History
What I Can Teach
Because of my broad historical training, I am well qualified to teach American History, World History, European History, and Western History at the high school, middle school, or college level. I could also teach any other course in the high school or middle school curriculum. In a more specialized capacity, I can teach Ancient History, History of Christianity, as well as Mexico and its Northern Borderland.
History Education
Both my BA and MA are in History. While in graduate school, I focused mostly on Ancient History. In undergraduate I received a well-rounded historical education including History of the United States, World History I and II, Modern German History, Modern Latin American History, and Soviet Russia. Since graduate school, I have taken a non-credit course on Mexico and its Northern Borderlands and substituted long-term for a United States History AP class, details of which experience are in the next section.
Teaching Experience
In my current position as a Latin teacher, I blend instruction on the Latin language with cultural content covering the history, mythology, and social structure of the Roman world. In the introductory Latin Novice A course, I teach units on Roman family and daily life, mythology and religion, and history and slavery. Latin I includes content on the Roman family, travel, and Roman history, while Latin II focuses on Roman inns and the city of Rome. I require my students to think critically about historical ideas and topics. In other words, I am qualified to teach history because I incorporate it strongly into my current position. It should also be noted that, although I teach at a middle school, two of the three courses that I teach are high school level courses, so I also have extensive experience teaching at the high school level.
My current position has also given me extensive experience using technology to enhance instruction. At White Knoll Middle School, where I teach, all students have been given an ipad for educational use. I utilize our course management system, Schoology, as well as other educational tools like Quizlet and Kahoot, to assess and differentiate student learning. I am also proficient in the Google app suite as well as Microsoft Office, and I use multimedia presentations in PowerPoint and design instructional materials in Word.
Before taking this position, I served as a long-term substitute teacher at Golda Och Academy in West Orange, New Jersey, where I taught United States History AP. Through reviewing previous material and planning and presenting new lessons, I helped prepare these students for the AP exam, which they took one month after I began my two month appointment at the school. At this point, six of my eight students received 4's, with the other two receiving 5's.
At Penn State University, I taught Latin I, II, and III together with one colleague. I have also been a Teaching Assistant for World Civilization I, and three times for Egyptian Civilization. Depending on the class, I ran discussion sections or review sections.
Education
I have an MA in History from Penn State University and a BA in History and Classical Studies from the College of New Jersey. I have taken additional courses in History as well as courses I took toward a Social Studies Certification in Pennsylvania, although I was offered a Latin Teaching position in South Carolina before finishing this program. In South Carolina, I was able to pursue an Alternative Teaching Certification. In doing this, I have completed 4 weeks of intensive all-day seminars, 6 day-long seminars, and three college level courses in teaching along with three years of teaching experience. After this, my third year of teaching in South Carolina, I will be eligible for the equivalent of a traditional teaching license for additional teaching in South Carolina. I have also taken the Course in College Teaching and a course in Effective Online Teaching from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence at Penn State. Although these courses are focused on college teaching, the skills are easily transferable to middle or high school. I have also given supplemental English lessons to second language learners in 6th to 10th graders on a voluntary basis.
Sample PowerPoints
The following powerpoints give a glimpse of the breadth I can offer as a history teacher. The first is intended as the basis for a three day lecture on the beginnings of Spanish colonialism in Mexico which could be used in a course on the Mexican-American Borderlands, an introductory course on Mexican History, or a course on World History. This content was developed as part of a mentoring relationship in which a professor at Penn State helped to prepare me to teach the history of Mexico and the American borderlands to high school or college students.
mexican_foundations.pdf | |
File Size: | 960 kb |
File Type: |
I used this next powerpoint in Spring 2013 to facilitate review of the Reconstruction Era with my AP United States History class in the lead up to the AP exam.
reconstructing_the_reconstruction.pptx | |
File Size: | 1864 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
The next powerpoint is a slightly revised version of one used slightly earlier in the year, to introduce new information about the economic and political situation in the early 1970s to the same AP history class. This lecture took approximately one 54 minute class period. It should be noted that the main focus of the lecture was the economy, while the electoral maps were used to highlight the success or failure of each president's policy. Although the lecture and the slideshow draw on economic expertise I gained in a recent economics class, the lecture used this information to present information important to the goals of the history class.
the_sputtering_1970s.pptx | |
File Size: | 2667 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Sample Assignment
The courses in History that I would be most qualified to teach include World History, Western or European Civilization, and American History. For each of these courses, I could use the assignment described below as a way to teach students to look at primary and secondary sources critically. The assignment is described to the point that the way it would be run in class is essentially clear in the document (although feel free to contact me with any questions). This particular assignment focuses on Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni in Roman Britain, although it would be easy to transfer to a similar assignment to many other historical figures throughout time.
(Left: Statue of Boudicca in London).
(Left: Statue of Boudicca in London).
text_analysis_assignment.doc | |
File Size: | 28 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Sample Syllabus
This is a syllabus designed for a college-level course on the United States to 1877. It uses several books, but these are all inexpensive in their own right. The course will require a high level of student effort as there is a good deal of reading and writing required. Students will leave the class with better writing and critical thinking skills than when they came in. This draft would be polished before handing it out to students.
america-1877.docx | |
File Size: | 22 kb |
File Type: | docx |