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Matthew Hanlon – French Teacher
What is your position at Marshall, and what do you enjoy most about it? French Teacher (I've also taught TOK, Spanish, and African American History). I most enjoy being able to use my creativity in course and lesson design.
What’s one fun fact students might not know about you? A fun fact students might not know is that I teach whitewater kayak classes on the Potomac and other rivers in West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania from March to October.
Do you have a hidden talent or a hobby outside of school? Right now, my hobby outside of school is running; I'm trying to qualify for the Boston marathon by running a marathon in under 3 hours.
If you weren’t in education, what would you be doing instead? If I weren't in education, I would probably be a writer, but in a non-fiction field like journalism or history.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? If I could travel anywhere in the world, I would go to New Zealand. There are so many outdoor activities on land and on water.
What advice would you give to students about making the most of high school? I really like the saying from Principal Jay Pearson when I started working at Marshall: "Find your niche". Learning takes a lot of different shapes and forms in high school, so find the things that you are passionate about and make the most of those experiences. Failing also takes a lot of different shapes and forms (and comes in different sizes), and this is also an important part of the learning process. As unpleasant as this part may be, you will come out the other side.
What’s one thing you hope students take away from your class or role? There are three things I hope students leave my class with: the ability to communicate independently in French, a better understanding of themselves as learners, and more curiosity.
If you could give one piece of advice to Marshall's parents, what would it be? My advice for parents would be to help students focus on 'quality' learning during their after-school academic time, and to help them balance this with non-academic activities.
What do you wish more parents understood about today’s high school experience? High school today is not like it was for me 20 years ago. For better and worse, the Internet, social media, 24/7 access to these with phones and laptops, and now AI, have changed the way teens interact with the world around them. Teachers really do their best to apply what they know about learning science to the better parts of these changes while minimizing the potential negatives.
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