Pembroke Elementary Math Teacher Chosen as a Master Teacher

Michelle Marcus, a math teacher at Birmingham Pembroke Elementary in Troy, has been tapped to share their cutting-edge lesson plans, methods, observations and other tips with other teachers across the nation.

Marcus was chosen to be part of the Master Teacher Project, where 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.

Marcus is one 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 betterlesson.com.

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 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.