By Jodie Scales, High School Language Arts, Muncie, IN: I have a student who wrote an introductory letter to me at the beginning of the year explaining that his biggest fear is having to talk or present in front of anyone else, let alone in front...
By Rachel McMinn, High School English, Meriden, CT: I am a second career educator. I started off in banking after college, but quickly realized that it was not the career I wanted to pursue for a lifetime. It was a tough decision because I felt fairly...
By Yolanda Whitted, English, Dallas, TX: The most beautiful moments in my career have always been when I am teaching the students no one believes in. So often, they also don’t believe in themselves. I believe in them primarily because I am them. I see myself...
By Elizabeth Shults, High School English, Birmingham, AL: Stories have always been important to me. I was raised on Bible stories, told over and over again with flannel-backed characters paraded around on flannel board. My dad used to tell my sister and me stories about a...
By Monica Soulsby, Preservice High School English Teacher, Grand Ridge, IL: As a student teacher, I have already had the privilege of working as an educator in multiple settings. Through this experience, I have learned that as a teacher and as a person I am more...
By Kristi Schmidt, Teacher Specialist for Secondary ELA in Frederick County, MD: Imagine being tasked with teaching a classroom full of restless adolescents, all of whom have different learning styles, strengths, interests, and needs. Or perhaps this daunting scenario is not so far fetched at all. A...
By Sherri Williams, English, Grades 6-12: I grew up in an urban environment; I'd never been outside of the city until I was in my preteens/early teens. Thus, I was quite ignorant about the rest of the world, particularly country and farming life. My family had little...