Welcome!
Hello, and welcome! My name is Kaitlyn Sudderth-Taylor, I am the middle science and social studies teacher at Marjorie Williams Academy, and I am glad you decided to check out my website.
A little bit about myself, I graduated from Avery County High School in 2014 and proceeded to attend Western Carolina University for my freshman fall semester. I transferred to Appalachian State University the next semester and knew I had found the college I would graduate from! Growing up I played sports and still love to watch and play basketball and soccer. I enjoy tie-dyeing, hiking, kayaking, and watching documentaries and comfort movies/tv shows. One of my favorite activities is being outside gardening with my Husband Adam, our two dogs, River and Baloo, and our two cats, Sage and Maple.
I graduated from Appalachian State University with a BA in History and Secondary Education. I student taught at Mitchell County High School, and my first job out of college was as an interim English as a Second Language teacher in Avery County, ranging from pre-k through eleventh grade. After that I became a tutor and girls head soccer coach at Cranberry Middle School, then a teacher's assistant at Newland Elementary School. After that I became an ESL teacher in Mitchell County, and now I am back home teaching subjects I feel passionate about! My number one goal as a teacher is to ensure students have a safe learning environment and that they are challenged intellectually in order to build skills they need for every day life, in and out of the classroom.
If you wish to read my philosophy of teaching statement it is provided below!
Philosophy of Teaching
Throughout my life I have always had a keen interest in history, and as I grew older I realized how important history was in shaping past events, as well as our lives in modern day. One of the most critical aspects to life is understanding history, thus the need for individuals to teach it. Teaching is an essential element in society, and always has been. My passion for teaching came in high school when I realized how big of an effect a passionate teacher can have on students; a teacher of mine conveyed in his teaching how important it was for everyone to learn and understand history because history affects everyone. I have always loved history because it can help explain why societies are the way they are and how they got to that certain point. Studying history helps explain our pasts, as well as current situations of the world which we were born into. Seeing how people lived, not only the famous and key people in history, but every day people, also brings an interesting aspect in comparing how we live our lives today. The study of history is not solely for understanding people and events of the past, but to take that understanding in an attempt to apply it to our present and future lives; as the saying goes “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
My primary goal for teaching is to ensure that my students will be equipped to enter the “real world” with a healthy skepticism of narratives they are exposed to by teaching them how to critically analyze even the simplest of everyday life issues. In a world of constant change and unlimited media exposure, it is critical to teach students how to determine actual truth from falsehoods and the best ways to decipher between the two of them. I also want to make sure that as a teacher I can be someone who is looked up to as a mentor. I want to ensure that students know my main goal for teaching is for their benefit in the hopes that they will go on in life to be aware and conscientious of the world they live in, no matter where they go or what they do. Ensuring that students have at least one person in their life that they know will be there for them to help and instruct them in their schooling and for their futures is a priority for my own career goals. I am partial to history, so of course I would love for all my students to gain a little bit of love for it as well.
I hope to establish a more hands on environment in my classroom during my career. There are many different kinds of learners, and though lectures do provide necessary knowledge to students, lecturing is not the only way to teach. Having students research content by themselves or within groups collaborating with their peers will help them in the long run by teaching and encouraging them to research differing opinions, conflicts, narratives, and news stories on their own in order to come to an educated inference, as well as teaching them to work and debate with others who hold different opinions than their own. In my experience with teaching I have found that creativity is a way to catch student interest; when I was teaching middle schoolers about the 1960s, bringing string art into the classroom caught their attention for the subject by providing an example of an activity of the time and made the experience enjoyable. In some of my lessons I assign students to write their own poems, draw posters, and create museum “exhibits”, to name a few, to allow for creativity in the classroom and let students’ minds flourish, and not to be constrained to a traditional way of learning. I believe there are more ways to assess student learning than by the scores on exams, so my classroom will be a mixture of examination along with how well they can research, work with others, analyze documents, and provide a viewpoint based on evidence.
In order for future generations to maneuver successfully in the world once done with their schooling, wherever they may end up and whichever job(s) they pursue, it is critical that students are able to attain everyday life skills. I want to help guide future generations in the right path so that they can attain their goals and flourish in life. I believe as a teacher I can, and should, be in the field for more than just teaching. Students come from all different kinds of backgrounds and home lives, and sometimes all that is needed is for one person to care, listen, and help when possible, and if I can be that person who can make my students’ day a little better, I want to be there to do it. Students can learn so much from teachers, but teachers can also learn from their students, and if I can impact and help one student, teaching will be well worth the experience.
