Students in Anna Catherine Hull’s fourth and fifth grade gifted class at Patronis Elementary School in Panama City Beach, FL, travel the world without ever leaving the room. From connecting with former teachers who’ve moved across the country to U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq, Hull engages her students in ways that make learning relevant. Her recent short-term teaching assignment in Tanzania was yet another virtual journey for the entire classroom.
Juxtaposing time-tested techniques with 21st-century advances like video conferences and Promethean boards, she strikes a winning balance between the traditional and the innovative. Encouraging her kids to be team players who also are self-reliant, Hull incorporates shared workspaces, collaborative activities and inquiry-based instruction where students actively participate in their learning. Using original, data- driven, standards-based plans differentiated for individual learning styles, she incorporates special reading and writing times, during which students use vocabulary words to create cards and employ their reading skills to learn about current events. Test scores are well above state averages, and Patronis was the only elementary school in the district to make AYP last year. All students met high standards on the 2010 FCAT math and reading, with high marks in writing as well.
Hull’s leadership at the school and district levels is strong and multifaceted. She serves as Reading Leadership Team chair, School Improvement chair for Reading, School Advisory Council member, and is the district Master Trainer for Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading(FAIR). Hull presented her co- authored professional development plan, Value the Vision, at the July 2009 National Board for Professional Teaching Practices.
