School District: Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Carroll High School, Adjunct at Sinclair Community College
Grade you teach: 10–12 and beyond
What is your favorite subject? English (Writing and Literature)
What/Who inspired you to become a teacher? My parents. My mother was a third grade teacher until I was born. My father taught high school English. I never once heard either of them complain about their students or their profession. Teaching is all I ever wanted to do. I have no regrets after teaching high school and community college for 30 + years.
What do you enjoy most about teaching? Leading my students through processes (like writing a research paper) and watching them feel accomplished. Engaging them in critical thinking discussions about literature and persuasive topics. I love to hear/see them think and realize they have confidence in writing and speaking.
What is a memorable experience you’ve had while teaching? I have many. Most of them involve student success and embarrassing myself in front of high school students. I have learned to rejoice and to laugh at myself.
How have you maneuvered online classes and distance learning? Like most of us have done in this pandemic—I have to set a schedule for myself. I was fortunate this past Spring to be in a school which taught by a fixed schedule. We met with each class the same time every day; I took attendance. We taught with use of Go Guardian, Google Meets, flipped learning, use of Google classroom, Blackboard, and more. Of course we missed the face to face connection—but I communicated directly with every student. In my online courses at Sinclair — I worked on these the same time each day. It was not easy as I feel it is harder to teach online than in person.
How can families adapt to be successful during these challenging educational times? Find your own space to study and work if at home. Set a schedule and work in some leisure time off of the computer/devices. Go outside. Be patient with yourself and each other. Hopefully---all of this is temporary. Take it one day at a time and be willing to rework or rethink your routine at any time.
About the Author