NAME:
Mrs. Polly Hanson
SCHOOL:
Salamanca City Central High School
CLASSES:
EN10, En10 w/ Mrs. Scordo, JCC 1530 and 1540
CONTACT:
you can e-mail me or call my extension: 945-2400 x.6029
This is my seventh year here at Salamanca High School. I taught in the area
for a few years before coming here.
I am a native of Chautauqua County. In my younger years I moved to other
states and had many life experiences, but decided to return to this area to
settle down. My husband is also a Chaut. Co. native. We have been
married for 16 years: busy building our home, raising our two daughters and
having gatherings with family and friends. We also have two dogs and
three cats to keep us company.
I earned both my degrees from SUNY Fredonia. My bachelor's is for
Certification of English -- Secondary Education. My master's is in English
Literature.
It is my firm belief that even though English is a mandatory class, it does
not have to be a boring class. I strive to reach each student on an
individual level -- because they ALL have something to contribute; something
we can all benefit from.
I want the students to look at literature as a conversation with other
people
who have something to say -- something that we can benefit from hearing.
Most of the time we are limited and can't engage in dialogue with the author
of that literature, but we CAN communicate our thoughts and ideas inspired
by
that author with each other (via class discussion and writing assignments).
This is how we PROCESS the thoughts of the author and begin to take our own
stance on the same topic. Do we agree, or disagree -- and MOST IMPORTANTLY -
-
WHY?
There is SOMETHING out there in writing for EVERYONE. The trick is to open
your mind to trying new things until you find your own niche of what you
enjoy reading. Reading allows us to live our life not ONLY through our OWN
experiences, but also through those we read about.
And of course writing... writing is an essential skill that EVERYONE needs
to
master. It is the ability to accurately represent yourself on paper to an
audience you may never meet any other way. It is a way of expressing your
understanding of a topic, or showing your own creativity. It is a way of
recording data that you may need to have at some other time, or to persuade
someone of your way of thinking. Whether you are leaving a note to tell
someone where you are or writing your cover letter for the job of a
lifetime,
being able to write clearly is crucial -- otherwise the message does not get
through accurately.
So my mission, for each and every class I teach, is to inspire the students
to open their minds to my approach to English. If I can just spark their
interest in ONE discussion, story or idea to write about I will be happy.
Once they have an interest I can nurture and challenge them.
