Kendra Hoag

As an educator, my goal is to empower students to see their High School education as one part of their lifelong learning journey. In my English Language Arts classroom, I want to help mold confidant, imaginative, enduring learners who are effective and thoughtful communicators. My responsibility as an educator is to cultivate these young minds through relevant and rich content and engaging teaching strategies. I will consistently challenge myself to evaluate my teaching methodology and strategies to see what is working and what is effective in daily practice.

For me, the opportunity to teach students is a high calling and passion. I believe that as a High School English teacher I have the great joy and responsibility to cultivate young minds. I will encourage my students to discover truth in the written word through reading great books, to give a voice to their thoughts and ideas through public speaking and classroom discourse and very importantly, to empower them to discern the meanings behind the many modes of communication they interact with on a daily basis. I believe students can collaborate with each other and learn the skill of teamwork in the educational journey that happens in our English classroom. Group projects, peer reviews, small group literature selections, team presentations are all strategies I will include in my lessons.

As I treat students as unique learners and with respect, I will be better able to communicate with them. One of my goals as an educator is provide students with a personalized education. Education is exciting when the students have learning activities that are meaningful to them and are driven by their interests. It is my hope to have many classroom educational opportunities be self-initiated. At the high school level, I will have a goal to personalize each student’s English Language Arts education and be able to open up opportunities to humanize their education in my classroom. Teaching the standards will guide my lesson planning and classroom educational goals. By helping students understand the standards in their education, I will empower them to see the content they are learning as relevant and as applicable to their future. Personally as an English teacher, I will consistently work as part of the education team at my school and as an active contributor in the English Language Arts department.

I believe that education encompasses solid academic learning and also helps to develop the character of each student. My responsibility as a teacher is to help create an ideal environment for education that includes safety, understanding and joy. I will work hard to create a positive atmosphere and learning environment to help students get the most out of each and every lesson. In my classroom, we will practice strategies for positive discourse and as a team create an atmosphere of positive dialogue in our English Language Arts classroom. My goal is to cultivate a way of learning that encourages perseverance, self- reflection, and confidence. I will have students collaborate with each other and evaluate their work and their peers’ work. I will give students opportunities for self-reflection and strengthen within them an openness to new ideas.

I hope to be an active contributor as a staff member in my high school and cultivate a love of learning in each student. An engaging education, together we can make it happen!