Hannah Muth

 

1. What is your educational background and what positions have you held? Please include the current school district and grade/s.

My educational background is in Secondary Education English. I am currently receiving my Master's Degree in Reading and Literacy Education from Duquesne University. I was a Long-Term Substitute in 8th and 6th grade English Language Arts at Saint Kilian Parish School, and this year I am a full time 6th Grade English Language Arts teacher at Saint Kilian Parish School. I love working with the faculty and students at SKPS!

 

2. Name one SRU experience, in general or specific to the field, that you will never forget and explain why.

An SRU experience I will never forget is traveling to Stratford, Ontario for my summer Shakespeare class. The class was led by Professor Tim Oldakowski. I am so glad that SRU offered this class. I took the course with a few of my friends in the English department. After studying and discussing Shakespeare's greatest works for a month, our class traveled to Stratford to attend the Shakespeare festival. We saw the plays we read about come to life! We even got a behind the scenes tour of the costume department and one of the theaters. Good food and even better company made the trip an incredible experience.

 

3. Name an SRU faculty that had a positive influence on you and explain why.

An SRU faculty member that had a positive impact on me was Dr. John Hicks. In addition to being one of my professors, Dr. Hicks was my advisor. He went above and beyond to make sure my educational needs were met. I'm sure every student knows that figuring out your schedule (especially senior year) is stressful. Even when there seemed to be hiccups with my scheduling, Dr. Hicks always took the time to help me figure everything out. Dr. Hicks did a great job of creating an environment of comfort and respect with his students.

 

4. What initially piqued your interest in pursuing a degree in education?

I initially wanted to go into education because I wanted a job where I could help children. My love for reading made the decision to go for English Education a pretty easy choice. Once I started my education classes at SRU, I knew I was at the right place.

 

5. What do you love most about teaching?

My favorite part about teaching is seeing my student's enthusiasm for what they are learning. During my student teaching, I was fortunate to have a wonderful co-op teacher. She did a great job sharing her passion for English Literature with her students and she helped me design lessons that were intriguing for our students. Teaching is a difficult job, but those "aha" moments or times when students are really into the material that I am teaching make it all worth it. I taught Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief last year, and my students were so enthralled by the characters and the Greek mythology world. That unit was a win for me!

 

6. What makes a great teacher? 

This may seem basic, but a great teacher is one who cares about their students. The best advice I got when I started teaching was to just show the kids that I cared. You don't have to know everything about your subject and teaching to be a good teacher. If you show your students that you care about them and your subject, you'll do just fine.