Teacher Feature
Meet Hanna Sherrill
We hope that everyone has been enjoying this session and learning lots of cool new stuff thus far! We stll have many more teachers we would love to feature, including this week’s featurette, Hanna Sherrill. She will be teaching Be Handy this week to power tool enthusiasts and phobics alike!
How did you find out about Knowledge Commons DC?
I found out about KCDC through my friend Melanie, who took a class on guerilla gardening.
What inspired you to teach this session?
I realized that a lot of my friends had never used any sort of power tools, and I thought that people might be interested in learning.
What has been the most challenging part as you prepare to teach your first class?
I suppose the most challenging part is remembering what it was like to learn to use tools in the first place. Thinking back on personal frustrations is definitely shaping the way I am going to teach.
Have you attended any Knowledge Commons DC classes, if so, what was your favorite?
I’ve taken 3 classes, of which, DIY electronic noisemakers was my favorite.
What do you think makes for a good teacher?
I think good teachers are patient and capable of addressing a subject from multiple directions. If a student isn’t understanding, it doesn’t help to just repeat the same thing over and over, you have to try a new approach.
If you could take a free class on anything, taught by anyone, what would it be?
Dumpster diving
Lastly, what is your day job?
I’m a molecular biologist at the NIH
Be Handy will be taking place this upcoming Sunday. Stay tuned for the next round of open registration for classes on Thursday. Happy learning!
Sami Simon is an educational media producer at PBS Kids Interactive. She has a masters in educational technology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has worked for “Sesame Street,” CloudKid, and WGBH.