English teacher uses her experience to encourage her students’ careers in writing
How does Allie Drain manage to teach creative writing and English, lead an after school creative writing club, and publish a yearly magazine, all while inspiring her students every day?
“For the longest time, I did not want to be a teacher,” Drain said.
Drain’s mother was also a teacher at Klein Collins, and Drain always thought that she wouldn’t want to face the struggles that her mother did while being a teacher. Her dream was always professional or technical writing.
“Going and actually being in the workforce as a technical writer I kind of realized I really missed that classroom.” Drain said. “I missed talking about books and writing everyday, so I decided to give teaching a try and fell in love my first year. I’ve been teaching for five years now.”
Drain has written her own fiction pieces, which she uses in the classroom to help her students with their learning. She hasn’t published anything in recent years, but she hopes to have something published eventually.
“A lot of times I’ll be able to use my works that I’ve published and written in previous years as little mentors for my students to show different styles of writing,” Drain said.
Drain takes on a lot of English courses and extracurricular activities, and when asked how she managed to keep up with everything, she said it all comes down to organization.
“I have calendars for my different classes and that’s where I kind of link all the different things that I want to talk about,” Drain said. “I take a lot of my planning home and kind of think about what I want to do for each class.”
Drain inspires students every day, making English class fun for all her students. She uses her own experience and background to motivate and teach her students. Drain is recognized as an amazing teacher by many of her past and present students. Whether it’s English class, creative writing, or her yearly magazine Metanoia, Drain puts her all into her projects and plans to give her students a magical experience in the classroom.
