Meet Ms. Hill

Follow Ms. Hill on Twitter @EducationErin.

My Journey in Education

I am an alum of Rockbridge County High School in Lexington, Virginia, which is close to where I grew up in Natural Bridge Station, Virginia.

In 2013, I earned my Bachelor of the Arts in Political Science with Departmental Honors from the University of Mary Washington.

I student taught at Massaponax High School in Spotsylvania County during the 2013-2014 school year. I also substitute taught in Spotsylvania County Public Schools and Stafford County Public Schools.

In 2014, I graduated UMW with my Masters in Education, as well as a Collegiate Professional License from the Virginia Department of Education to teach Secondary (grades 6-12) Social Studies.

Teaching Experience

From 2014 to 2017, I taught social studies at Brooke Point High School. Specifically, I taught 10th grade World History and Geography II, 11th grade United States and Virginia History, 11th grade Advanced Placement (AP) United States History, and 12th grade International Baccalaureate (IB) 20th Century World History (Year 2/HL).

While at BPHS, I became a First Class Teacher of the Year Finalist for Stafford County Public Schools in 2015.

I sponsored the Multicultural Club and BPHS Movement, both of which advocated for socio-cultural awareness and understanding while promoting community-wide activism. I also coached the Debate Team, which won regional and state honors.

In 2017, I became a Blue Devil at Varina High School, teaching 11th grade Virginia and United States History, as well as 10th-12th grade Psychology. In addition to teaching, I mentored seniors retaking social studies SOL tests in order to help them meet graduation requirements. In my free time, I taught English as a Second Language online through a Beijing-based company called VIPKID.

During this time, I also worked with a former professor and now good friend, Dr. John P. Broome, along with Dr. Lauren Colley, to publish a book chapter titled, "Teaching Gender Rights and Protests through Film" in It’s Being Done in Social Studies: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality in the Pre/K-12 Curriculum. While I am incredibly grateful and thoroughly enjoyed collaborating on this meaningful book chapter, it definitely spawned an itch for more!

Feeling as though my opportunities for advancement in teaching were limited, in addition to being intrigued by the field of computer science, I pursued scrum training and attended local meetups in considering possibly leaving the field of secondary education entirely. In December of 2017, I became a Certified Scrum Master (CSM).

Upon completing the training, I realized two major things: 1.) agile methods parallel teaching and learning methods in numerous ways and 2.) my passion for education remained, making leaving the field altogether difficult.

Many thanks to Mark Palmer, Michael Vizdos, and John Mulligan for welcoming me into ScrumRVA.

They all provided crucial guidance and assistance as I navigated the new territory of merging agile and education.

People say that so much of life is about being in the right place at the right time. I certainly agree with that sentiment, as a job that didn't exist when I began teaching popped into my view. When I applied for a position as an integrated history and English teacher at a computer science magnet school utilizing agile methods, I knew I sat on the cusp of what could be the most innovative opportunity in my career yet.

Now I continue to teach and learn at CodeRVA Regional High School in Richmond, VA. You can learn more about us at the website linked above. You can also follow our journey into implementing agile methods using the WIP-Work in Progress tab on this page or more directly at http://www.agilelearningatcoderva.com/.

Additionally, I more broadly reflect on instruction on the Global Studies department's blog at https://instructionalinsights.wordpress.com/.

Want to meet up and chat all things education or otherwise?

Feel free to email me at erin.hill@coderva.org .

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