A little bit about myself, I graduated from Avery County High School in 2014 and proceeded to attend Western Carolina University for my freshman fall semester. I transferred to Appalachian State University the next semester and knew I had found the college I would graduate from! Growing up I played sports and still love to watch and play basketball and soccer. I enjoy tie-dyeing, hiking, kayaking, and watching documentaries and comfort movies/tv shows. One of my favorite activities is being outside gardening with my Husband Adam, our two dogs, River and Baloo, and our two cats, Sage and Maple.
I graduated from Appalachian State University with a BA in History and Secondary Education. I student taught at Mitchell County High School, and my first job out of college was as an interim English as a Second Language teacher in Avery County, ranging from pre-k through eleventh grade. After that I became a tutor and girls head soccer coach at Cranberry Middle School, then a teacher's assistant at Newland Elementary School. After that I became an ESL teacher in Mitchell County, and now I am back home teaching subjects I feel passionate about! My number one goal as a teacher is to ensure students have a safe learning environment and that they are challenged intellectually in order to build skills they need for every day life, in and out of the classroom.
If you wish to read my philosophy of teaching statement it is provided below!
Philosophy of Teaching
Throughout my life I have always had a keen interest in history, and as I grew older I realized how important history was in shaping past events, as well as our lives in modern day. One of the most critical aspects to life is understanding history, thus the need for individuals to teach it. Teaching is an essential element in society, and always has been. My passion for teaching came in high school when I realized how big of an effect a passionate teacher can have on students; a teacher of mine conveyed in his teaching how important it was for everyone to learn and understand history because history affects everyone. I have always loved history because it can help explain why societies are the way they are and how they got to that certain point. Studying history helps explain our pasts, as well as current situations of the world which we were born into. Seeing how people lived, not only the famous and key people in history, but every day people, also brings an interesting aspect in comparing how we live our lives today. The study of history is not solely for understanding people and events of the past, but to take that understanding in an attempt to apply it to our present and future lives; as the saying goes “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
My primary goal for teaching is to ensure that my students will be equipped to enter the “real world” with a healthy skepticism of narratives they are exposed to by teaching them how to critically analyze even the simplest of everyday life issues. In a world of constant change and unlimited media exposure, it is critical to teach students how to determine actual truth from falsehoods and the best ways to decipher between the two of them. I also want to make sure that as a teacher I can be someone who is looked up to as a mentor. I want to ensure that students know my main goal for teaching is for their benefit in the hopes that they will go on in life to be aware and conscientious of the world they live in, no matter where they go or what they do. Ensuring that students have at least one person in their life that they know will be there for them to help and instruct them in their schooling and for their futures is a priority for my own career goals. I am partial to history, so of course I would love for all my students to gain a little bit of love for it as well.
I hope to establish a more hands on environment in my classroom during my career. There are many different kinds of learners, and though lectures do provide necessary knowledge to students, lecturing is not the only way to teach. Having students research content by themselves or within groups collaborating with their peers will help them in the long run by teaching and encouraging them to research differing opinions, conflicts, narratives, and news stories on their own in order to come to an educated inference, as well as teaching them to work and debate with others who hold different opinions than their own. In my experience with teaching I have found that creativity is a way to catch student interest; when I was teaching middle schoolers about the 1960s, bringing string art into the classroom caught their attention for the subject by providing an example of an activity of the time and made the experience enjoyable. In some of my lessons I assign students to write their own poems, draw posters, and create museum “exhibits”, to name a few, to allow for creativity in the classroom and let students’ minds flourish, and not to be constrained to a traditional way of learning. I believe there are more ways to assess student learning than by the scores on exams, so my classroom will be a mixture of examination along with how well they can research, work with others, analyze documents, and provide a viewpoint based on evidence.
In order for future generations to maneuver successfully in the world once done with their schooling, wherever they may end up and whichever job(s) they pursue, it is critical that students are able to attain everyday life skills. I want to help guide future generations in the right path so that they can attain their goals and flourish in life. I believe as a teacher I can, and should, be in the field for more than just teaching. Students come from all different kinds of backgrounds and home lives, and sometimes all that is needed is for one person to care, listen, and help when possible, and if I can be that person who can make my students’ day a little better, I want to be there to do it. Students can learn so much from teachers, but teachers can also learn from their students, and if I can impact and help one student, teaching will be well worth the experience.
Licensure and credentials
