Mallory Bacon's MAT Degree from U of A Helps Her Reach Her Goal

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Mallory Bacon teaches at North Little Rock High School.

Editor's Note: This is one of a series of Colleague magazine profiles about alumni of the College of Education and Health Professions.

Mallory Craig Bacon is a rarity. Unlike the majority of college students, she never changed her major. She considers herself lucky to have known from an early age the path she wanted to take, and then having the opportunity to take it.

In 2008, with her sights set on becoming an English teacher, she enrolled in the University of Arkansas' J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences as an English major with the intent to complete the Master of Arts in Teaching degree in the College of Education and Health Professions. She never wavered and made good on those intentions, completing the MAT in the year following the completion of her bachelor's degree. With encouragement from an older sister, who had also completed the five-year teacher preparation program, and from her parents who witnessed how well it worked out for that sister, Bacon continued two family traditions: becoming a Razorback and pursuing a teaching career.

Bacon was inspired by her mother, who taught for 40 years in Rogers, and other great teachers from her childhood. What solidified her desire to make an impact on future students was the way in which excellent English teachers had impacted her.

When it came time to choose a university, it was only natural to call Fayetteville home for five years. Both of Bacon's parents, her three older siblings and their spouses, cousins, and a great uncle were all U of A graduates. She met her future husband (a Razorback from a family of Razorbacks, of course) through mutual friends at the Sugar Bowl game in 2011 when the Hogs played Ohio State.

Now, in her third year teaching ninth-grade English at North Little Rock High School, Bacon remembers feeling prepared on the very first day of her career. She credits many aspects of the program for this success. Immersion into the classroom during the MAT year gave Bacon a good sense of what it is like to be a teacher. Working with hundreds of students at three different schools as a student teacher that year felt overwhelming. Now, she thinks of it as a huge benefit, because the realities of being a teacher can also be overwhelming at times. The MAT internships gave her good experience in balancing time demands, which has served her well in a career with deadlines to manage.

Bacon sings the praises of mentor teachers Paige Kroening and Michelle Cearley, who were willing to give her the hands-on experiences she needed before stepping foot into her own classroom. She is also grateful she was assigned to work with Rogers High School students who spoke English as a second language, gaining first-hand experience helping students with different ability levels and a variety of learning obstacles.

Learning about differentiation in the MAT program was one of the most helpful topics for Bacon's current position. Differentiation is what a teacher does to accommodate students at many different levels and meet each student where they are, instead of where they are expected to be. It requires a teacher to provide different texts and levels of questions for students far below and above the average, for example. The MAT program provided opportunity for immersion into many types of classrooms, giving Bacon experience working with gifted and talented students as well as struggling learners.

Sean Connors, assistant professor of English education, mentored Bacon for a semester and she found his insights beneficial. He would observe her in the classroom and then review the videotape with her afterward to discuss all she had done and ways to improve. This helped her become a reflective educator, using introspection after lessons and units, striving to be better for her students and keeping them at the center of her classroom.

Bacon's favorite coursework were methods classes in which she learned to teach reading and writing in a meaningful way. She thinks of Connors and Chris Goering, associate professor of English education, as her moral compass when teaching, and asks herself what they would do to make a lesson engaging and relevant.

North Little Rock High School has a diverse population of 2,600 students. Bacon enjoys having so many different backgrounds in her classroom. During the first two years, she taught at a freshman campus, but before her third year the school merged grades nine through 12 into a beautiful new facility. She credits good leadership in the administration for making it a smooth transition. The administrators also do a great job getting parents involved, and encourage teachers to make contact with them when problems arise or if a student is not doing well. The expectation is that it is part of the job, which Bacon appreciates. She reports meeting with 40 parents during three hours of parent-teacher conferences.

Collaborating with colleagues is a large part of Bacon's job, and she did not know how much she would value it. She is on a team of ninth-grade English teachers and is amazed at how well they work together. They have common goals and are all willing to work hard to accomplish them. She has also forged great relationships with faculty in other departments and collaborates with them as well. When teachers of different subjects reiterate the same skills and teach them in the same way, she believes it helps students realize these are universal, rather than just skills for Ms. Bacon's English class.

Bacon is happy gaining teaching experience and is focused on honing her craft. She has discovered, however, that she has done very well at something else of great importance to her: developing meaningful relationships with her students.

"I try to make them aware of themselves and their actions, to understand how what they do impacts others and their own futures as well," she said. "I want them to be aware of other people's feelings, other cultures, and learn to act as kindly as possible. Knowing that what we do matters to other people is a concept I am passionate about passing along to my students."