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BAY MINETTE'S HOPE CHOSEN ALFA TEACHER OF MONTH
 | | John Hope |
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Teacher, Technology Student Association (TSA) advisor, bus driver, Web wizard and doctor of philosophy.John Hope believes in being all he can be, and learning all he can learn. That's why faculty and students at Bay Minette Middle School know they can always count on Hope to teach them new ways to learn new things. And that's why Hope has been selected as Alfa's Teacher of the Month for December. As this month's honoree, he will receive $1,000 from Alfa Insurance and his school will receive $1,000 from Alabama Farmers Federation. Hope is now writing his dissertation for a doctor of philosophy in Instructional Design and Development, a discipline that he credits with having helped improve his own teaching ability. "One of the big ideas in IDD is that if a learner doesn't learn, then it's the fault of the instruction, i.e. teacher, materials, delivery system," said Hope. "It's the teacher's responsibility to provide instruction at the appropriate level for all students. I believe disciplines converge in the real world, and instructional strategies and assessments should require students to integrate knowledge and skills across the curriculum." Hope's appetite for learning has taken him to the University of Alabama where he earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology, to the University of Montevallo where he earned a master's in education, and to the University of South Alabama where he has earned his educational specialist degree and soon a doctorate in IDD. "I need to be a subject-matter expert," says Hope, who taught social studies for nine years and now teaches computer applications at BMMS, along with editing a weekly column for the local newspaper and serving as the webmaster for the school's Web site. He also teaches a class for students who want to learn about television production, and now has the students delivering the school's "morning announcements" via a TV broadcast. "Thanks to Mr. Hope's leadership, the students' morning announcements consistently inform and entertain everyone at BMMS," said Principal Tammie Fleming. "They perform within a high-quality, constantly changing format." During 2009, Alfa Insurance and the Alabama Farmers Federation honored one outstanding teacher from eight state school board districts, as well as two principals and two private school teachers. Application information is available under Alfa Teacher of the Month in the Ag Links section of www.AlfaFarmers.org.
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