Teacher Resources

Demonstration Teacher Profiles

Sharlene Walker, Foy H. Moody High School, Corpus Christi, Texas

Sharlene Walker earned a B.A. Degree in History, an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice and is working on a Master’s Degree in Geographic Information Systems. She was in the U.S. Navy for over twelve years, serving mainly in the Pacific -- the Philippines, Japan, and Thailand.

When she got out of the military, Sharlene’s plan was to become a police or probation officer. One of her college instructors suggested that she was better suited to teaching, an area she had not even considered, even though her grandmother was a teacher. The rest is history (and geography).

Sharlene teaches 9th grade in the Innovation Academy at Foy H. Moody High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. The Innovation Academy is a magnet program for students from all over the district, interested in engineering, math, and environmental science. She has been at Moody High for eight years and teaches world geography and AP human geography.

Sharlene uses the principle that “form follows function” when designing lessons. “When I design a lesson, I don’t first think about okay I’m going to put them in groups or I’m going to use a particular computer program.” She begins by identifying what the content and learning objectives will be for the lesson. Only then does she consider the teaching strategies that she will use.

Sharlene is involved in a variety of professional development activities, especially those related to GIS. She finds that her interaction with these organizations helps “influence how I visualize the world.”

What Sharlene likes most about teaching is seeing students make connections to the world. “It’s not all about turn to page 37 and do the questions. It’s about making students into well rounded individuals, and I see myself as a part of that. I don’t want students to leave my classroom thinking ‘well I’m done with that’. I want them to always ask questions about the world and about the environment.”