Dear Ms. Boateng,
I am applying for the English Teacher position at Kettering High School. I have taught ninth-grade composition and senior literature for eight years, and your posting's line about a department rewriting its writing sequence is the reason this letter is not a form letter.
I rebuilt our ninth-grade writing sequence around a single revision rubric used in every unit. Students stopped relearning what good writing meant each September, and on-grade writing scores rose across the two years it has run — but the change I would defend is that teachers now mark faster and more consistently.
Kettering's posting describes the same problem I inherited: four teachers, four rubrics, and students who could not tell what was being asked of them. Having done that rewrite once, I know the hard part is not designing the rubric but getting a department to give up its own.
I hold an Ohio Professional Teaching License in Integrated Language Arts for grades seven through twelve, with a K-12 Reading Endorsement.
I would like to talk about where the department currently is with the rewrite, and what support the school is putting behind it. I am available whenever suits you.
Sincerely, Devon Achebe