Kerry Yourman

Middle School English Language Arts Teacher

Kerry Yourman’s teaching style fuses “play” (story reenactments, lively debates, poetry slams) with purposeful practice (sentence building, word study, guided reading). She strives to heighten each student’s relationship with reading, writing, and speaking. The uniquely brilliant thinking of her students never ceases to inspire her.

Hometown:
Los Gatos, CA

Alma Mater:
UCLA

Degrees:
B.A. in English from UCLA
M.A. in Teaching from the University of San Francisco

What’s your most epic travel experience?
I spent a year (2013) living in my grandparents’ hometown of Cork City, Ireland.

Top of your bucket list?
To return to Ireland as many times as possible!

Favorite quote:
““There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”
― from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien”

Favorite book(s):
Great Expectations (because Miss Havisham is so utterly creepy, and I’ve never been able to forget her).

Your most epic teaching moment:
One September morning, I greeted 7th grade and accidentally told them it was “story time” (I meant to say “independent reading time”). Before I knew what was happening, they all rushed to the floor and sat in front of me, criss-cross-apple-sauce and soo excited for me to read them a book. So of course, I had no choice but to pluck a picture book from the library. They ooh-ed and aah-ed, and we had such fun with the spontaneity of it all.

Why you love teaching at Yavneh:
My students are hardworking, determined, and hilarious, and they teach me new things every day.

Highlight of the week:
This week I watched the 8th graders grow (academically, that is— though they are also getting quite tall) right before my eyes. They are thinking critically about the deeper meanings of poems, stories, and short films. They also demonstrated significant growth on their quiz retakes (on capitalization, commas, and commonly misspelled words). They are thinking at a higher and higher level with each passing week!

Favorite subject to teach:
The Giver (6th), The Outsiders (7th) and Essential Research Skills for Teens (8th)