Teaching Philosophies

Teaching Philosophies

(TOY Mini-essay Responses)

Educational History and Professional Development Activities (Use a 12 point Time New Roman font, double-spacing, and limit your response to two pages.)

1. Beginning with the most recent, list colleges and universities attended including post-graduate studies. Indicate degrees earned and dates of attendance.

Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

Attended 1995-2000, graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in English, Secondary Education; Concentrations: History and Latin

2. Beginning with the most recent, list teaching employment history indicating time period, grade level and subject area.

South Stanly High School: 2005-2008 (three years) English II Standard, English III Honors, and English IV Standard and Honors

Mount Pleasant High School: 2000-2005 (five years) English I Reading and Writing Competency, 9^th Grade Freshman Seminar, English II Standard and Honors, English IV Standard and Honors

3. Beginning with the most recent, list professional association memberships including information regarding offices held and other relevant activities.

NCTE, NCAE, Member of Alpha Chi Academic Honor Society, Member of

Phi Alpha Theta History Society

4. Beginning with the most recent, list staff development leadership activities and leadership activities in the training of beginning or future teachers.

Staff training for the 10^th grade Writing Test, Mentoring first year lateral entry teachers in SSHS English Department, Staff development workshops on webpage building and Sharp School Web design, INTEL Teach for the Future Workshop and Training

5. Beginning with the most recent, list awards and other recognition for your teaching.

2008 SSHS Teacher of the Year, 2008 Time Warner Cable Star Teacher Award, Nominated for Teacher of the Month 3 times at SSHS, Nominated for First Year Teacher of the Year in 2001

Professional Biography

“Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.” ~Anatole France. The factors that have influenced me to become a teacher are many and varied, but I will begin with my parents, as they are the ones who most instilled a level of compassion which I strive for each day in my classroom.

My mother, Joyce, has been a teacher of many things including elementary school and, for many years, a Lamaze instructor. She currently works as an Crisis Director for the Cooperative Christian Ministries, an organization designed to help others not just by offering food and shelter, but by giving them means to help themselves. In this sense, I am reminded of the adage, “Give a man a fish, and you give him a meal for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you give him a meal for a lifetime.” My mother has instilled within me the desire to help other human beings to find their own strengths, and this is the core of what my teaching is all about. She is compassionate, intelligent, wise, and driven by personal faith. My parents separated when I was five years old and my mother remarried when I was about nine. Likewise, my step-father is another influence on my life. Tony is the epitome of emotional strength and guidance. He has worked as the head Chaplain at Northeast Medical Center in Concord for nearly 30 years. It was not until high school and beyond that I recognized the full extent to which he labored and gave to others. A man who can deal with dying, death, and grieving families all day long and often through the night, and then come home and not retain the emotional baggage he had consumed just astounds me to this day. I feel and have vocalized to him that I wouldn’t have the strength to handle his job and his retort is only that he would not be able to teach high school students English the way that I do. Everyone is gifted in different ways; we are given different strengths by God and I have been influenced and encouraged by two of the strongest and most compassionate and gracious human beings I have ever known.

In addition, I have been privileged to have numerous other friends, colleagues, and experiences that urged me to teach. I worked for several summers at the Concord Park and Recreation Department playground program as a leader and found my strengths and weaknesses with children ages 5-15. In college, my friends at the Wesley Foundation encouraged me to lead groups. Consequently, I was also involved with the contemporary worship team and praise band at Lake Junaluska; in this group I relied on my faith and became more of the leader I believe I was destined to become—a quiet leader who leads by example. Indeed, my student teaching experiences and my first few years of teaching influenced my personal teaching methodology even further and the support and encouragement of the English department at Mount Pleasant High School was integral in helping me to find my educational voice. Finally, my current family at SSHS for the past three years has been supportive and nurturing and I could not ask for a better place to live, work and grow. As I look back, I have done a bit of soul-searching and math. I have taught nearly a thousand students, many of whom I see or hear from daily at various points in their educational lives, careers and travels. Most of these students I have taught as seniors just before they leap head-long into the “real world.” My greatest contributions and accomplishments in education? That I have given these students something of the virtues I received from so many others—the things that really matter in an ever-changing world—hope, self-worth, determination, perseverance, patience and love.

