October 1, 2021:
The 8-week grading period is nearly coming to a close, and I am incredibly blessed to have a fantastic job teaching United States history at Coppell High School. My AP students are high-flyers, always entering the class with bright smiles on their faces and a burning desire to learn. I enjoy chatting with them on a variety of topics, including extra-curricular activities, sports, world news, Tik Tok, and life advice before we start learning that day's material. Moreover, they appreciate my openness and relish 'storytime', which usually involves an embarrassing tale from my high school years. My lessons involve a mixture of direct teaching (lecturing on a time period and encouraging my students to take hand-written notes in their spiral notebooks) and student-driven activities (tasking them to collaborate as groups to complete assignments online). Also, I encourage them to ask me questions if they do not initially understand a part of the lecture (usually students will ask me to further explain a subject if they want me to tell a longer, interesting story- since history is the study of our nation's stories, I am frequently swarmed by groups of students who desire to know more than the material simply put in the course textbook). I usually do not give my students much homework (besides reading and taking additional notes) since I believe that every student should have a fun social life outside of school (which includes clubs, activities, and spending time with family and close friends) that does not involve extra class assignments/busy work or studying hard for a test until the early morning hours. Students need sleep each night, and I highly encourage all my AP students to rest!
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| With my face-helmet on, I lecture about 'Mad' King George III. I employ PowerPoint presentations & short, informative videos in my lectures. Also, my students enjoyed the days when I pretended to be the king and sang 'You'll be Back' from the Hamilton stage play - my pipes are a little rusty! |
Since I take great pride and effort in developing 'the whole student', I have supported my students outside the classroom (I am a champion of school spirit- GO COWBOYS!). I thoroughly enjoyed waking up early one Saturday morning and cheering on two of my student-athletes at their cross country invitational. Aria and Andrew performed fantastically. Additionally, I nearly lost my voice when I shouted and rallied the JV volleyball team to an unfortunate loss against Marcus High School. Despite the loss, I congratulated two of my other star pupils - Addison and Madison played their hearts out on the court and I was impressed at their perseverance and spirit. I was honored to be recognized at the Volleyball Teacher Appreciation Night by Addison. Furthermore, I am a frequent spectator at the football games, cheering on my Lariettes, band and football players. I also am the sponsor of two after-school clubs (UNICEF partners with the United Nations and provides students an opportunity to raise money for those living in poverty in Africa while the Fitness Fanatics Club encourages students to lead active/healthy lifestyles post-Covid-19). I will continue to vocally support my cowboys and cowgirls on the field, in the spectator stands and during club meetings, as well as show my students that I take an avid interest in their class academics and after-school activities. I am looking forward to the start of the swimming & diving season this October since I have told two of my swimmers, Asher and Nathan about my ole' swimming days at CHS. I am grateful for the supportive network of teachers I have at CHS, including Diane, Kevin, and the light-hearted, formidable Principal Springer whose bright smile transforms the most-stressful days into comfort/much-needed reassurance.
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| A group of students from my 7th period collaborate and create revolutionary posters, trying to convince me (a neutral colonist) whether to join the Loyalist or Patriot side. Students enjoyed harnessing their creative skills and using their colorful imagination to produce dazzling finished products. |
My students are talented and have so much potential to become grounded scholars (I hope most of them are beginning to 'enjoy' history - it is not the boring, black-and-white subject that everyone else makes it out to be...). Although we have exhaustively covered a lot of content in the previous two months (ranging from the first arrivals in North America in 10,000 BCE to the revolutionary presidential election of 1800), my students have refused to put down their writing utensils. They are ready to absorb the content, discover new skills, and steadily prepare for the Advanced Placement exam in May 2022. I now know the names and interests of most of my 180+ students, and will continue to cement strong teacher-student classroom relationships. The 21-22 school year has started off with an explosive bang, and I am not ready to slow down the positivity nor energy!
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| I was incredibly proud of Aria at her cross-country meet in September. She raced against the Varsity girls and placed in her event. Well done Aria! |
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| My classroom is my happy place! It's been a great start to the academic year! |
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| I love the Coppell Cowboy football games! So much energy and excitement! |
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| I nearly lost my voice cheering on Addison and the JV team at a volleyball game in September. I was recognized as an outstanding teacher. Thank you Addison! |
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I am always proud of my student-athletes who race hard and score victories for the Coppell Cowboys. Andrew from my 7th period placed first in his September cross-country race. Well done!
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