• Spartan Image
    Ryan Tibbens
     
    Email Link
    Department: English
     
    Schedule:
    Block 1 English 12A 304
    Block 2 Public Speaking 304
    Block 3 Planning xxxx
    Block 4 AP Lang 304
    Block 5 AP Lang 304
    Block 6 AP Lang 304
    Block 7 Study Hall 304
    Block 8 Eng. Planning xxxx
     
     
     Phoenix             Schoology
    ~ Grades, due dates, class materials, and select homework materials are available through the class page in Schoology.  It is the student's responsibility to attend class, use the in-class and online agendas/materials, and note teacher announcements. Email the teacher with questions about assignments/due dates/grades only after checking Schoology, Phoenix/StudentVUE, and asking a classmate.  ~
    Course Information:
    • Refer to class pages on Schoology for syllabi, course expectations, and assignment updates. 
     
    Education:
     

    Professional Biography

    The 2021-2022 school year marks Mr.Tibbens' sixteenth year teaching in Loudoun County and his first in the Distance Learning program.  He currently teaches Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition (AP Lit), English 12, and English 11.  In the past, he's taught English 9 Academic and General; English 10 Academic; English 11 Honors, Academic, and General; English 12 Academic; Advanced Placement English Language and Composition; Etymology; SAT Prep; Fundamentals of Writing; Debate; Public Speaking; and summer school for grades 9-12. He is originally from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Mechanicsburg Area Senior High.  He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from James Madison University in 2005 (Go Dukes!); he graduated magna cum laude and majored in English with minors in Secondary Education and Anthropology. He earned his Master of Arts in Teaching (Secondary Education, English) degree from James Madison University in 2006.  Mr. Tibbens frequently participates in professional development and training, including Loudoun County programs, NCTE/VATE conferences, AP seminars, and a variety of activities. He recently became a Newsela Certified Educator.  He has completed the AP Institute for AP Language and Composition, the AP Institute for AP Literature and Composition, George Washington University's Teachers in Industry Program, and more.  Mr. Tibbens is currently or has been a member of the Virginia Association of Teachers of English (VATE), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Loudoun Education Association (LEA), Virginia Education Association (VEA), National Education Association (NEA), and served on VATE's Executive Board for three years.  Mr. Tibbens is a member of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Kappa Delta Pi International Education Honor Society, Lambda Alpha National Collegiate Honors Society for Anthropology (charter class at JMU), National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Loudoun Education Association, Virginia Education Association, National Education Association, Virginia Association of Teachers of English, and the National Council of Teachers of English.  Mr. Tibbens was voted the "Most Valuable Teacher" at Heritage High School by the Class of 2010, has been honored at the annual Loudoun County Excellence in Education banquet over 20 times, and was selected as a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by the National Society of High School Scholars.  Mr. Tibbens was awarded Broad Run's 2015-2016 "Triple I" Award for his innovation, instruction, and impact. He also owns and operates TEST -- Tibbens Education Services & Tutoring -- through which he offers a variety of tutoring, writing, consulting, and education services. In addition to teaching and tutoring, he is the producer and host of the ClassCast Podcast, which features entrepreneurs, community leaders, teachers, and students discussing how to improve education; it's a podcast for everyone interested in education, not just teachers.  Mr. Tibbens was named the "2019 Best Teacher" in the Loudoun Times-Mirror's "Best of Loudoun" contest.  He was also named to the "Loudoun 40 Under 40" list of "rising business and community leaders" and the "Loudoun 100," a platform that showcases the extraordinary stories of ordinary people who influence life in Loudoun County and beyond.  
     
    Image result for 2019 best of loudoun Loudoun 40 Under 40  Image result for loudoun 100 

     

     

     

    Teaching Experience

    2021-Present Distance Learning Ashburn, VA 20148
                              Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition 
                              English 12 

                              English 11 

    2011-2021 Broad Run High School Ashburn, VA 20147
                              Advanced Placement English Language and Composition 
                              English 12 Academic

                              Public Speaking 

                              English 11 Honors

                              English 11 Academic
                              English 10 Academic
    2006-2011 Heritage High School Leesburg, VA 20175
                              English 11 Honors
                              English 11 Academic
                              English 11 General
                              English 9 Academic
                              Etymology 
                              SAT Prep 
                              Fundamentals of Writing
                              Writing Tutor and Mentor
                              English 9 General

    2006 (Spring) Broadway High School Broadway, VA 22815 (Long-term sub)

                              English 11 American Literature - All Levels

                              Debate

    2003-2006 FYI Writing Center, JMU Harrisonburg, VA 22807

                              One-on-one writing instruction (tutoring, planning, editing, revising, etc.)

     

     

     
     
     
    Personal Interests
    Mr. Tibbens has a wide variety of hobbies and interests. First and foremost, Mr. Tibbens enjoys spending time with his wife, son, daughter, friends, family, and his two dogs and cat. He operates Tibbens Education Services & Tutoring (TEST) and the ClassCast Podcast. At his home, he maintains the Tibbens MiniFarm, a large garden which produces a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and flowers.  He enjoys reading and writing, listening to audiobooks, camping, hiking, golfing, playing guitar and other instruments, traveling, conversing with friends, playing sports, listening to music, attending concerts, and working on home improvement projects. When he was in middle and high school, Mr. Tibbens played several sports, including golf, football, baseball, basketball, and wrestling. He enjoys listening to rock, rap/hip-hop, funk, blues, bluegrass, folk, jazz, country, classical, and almost every other kind of music (and he loves to get recommendations from his students). He also enjoys a wide variety of movies (Cool Hand Luke and Fight Club are his favorites).  Mr. Tibbens has recently served on the Board of Officers of the Berryville Moose Lodge, the Town of Berryville's Board of Zoning Appeals, and is a current commissioner of the Berryville Planning Commission.  Conversations about philosophy, literature, music, movies, current events, and travel are always appreciated and rewarding.
     
     
    Food for Thought

     

      
     "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." --  Frederick Douglass 
     
    "Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail.  What you gain at one end you lose at the other.  It's like feeding a dog on his own tail.  It won't fatten the dog."  -- Mark Twain
     
    "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change." - Charles Darwin
     
    "At the desk where I sit, I have learned one great truth. The answer for all our national problems - the answer for all the problems of the world - comes to a single word. That word is education." - Lyndon B. Johnson
     
    “Information is the currency of democracy.” - Thomas Jefferson
     
    "They know enough who know how to learn." - Henry Brooks Adams
     
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
     
    "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." - Robert Frost
     
    "Far from creating independent thinkers, schools have always, throughout history, played an institutional role in a system of control and coercion.  And once you are well educated you have already been socialized in ways that support the power structure, which, in turn, rewards you immensely." - Noam Chomsky
     
    "The moment you say that any idea system is sacred, whether it's a religious belief system or a secular ideology, the moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible."  - Salmon Rushdie 
     
    "Quotation, n.: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another."  -    Ambrose Bierce