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What is your favorite memory from your teaching career?
There is no such thing as a favorite memory. There are so many memories that it’s almost turned into an event. What I mean by that is, when we have class inside jokes, and inside laughter, and we have all of this with education, squeezed in, that’s my favorite memory.
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What have you learned from the students over the years?
A couple of good things I’ve learned, some terminology, like bet [and] lit. But really, I’ve learned the importance of having empathy and keeping it relatable. They’ve shown me that these things really do matter. They really do count, and they are effective.
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What have you learned from other teachers throughout your career?
What I learned from other teachers is that there has to be a unified front and bonds and mutual respect for each other, and that we have to support each other in this profession.
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How has Wakefield changed in the time you’ve been here?
I would say that it has not changed. Schools never change. What changes are the things that should really not affect the classroom, like class size and policies. Those always change. It’s important to know that when you come into this profession that you have to relate to students, you have to know your content knowledge, and you’ve got to make it fun. And when you do those things, then you can be an effective teacher.
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If you could go back to your first day of teaching, what advice would you give yourself?
I would tell myself not to wear horizontal striped shirts, and that they’re terrible. when I think back to my first years, I was coaching boys and girls, varsity soccer. I was doing the yearbook. I was doing the newspaper, and I was teaching English. And it was a lot. But I think that’s important. I would tell myself it’s going to be an awesome career. Enjoy it.
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What is one “old school” teaching method you still use to this day?
I have 100% not been fully integrated into the technology world. It seems like it’s always changing. We were supposed to have a Blackboard account. Never did. They got rid of it. I did dive all in on Google Classroom because of COVID, but then the same with Canvas. I just [prefer] the students to take their quizzes and tests on paper. I grade them on paper. Their essays are on paper. It almost eliminates all AI; they have to work and they have to know that it’s up to them. When you give students challenges, they’ll rise to them. I have no doubt about that.
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What is one thing you are going to miss about teaching, and one thing you won’t?
I will 100% miss watching the students learn, and have and be witty, and learn lines, and memorize phrases, and then we use them throughout the year. When they use my own words against me, stuff like that, I love that. I definitely won’t miss getting up at 5:30 a.m. That’s an easy one. 100% easy.
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What was your favorite Spirit Day theme?
I’ve always been a fan of the simplest Spirit Day themes, because the simplest ones are the ones the majority of people can do. So when it’s pajama day, anybody can wear pajamas or sweatpants. They don’t feel excluded. So the simplest ones, I would say my favorite ones, looking back, were pajama day and hat day.
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Is there a passion or hobby you are planning on picking up once you are officially retired?
Fishing, for sure. I have become more aligned with the conservation when it comes to fishing. So we do a lot of shark research tagging, taking blood samples and taking scientists out on the boat. I have to catch the fish, stingrays and sharks, particularly, and then four other species of fish. I [also] plan on taking disadvantaged kids out fishing. I want to start a little program where people that don’t have the [opportunity] to fish or see the ocean can go see it with me.
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How are you going to celebrate your retirement?
I’m going to the beach, and I think my wife’s throwing us a party. But I’m gonna celebrate by continuing my love of teaching. I’m just gonna use a boat instead of a classroom.
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What have you learned from the students over the years?
I have learned to be patient. I’ve learned to be considerate of how [students] experience their learning. So it’s really kid compels, always compels me to consider how they are going to interpret.
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What have you learned from other teachers throughout your career?
A famous saying is “all teachers are thieves”. It’s not a bad thing. It’s [means] we learn how to teach in different ways and better ways from our colleagues.
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How has Wakefield changed in the time you’ve been here?
I came during COVID, so [there has been] a lot of change. Because of the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on students, we lived through and are dealing with the aftermath. Students went from a situation where they may not have been learning anything to getting them into a classroom.
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If you could go back to your first day of teaching, what advice would you give yourself?
I would want to give a note to myself, to take notes and keep a log of what technology you’re using in the classroom.
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What is one “old school” teaching method you still use to this day?
Writing, writing is important. Not entire long essays, you know. So what I’ve done is create a blog called The Daily Amelioration. Ameliorate means to make something better. So when you walk in [to my classroom,] you have to correct a grammatically incorrect sentence. Then we’ll talk about it.
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What is one thing you are going to miss about teaching, and one thing you won’t?
I will miss the challenge of every day. [I won’t miss] how at once it’s uplifting and at the same time it’s very taxing.
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What was your favorite Spirit Day theme?
I like costume day. I’ve dressed up as Fred Flintstone. I have a really good Fred Flintstone outfit.
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Is there a passion or hobby you are planning on picking up once you are officially retired?
Yeah, I like to write for fun. I write mainly nonfiction type stuff, but during the school year, this job is all-consuming. I really don’t have time to write.
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How are you going to celebrate your retirement?
I’m going to celebrate by exercising every day and writing every day.
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What is your favorite memory from your teaching career?
You can’t really pin it down to one. It’s got to be numerous. It would [have to be] relationships I can build with some of these students. I still have people in my phone that I call regularly, or fairly regularly, that I had a good mentor relationship with.
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What have you learned from the students over the years?
Patience is one that [I am still] learning. There are a lot of different learning styles, and it’s hard to bridge across all of them. Somehow, you have to figure out how to weave the fabric and connect the dots, so to speak. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s basically what it is. You can’t get all of them. You try hard, but my big thing has always been, I’ll help you 100 percent, but you have to help yourself first. I tell everybody on the first day of classes that I’m not a babysitter. I have to get students ready for the real world, and I really try my best to do that.
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What have you learned from other teachers throughout your career?
