NAME:
Mrs. Whitney
SCHOOL:
Bradford Area High School
CLASS:
Research Writing, Business Language & Literature, AP English Literature & Composition
SCHOOL PHONE:
(814)362-3845 Ext. 5264
I am a 1991 graduate of the Bradford Area High School. I earned
a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
in 1995 and a Masters of Education in Reading from Edinboro University of
Pennsylvania in 2009. In addition to being an English teacher, I am also
working on certification for Reading Specialist and Literacy Coach (K-12). I
am also qualified as an ESL instructor (English as a Second Language). I
completed my undergraduate cooperative teaching through St. Bonaventure
University. I taught Special Education at Beacon Light Behavioral Health
Systems for four years. I am excited to begin my eighth year of teaching at
the Bradford Area High School and I look forward to working with my new
students this year.
I have an outgoing personality and I love to keep busy. I am a Bradford
native and a mother of two children (ages 11 and 13), both of whom inspire me
to maintain my high level of energy and keep me young at heart. I enjoy
reading, writing, and hiking. I love music, including everything from jazz
to rock to classical to dubstep. My favorite musicians are Sheryl Crow and
Chris Cornell. My favorite bands are Incubus, Rage Against the Machine,
DeadMau5, and The White Stripes. My favorite composer is Ludwig van
Beethoven ("Romance for Violin Number 2" is my all-time favorite). In
addition, I have an affinity for Pachelbel's Canon in D. On the other side
of the spectrum, I also enjoy the newer sounds of Marshmellow Overcoat, Katy
Perry, Anna Nalick, and Christina Grimmie(thanks to my daughter, Sophie).
Classic eighties music will always remain near and dear to my heart, from the
early eighties sounds of Devo, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and Men Without Hats
to the late eighties and early nineties rock bands, including Poison and Bon
Jovi. I enjoy singing and playing instruments (violin, African djembe, and
digeridoo...to name a few), as they are both enjoyable and extremely
relaxing. I am a vegetarian who LOVES blueberries, Japanese fare, cats,
hiking, reiki, yoga, and camping!
I encompass high expectations for all of my students, as I believe every
student has the ability to achieve greatness. I love to smile and my
classroom proves to offer a friendly, energetic learning atmosphere for all
of my students. My lessons and activities are individualized, data-driven
and, student-driven with the students primarily working in pods. A majority
of the work is graded using rubrics designed for project-based assessments.
Small quizzes and tests are administered using paper, as well as Blackboard.
Most homework and reading assignments will be completed in class, although
journal assignments will generally be assigned for homework.
The best way to reach me is by email: swhitney@bradfordareaschools.org. I
check my email regularly throughout the day, evenings, and weekends.
My mission is to teach my students how to become life-long learners in the
21st Century, to promote higher-order thinking skills, and to strengthen
their reading and writing skills through avid reading and multiple writing
experiences. I will follow learning targets that are unique to my students'
social, emotional, and cognitive development to create strategic readers who
effectively use vocabulary skills, read and comprehend fiction and nonfiction
text, and analyze/interpret a variety of genres of literature. I will use
formative and summative assessments, as well as bell-ringers, project-based
assessments, and common assessments to monitor student achievement. My
students will learn how to locate main ideas, categorize, and summarize, as
well as document their reading and learning activities through the use of
logs. My students will also practice writing to improve their writing and
editing skills for the PSSA.