Molly Glassman

Position: ESOL TeacherSchool: Padonia International Elementary SchoolSchool District: Baltimore County Public SchoolsCity, State: Cockeysville, Maryland
About the Nominee: Molly Glassman was nominated by her principal, Melissa DiDonato.Molly Glassman has been an ESOL Teacher at Padonia International Elementary School for eleven years. During that time, she has been committed to ensuring the growth and development of her students, both in terms of academics and language. Mrs. Glassman has a highly developed understanding of her students’ cultures, background experiences and prior schooling. She readily shares this knowledge with grade level and classroom teachers to enhance and support their work with English Language Learners (ELLs) in the classroom. Additionally, she shares cultural information that helps classroom teachers more readily understand the involvement of families within the school and family dynamics of some cultures. Mrs. Glassman’s collaborative planning with classroom teachers and her ESOL teacher colleagues increases the provision of coherent instruction for her students, as content expectations and skills are consistent across teaching environments.In her role as the ESOL teacher, Mrs. Glassman teaches in different environments throughout the school day. At times, she may provide instruction to a small group of students in a pull-out environment and during other portions of the day she is co-teaching with teachers at multiple grade levels or providing push-in services. Mrs. Glassman has demonstrated flexibility and responsiveness to meet the needs of her students within these instructional environments.In addition to her work with students and teachers, Mrs. Glassman diligently works with families, helping them access the school community and providing resources to help their children at home. With more than 150 ESOL students at Padonia, Mrs. Glassman collaborates with two other ESOL teachers, the Office of World Languages and classroom teachers in order to ensure positive learning outcomes for ELL students. She coordinates interpreters for conferences (of which there are more than 200 this school year) and supports teachers in obtaining interpreters for parent/teacher conferences throughout the school year. Mrs. Glassman has continued to develop her Spanish skills so she can better communicate with families, including practicing Spanish through online courses. She is always ready to assist a new family or answer questions for current families.Mrs. Glassman founded Padonia Around the World (PAW) Night and has trained another teacher to serve in the lead capacity. While mentoring the new coordinator, she worked with parent volunteers to coordinate food, table displays and student performances. Her commitment to Padonia is also evident through her leadership in helping the school obtain Green School Certification from the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education Association (MAEOA). As part of the application process, Mrs. Glassman attended several professional development offerings and presented two Green School PD workshops to school staff. She coordinated with community volunteers and local businesses in order to create a butterfly garden and bluebird boxes on the school grounds. Additionally, she worked after school with the Green Team students to complete many projects that led to Padonia’s Green School certification.Overall, Mrs. Glassman is committed to the success of each student in the school and continued prosperity of the entire school community![nominee_videos nominee_email="mglassman@bcps.org"]