West Bloomfield Teacher Participates in Master Teacher Project

Two third-grade teachers in Oakland County have been tapped to share their cutting-edge lesson plans, methods, observations and other tips with other teachers across the nation.

Melody Arabo, an English language arts teacher at Keith Elementary in West Bloomfield, and Michelle Marcus, a math teacher at Pembroke Elementary in Troy, have been chosen to be part of the Master Teacher Project. In this elite national program, some of the nation’s best teachers will share best practices through a single platform, designed to be accessible to all teachers, educators and learning experts across the nation.

Arabo and Marcus are two of 96 teachers selected across the nation who will share math and English language arts teaching skills and resources that can serve as a living, breathing document over the course of the year, with the goal of transforming and modernizing teaching and learning in Michigan and beyond. Their experiences, observations, and lesson plans will be uploaded to www.betterlesson.com.

“I believe the best professional development comes directly from a classroom,” Arabo said. “I am thrilled to participate in a project that allows teacher leaders to share their knowledge and experience on a national level, and I am equally excited to learn and grow from other teachers so that I can provide the highest quality instruction for students using the Common Core State Standards.”

Arabo has been a third-grade teacher at Keith Elementary in the Walled Lake School District since 2002. She graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in teaching and curriculum. Arabo is passionate about teacher leadership and developing lessons and materials that make teaching and learning more effective.  

Marcus brings 23 years of experience to the Master Teacher Project. She loves to engage students in classroom conversation and values “learning while comfortably struggling.”  She leads student enrichment groups and is involved in several charitable efforts.

“I am excited to be on the forefront of this initiative and push myself and students deeper into our learning and teaching,” Marcus said.
The betterlesson.com site launches as U.S. schools implement Common Core State Standards, a set of learning goals adopted by 45 states  that aim to create a coherent educational identity for U.S. schools and prepare students to be college and career-ready.

Common Core stresses competence in building skills and in core subjects. Since its adoption, teachers and administrators have been diligently working to implement the standards, but have faced challenges primarily due to lack of resources.  

The 96 master teachers will create a collection of free resources as they describe both the “how” (instructional strategies and classroom management procedures) and the “what” (complete lessons, units and courses) behind their successful teaching. Six Michigan teachers were selected for the project.

The content developed by Marcus, Arabo and the other master teachers will be made available in stages on betterlesson.com — first to a select group of testers, and then to the public in spring 2014, once the teachers have core content ready.