Department of Curriculum & Instruction (CUIN) associate chair and clinical associate professor, Margaret Hale, has been honored by the University of Houston, College of Education (UH COE) with a Teaching Excellence Award for her work as a clinical faculty member. 

Hale told us the award is an honor because it recognizes the work she does specifically in terms of teaching.  She enjoys working with students who are seeking to become teachers, and makes every effort to connect with them, guide them in their educational career, and help them in securing a teaching position when they are approaching graduation.  “I believe that as we train future teachers, we need to model the practices we want them to employ in their teaching, so I strive to do that in each class that I teach,” she said.  “The feedback I have received from students indicates that they appreciate that modeling and rely on it when they have their own classrooms.” 

Literacy is Hale’s passion and reading is a part of everything she teaches.  “I can't help but share with my students, books I'm reading or have read recently that I think they, and their future students, will enjoy,” she said.  “My students often laugh about how much I love books and reading, but they also email me after graduating looking for book recommendations!  I practice what I preach, and that means that if we want our students to be readers, then we need to be readers, and we need to share that enthusiasm with them.”

When asked who has inspired her the most at UH COE, Hale mentioned retired CUIN professor Dick Abrahamson.  “He, too, has a passion for reading books for children and young adults.  Studying under him and working with him solidified that passion in me,” she said.  CUIN professor Lee Mountain is another professor who inspired Hale.  “She has always pushed me to think about what I want to do with my career - how do I want to make an impact,” she said. 

Mountain has taught students who have previously been in Margaret Hale’s classes, so she knows that her influence is long-lasting.  "She has made reading converts of some who ignored books for years," said Mountain. "Her students continue to volunteer for the events she arranges. They sing her praises and hug her on sight.  She is a terrific teacher!"

One way Hale has tried to instill a love of reading is by co-founding Tweens Read which has really become a big part of her life outside of UH COE.  Tweens Read impacts 2,000+ kids every year by connecting them with authors.  “I love that so many of my students here at UH take the time to come out and volunteer, interact with the kids, and interact with the authors,” she said.  Hale is gearing up for the Tweens Read fall event, which includes updating the website and booking the authors who will meet with the kids. 

She also co-hosts a blog called Whispering Spines with Kelley Barger.  “She is a professor in St. Louis, and we started a blog several years ago where we write about books for children and young adults,” said Hale.  “Kelley mostly writes about children's books, and I mostly write about young adult books.  We share the blog with students and educators as a way of keeping them current on what's out there for kids.”

Hale is also the president-elect for the Texas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts, and has served on that board for the past three years as their legislative liaison, working to advocate for literacy with the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency, and the state legislature.   In her role as president-elect, she is working to plan the 2018 conference including creating a theme and securing speakers for the event.