Letter of Intent
First and foremost, I am certified teacher who has taught middle- through high-school students and adults in language arts. I have taught in a variety of literature areas, including American, British, world, and creative nonfiction, and I have taught a variety of English-related subjects, including journalism, yearbook, drama, and film. In all of these areas, I am highly experienced and trained. I gained an extensive background in writing and editing by working in journalism; I learned testing strategies by teaching SAT-preparation courses; I trained to become certified in AP Language, AP Literature, and pre-AP Springboard; and I continued my professional development with courses in reading strategies, differentiation, Socratic seminars, and Spanish.
Within my teaching, I always have relied heavily on technology. Since my first year of teaching, I have maintained an online platform for instruction, through Thinkport, Desire2Learn, Blackboard, or Moodle. This year, in fact, I created my own Web site to better serve my students through Google Sites. At a school where I previously worked, I initiated and facilitated a Web site redesign among a variety of stakeholders, and after the new site was in place, I developed and maintained content for the site using Joomla, while training my colleagues to do the same. I have attended training on technology integration, including the Jefferson Overseas Schools Technology Institute. I blogged about my experiences at this institute to share information with my colleagues, and I maintain personal blogs as well.
My professional background also provides me with the skills to implement organizational projects. At two schools, I served on accreditation teams, in which I had to gather, analyze and present data about over the long-term while maintaining my daily duties in the classroom. As department chair, I have created and aligned English curriculum across grade levels to match College Board and Common Core standards. In a school environment, I am constantly addressing various objectives of my individual classes and the school’s broader goals.
On a personal level, as someone who highly values education, I am keenly familiar with and interested in the resources needed to facilitate learning. I like working as part of a team to create results that benefit everyone involved. But I also enjoy taking initiative, overcoming obstacles and being innovative, so I can take pride in my personal contribution.
You can find more detailed information about me, including my résumé, throughout this site. Although this portfolio is quite comprehensive, I hope we will be able to discuss my qualifications more thoroughly in an interview. Thank you for your consideration.
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