Darlene Volchansky

State:

Pennsylvania

PLS courses I teach:

Discovering the Power of Live-Event Learning

Years with PLS:

2006

Why I love teaching PLS courses:

At the end of my eighth year of teaching, I was both physically exhausted and somewhat disillusioned as I ventured into my first PLS course. Yes, my hair was disheveled, there was no spring in my flip-flop steps, and I was relatively convinced that my schedule for the upcoming year would result in an early demise. To my surprise, my first PLS course was a shot of enthusiasm for me. The instructor was nothing short of inspiring and the course material was refreshingly sound and practical. I never looked back.

Twenty-one years later I am an instructor for PLS. In the interim, I completed 11 PLS courses and gleaned some of my most effective strategies/creative activities from those courses. In fact, PLS has impacted on my teaching style more profoundly than any other instruction in pedagogy. Since the field of education is all about the exchange of ideas, I’m eager to share PLS concepts and strategies with other teachers.

Education:

• B.S. Secondary Education English – Lock Haven State College
• M. Ed. – Bloomsburg State College
• Additional Graduate Work: Wilkes University, Penn State University, Clarion University

Teaching experience:

7th grade – Study Skills – 1 year
8th grade – Reading and Writing Remediation – 1 year
9th grade – Academic English – 29 yrs.
9th grade – Applied English -- 24 yrs.
10th grade – Applied English – 5 years
11th grade – Business Communications – 5 years
11th grade – Applied English – 5 years
11th grade – Honors English – 4 years
12th grade – Modern Novel – 1 year
12th grade – Mass Media – 1 year

Related experience, recognition, awards, etc.:

• PA Teacher of the Year Nominee -- 2004
• Cooperating Teacher for Susquehanna University
• Mentor Teacher
• Class Advisor
• Play and Musical Dramatics Director
• Co-advisor of Theater Arts
• Co-advisor of Renaissance Club
• Co-advisor of Student Council
• Advisor of Writing Club

What I love most about teaching:

In the words of William Butler Yeats, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” When I hear my students who are working in small groups encourage each other to keep moving, when I sign hall passes for them to work on their projects during study hall, or when they ask me if we will have time to do another activity like that one, I know I’m on the right track. On those days, although they may be convinced that they merely had fun all period, I realize how much they learned, in spite of themselves.

Favorite moment in teaching:

Some of my favorite moments in teaching are when I hear a knock on my classroom door and open it to find a former student – a few years older and wiser but still sporting a familiar smile – on the other side of the door. I’m always delighted to hear a former student recount fond memories from the course. As we reminisce about a field trip, or the coffee house, or our school renaissance faire, I realize how emphatically those live-events impact our students’ lives.

Personal information:

I enjoy cycling, gardening, reading, and swimming. My true passion, however, is spending time with my husband Chuck, daughter Kristin (go, Lehigh!), and son Michael (yeah, Huskies!).