Sharon Yoder, associate professor of English, has been recognized as Allegany College of Maryland\u2019s outstanding faculty member for 2017. She is a 1975 graduate of Eastern Mennonite University.<\/p>\n
Yoder received the Sanner Award for Outstanding Teaching, which is based on teaching excellence, guidance to advisees in pursuit of their goals and demonstrated human relationship skills.<\/p>\n
Faculty members submit nominations for the college-wide award and selection is made by the Faculty Status Committee, a peer group that represents ACM\u2019s more than 100 full-time faculty members.<\/p>\n
Yoder, who joined the full-time faculty in 2011 after a half-dozen years of part-time teaching, has earned a reputation for a commitment to education that greatly benefits students in her developmental and freshman English classes.<\/p>\n
She wins praise for the engaging atmosphere she creates in the classroom, the encouragement she provides to students and the effort she makes to help them improve their writing skills.<\/p>\n
Yoder\u2019s approachable manner and positive outlook resonates with students, who soon realize that she has their best interests at heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents report that she is greatly concerned with their learning,\u201d says a colleague. \u201cThey know that she is devoted to their development as writers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moreover, her fellow professor notes, Yoder\u2019s instructional methods guide students toward greater self-awareness.<\/p>\n
\u201c[She] designs a course that urges students to reflect deeply about themselves and their place in the community,\u201d the colleague wrote.<\/p>\n
Yoder, who has taught in grades K-12 and at the four-year college level, has found her niche at ACM and is committed to the community college mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in touch with what is happening,\u201d she says. \u201cOur hands are in the earth. We\u2019re working with students from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n
A believer in the adage that \u201cwriting is thinking,\u201d Yoder has students explore subjects of personal interest as she works with them to develop their writing skills. As they consult sources and explain what they have learned, students make discoveries about themselves and their future goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to make students\u2019 assignments worthwhile,\u201d Yoder said. \u201cI feel that we have so many resources here to help students make informed decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yoder frequently has students review the work of classmates in an exercise of collaborative learning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a wonderful opportunity for them to learn from each other \u2026 for them to experience the diverse college that we actually are,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Yoder has administrative duties as co-chair of the college\u2019s Humanities Division.<\/p>\n
She is the contact person for the large number of current and prospective part-time adjunct faculty members who teach English and other subjects within the division. That includes instructors who teach in ACM\u2019s Early College program, the bulk of whom teach in high schools that host college-level courses taken by juniors and seniors. The effort is an extensive one and the necessary classroom visits with a new teacher take Yoder far from campus in ACM\u2019s multi-county service region.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always a pleasure traveling to these schools,\u201d says Yoder, who adds that she finds \u201cthe countryside picturesque, the teachers dedicated and the students eager to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n
She is also part of the college\u2019s Teaching and Learning Community, an interdisciplinary group of faculty members working to foster a learner-centered culture in ACM classrooms.<\/p>\n
A natural teacher, Yoder knew since she was a young girl that she wanted a career in education.<\/p>\n
After graduating from Northern Garrett High School, Yoder earned a bachelor\u2019s degree from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va., and taught in northern Manitoba, Garrett County and Virginia.<\/p>\n
Yoder found a special calling in ESOL, teaching English to speakers of other languages.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a privilege to work with them,\u201d she said. \u201cI help them to discover how to analyze situations and solve problems on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a return to her native Grantsville to assist her parents, Yoder completed a master\u2019s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Shenandoah University.<\/p>\n
She began teaching ESOL classes at ACM and later juggled her time between ESOL and English classes at both ACM and at Frostburg State University.<\/p>\n
Since joining ACM\u2019s full-time faculty in 2011 Yoder has taken additional graduate studies in both composition and TESOL at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
As the colleague who nominated Yoder for the outstanding teaching award noted: \u201cEvery decision in Sharon\u2019s professional development is based on the question, \u2018How will this serve my students?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Her personal interests include growing backyard berries, writing poetry and enjoying family time. She is a member of a recently formed task force exploring possibilities for resettling refugees in the Cumberland area.<\/p>\n
Yoder is the 31st recipient of the Sanner Award. It was established by Miriam Sanner, a former ACM Board of Trustees chair and ACM Foundation board member emerita.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"