That’s a tough one. I teach such a specialty type of curriculum here, which is not taught anywhere else in the school. Everybody kind of fits and molds into their own style. I always tell the kids that I have two words that will change their lives. That’s your work ethic. If you have a really strong work ethic, you’re going to succeed, and you’ll do very well. If you can understand and bite on it and absorb it, then I did my job, and I win.
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How has Wakefield changed in the time you’ve been here?
The student population. I really think that COVID changed the school atmosphere a lot because obviously, we all stayed home for two years and learned on a computer.
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If you could go back to your first day of teaching, what advice would you give yourself?
I remember turning around, writing something on the board, and saying to myself, “What did I get myself into?” because that first class of that first year was chaotic and loud. It was a handful, and everybody who came in said, “this is a tough class.” I probably would have told myself to try to adopt my teaching style earlier and try to go with the flow a little bit more.
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What is one “old school” teaching method you still use to this day?
Probably going through the textbook. I have my own style where I bring a lot of energy to life with projects, showing them things and telling them stories about my experiences. That’s kind of what I’ve always tried to do.
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What is one thing you are going to miss about teaching, and one thing you won’t?
Well, I’m still going to teach. I’m going to continue teaching at the community college. I think that is a lot of fun for me. The kids are more mature. That’s one thing I’m not going to miss: dealing with the [crazy kids.]
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What was your favorite Spirit Day theme?
Wear your favorite jersey to school. I’m a big hockey fan, and I don’t like wearing it in my class because it’s such a dusty, dirty place. We have the sawdust, the grease and paint. I just don’t want to get the jersey messed up. But when I can do that, I like jersey day.
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Is there a passion or hobby you are planning on picking up once you are officially retired?
I’m going to continue with my woodworking, and I want to restring my guitar and actually learn how to play it. [I also want to] actually finish the book that I’m writing. I have a bunch of things to do.
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What is your favorite memory from your teaching career?
I would have to say that my favorite memory would be the six years that my kids went to school here. My younger son was actually in my AP Language class in his junior year. So that was pretty fun.
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What have you learned from the students over the years?
You’re always gonna be surprised. You always have to be willing to adjust and go with things. Every day is a new start. Every day is a new day to try.
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What have you learned from other teachers throughout your career?
I have become a better teacher because of the teachers that I work with. They’re all amazing. They’re all outstanding. We’re a really good team. We share ideas, we share materials, we inspire each other, we support each other. We vent to each other. All of the things I couldn’t do without.
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How has Wakefield changed in the time you’ve been here?
Technology. It is probably the biggest shift that has continuously changed over the years.
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If you could go back to your first day of teaching, what advice would you give yourself?
The first year was really tough because it was a much larger school than where I had taught before. My children were very, very young, and it’s the only year that I’ve ever taught on a traditional schedule with 6 periods a day instead of a block schedule. So hang in there. I did make it. All the way to retirement.
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What is one “old school” teaching method you still use to this day?
[I prefer] kids [not to] talk when I’m talking. I’m not gonna talk over anybody. My biggest pet peeve is wasting time. Don’t waste my time, and I won’t waste anyone else’s.
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What is one thing you are going to miss about teaching, and one thing you won’t?
I really am going to miss the students. I love them. Every single one of them. I run into old students all the time out in the real world and it’s crazy. I’ll miss my teachers, my coworkers that I see and talk to every single day. I will not miss waking up at 5 a.m. That is the worst out of everything.
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What was your favorite Spirit Day theme?
I will have to say the underground spirit day that teachers did. That was really the best. That was so fun because the students were so confused. That was funny. I enjoyed that as a teacher, being the one to participate.
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Is there a passion or hobby you are planning on picking up once you are officially retired?
I just love reading. So just books. That sounds good.
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How are you going to celebrate your retirement?
I’m sure there will be celebrations, but just figuring out the next step. There are more chapters to come. Just got to figure it out.
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What is your favorite memory from your teaching career?
Working with a student that I’m currently working with. He’s a lot of fun and very interesting.
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What have you learned from the students over the years?
[I’ve learned that] students are willing to take a chance, even when they’re not sure about something, if they can just get a little bit of help from a teacher.
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What have you learned from other teachers throughout your career?
How to deal with students and remain calm when students are upset for whatever reason. Also, learning classroom management techniques from other teachers
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How has Wakefield changed in the time you’ve been here?
I [worked] in middle school for a long time, and I also worked at Wakefield Elementary School. I think with students these days, it’s a lot harder with a lot more pressure from social media. Their attention is directed toward other things, rather than the classroom.
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If you could go back to your first day of teaching, what advice would you give yourself?
Not to take it so seriously, to enjoy the moment.
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What is one “old school” teaching method you still use to this day?
I try to let students solve their own problems as opposed to them saying “I have this issue” and then providing them a solution. Instead, say “what do you think about this situation?” before jumping in and solving the problem for them.
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What is one thing you are going to miss about teaching, and one thing you won’t?
I won’t miss getting up at five o’clock in the morning. I will definitely miss the students and the staff that I work with, who are really wonderful.
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What was your favorite Spirit Day theme?
I usually like the Halloween spirit days. This one time at middle school, every grade was a different color of candy corn. They were supposed to wear the same color as the candy corn. I thought that was kinda cool.
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Is there a passion or hobby you are planning on picking up once you are officially retired?
I will be doing a lot of reading. Doing little projects around the house [such as] arts and crafts. But most of all, reading.
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How are you going to celebrate your retirement?
I’m just going to go home, go out for a nice dinner with my husband, and just relax.
