Educational Experience

Ralph J Steinhauer Elementary School, Maple Shade, NJ

6th Grade Language Arts & Social Studies Teacher, August 2020-Present

NJ Governor’s Educator of the Year Award recipient (2023-2024 school year)

Maple Shade District Educator of the Year Award recipient (2023-2024 school year)

VFW National Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year (2021-2022 school year)

• Teaches the English/Language Arts and Social Studies  to two sixth-grade class sections

• Aligns lessons to the New Jersey State Learning Standards

• Selected as the district pilot teacher for the Benchmark Advance curriculum during the 2023-2024 school year, contributing to its successful introduction and adaptation

• Currently provides mentoring and professional support to language arts colleagues, guiding effective implementation of the Benchmark Advance program to enhance instructional practices and student outcomes

• Developed and implemented an updated Social Studies curriculum, aligning with revised state standards and emphasizing Civics and Geography to foster student engagement and real-world application

• Advises the Student Equity Council in Youth Participatory Action Research to identify areas of inequity in the school, research solutions, effectively outreach to the community, and present their findings at the Youth in Action Forum at Rutgers University annually

• Leads a minimum of six district-wide community events as the District Community Engagement Committee Chairperson, in the schools as well as in the community, employing outside organizations and presenters for entertainment and education, while also recruiting staff volunteers to lead workshops and host a dinner for the local community 

• Creates and facilitates professional development for the 5th and 6th grade teaching staff in the position of Equity Lead, providing insights and instruction on equitable classroom practice, culturally responsive pedagogy, and action research

First Philadelphia Preparatory Charter School, Philadelphia, PA

5th Grade Writing Teacher, August 2019-June 2020

• Teach the writing curriculum to three fifth-grade class sections, totally 84 students daily

• Align lessons to the Pennsylvania Common Core State Standards

• Design and implement complementary lesson plans and projects to incorporate Project-Based Learning for the 5th grade writing teaching team

• Integrate technology and innovation into the classroom instruction and collaborative learning activities, including a comprehensive “Shark Tank” functional writing unit, centers-based lessons on fiction writing, and a science-integrated expository nonfiction unit on endangered animals and conservation 

• Develop an online tutorial program for the 3-5 grade-level teachers to create fully functional Google Classrooms during the Coronavirus quarantine

Charles Street Elementary School, Palmyra, NJ & Wilson Elementary School, Trenton NJ

Student Teacher, September 2018-June 2019

• Taught a fifth-grade class of 26 students in all major subjects

• Instructed a first-grade class of 27 students in all of the major subjects, with special focus on language arts and science

• Aligned lessons to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

• Integrated technology into the classroom instruction and collaborative learning activities, including a comprehensive persuasive writing unit, centers-based lesson on the human body systems, hands-on observation and experimentation with water transport in plants, and a multimedia literary analysis unit

• Maintained an online teaching portfolio with samples of lesson plans, teaching philosophy, and continuing education updates (rachelpredden.wixsite.com/reddenden)