About the Program

The MTEL and Teacher Licensure

How the Money Works

Teacher Resident Essentials

  

 

Teacher Resident Essentials

Boston Teacher Residency is designed around the central question: What does a new teacher in Boston need to know and be able to do?

BTR is a 13-month program (running from the beginning of July through the end of the next July) consisting of three phases:
  1. Initial two-month summer institute: Teacher Residents assist and observe in a BPS summer school while participating in intensive coursework strands intended to lay the foundation for the first day of school.
  2. Entire academic year in a school: Teacher Residents work closely with a Mentor Teacher four full days a week. During that time, their primary task is to help students learn. Teacher Residents also collaborate and work with many other teachers during the year. On Fridays and after-school, Teacher Residents continue coursework leading to the master's degree. Residents complete a final portfolio in order to demonstrate competence and graduate from the program.
  3. Final one-month summer institute: Teacher Residents complete master's degree coursework and reflect on their year, continuing to learn skills and strategies they will need to become teachers-of-record the next fall, and begin to prepare for their own classroom.
Other important information about being a Teacher Resident:

  1. BTR places a number of resources at Teacher Residents' disposal. Residents learn from some of the best educators in Boston. BTR provides a mix of classroom experience, mentoring, theory, and practical skills. To make the most of the program, Teacher Residents must be self-directed and motivated learners.
  2. BTR is built on a cohort model. Teacher Residents go through the program as a group. This cohort becomes a central community for support and feedback.
  3. BTR is a full-time program. Co-teaching four days a week and preparing for and participating in seminars will take up a considerable amount of time. School days are long and hard, and there is almost always work that needs to take place before or after school. In addition, there are reading and writing assignments connected to the seminar work.
  4. Teacher Residents need to be flexible. The reality of life in schools means that there will be times when the regular schedule may change.