TFA Inspiring Early Childhood Education

   As a Northwestern student, majoring in Communications and the Integrated Marketing Certificate program, who is preparing to graduate and immediately begin training with Teach For America to teach kindergarten in the fall, I can’t help but wonder about what lies ahead as I begin this journey. Many may be skeptical about TFA Corps members- Are they capable teachers? Do they really help change the trajectory of education for students in America? Do they continue to pursue education past their commitment with the corps? And most importantly, would I want a TFA Corps member educating my child? What I’m glad to report that I have found is that majority of TFA Corps members do continue working in education past their 2-year commitment to the corps. Moreover, TFA alumni create their own programs and education initiatives after the corps. “Finding Our Listening Ears” by Kelly Powers and Jesse Illhardt illustrates how corps members use what they learned during their time in the classroom to create their own educational programs. “Would You Want Your Child Taught By A Teach For America Teacher?” by Heather Harding gives an account of a mother who comes face-to-face with this question when her son is placed in a preschool with a TFA alum. Both of these articles focus on early childhood education, as that is my placement with TFA.

seattletimes.com

      Teach For America is an eye-opening experience that inspires Corps members to continue to strive for excellence in the education system long after their time in the corps. Powers and Illhardt (now both TFA alumni) illustrate that TFA sparks great leaders who create innovative programs for education during and after their time in the corps.  Powers and Illhardt’s blog explains how Early Childhood Education (ECE) is an extremely important and critical time for a child’s learning and development, and all children should have a quality pre-school education. “The term ‘early childhood education’ recently flooded American homes as news broadcasters recapped President Obama’s second inaugural address. Weeks after the fanfare has subsided, our country is left with an immense challenge: how can we provide our neediest children and families the high-quality educational start they need?” write Powers and Illhardt. The two TFA alumni believe that education reform is possible, and can start in your own community. These former Corps members saw a problem and realized a solution, and thus started a unique and effective early childhood education center in Chicago for children birth to 5. (The program is called VOCE- Viewing Our Children as Emerging Leaders). Powers and Illhardt explain how hard it was to initially get the community excited about this new learning center. Eventually though, two dozen families were eager to participate and be involved in their young child’s education; putting them on the best track now so that they would have more opportunities in the future.

      As mentioned, Powers and Illhardt explained how difficult it initially was to get parents excited about enrolling their child into this new program created by TFA alumni. In Heather Harding’s blog “Would You Want Your Child Taught By A Teach For America Teacher?” she speaks directly to the skepticism of a TFA program and its educators. Harding explains her own connection to TFA and how her skepticism about her son’s TFA teacher brought her values and convictions about education to the forefront. As she re-evaluated what she wanted in an educator for her child, Harding found that the answer revealed itself in the way Ms. Laura (her child’s teacher) worked with her son. Ms. Laura’s passion, enthusiasm, and skill proved to Harding that TFA teachers make a positive impact on the institution of education.

      While every Corps member will have a vastly different experience, and while parents and students will also have different experiences with Corps members, it is important as always to keep an open mind. Prejudices will arise and questions will be asked, but hopefully constant re-evaluation will only make TFA Corps members better teachers. For TFA Corps members, I would recommend embracing and learning from criticisms and questions about what it means to be a Corps member. For governmental institutions and schools, I would recommend keeping an open mind when presented with the opportunity to work with Corps members. And for parents, I would recommend fostering open communication with your child’s educator. While not at all an easy task, if we all work together, we can close the achievement gap in America.

Julia Bareiss is a senior at Northwestern University majoring in Communication Studies. She plans to begin work with TFA starting in June 2013 and will be placed in Milwaukee teaching early childhood education. Follow her on Twitter: @juliagulia13 and on her blog Life Of Jules at  juleslovesdiamonds.tumblr.com

The Growing Chemistry between Social Media and Students

Over the last 15 months, I have been studying branding solutions and digital communications as a graduate student at Northwestern University. I have become increasingly interested in the ‘chemistry’ between social media and everyone’s life, including mine.

Let us start by working through a day of mine. I woke up at 8am, putting on makeup while also checking out my Facebook home page to see what has been going on. On my way to school, I was discussing today’s Groupon deal with my classmate Karena. When we arrived to class, I used my Groupon mobile app to purchase the offer. At the start of class, our professor discussed news articles people posted on Twitter. After two classes, I went back home and began browsing my friend’s food photos on Facebook, which inspired me to begin thinking about what to eat for dinner- sweet and sour pork! Later that night I browsed a few forums for travel advice, because I was planning my Thanksgiving trip to Seattle with friends. I drafted a schedule in 1.5 hours based on people’s suggestions and experiences!

According to The State Of Consumers and Technology: Benchmark 2011, US report, younger generations, GenZ (18-22) and GenY (23-31), are more active on social networks. While Baby Boomers are using social media, with a similar percentage having a Facebook or a LinkedIn account as their younger counterparts, the younger generations are far more likely to have a Twitter or MySpace account. In summary, students are more likely to use a combination of social platforms. These young people do not know a world without mobile or the internet.

Just as it is for me, social media tools help students in a variety of ways, and lead to a much easier life. Below are some ways in which social media integrates into the life of a student:

ž   Academic: Improves interactions with professors and other students. It also allows students’ thoughts to be heard by the world.

ž   Casual: Just spending time browsing and reading

ž   Catching up with friends: Communicating with friends and family online helps with separation anxiety, especially for students who live far away from their family.

ž   Looking for information: From academic assignments to food, travel, movie, fashion, and shopping, information on nearly every aspect of life can be found online. Social media is also the go-to platform for people who rely on word of mouth (WOM).

