Academic & Professional Projects

At the beginning of every school year, I send my students home with a letter for their parents/guardians to read. In this letter, I simply introduce myself and express my intent to maintain communication with students and parents/guardians throughout the year. In this letter, I also ask parents/guardians to view the class syllabus and sign the second page of the letter to indicate that they read the syllabus and understand the nature of my classes/classroom. This letter demonstrates my understanding of the importance of establishing a relationship and communication with students’ families as soon as possible. It also reveals my ability to write in professional and parent/guardian-friendly language.   

I teach a Shakespeare unit in my Advanced English course in which students read Twelfth Night. At the end of this unit, students are expected to write a literary analysis paper to demonstrate their understanding of the text and its historical context. This is the rubric I developed to evaluate students’ papers. It shows my ability to write in a concise yet specific manner while using advanced language for my college-bound students. This is also a single-column rubric, which is a type of rubric I learned about at a standards-based grading conference last summer. As it shows, this rubric is very standards-focused, presenting my commitment to teaching essential standards and holding my students to high levels of learning. 

I created this podcast at the conclusion of my ENG 540 class. In this podcast, I discuss young adult literature and argue why it should be used in all subject areas, rather than just English, at the secondary level. Before doing so, I define the term young adult literature and explain its importance. At the end of the podcast, I provide a couple examples of how young adult literature can be approached in an interdisciplinary fashion. As a whole, this podcast puts my strong speaking skills on display. Specifically, I am capable of speaking in a conversational tone while maintaining a degree of professionalism and structure in my speech, which is a skill I utilize daily as an educator.    

In ENG 507, I designed this infographic that promotes a professional-development text–180 Days by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle–written for English teachers. My infographic provides a detailed summary of the text as well as highlights its central themes. At the same time, I list several pedagogical practices and teaching tips that the text presents. This project allowed me to delve into my creativity by engaging in graphic design. My infographic exhibits my keen eye for structure, consistency, and color compatibility. It also unveils my ability to write in a succinct manner while still managing to capture significant points/pieces of information.