Hana Feit
Meet Hana Feit. She is a Literacy Content Specialist at the Ulster BOCES Instructional Services Department. Feit’s number one priority is helping teachers create a rewarding learning community for their students, where no one feels left out, including those who may not have gotten messages that they were "smart," or valuable. She helps design pathways for all students to feel that what they have to offer is worthy, and adds to the intelligence, wisdom, and value of that community.
Feit accomplishes this in a variety of ways, and her roles are vast. She does sustained coaching with teachers to help them hone/expand their strengths and feel supported to challenge themselves in areas where they seek to grow. Her coaching encourages teachers to take incremental risks to differentiate instruction and put more of the classroom practices into students' hands, so that they are engaged and can take ownership of their own learning. She also supports teachers by supplying them with contemporary, culturally-responsive texts and activities that meet their students' needs and interests. In addition, she participates in team meetings and trains teachers in school-wide literacy assessments that are used to inform and improve instruction.
Feit graduated from CUNY Brooklyn College with a BA in Creative Writing and Identity Studies, and later earned an MA in Secondary English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has been an educator for 12 years. Before joining Ulster BOCES in January 2022, she worked as an 8th and 10th grade ELA and Humanities teacher at a small, project-based public school in New York City. In addition to classroom teaching, she facilitated family workshops on LGBTQIA+ student support, whole-family/community literacy, and culturally responsive curriculum and school culture.
Her favorite part of her job at BOCES is working one-on-one with students. “I truly enjoy building lasting relationships and experiencing when young people feel valued in their learning communities," she says. Her educational philosophy is grounded in inquiry-driven instruction and learning, as well as civic engagement–both of which put students at the center of their learning.
“I strongly believe in education as a community practice, helping young people find value in themselves, and making space for students to teach one another, with hands-on inquiry, independent reading, teacher collaboration, and play!” she says.
In her spare time, Feit enjoys singing, theater, creative writing, cooking and gardening.