Post by title1parent on Jul 5, 2011 7:35:48 GMT -5
English teacher wins students’ hearts more than 60 times over
July 3, 2011
Ryan Doherty, 39, teaches sophomores, juniors and seniors at Metea Valley High School in Aurora, part of Indian Prairie School District 204. The Harvey native (who spent most of his childhood in Elmhurst) and Downers Grove resident has been a teacher for nine years.
Doherty was nominated for The Beacon-News’ “Teacher Feature” by one of his students at Metea Valley, who declined to give her name. “I would want all the attention to be on him (in this article), not on me,” the student said.
As to why the student nominated Doherty, well, “He is one of the best English teachers in District 204.”
“He is so dedicated to his job and I really look up to him; his personality stands out amongst the rest,” the student said. “He is very easy-going, trustworthy, compassionate toward others; his friendliness is contagious to everyone in the building, he cares for individual students and does not treat students as one big mass and that everyone is the same.”
“On top of that, Mr. Doherty is understanding, super knowledgeable, patient and extremely humorous,” the student continued. “He has the greatest love for books that he just shines his excitement onto the students (whether they like it or not) and shows how there is so much more to life than the area we live in.”
Not only that, but Doherty has been chosen as the Most Influential Educator 15 times by Indian Prairie Education Fund Top 30 Students, and as Most Influential Educator more than 60 times by Indian Prairie Scholars.
Here’s what Doherty had to say about being a teacher in the Fox Valley:
Where is your degree from and what type of degree is it?: I have a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance/musical theater from the University of Illinois-Urbana, a bachelor’s degree in English secondary education from Northern Illinois University, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Aurora University.
Inspiration for becoming a teacher?: I came to the profession a bit later in life because I left my acting career once I started choreographing the show choir at Westmont High School in the late 1990s. I found that when I was performing on stage, I was thinking more about my students than my performance — that’s when I knew that I was truly meant to be a teacher instead of a performer.
What keeps you teaching?: I honestly can’t imagine not teaching. I love what I do. Where else in the world are you challenging someone to reach beyond his or her limits? Where else can you be the difference in inspiring someone to accept new ideas, new perspectives, new people? For example, (this past year) I had a young man in my Contemporary Literature class who isn’t the greatest fan of English and hasn’t really been performing to his ability; however, my job was to keep pushing to help him to see he can do more. At the end of the semester, his class was preparing for debates. As I was working with kids in resource, he came up to me with a sheet of paper, asking me to sign my name as to whether or not people should be allowed to choose the gender of their baby. I was astounded because that was the topic of his debate in class. As I looked at him, he held up the 15 other pages of signatures. Not only was he fulfilling the assignment, he was using out-of-class time to go above and beyond in preparing his argument for the debate. Who wins the debate is never the most important part — he finally decided that he wanted to be an active participant in his education and thus his future. That keeps me teaching.
Craziest thing a student has ever said to you: Being the Senior Poetry teacher, I tend to get an earful each semester. Some of what people would call the “craziest things” that I’ve heard are also some of the saddest stories that I have heard. I have an assignment in which the student brings in a photo of himself or herself as a child (under the age of 7). We put the picture on the screen for the class to look at, and as the class looks at the photo, the student stands in the back of the room, performing his or her poem. Hearing about lost dreams, lost innocence, lost families, lost hope, lost homes. Lost. It’s humbling for me that students feel that we’ve created a safe enough environment for them to share their stories; however, it’s crazy for me to think about how many times I’ve heard about how kids have changed instead of hearing people wondering how we can help kids feel found.
