NAME:
Mrs. Maher
SCHOOL:
Middlesex Middle School, Darien, CT
CLASS:
8th Grade Social Studies
email: HMaher@darienps.org:
655 - 2518 extension 3416
As an educator, I have a responsibility to nurture my students' thirst for
knowledge and challenge them to think deeply, analytically, flexibly and
imaginatively by creating a positive learning environment that will result in
a greater intrinsic desire for the students to learn. As a social studies
teacher I have the privilege of encouraging not only my students cognitive
reasoning skills, but also their moral, personal, and social reasoning
skills. I strive to encourage adolescents to think for themselves, exchange
viewpoints, and seek the intrinsic value of
learning at every opportunity.
Social Studies, to me, is the most fascinating subject one can teach, as it
allows the learner to pursue answers to the widest range of questions about
the human struggle and its course through time. I believe that, especially
for adolescents, the examination of social studies is vital to their
development, and that knowledge has excited me to educate this particular age
group.
This subject challenges students' analytical abilities because students are
asked to organize and evaluate a mass of facts and to arrive at a valid
conclusion or analysis. It also challenges their personal thought process by
which they reach judgements by forcing them to examine the past events
through by way of several different perspectives therefore laying pathways
for their own future decision-making.
Mrs. Maher's mission is to make the study of culture and history interesting
and enriching for her students. Students will go beyond defining historical
facts and events by analyzing and evaluating past political, cultural, and
societal events in order to build skills that will help them to make their
own decisions about the future based on understanding some of the causes and
effects of decisions and events in our human past.
Mrs. Maher is dedicated to helping her students improve their skills,
broaden their knowledge of the past and other cultures and enjoy the process
as we go through the year. She strives to help each student feel comfortable
in her class.