海角乱伦

My Pathway into the Classroom

One day I took the train from East Flatbush all the way to Columbia University. And there was an ad about the Teaching Fellows program. I saw that, and I was like, 鈥淕ee, there鈥檚 a program that allows you to become a teacher without having to go back and do another bachelor鈥檚 degree.鈥� And I thought about it for a good four or five years, and then, finally, I told my husband, 鈥淚 think I want to change careers.鈥� The Teaching Fellows program at Long Island University was so wonderful. The professors were so beautiful. While we were in the program, they worked with us. They came to our school. They addressed issues we faced. They taught us to advocate for ourselves and how to advocate for our students.

As a Middle School Teacher, I Help Create Problem-Solvers

We wanted to create this really amazing environment where kids in our community can see themselves in any kind of career. This year, we went to the Climate Change Summit, where they announced the changes that we need to make. Our kids started asking about climate change and representing our communities鈥攐n their day off. It鈥檚 amazing to see them there, on that platform, and realizing they have a voice. You don鈥檛 have to accept if somebody calls your country of birth a particular thing. We鈥檙e really into recognizing that the world will change when you have problem solvers. This is their lives. This is their future. This is our future. If you want a community of individuals who are intelligent, a community of people who will vote, who understand the issues, who can read and discern and solve problems, then you have to do it in our schools. Being a teacher, you鈥檙e not just a teacher. You鈥檙e that student鈥檚 mentor and it鈥檚 a huge responsibility. What we say can build them or break them down. As a middle school teacher, I help create problem-solvers

What Should Career Changers Know 海角乱伦 Teaching?

Advice to future teachers is to be forgiving of themselves. There is no perfect lesson. I have spent hours prodding over the differentiation 鈥� I mean do it, it鈥檚 important 鈥� and I thought, 鈥榯his lesson is really fun鈥� and then the kids look at me like, 鈥榬eally? OK.鈥� My enthusiasm about it sells it to them but it wasn鈥檛 what I thought. I鈥檝e done a very simple lesson. I鈥檝e walked in and said, we鈥檙e going to do physical change and chemical change and we are going to cook something. And that turned out to be the most interactive, question-asking, lesson! So forgive yourself if a lesson doesn鈥檛 work.