Carrie Coker's Classroom

In my two years as a 10th and 11th grade English teacher in the DC/Baltimore area, I took education courses through The New Teacher Project (TNTP). After two years, I knew that to become the best teacher I could be, I should return to school to receive formal training in the profession. Therefore, I applied and was accepted to Vanderbilt University's Peabody School of Education, where I am currently a full-time student in the M.Ed in Secondary English Education program. Here, my philosophy of learning, my purpose as an educator, and most importantly, my teaching craft, have undergone a momentous transformation, as I work daily to become the very best teacher I can be.

Especially at the upper-high school level, students' ability to process challenging information with confidence and perseverance is essential to their success, in both academia and the world beyond. Therefore, rigor and the expectation of intellectual perseverance are critical norms in my classroom: students are expected to think independently, regulate their actions, and confidently push through intellectual challenges. Given this culture, my students cultivate the cognitive processing skills to independently push themselves when confronted with complex tasks or problems.

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B.A. in English from University of Virginia; 2016 Candidate for MEd in Secondary English Education at Vanderbilt University (Peabody School)

Teachers, entrusted with such momentous, crucial responsibility, must have a firm, confident understanding of education, teaching, and learning; without such a foundation, how can we possibly make the thousands of decisions required of us daily, negotiate relationships with students, parents, and administration, and be the most effective teachers we can be without losing site of our true purpose?