Seventh Grade
My name is Allyson Bourke, and I am the 7th grade homeroom teacher at The Madeleine School. I was born in Nashville, Tennessee. I have a Master’s degree in English from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a Master’s in Education from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. I absolutely love teaching at The Madeleine School.
There are a few things that really make me who I am. I have ridden horses all my life, and I own a gray Thoroughbred filly named Quest. I still take riding lessons, which remind me what it feels like to be a student and keep me humble. A true Anglophile, I have the Union Jack hanging in my classroom, I love the rain, and I drink only English Breakfast tea. I am also a voracious reader, of both fiction and nonfiction. I read a book every week or two; my favorite stories of all time are Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, and anything by Shakespeare. I reread each of those nearly every year.
I teach 7th grade religion as well as 7th and 8th grade language arts. My classroom is an active and creative place. (My students think it’s cool that I let them write on their desks with Expo pens during writing class.) I am known for having high expectations of my students, and I believe that anyone can learn to write well with a little practice and guidance.
The 7th grade curriculum at The Madeleine provides a myriad of opportunities for students to learn and grow as young scholars. Our religion course focuses on the life of Jesus. Writing and geography courses are integrated well throughout the year, culminating in a full-size daily newspaper of a foreign country. Seventh graders read The Outsiders, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, and The Diary of Anne Frank together as a class, in addition to the independent reading they do. Writing instruction is individualized to meet each student’s needs and is based on the 6 + 1 Traits of Writing program.