John Sharkey is the Director of Literacy for Urban Teachers in Baltimore. In addition to teaching and coaching novice educators through the Johns Hopkins School of Education, he oversees calls with mentors through the national Urban Teachers team. He has supervised revisions of the elementary English/ language arts curricula for Urban Teachers and is currently writing three new courses. He joined Urban Teachers as a clinical faculty member in 2016, after serving as an assistant principal at Success Academy Charter Schools in New York City. He holds a masters in teaching from the Relay Graduate School of Education in New York and previously served as a member of the Teach for America corps in Charlotte, North Carolina. He strives to impress upon new teachers the importance of the need for diverse books. He believes it is important for students to see reflections of themselves and their lives in texts. He champions restorative practices in the school community, and challenges teachers to look at the implicit biases in punitive discipline.
Education
• Relay Graduate School of Education, New York, Masters in Teaching in High School English/ Language Arts, 2015
• California State University, Fullerton, Bachelor of Arts in English, 2011
Academic positions
• Johns Hopkins University, School of Education, Urban Teachers Lead Clinical Faculty for Literacy, Baltimore 2017-present
• Clinical Faculty, Literacy, Urban Teachers, Baltimore, 2016-2017
Other professional positions
• Assistant Principal, Success Academy Charter Schools, New York, NY, 2015-16
• Summer School Principal, Harlem Village Academy, New York, NY, 2013-15
• Reading Teacher, Harlem Village Academy, New York, NY, 2013-15
• Corps Member Advisor for Summer Institute, Teach for America, 2014
• Planning and Collaborative Team Lead, Middle School ELA, Teach for America, 2012-13
• Language Arts Teacher, James Martin Middle School, Charlotte, N.C., 2011-13
Awards
• Yale-Lynn Hall Teacher Action Research Prize, First Place, Yale School of Management Education Club, 2015
• Faculty’s List Honor, Relay Graduate School of Education, 2014
Teaching experience
Practicum for English/ Language Arts