Sarah Daddis

I have been a full-time teacher for 15 years. In that time, I have taught Health and Physical Education in at the high school and middle school levels. Presently, I am at a middle school where I teach health to 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders!

I would define my teaching style as constructivist (remember Piaget from Psychology of Education class?!?). I do not use rote memorization; I don't want to just lecture at my students. I structure my lessons so that students construct understandings about the concepts I am covering. By creating opportunities to interact with the material, I allow students to achieve some ‘ownership’ of the learning process. Thus, with my guidance, they discover the answers, and in a constructivist sense, accommodate existing understandings to fit with the new information. Accordingly, with my lessons, students are active rather than passive learners. Central to this process, however, is a need for consistent monitoring of student progress and level of understanding. So, through explicit assessments and informal discussions, I can better structure the pace and content of each lesson. In addition, to make material accessible and relevant to the students, I try to stimulate discussions that relate the subject matter to their own lives. The information can become ‘more real’ when students can articulate a perspective or have a point of reference.

I earned my B.S. in Health and Physical Education from Edinboro University of PA. This lead to my PK to 12 licensure to teach Health an Physical Education. I also have a MS degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment.

Family is very important to me. My husband and I spend as much time as we can with our three children. Our youngest, Jack, is 9 months old, Colin is 5 years old, and our oldest, Abby, is 7.