Why did you want to teach?
I went through Ozark schools as kindergarten through 12th grade, so I knew I wanted to teach at Ozark. My eighth-grade math teacher, who made me feel so confident and loved, and all the things, (I knew) I wanted to make my students feel that way one day, leaving my math classroom. So, he was kind of the one that, you know, pushed me to go into that field. He made me feel (like) even if I made a mistake, it was okay, or if I didn't understand a problem, he would walk me through it piece by piece. And I didn't have teachers. I don't think that I felt as comfortable with getting those types of step-by-step instructions, whereas with him he was able to make us feel like mistakes are fine. You know, we're human beings. And that was really important for me as a 13-year-old to see, because that's an adult that makes mistakes. It is okay. Whereas before I think I was a little bit more afraid to go up to the board, that was not me. I was not that child, but after that I was fine to do things like that. So, you know those relationships that he built with us (were) really important. I accidentally make mistakes sometimes, and they do catch them, and that's awesome, because if we didn't have that relationship, I don't know that my kids would feel confident enough to tell me, hey, that problem actually is not right.
What does success look like?
The student relationships is the first part. If you don't have that respect, then I mean, the kids aren't going to do the homework. They're not going to come up to the board. They're not going to raise their hand and ask a question in front of the whole class. And I don't have that problem. I mean, homework completion, you know, it gets better towards the end of the year, but they do ask questions, and they do come up and they do ask me to break it down for them if they're not understanding.
What were some lessons you learned in your first year?
I learned that you can't be too nice to start out with because they do realize, okay, I can walk all over this person. And I will admit, I did have a little bit of that. It's really hard when you come in too soft or nice. You've got to have structure, you've got to have rules, you've got to have things that they need to know that they're being held accountable for, and this is why, you always have to tell them why.
If you come in with that and you set that respect and you have those boundaries and you get to know them, it's okay to come in with all of those things because eventually you can, you know, lighten up a little bit and then you have that respect. So, they're not going to walk all over you. In my first year I didn't know that. So, I learned that you need to have more structure, more rules, more of that accountability to come in.
Continuing to learn and creating a good classroom environment.
One thing that I've learned in year three is to not be afraid to ask questions. Like sometimes they'll say, you know, silly things or use those words that, I don't even know what they mean sometimes. But to just ask them, you know, what does that mean? Or, you know, how are you feeling after so and so treated you that way? Or, you know, just not being afraid to kind of be a person of, of, of comfort for them to talk to. I start sharing, you know, stories about when I was a kid and how I relate to them. And they're like, okay, so what I'm feeling right now, all this emotion and all these hormones and all these things that are happening is normal. Miss Geisler went through the same thing. You know, and their frontal lobes are not fully developed, obviously. So, they're learning how to be an adult. I mean, yes, they have to be a teenager first, but they're really learning all these skills, even if they learn nothing in math. They're learning all these skills that are helping them in the real world because this is a transitional age. It is hard. But being that safe space, I think, is something that's so important, at least for me, because I want the kids to feel safe and comfortable and relaxed. I don't know, I just don't want there to be this anxious, oh my gosh, I'm going into this classroom where I don't feel like me and that teacher have a connection, and I just don't want any of my students to feel like that long term goal.
Future goals?
I'd eventually like to be in a school counselor position where I am working more one on one with those, the way that their brain works and things like that. Because that's truly why I went into, you know, this age specifically because their brains, they interest me and I want to connect with them. And I think the counseling position is the safest place in the school. You know, that's the place that you can go to cry and all the things. Not that you can't come to me, but, you know, that's what they're known for. So that's where I'd like to end up.