When McClatchy’s AP Biology teacher, Mr. Warren, retired after 30 years last summer, C.K.M. welcomed a new teacher to our campus. Ms. Shannon was not informed that she would be teaching AP Biology until the week before school began in August, but she eagerly began planning her course and curriculum and is very excited for what her first year will bring.
Ms. Shannon graduated from San Francisco State University, majoring in Environmental Science, and became involved in indoor air quality investigations and, later, groundwater and soil remediation. She found this field of work to be quite dull, but soon discovered her love for teaching while working as a salsa instructor at Del Campo Dance Studio. After that, Ms. Shannon “decided to combine my teaching interest with my education!”
She has now been a full time teacher for three years, most recently teaching chemistry and physics at Rosemont High School. Due to her last minute assignment to AP Biology, she was quite rushed to come up with her course plan, because Mr. Warren did not leave his curriculum for her to use. She has collaborated with other AP Bio teachers in the area to come up with a “mix-and-match” course of her favorite recommendations and activities from each teacher she contacts.
Ms. Shannon said that “I feel like I’m still trying to get my sea-legs […] but things are coming together.”
As she troubleshoots with her self-made curriculum, she said that her students are “probably pretty stressed out and nervous about what the expectations are,” but that they are understanding the content for the most part, so she is hopeful about her approach. She also stressed her appreciation for student feedback. She wants students to let her know when they need additional guidance or explanation on certain concepts to help her adjust her plans to best accommodate for their learning.
Overall, she has loved working at McClatchy so far, loves her students, and is especially thankful for the help and support of the other teachers in the science department as she makes her adjustment into the C.K.M. community.