Robert Clendenning
My name is Robert Clendenning and I have been teaching for eight years at my current school. I have a New York State Professional License to teach Social Studies Grades Seven through twelve. I have taken on numerous leadership roles at my charter school which is located in Astoria Queens. I am a part of the hiring committee where we are currently addressing our school’s staffing needs, in addition to finding people to fill the needs we have for three new schools that our Charter has opened over the past several years even during the pandemic. For the past four years, I worked with the administration to transition our charter school to an International Baccalaureate recognized school. It is a title that requires our school to meet high and rigorous standards that are set by an organization based in Geneva. This included going to numerous IB schools throughout the TRI state area. I then presented that information with the administration about how to implement these new standards, I also then helped our coaches within the building learn how to help our teachers adopt these teaching practices. We are now finally receiving recognition as an IB school this year. I also help develop and deliver professional development instruction for our staff on a host of other topics including technology in the classroom and how to differentiate instruction. I have also been a mentor to new teachers ever since my second year teaching at my school. I have also taught other subjects at my school when we have had vacancies. I have organized grade level and subject level projects and field trips including to ABC nightly news for student government which I ran prior to the pandemic to see David Muir. But most importantly I care about teaching and care about children. I have an undergraduate degree in history which I graduated with honors, a master’s in instructional design, and 12 extra graduate-level history credits. I am a Christian, a husband, and a teacher in that order and I am somebody who believes words mean things so those priorities are very important to me. Prior to my first teaching job in 2014, I was acting and modeling appearing in many television shows doing fitness jobs for Men’s Health, Nike and Under Armor which seems like a lifetime ago because my worldview is very different now. I also overcame dealing with brain surgery and seizures which has humbled me to some degree but not to the extent that I am leaving it out of my introduction. But I do bring it up to say this because I am very grateful for the hardships and blessings that life has given me to shape and mold me so that I can teach students to by example not about my sob stories but by setting an example of consistent behavior giving them structure and demonstrating how I as a teacher ought to model my behavior in the classroom room. The pedagogy of teaching and content is so important However if students are not shown and taught how to persevere when they get a bad grade on a test or a question wrong, or if they see an adult being angry and gossiping about other teachers, then there's no reason for adults to complain about the next generation. This is not to say I am by no means perfect; I am far from it. I think I would like to say that I am uncomfortable when I am conscious of my shortcomings. What else about me? Well, I love epistemology and history and that is why I believe by providence I am teaching world history now. I love knowing why people know what they know and how they profess to derive knowledge. I love learning and teaching. I love people and I love children and I want to see our society grow in their understanding from the past. I am someone who believes in objective truth and that everyone is made Imao dai and that all human beings whether my age or older deserve to be talked to with dignity and respect. This might sound like someone who is naive speaking, however, the truth is if someone truly cares about children then they give them the tools and structure they need to succeed. I care about kids and that's why I am a teacher. I enjoy watching students grow academically and socially. I know what students need to learn and the prerequisites that are needed to be built into a classroom before learning can even take place. They need structure and consistency like all human beings do. They need truth both in the content being taught and modeled by seeing consistent behavior coming from me, setting a good example of how to facilitate discussion based upon routines and rules set within the classroom. Students need that structure to feel safe and see the consistency so that they aren’t confused about what the aim of the lesson is or what they are supposed to be doing. I bring this up because covid has done a real number on my students and my 6th graders have come in and they are so unfortunately academically behind. I had to accommodate them where they are but once that routine is built-in and students feel comfortable in the classroom environment then students can strive towards those academic objectives. I am someone who spends time after school and during my prep periods talking with students who need a teacher to listen to them because I care. I am not saying this to show off. In fact, if this was solely about getting this job I would avoid stating things I have already done but as I said I am someone who believes in objective truth. I also believe I would be a valuable addition to your school community because I have a lot of experience with differentiating student material. I hope that we could have a longer discussion about what that looks like and how I do that in my classroom if you choose to move on to a further conversation with me. Lastly, I am not someone who gives up. After brain surgery, I went back to school three weeks later. Again I say this not to boast but to tell you who I am. There are similar things I can say in this regard but it’s really to say I am also someone who is understanding. I understand students and all of us go through challenging times. In addition, I have a deep desire to give students the ability to think critically about the past to come to their own conclusions based on corroborating multiple sources including primary sources because it’s amazing to watch them think like historians.