Favorite moment as a teacher: I have two that are tied … I did try to break it, but it’s impossible. The first is from a Sophomore Honors class when I taught at Waubonsie Valley High School — during a project for “The Scarlet Letter,” a group of young women had to teach the class the meaning of the work from their assigned critical perspective. When they showed up for the presentation, they were all dressed like me: khakis, dress shirts, ties, glasses — the works, and as they taught, they would periodically eat an apple or peel an orange (something that I’m known for). The second is from my first month at Metea — it was my 38th birthday, and I was at my desk trying to get ready for my day. One of my colleagues said there was a student who needed help waiting in my room; however, when I got there, 10 of my former Waubonsie students had decorated my room with green and gold for a surprise party before school. To think that they would actually get up earlier than normal to surprise me that way is something I’ll never forget.
Best advice you have for students: First, expect more from yourself. When everything else is stripped away from life, we can only keep pushing ourselves to do our very best, and once we think we’ve achieved it, we must set a new goal to achieve. There is a poster on my wall that says it best: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Second, be passionate about something. I love teaching and theater, and I would not be who I am today without them. It’s easy to be what your parents want you to be or what you have a knack for, but a truly happy life is one where you have passion.
Favorite topic to teach and why: That’s tough. I love everything to do with language, which is why I teach my schedule: Junior AP (language in argument), Public Speaking (language in communication), and Poetry (the art of language). Every word that we choose to use, or not choose to use, reveals something about us — the way we think, what we believe, and what we value. There is power in understanding that and how to harness it — it is so rewarding when students understand and begin to harness it for themselves.
Interesting project you have students do each year: It’s fairly well-known that when my name appears on a student’s schedule, debates will be involved. I find that it is the best way to teach research, argumentation, public speaking, and grace under pressure. In my Senior Poetry class, kids have to create a children’s book each year, which is more difficult than it looks. One of my favorite projects is a photo assignment in which they have to stage a photograph, using symbols and archetypes, to express a social message. It is amazing what the kids can come up with and how passionate they can be about topics they really believe in.
Anything else you’d like to share: I’m extremely proud of the work that my team and I have done in building the theater program at Metea Valley. Our students have amazing talent, and our philosophy is to provide a diverse experience for as many students as we can in a variety of theatrical styles. In two short years, we performed quite a range of shows. I hope to see our community come out and see the unbelievable talent that I am blessed with at Metea Valley.
July 3, 2011
Ryan Doherty, 39, teaches sophomores, juniors and seniors at Metea Valley High School in Aurora, part of Indian Prairie School District 204. The Harvey native (who spent most of his childhood in Elmhurst) and Downers Grove resident has been a teacher for nine years.
Doherty was nominated for The Beacon-News’ “Teacher Feature” by one of his students at Metea Valley, who declined to give her name. “I would want all the attention to be on him (in this article), not on me,” the student said.
As to why the student nominated Doherty, well, “He is one of the best English teachers in District 204.”
“He is so dedicated to his job and I really look up to him; his personality stands out amongst the rest,” the student said. “He is very easy-going, trustworthy, compassionate toward others; his friendliness is contagious to everyone in the building, he cares for individual students and does not treat students as one big mass and that everyone is the same.”
“On top of that, Mr. Doherty is understanding, super knowledgeable, patient and extremely humorous,” the student continued. “He has the greatest love for books that he just shines his excitement onto the students (whether they like it or not) and shows how there is so much more to life than the area we live in.”
Not only that, but Doherty has been chosen as the Most Influential Educator 15 times by Indian Prairie Education Fund Top 30 Students, and as Most Influential Educator more than 60 times by Indian Prairie Scholars.
Here’s what Doherty had to say about being a teacher in the Fox Valley:
Where is your degree from and what type of degree is it?: I have a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance/musical theater from the University of Illinois-Urbana, a bachelor’s degree in English secondary education from Northern Illinois University, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Aurora University.
Inspiration for becoming a teacher?: I came to the profession a bit later in life because I left my acting career once I started choreographing the show choir at Westmont High School in the late 1990s. I found that when I was performing on stage, I was thinking more about my students than my performance — that’s when I knew that I was truly meant to be a teacher instead of a performer.
