What made you decide to go into teaching?
Teaching is a second career – I was in the marketing, advertising, and public relations field before, and journalism. I enjoy all of those things, but it was never as fulfilling as I wanted it to be. So I decided to go back and try teaching.

The fun part is that I get to use all of that from before. I look at it like my product is in education. I want to not just teach, but to sell the product, and the product is their education. I want them to get excited about their education and about learning new things.

How long have you been teaching?
This is my 11th year. I worked in marketing and PR for about five years, and I took some time off for a few years.

What’s the best part of teaching?
The best part of teaching is the students. I love hanging out with kids all day. They are so vibrant and fun. I love building relationships with them. I love seeing them smile and being a part of their day.

What’s the most challenging part of teaching?
I think the most challenging is the most exciting. My favorite part of any classroom scenario is the light bulb moment – when a kid really understands what I’m saying – when they can really connect the dots and really get it, not just repeat it back to you. The most challenging part is not assuming that they get it – you have to make sure that everyone understands and is on board.

Making sure I pay attention and making sure each individual student gets all of the content that I teach is difficult. I don’t want any of my students to get overlooked; I want to make sure that all of their needs are being met. I feel blessed when I think about that – because the most challenging part is also the part that makes me most excited.

If you could go back and give yourself some advice at the beginning of your career, what would that advice be?
I think I would tell myself that the learning journey is the best part of life. As a new teacher, I felt pressured to know what all of the veteran teachers knew. There was so much to know, and I wanted to know it now, without making any mistakes. But I’ve found that the journey in between, where I don’t know for sure, but eventually I figure it out – I’ve learned to enjoy that journey of making mistakes instead of just wishing I was at the end.

Do you have any, “it’s weird but it works” teaching strategies?
I like to mix learning and play. Something I do – I take traditional games, and I have them correspond to a learning task. I like to do a lot of things where they’re up, they’re moving, and it looks chaotic for someone outside watching. I feel like, for some reason, it sticks in their mind when they do it in a game, and they can apply it to a different situation. I feel like kids learn through play, so I like to do a lot of playing.

What is one thing about teaching that people who are not teachers don’t know?
I think I would want outsiders to understand that teaching today isn’t the same as it used to be. Kids come from all sorts of different life situations and lifestyles. We aren’t teaching just the thing that’s outside our door – the content. We’re teaching the whole child. We’re making sure they have friends, someone to sit with, table manners, basic life skills. We’re teaching those things while we teach the content.

What’s one thing about kids that stays constant?
I’ve had a lot of grades and different ages and I’ve found that if I love and respect them, they’ll want to love and respect others. If I’m kind, they’ll be kind. If I’m excited about learning, they will be excited.

If I model something for them, they will follow. The fun for teachers – if teachers realize their power as role models – is that they can lead the kids in a positive direction.

Do you have anything to add?
I think teaching is the best job in the world. It’s the best profession. Its’ all about the kids – I think that’s it.