Happy Teacher Tuesday! This week, get to know Middle School English teacher Kate DePalma.
What strikes you most about the students at Hillbrook?
Their willingness to get up in front of their classmates (or even the whole school) to make announcements, tell jokes, share their thoughts, and advocate for causes that are important to them.
What is your favorite unit or project?
I love teaching Shakespeare’s Macbeth and have taught it to a range of students from college prep sophomores at Menlo-Atherton to AP English students at Mitty. Part of the fun for me is how versatile of a text it is – there are so many different ways to approach it – and I like the challenge of tailoring it to different groups of students. When I chose to teach it to my 8th graders at Hillbrook last year, I didn’t know how successful it would be, and I was delighted how engaged the students were. I was impressed, for instance, with their enthusiasm as they volunteered to take on roles to act the play out in class. They didn’t always understand everything they were saying (it is Shakespeare, after all), but they were so excited to get up and give it a go, which was not always the case when I taught high school. We’re just starting the play this year and I’m excited to see how this year’s 8th graders dig into the play, its characters, and its themes.
What made you choose to teach at Hillbrook?
I had the chance to observe a lot of good teaching on my visits here, and I liked the idea of working with colleagues whom I both respected professionally and liked on a personal level. I was also intrigued by the prospect of teaching Integrated Studies in addition to English – it seemed like both a worthwhile and challenging endeavor, particularly since it was a new program in its infancy. The beautiful campus doesn’t hurt either…
What are you most looking forward to at Hillbrook in the next few months?
Seeing the 8th grade come together around Shrek the Musical.
Latest books you’ve read?
I just finished reading Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie and Every Day by David Levithan.
We hope you enjoyed getting to know Ms. DePalma!