How do students learn? What do you think about that?

- Well, I think that a lot of kids learn in different ways and I think it is up to the teacher to
figure out how those students learn best. You can do small group instruction, sometimes
kids need more direct instruction with a one on one adult, sometimes if you have kids all
at the same level, you can do a whole class teaching and then divide them up afterward.
And, I always know that students have mastered the target when I give them an
assessment afterward, whether that be very informal, like a quick exit ticket or just an end
of the unit module test.

What do you teach students?

- Well, I think that there are two parts of teaching students: one part is the academics- mat
reading, science, social studies- but there is also the social-emotional piece. Which is so
important and so crucial. In this district, we do a lot of SELs with what that stands for and
we have a second step curriculum that we teach. But, I think that the most important part
is the social-emotion piece because if you don’t have kids excited to come to school
every day ready to learn and be kind to one another then all of the academics that you are
teaching them will just go through one ear and out the other. I always use the example I
had when I taught kindergarten. There was a little boy that didn’t go to preschool, so he
didn’t know the rules of school and the procedures. He would just want to play with the
firetruck all day long and it wasn’t even playtime. And, so, with this little boy, I had to
teach him those fundamentals of sitting in a chair when you come to school you raise
your hand when you have a question, and then I was able to teach him the ABCs and all
of the other parts of the academics.

How do you feel when you’re teaching? How do you feel about teaching?
- I love being a teacher! It is my passion. I was one of those little girls that were like, “I’m
going to be a teacher when I grow up!” And I think I have always wanted to teach. I think
that my perception of teaching was a little skewed growing up. It’s very different when
you are a student in college doing your clinical or you’re student teaching than when you
are on the other side of it- of being the teacher. I think that I really only saw teachers
doing read-a-louds and small groups. You see all of that fun stuff, but you don’t see the
behind the scenes of it: the planning for the various subjects and all that goes into
teaching! But, I wouldn’t ever trade it for any other job. I love it so much and the kids
make it all worth it.

How do you keep going when you face a challenging day?

- Well, I’m sure you can see from in our classroom, there have been those days and I think
summer school is a little different than the normal school year, and I have told you that
already just because you have a lot of different behavior, lack of motivation- not a lot of
 kids want to be here- and it’s really like how do you get them engaged, how do you get
them to get the work done, ultimately. But, you know, going back to the question, I mean
I feel some days I feel really worn out. I’ll go home and it’s just finding those coping
strategies that work for you. I have always been a big reader, so I would just read a book
or layout near the pool or whatever it is, because self-care for you as a teacher is so
important and I did not really understand that, probably until this past year. It was my
first two years of teaching that I was like work, work, work all the time, even when there
were bad days. I would keep working. Finally, it just wears on you and you’re like oh my
gosh I just need to take time for myself. And that’s really important to protect your
longevity of being in the career.

What is going well in school for you?

- Well, I would say there is a lot of things. I think when you see the kids’ progress and/or a
particular kid when their struggling with a unit or a lesson and they have it mastered by
the end of the unit, that’s very rewarding to see. It’s really rewarding to see kids write me
letters and notes from my previous students and they say how much they miss me as a
teacher, or how much they’re going to miss me next year. I had a little girl that was
devastated she was moving onto fourth grade and just it’s really sad. I told her, “Well we
can always be pen pals and I’m right down the hall and whatever you need.” Just that
reassurance part for her was very satisfying for myself too, knowing that I made such an
impact on her life.

What is best about who you are as a teacher?

- I would say I stress social-emotional learning so much and I want to model it myself. I
think it’s hard for teachers to have expectations on students if they’re not modeling it
themselves in the classroom. So, if I expect kids to always be kind to one another, then I
always need to be kind to them. You know, if I expect positive behavior form them, I
need to be positive with my own mindset. And I think I do a really good job of creating a
classroom environment that always has that. I would take my class out for an extra recess
during the school year and they would all choose to play together. The whole class of 22
kids would play a big game of sharks and minnows or they would play a big game on
their playground. Not one kid was ever left out. It was truly a family and that was so cool
to see that I created that learning environment.

What keeps you interested in teaching?

- Oh gosh, there are always things changing with teaching and sometimes it recycles itself.
I think there is always a new group of kids every year and so it’s always different because
of that. You think, “Oh I got this figured out,” and then you get the next group of kids
and they’re completely different from last year. And you’re like, “Okay, I need to rethink
 my classroom management.” This past year my class was really sensitive. They were all
very worried and nervous kids and there was a lot of anxiety. So, how I would go about a
situation of dealing with a problem as a whole class would be different from the year
before that. And just, you can always change up lessons, you can always change up units,
even if you’re teaching the same grade year after year. I think technology makes things
more fun and engaging and trying something new.

Do you implement service learning? What do you do with that? How did it go?
- My class, I have never done that before with a class, but I did coach girls on the run,
which is an after-school program. It was all girls and they’re running each week and
they’re also learning about social skills and confidence and self-esteem. It was a really
awesome program. We did a community service project that was a part of that. It was
really rewarding to see them and how they took initiative to collect the money, to
organize each other’s roles, and how to a part of the project. So, it was cool!

How do you keep students engaged when you notice they are losing interest?
- I think for if it is a particular lesson, sometimes I have honestly scratched a lesson. If I am
at a back table, working on a lesson and it is really boring for them or they aren’t engaged
or they are just tired, I have scratched the lesson and have just done something
completely different. I will say, “Let’s revisit this tomorrow,” or in a couple of days when
they are more ready for this because I don’t ever want to lose instructional time just
because they’re inattentive, so that’s my way of knowing, well either I’m not doing
something right of preparing them or teaching them this so that they’re not ready for this
current lesson, or they’re just bored and instead of wasting time, let’s do something more
productive and come back to it.

Have you tried doing mindfulness in the classroom?

- Yes! So that’s part of the SEL and I would do Mindful Monday, where it was built into
the schedule each week. I have a bunch of yoga cards and things. On class dojo they have
a lot of activities centered around mindfulness and that’s teaching them to be more
present in the moment, but I mean you can teach kids that but it takes a very long time for
kids to understand it and to be… It is a hard skill to master even as an adult, so I think it’s
pretty difficult for kids to be aware of that and self regulate it.

Do you see a change in their behavior afterward?

- Yeah, definitely it’s most helpful for the kids that are worrying all the time like I had that
class this past year that had a lot of anxiety. They were able to use those strategies and
kind of self-regulate a little bit for a moment to know I can do figure 8 breathing or
 whatever it may be. It also really helps the kids who have so much energy and are able to
center their energy and bring it back to the current moment.

What or who inspired you to become a teacher?

- My kindergarten teacher. Actually, something really cool is that she is still my mentor to
this day. We have stayed in contact when I was in high school, I did a similar internship
program as you in her classroom and then when I was in college, I stayed in contact with
her. Yeah, we still go out to lunch now and it’s been fun to tell her about my teaching
experiences and now she is retired and she has so much sympathy. She’s like, “I know
what it’s like, I’ve been there too!” But, she definitely inspired me and I think that… I
hope to be that role model for some of my students too!