What keeps you teaching?: I honestly can’t imagine not teaching. I love what I do. Where else in the world are you challenging someone to reach beyond his or her limits? Where else can you be the difference in inspiring someone to accept new ideas, new perspectives, new people? For example, (this past year) I had a young man in my Contemporary Literature class who isn’t the greatest fan of English and hasn’t really been performing to his ability; however, my job was to keep pushing to help him to see he can do more. At the end of the semester, his class was preparing for debates. As I was working with kids in resource, he came up to me with a sheet of paper, asking me to sign my name as to whether or not people should be allowed to choose the gender of their baby. I was astounded because that was the topic of his debate in class. As I looked at him, he held up the 15 other pages of signatures. Not only was he fulfilling the assignment, he was using out-of-class time to go above and beyond in preparing his argument for the debate. Who wins the debate is never the most important part — he finally decided that he wanted to be an active participant in his education and thus his future. That keeps me teaching.
Craziest thing a student has ever said to you: Being the Senior Poetry teacher, I tend to get an earful each semester. Some of what people would call the “craziest things” that I’ve heard are also some of the saddest stories that I have heard. I have an assignment in which the student brings in a photo of himself or herself as a child (under the age of 7). We put the picture on the screen for the class to look at, and as the class looks at the photo, the student stands in the back of the room, performing his or her poem. Hearing about lost dreams, lost innocence, lost families, lost hope, lost homes. Lost. It’s humbling for me that students feel that we’ve created a safe enough environment for them to share their stories; however, it’s crazy for me to think about how many times I’ve heard about how kids have changed instead of hearing people wondering how we can help kids feel found.
Favorite moment as a teacher: I have two that are tied … I did try to break it, but it’s impossible. The first is from a Sophomore Honors class when I taught at Waubonsie Valley High School — during a project for “The Scarlet Letter,” a group of young women had to teach the class the meaning of the work from their assigned critical perspective. When they showed up for the presentation, they were all dressed like me: khakis, dress shirts, ties, glasses — the works, and as they taught, they would periodically eat an apple or peel an orange (something that I’m known for). The second is from my first month at Metea — it was my 38th birthday, and I was at my desk trying to get ready for my day. One of my colleagues said there was a student who needed help waiting in my room; however, when I got there, 10 of my former Waubonsie students had decorated my room with green and gold for a surprise party before school. To think that they would actually get up earlier than normal to surprise me that way is something I’ll never forget.
Best advice you have for students: First, expect more from yourself. When everything else is stripped away from life, we can only keep pushing ourselves to do our very best, and once we think we’ve achieved it, we must set a new goal to achieve. There is a poster on my wall that says it best: “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Second, be passionate about something. I love teaching and theater, and I would not be who I am today without them. It’s easy to be what your parents want you to be or what you have a knack for, but a truly happy life is one where you have passion.
Favorite topic to teach and why: That’s tough. I love everything to do with language, which is why I teach my schedule: Junior AP (language in argument), Public Speaking (language in communication), and Poetry (the art of language). Every word that we choose to use, or not choose to use, reveals something about us — the way we think, what we believe, and what we value. There is power in understanding that and how to harness it — it is so rewarding when students understand and begin to harness it for themselves.
Interesting project you have students do each year: It’s fairly well-known that when my name appears on a student’s schedule, debates will be involved. I find that it is the best way to teach research, argumentation, public speaking, and grace under pressure. In my Senior Poetry class, kids have to create a children’s book each year, which is more difficult than it looks. One of my favorite projects is a photo assignment in which they have to stage a photograph, using symbols and archetypes, to express a social message. It is amazing what the kids can come up with and how passionate they can be about topics they really believe in.
Anything else you’d like to share: I’m extremely proud of the work that my team and I have done in building the theater program at Metea Valley. Our students have amazing talent, and our philosophy is to provide a diverse experience for as many students as we can in a variety of theatrical styles. In two short years, we performed quite a range of shows. I hope to see our community come out and see the unbelievable talent that I am blessed with at Metea Valley.