Community Involvement

"The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others." ~Ghandi

It is an understatement to say that teachers wear a myriad of hats in this profession. Each day we are asked to give of our time and talents. This past year, during the Breast Cancer Awareness Week, I, along with another colleague, raised the most money and was given the distinct pleasure of kissing a baby pig on the snout in front of the entire school. Two years ago, I lost a bet with my English IV class and had to shave my legs for the Canned Food Drive for the Stanly County Cooperative Extension. That year, we gathered more cans than any other school in the county. These acts constitute some of the more outlandish demonstrations of my commitment to the community and to the school. Moreover, my involvement with the community has involved several different groups. I have been actively involved with the school’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the FCA Praise Band. This group organizes the Operation Christmas Child Project for the Samaritan’s Purse Organization. This is a worthwhile organization that spreads hope and faith throughout the world. Additionally, I have worked with students and faculty members at the school to begin a Green Club in order to increase a school-wide recycling program. I have volunteered during the summers at the local Cooperative Christian Ministries, and I have taught adult computer classes at the Kannapolis Cyber Campus. Further, I enjoy supporting all of our athletic programs and drama productions here at the school. Finally and most recently, I have cut 10 inches of my hair which I had grown out over the past two years with the expressed purpose of donating the hair to the Locks of Love Organization.

Philosophy of Teaching

“Comments? Questions? Concerns? Smart remarks for the good of the cause?” I often use these queries when wrapping up a discussion or activity in my English classes. I believe that it covers almost all of the grounds for what I believe to be good teaching. Teaching should be a dialogue and I often learn as much from students as they do from me. I chose English because it lends itself to the rational (think grammar, syntax, structure) as well at the emotional (think the depths of poetry and prose). I believe that good teaching should be a balance of the two—both reason and passion. Students in my discussions feel comfortable enough to voice their own opinion, but they quickly realize that they should have concrete reasons for that opinion. Literature is a great jumping off point for discussions, and I believe these discussions are the most instructive and memorable parts of my classes.

Furthermore, I encourage students to make comments, but also to ask questions, and if I do not know the answer to a question, I make it a point to find out the answer. Much of my classroom discussion revolves around the Socratic Method. You will often hear from me, “The best books are not answers to questions, they are themselves the questions.” And thus, questioning, correctly directed, leads to thoughtful discussion and quality learning.

Concerns? I feel I am at my best as a teacher when I address student concerns. I often ask if there are questions and I allow students too shy to speak in front of others to drop me a note on their daily exit sheets. My compassion for others extends beyond the classroom, and students know that they can come to talk with me about nearly anything. And although this listening to and helping with the concerns of others is certainly the most exhausting part of my job, it is often the most rewarding. And this is what students, faculty members and parents see—that you are pushing students to excel while at the same time allowing them to voice concerns and come to you to discuss problems.

Smart remarks? After developing a relationship with the students, I use dry humor to lighten the mood on a daily basis, to challenge them to think, and to express my personality. I intertwine jokes (knowing full well I am not funny) in order to connect with students. Often, you will hear remarks such as, “you know guys, the other day I was in a speed-reading accident…I hit a bookmark…pages went everywhere!” This allows the students to know that although I hold very high expectations of myself and them, I do not take myself too seriously and that I am self-effacing as well.

As far as the rewards of teaching go, I keep a rainy-day file and I have a bulletin board up next to my desk of pictures, letters, cards and other memorabilia that remind me that this is worth it. I have often told others that one thank you note can get me through a month of teaching. A student who returns from college and tells you that you have prepared them well is a reward that can never be repaid. It is often surprising that the little gratitude most teachers get will feed them for a long time.

Finally, I will leave you with a quote by Brigham Young who once said “Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world's work, and the power to appreciate life.” On a daily basis, you can see my concern for students as I push them to learn about themselves as well as about better reading comprehension and writing skills. I encourage them to think for themselves and to coexist with others in this environment as a microcosm of the larger world outside. I believe in our youth. I am inspired and driven daily by our youth, and I will continue to do my best to challenge and nurture them as long as possible.