience teaching university math courses and middle school math in Philadelphia. Currently she works with the Drexel Math Forum, a professional development organization that supports the teaching of math in schools across the area.
	Elaine Culbertson Advanced English Methods Elaine Culbertson was a high school English teacher, an English Department Head, and an administrator in the School District of Philadelphia. She also spent many years as the Director of English/Language Arts for Philadelphia and for one of the suburban districts outside of Philadelphia. She has a wide range of experience working with school districts and middle and high school English teachers to develop and understand English/language arts standards, curriculum frameworks, and assessments. She is also an expert on Holocaust Education; she has worked with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for the last 20 years and leads educators from across the U.S. on trips to Europe and Israel.
	Jeremy Cutler 2008-2010 School and Society Prior to becoming a TFA/Penn Mentor, I was an elementary and middle school teacher, counselor, and Dean of Students for over 10 years in Boston, MA and Washington, DC. During the summer, I also direct an 8-week residential program for boys in Vermont. I hold a master’s in Urban Education from Harvard University and I am presently pursuing a doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania. My research interests include the ways in which schools respond to and plan for students' social and emotional needs, teacher education and mentoring, as well as the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions in the urban environment
	Pamela Gallagher Advanced Secondary Science Methods Ms. Gallagher has over 30 years of experience teaching a variety of science classes in high school. She is an expert on developing hands on science learning for children K – 12 and on designing learning experiences for students with different learning styles. She has also supervised student teachers in Philadelphia classrooms teaching science in middle and high schools.
	Lois Ginsberg Foreign Language Methods Lois Ginsberg recently retired after teaching Spanish for 35 years in the School District of Philadelphia. Beginning her career in middle school, she also taught in three different high schools in Philadelphia and was the Department Chair of World Languages at Central High School. She was awarded the Spanish Teacher of the Year by the Philadelphia Area Spanish Educators in 2002. She has been teaching foreign language teachers at GSE and in the GSE/TFA program since 1999.
	Meg Goldner-Rabinowitz Secondary English Methods As a ten-year veteran of the high school English classroom, Meg Goldner-Rabinowitz has also been an instructor at GSE and involved in developing new curriculum for students that includes media studies and creative writing. She has also worked with TFA teachers in the Northwest part of Philadelphia through the Germantown Poetry Festival. She has a particular interest in issues of gender and diversity in the classroom.
	Eli Lesser Advanced Secondary Social Studies Methods Mr. Lesser has experience as a social studies teacher and recently worked at the US Constitution Center in Philadelphia (http://constitutioncenter.org/) as an educational director. He worked with teachers and students across the city developing educational programs and works directly with a new small high school in Philadelphia associated with the Constitution Center. Currently, he works at the University of Pennsylvania planning and implementing summer programs.
	Dr. James Lytle Urban School Reform - Master’s Elective Click here to visit Dr. Lytle's page on the PennGSE web site.
	Gillian Maimon Advanced Elementary Methods Ms. Maimon is currently a graduate student in the doctoral program at GSE. She is a first grade teacher at Powel School in the School District of Philadelphia. She is a member of the Philadelphia Writing Project (PhilWP) and has been teaching courses at GSE for over five years.
	Chike McLoyd School & Society Chike McLoyd began working with the GSE/TFA program as a Penn Mentor from 2006-2008. He is a PhD candidate at GSE whose research interests include immigration and urban education, racial formation in educational institutions, peace education and social justice. He has experience as an English teacher and literacy coach in urban schools in several US cities and spent a year as an international teaching fellow for the International Foundation for Education in Guinea, West Africa.
	Meredith Mehra Secondary Math Methods and Advanced Secondary Math Methods Ms. Mehra was a 2005 TFA corps members teaching at Fitzsimons, an all boys high school in North Philadelphia. She graduated with a Master’s degree from the GSE/TFA Program in 2007. She continued teaching at Fitzsimons, serving in a variety of leadership capacities at the school. Ms. Mehra worked with the GSE/TFA Program as a teaching assistant in the Summer Bridge Course in August, 2007. In 2008 she became a co-teacher with Dr. Ellen Clay of the Secondary Math Methods course.
	Dr. Angela McIver Elementary Math Methods After several years of teaching experience and completing her degree at GSE, Dr. McIver founded Math Foundations, LLC. She is involved in numerous consulting projects with schools, school districts, and other educational organizations to improve mathematics instruction for K-12 students.
	Alison Michael School & Society Alison Michael is a PhD candidate in Teaching, Learning, Curriculum and Society with a wide range of experience as a teacher and researcher at the university level. She began her teaching in New York City in 2005 and has also worked in Ghana, Bangladesh, and South Africa. She has been involved in a research project that includes TFA teachers for the last few years, looking at how new teachers actually learn to teach. She has a particular interest in work issues of race, diversity, and racism and has studied the ways in which people define and identify race and how groups can work towards an understanding of the role of race in education.
