A Look Within the Class: English Department

“This is my 5th teaching year, but my first at PHS. I teach English 9 and 10, I love teaching all English, but my favorite unit is Science Fiction, which I teach in English 10. I also like to teach Rhetoric and Logical Fallacies, which is teaching teenagers how to win arguments (since they already like to argue). My favorite book to teach is "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, but I'm not teaching it t...

“I’ve been teaching at PHS for 14 years. I currently teach AP Literature & Composition and American Literature. I've taught English 9. 10, Developmental Reading, and Technical Writing in the past. AP Lit is my favorite class to teach because the students are so driven and motivated and all love reading. I especially love teaching poetry and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale because al...

“This is my 24th year teaching English at PHS. I teach English 9 and Honors English 9 which happen to be my favorite classes.  I've always enjoyed teaching freshmen. In the fall, my favorite unit is Romeo and Juliet.  I've always enjoyed analyzing the literary devices, and the themes are still relevant today.  I enjoy using film to discuss how a director chooses to present a scene, what is add...

“I have taught at PHS for four years. Definitely feels like where I am supposed to be! I teach English 10 and Creative Writing, but I have had English 9 and Honors English 10 in the past. While I love my English 10 classes and curriculum, my Creative Writing class has a special place in my heart. Being in an elective we all have freedom, which makes me feel thankful because I am able to read their...

“This is (I believe) my thirteenth year at PHS. I started in August of 2008, [I am] currently teaching English 9, ESOL Newcomer English, ESOL Beginner English, an embedded English class at CTEC, and a credit recovery class. I really enjoy all of my English classes. I love that they are all different in content and philosophy. I love teaching literature. I have a B.A. in Literature, so that is al...

“I have been teaching at PHS for 3 years now, I teach English 9, Creative Writing, and Applied English/Communications  I love teaching all three of [the classes], but I would have to say Creative Writing is my favorite (to be honest). In Creative Writing, we do all sorts of fun writing activities. It is my favorite because I get to see students come out of their shell and write about things they wo...

“This is my 7th year, [I teach] Honors English 10 and AP Language and Composition. [AP Lang--- since I've already taught those students before and we start out with a good relationship. [A unit I like to teach is] not really a unit, but we do a yearlong project called the Great Ideas Project in which the students pick a problem in society that they want to fix and propose a solution that they dev...

"[I have been teaching for 22 years, I teach mythology and English 11. I enjoy teaching mythology the most. Every culture has its own mythology, and I think it's important to understand your own heritage and to gain an appreciation of the backgrounds of others. Mythology is much more than literature when you consider the lenses of history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and science that appear i...