There is definitely great business potential. College students, for example, are at the beginning stage of having control over their life and having decision making power on their disposal income. They are also more likely to try new brands that are recommended through social media instead of sticking on certain brands.

Do you track in this trend? Is your brand using it in the right way to communicate with this young group? All marketers must realize the importance of using social media to connect with consumers. If students are part of your target audience, congrats, you have many opportunities to leverage social media. Think about using social networking to create an online community for the organic chemistry.

Irene Pei-Yun Hsu, Northwestern IMC Graduate, @IreneHsu_97

Find a Job & Apartment in Style-- A Simple Guide

As a college senior, I've done more than fair share of job searching and interviewing, all in the name of figuring out "what I want to be when I grow up." Having recently received an offer for employment in the competitive field of management consulting, I can safely say that if you follow my advice you will be more than prepared to find a job in the city of your choice. It's not easy, but if you set out with a clear goal, it's absolutely possible to achieve it.

The first two things you need to do are the following: 1) figure out what kind of work you want to do and 2) figure out where in the world you want to do it. For some people, the most important thing is the location, for others it's the work. Either way, you need to make some decisions in order to figure out where to go next.

For all intensive purposes, let's assume you're looking at advertising. If you aren't actually looking at advertising, you probably should. It's exciting, creative and attracts a great deal of Integrated Marketing Communications students. A quick search reveals that big cities are home to the best ad agencies, so if you want to work for these agencies, a move to the city is the next logical step, whether it's Chicago, New York, San Francisco, or somewhere else.

So you've sent your emails to the HR reps, set up informational interviews and coffee chats, and sent in all your application emails... now what? My best tip for you is to ask for advice. It sounds silly, but asking for advice from experienced professionals in the field will teach you far more than reading a blog post online. Keep asking for and taking advice, and the job will come.

But where are you going to live? The city represents the scary and unknown to many people. That’s why I'm here to give the full rundown on where to live if you’re a young 20-something entering the workforce. According to Apartment.com’s annual list of best cities for recent college graduates, a robust job market is the top factor driving the decision to relocate. By using social media tools, you can get a sense of the jobs in each city and whether the culture is the right fit for you. 

The list of top 10 cities for recent college graduates includes up-and-coming cities like Atlanta and Dallas, but the focus of today’s blog post will be the best places for recent grads to live in the city of Chicago. An advertising hub, the opportunities for Integrated Marketing Communications students are endless. From Leo Burnett to Starcom to PlanB, agencies are looking for grads skilled in digital, interactive and social marketing. 

Obviously, one’s income will greatly determine the neighborhood and home, so it’s important that we first look at the average incomes for different jobs. If you’re currently in the midst of the job search, the expected salary might affect the apartment search. Because many of our readers studied marketing in college, we’ll focus on the $37,000 annual salary range.

Looking at Chicago specifically, we’re going to look first at the neighborhoods that are attractive (and affordable) to recent college graduates. Two neighborhoods in particular, Lincoln Park and Wicker Park, are popular spots for grads working in the marketing and advertising business. Unlike Gold Coast and River North, which may be less affordable for people starting up a career. Lincoln Park offers a number of benefits. It’s a young community with a number of bars, restaurants and shopping in the area. There's even a zoo (@lincolnparkzoo). It also is fairly easy to get downtown to the Loop on the train. Wicker Park is home to a similar age group, but with a more edgy vibe. Search "Wicker Park" on YouTube or Twitter and you'll find a bevy of quirky videos about the up and coming neighborhood. With vibrant nightlife and an active art scene, it’s no wonder that the median age in this hip neighborhood is 30 years old.

Wicker Park, Chicago

In many cases, the best way to get a feel for a neighborhood is by visiting. Those of you who cannot fly into Chicago for the weekend to get a feel of a neighborhood might benefit from our “Day in the Life” video series. Click here to watch the first installment from our resident blogger.

To summarize, the job and apartment search really go hand in hand. If you do your research and take good advice, you'll find yourself in a great place... literally and figuratively. I didn't just wake up one morning and decide I wanted to live in Chicago after graduation. It's a process, so take the proper steps, do some soul searching and use the resources I've provided to get a feel for the ad world and the Chicago neighborhoods. Next week check back for my next installment on New York City Living! 

Natalie Marks, Undergraduate IMC, @npmarks

Could Northwestern Students and Professors Do Their Jobs Without Computers?

            In Silicon Valley, the heart of technological innovation in the United States, one well-esteemed school has decided to entirely remove computers and other forms of modern technology from its classrooms and curriculum. At the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, There are no screens to be found. Instead, the school focuses its curriculum around a more tactile experience, with physical tasks such as learning fractions by cutting up cakes. The school even discourages the use of computers at home. The school and its students aren’t exactly “anti-technology,” in fact, many of the students are children of famous Silicon Valley CEOs, they just believe that learning technology can wait. 

            Although the Waldorf School consistently posts impressive data regarding test scores and graduation rates, the Waldorf School is certainly in the minority with this approach. While this school has decided to completely remove computers, other schools are pushing fervently to become more tech-savvy, even bragging about their new state-of-the-art “smart” classrooms. 

            At Northwestern University, technology is everywhere, heavily integrated into the whole educational experience. It is common to be in class and see more than half of the students taking notes on their laptops. Professors often teach from PowerPoint presentations and communicate to us through email. Professors use Blackboard to post digital documents, create discussion boards, and post grades. It is common for students to spend hours on Blackboard, checking it multiple times a day. A Northwestern University without technology is hard to imagine. It makes you wonder: could Northwestern students and professors do their jobs without computers? 

 

Kevin Yuen

Undergrad IMC student

Twitter: @kevinyuen650