A Tribute to Julie Sloan

7.05.11 By Stephen Yang

The E/la residents of Cohort 8 would like to pay tribute to Julie Sloan, our content methods instructor for the 2010-11 academic year.  We have benefited tremendously from Julie’s guidance through our E/la content methods course.  This course has, unarguably, been the most rigorous, supportive, and nurturing class in our Master’s coursework pathway.  Julie’s high expectations and respect for our development as learners and scholar-teachers epitomize the quality of instruction committed teachers-in-training expect from a reputable program like the Boston Teacher Residency.  Please direct your attention to the following testimonies:

From Lindsay Williams:

Underlying all the specific (and invaluable!) strategies for teaching reading and writing has been the idea of commitment, something that Julie truly embodies.  With every weekend phone conversation about units, with every binder and assignment filled with copious feedback, with every concerned check-in, our class saw an example of what it means to be a passionate, dedicated educator.  I am extremely grateful for all the work we have done on conferencing, on genre, on backwards design, on inquiry, on the marvelous Hunger Games trilogy… but it is that example of commitment to one’s discipline that I appreciate most.  Thank you for the amazing year, Julie!

From Kate Fussner:

At the end of my first unit, and the subsequent completion of my unit binder, I waited for my feedback from Julie.  She knew that I was launching into my second unit immediately, and she knew that I needed feedback to know the changes I’d have to make to improve my teaching.  As always, Julie delivered.  My binder, with pages and pages of lessons and student work, was covered in feedback.  She’d written notes on every lesson, handwritten comments in every color but the dreaded red, and clearly explained what was working and what needed work.  She was straightforward, thorough, and explicit about the changes needed.  I showed the binder to my parents, who were in town for the weekend, because I wanted to show them everything I had been learning. 

For a moment, I was surprised that it was Julie’s work that he was commenting on, rather than my own.  But he was correct.  She must have put hours into those comments, for each of us, and for each assignment, for each class.  Julie models everything.  In the way she treats us, the way she teaches our class, and the way she responds to our work.  Julie treats us with the same level of respect, honesty, and commitment that she wants us to treat all of our students.  She shows us how to translate that commitment into real actions: lessons, assignments, responses to students’ questions, written feedback, and more.  And above all, Julie listens.  Thanks to Julie, I feel that I know the kind of E/la teacher that I want to be and I have some tangible ways to begin the process of getting there.

From Bernadette Kuan:

I’ve learned tons from Julie, but one thing that made a lasting impression on me was her lesson on authentic audiences.  The Fig Newton reviews-turned-book-reviews that we were told would be used for future residents and their students really struck a chord with me.  Up until that point, I did not really think about making writing relevant.  I didn’t think that it was even an issue.  I like to write.  But I also write a lot of papers in schools that I didn’t like to write.  But I did them.  I was a committed student.  This idea about writing for an authentic audience made me realize that there are many students who do not like to write and don’t have the same attitude about school that I had and continue to have.  Therefore, creating writing experiences that meant something to my students really made me look at writing differently.  Even as a student in Julie’s class, to learn that a real audience would use these book reviews made me look at the writing assignment completely differently.  I wanted to write better.  I had a real purpose.  It was such a small concept, but it made a big impact on my practice.  Learning needs to be relevant to students’ lives for it to make a real impact, and that is my goal as a teacher moving forward.

E/la class with Julie Sloan has helped me become a stronger educator by helping me realize the importance of an authentic audience and how that can be the key to getting students to really write.

From Stephen Yang:

Julie’s commitment her pupils goes beyond teaching them skills, methods, and instructional strategies.  She does more than walk them through the most up-to-date research and challenge them to explore big ideas in E/la content.  Julie seeks to understand her pupils as readers, writers, learners, and professionals.  She wields her understanding of them as holistic individuals as she teaches into their needs when they interact with and explore content.  Julie’s approach is efficient, consistent, and respectful.  She seeks not to be the anchor in her students’ educational experiences as Boston Teacher Residents, but as a bridge between their developing understandings as beginning teachers and the curricula they execute.  The E/la content methods course is rigorous as well as challenging, but it is clear to those who take it that becoming competent teachers who continue to focus on their own learning and living literate lives requires no less than the education Julie will provide.  In Julie Sloan’s content methods class, one can expect to learn.

From Tasheena Jones:

Julie has not only taught me how to be a teacher of reading and writing through her lens, but has also shown me how to create my own.  It is her belief that students can, in fact, read and write, but need guided practice and the opportunity in class to strengthen their skills.  I admire her belief that students can read and write “on their own,” especially in Boston where inner city students are constantly reminded of the things they can’t do.  When the world says they can’t, Julie says they can!  Thank you, Julie, for believing that our students can learn how to be good readers and writers and teaching me how to facilitate that conversation through reading and writing strategies!