Education :: M.A. English Composition: San Francisco state University 1994

Email :: kloder@riordanhs.org

 

Personal Bio :: I grew up in Vallejo, and I attended both elementary school and high school at St. Vincent Ferrer on Florida Street. I have two children, both graduates of Catholic schools. My daughter graduated from San Domenico in Marin in 1997, and my son graduated from Archbishop Riordan in 1999.

I graduated from college in 1974 and began teaching at St. Vincent Ferrer that same year. Every year since, I have had the privilege of teaching students in both Catholic and other private schools. For twelve of those years, I worked at Charles Armstrong School in Belmont. It was at this time that I went to graduate school to get my Masters Degree in English Composition. While working with students at C.A.S., many who had difficulty processing written language, I decided that I wanted to learn the best approach possible to help novice writers become more skilled in using written language to express themselves. After Charles Armstrong, I worked in the JEPET Program at San Francisco State University -- tutoring/teaching students in expository writing skills.

 

My first year at Riordan, upon request of Father Timothy Kenny, the Principal of Riordan at that time -- I developed the Freshman Composition Program, a course that introduces young writers to the expository writing skills required for high school level English. Riordan is the only high school, of which I am aware, that offers this type of skill-based writing program to its freshmen. I love teaching at Archbishop Riordan High School. We have the finest young men in the whole bay area attending this school. They enrich my life on a daily basis, and I feel blessed to work with them.

Personal Teaching Statement :: I am a teacher because I love working with children. Teaching is both an honor and privilege. I tell my students that I am a mother first and a teacher second, and what I want for them is the same as I want for my own two children -- that they be the very best they can be and achieve as much as they can -- accomplishing this in a respectful and honorable manner. With this mindset, I maintain a high academic standard for all my students and strive to accomplish this within a well disciplined yet nurturing, safe classroom environment.

 

I want my students to know that I am available to support them and encourage them as they work toward obtaining their goals. This is not just in their academic pursuits but in every aspect or their lives. Whether this assistance involves attending their extra curricular activities, tutoring them in academic subjects, or listening to their questions/concerns in specific areas of their lives -- my life as a teacher belongs to them. I will do my very best to be present when they need me. I often tell them, "You, dear ones, are Riordan High School's greatest gifts." They are definitely that!