Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself...

Greetings from Mrs. Wald's room! I'm sure the word is out that there are currently two teachers in the Seventh Grade Language Arts classroom, so I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself to those I haven't had the opportunity to meet in person. My name is Hunter Berryhill (no relation to Dr. Berryhill!) and I'll be student-teaching in Mrs. Wald's room for the next seven weeks. I'm a graduate student at the College of St. Joseph, where I'm studying to earn my teaching certification as a Secondary-Level English teacher. I grew up in Shrewsbury, Vermont, and graduated from Mill River Union High School in 1997. I went on to study at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where I earned a Bachelor of the Arts Degree in English in 2001. Before enrolling at the College of St. Joseph I worked as a carpenter for the past five years in Montana, Washington, Alaska, and Vermont.
Becoming an English teacher has been a lifelong dream of mine and I'm very excited to be at Fair Haven Grade School. Starting next week I'll be teaching a folktale unit that will focus on identifying the different characteristics of traditional narratives (fables, myths, legends, and tall tales) and explore the reasons why sharing stories is such an integral part of human culture. During this unit we'll read a wide selection of narratives from a variety of cultures and eras in order to provide our students with a better understanding of symbolism, narrative structure, and the differences between oral and written traditions.
I'm thankful for being placed in such a tight-knit community school with a faculty that has welcomed me among their ranks. I hope to meet the parents and guardians of each and every student during my time at Fair Haven Grade School, but if that opportunity doesn't present itself, please feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have. My e-mail address is: hberryhill@arsu.org.
Thank you for your time and hopefully I'll see you at school!
Sincerely,
Hunter Berryhill