Mary Phelan
Exhibited by Mary: Supporting MLLs - Project Based Learning with Mentor Texts
Position: Teacher of ENL
School: Community Action School
DBN: 03M258 Superintendent: Ilene Altschul
Bio: Mary Phelan, a fourth year English as a New Language (ENL) teacher at MS 258 - Community Action School, shows extreme devotion to her students on a daily basis. This is the end of her third year at CAS, and the students she works with are in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. She actively engages her students in her lessons through the development of curriculum based on their specific interests. She is currently working, with her expanding and commanding students, to help the NYC homeless. This project-based learning (PBL) unit was born out of her students’ interests in current events and areas of need in NYC. Currently, her students are working to raise money via a bake sale, collect lightly used clothing and supplies, and host a speaker from the Bowery Mission.
Aside from following a student-centered approach to her curriculum design, Ms. Phelan can be found scheduling a Google expert for her school’s Google Group, working as the school-facilitator for the CAR program, providing the full-staff with ENL experiential learning based professional development meetings, serving as the school’s MLL (multilingual learner) expert, and a handful of other efforts that prepare her peers to provide MS258’s MILLs with everything they could possibly need in order to succeed. Her efforts with her students and in providing her peers with the necessary MLL-friendly strategies did not go unrecognized. In Ms. Phelan’s first year at MS 258, Community Action School, every MLL, most of which were long-term, tested commanding on the NYSESLAT. Year after year, her students continue to grow and thrive.
Ms. Phelan continues to grow her teaching practice through attending nearly every MFSC MLL meeting that is provided. She is also working towards her MA at City College. She is studying English Education. In the future, she hopes to gain her administrative license and her doctorate in education. She will continue to provide, and fight, for not only multilingual learners, but all students within the NYCDOE system.