	Dr. Robin Ortiz Child Development Dr. Ortiz received her PhD in Child Development at Tufts and has been an educator in several higher education institutions. She is also a researcher and practitioner with a wide range of experience in Universities and Agencies in several cities devoted to supporting urban students.
	Marsha Pincus Inquiry into Practice, Advanced English Methods, Inquiry into the Teaching of English, Summer Bridge Course Marsha Pincus’ involvement in the TFA/GSE program began in 2005 as a facilitator of the first Summer Bridge Course. Since then she has taught a variety of courses and continues to work with TFA teachers in the on-going continuity group with corps members who continue to teach after two years. Marsha was a teacher of English in Philadelphia for 34 years; during that time she distinguished herself as the winner of several teaching awards and as a wonderful teacher of drama and playwriting. She has published numerous articles and book chapters, and is featured on the Carnegie website (http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/collections/castl_k12/mpincus/index.htm, Playing with the Possible: Teaching, Learning and Drama on the Second Stage). She has a particular interest in teacher inquiry and the ways in which it informs our teaching practice and contributes to our knowledge about teaching, students, and learning.
	Dr. Sharon Ravitch Multicultural Issues in Education - Master’s Elective Click here to visit Dr. Ravitch's page on the PennGSE web site.
	Dr. Nathan Smith School & Society, Secondary English Methods, Inquiry into Practice Dr. Smith is currently a director of one of the undergraduate houses at UPenn. He has extensive experience working with urban students, teaching English, and teacher educator courses. Also a film maker, he has worked with UPenn students, Philadelphia teachers, and South American teachers and students to produce ethnographic films about education.
	Amanda Corby Soto Child and Adolescent Development Mrs. Soto is currently in a PhD program in social work at Bryn Mawr College, and her areas of focus include gender and sexual identity development, adolescence, urban education, lived gender performance, and educational support systems. She has been an urban teacher in Baltimore and has counseled students in elementary and high schools.
	Chris Soto Child and Adolescent Development Mr. Soto has worked as an instructor at the graduate level, a researcher, and a counselor for urban young people in numerous schools and social service agencies. Currently, he is a full time counselor at one of Philadelphia’s urban charter schools while he is working on his doctoral dissertation.
	Richard Staniec Secondary Science Methods/Middle School Science Methods Mr. Staniec, a graduate of the Philadelphia public school system, currently teaches science at the Penn Alexander School in Philadelphia. He is also a graduate of the UPenn Master’s Program in Middle School Science.
	Jenny Smith Secondary English Methods Jenny Smith graduated from GSE with a master’s degree and currently teaches middle school English at Mastery Charter, Thomas Campus. She also has experience teaching in the School District of Philadelphia, with the Community Women’s Education Project, and in Cape Verde with the Peace Corps. Jenny Smith brings an expertise in curriculum design for 7th and 8th grade reading and writing curriculum and a particular understanding of middle school learners in the English classroom.
	Dr. Howard Stevenson Summer Bridge to Urban Teaching Click here to visit Professor Stevenson's page on the PennGSE web site.
	Molly Thacker Summer Bridge Course, Advanced Secondary English Methods Molly Thacker began teaching in Philadelphia at Olney High School as a TFA 2005 corps member. Currently, she teaches at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush. After completing her master’s degree in the GSE/TFA program, she became a member of the Philadelphia Writing Project. Beginning in 2008, she began working with the GSE/TFA program as a facilitator and instructor. She also blogs on the Public School Notebook.
	Rachel Throop School & Society Pursuing a joint PhD in Anthropology and in Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum, Rachel Throop has worked as a middle school science teacher in the United States and as an English as a foreign language teacher in Mexico. A former TFA corps member, she has worked as a corps member advisor in the TFA Institute in Philadelphia. She has been involved in the three-year study of new teachers, including TFA teachers, exploring how new teachers learn to teach and what supports work best for them.
	Geoff Winikur Inquiry into Practice Mr. Winikur has been an English teacher in the Philadelphia public schools for almost 20 years at Gratz High School and the Peace School. He is an experienced teacher-researcher and facilitator for the Philadelphia Writing Project (PhilWP) and has presented at numerous National Writing Project (NWP) conferences on writing and literature instruction and developing teacher awareness about race issues in urban education classrooms.
	Dr. Jeanne Vissa Advanced Secondary Math Methods Dr. Vissa recently completed nine years as a Practice Professor at GSE and currently works as an advisor in New York with Math for America. She has experience as a classroom teacher and a principal in urban schools; during her nine years at GSE she worked closely with principals and teachers in some of West Philadelphia’s Schools. She also has experience teaching in the Teacher Education Program, the Mid Career Doctoral Program, and the Aspiring Principal’s Program at GSE. To read more about Dr. Vissa, go to http://www.gse.upenn.edu/features/leadership/annenberg