For those of you who enjoyed reading my “Interview with a Teacher” series in the fall, I’m happy to report that it’s back! I have more teacher interviews coming your way.
For those who are new to my blog and have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a quick summary:
- I taught 7th grade ELA for almost twenty years. Here are some of my stories about teaching.
- Last May, I quit teaching, but I deeply care about the teachers still showing up for their students and want to support them however I can.
- In an effort to help non-teachers understand what this one-of-a-kind job is really like, I started posting interviews with current teachers. Here is a recap of my first ten participants.
Consider yourself caught up!
This round of interviews is going to be a little different. It’s second semester, which means no teacher has time to do anything extra because they’ve already been asked to do extra, plus some more extra. February was always my least favorite month of the school year. I’m not in the classroom anymore, but I still remember how overwhelming this time of year could be, and if I ever forget, I can just re-read this post called “Mid-Year Crisis” from February 2019, in which I eat Girl Scout cookies for dinner and contemplate becoming a stand-up comic while avoiding grading a million papers.
I think it’s important (especially at this time of year) for teachers to share the highs and lows and truths and peculiarities of their job with the world, but it’s also important (especially at this time of year) to respect their time. With that in mind, I’ve cut the interview in half.
The new version is only fifteen questions, eleven of which are easier than taking attendance on the Friday before Winter Break. (Seriously, just count the kids who are here.) They cover the basic stats: subject, grade, number of students, years of teaching, number of Hershey Kisses consumed since the start of February… (Just kidding, that question’s not on there. I do ask some personal things, but the amount of chocolate you eat this time of year is between you and the universe.) The other four questions are simple and open-ended:
- Tell me about your day today.
- What’s the best thing about teaching?
- What’s the hardest thing about teaching?
- What one thing would make your job better?
(I didn’t say they were EASY questions.) This shortened and more open-ended format allows teachers to share as much or as little as they’d like. It’s not about quantity; it’s about honesty. Let’s pull back the curtain and let our friends outside of education take a peek inside.
To the ten teachers who completed the long version of the interview first semester, thank you! And sorry! If you’re feeling jealous of the educators getting the new and improved version, I have great news for you. You can complete the interview AGAIN! Yep! The way we feel about our jobs in September or October is not always how we feel about them in February or March. If you would like to give the world an update, you’re welcome to participate in Round 2 as well. People who participate twice might even earn themselves a little prize. We’ll see. 🏆🥇🌟
The first Round 2 interview will be posted later this week. It comes from a 5th grade teacher in Texas who shows us just how much other stuff is involved with the job besides teaching. You’re going to enjoy it.
I can’t actually post the interview form here because this is the internet, and there are a lot of trolls out there. If you are a current K-12 teacher who would like to be interviewed, just contact me via my blog or email me at cariejuettner@gmail.com or message me on Twitter @CarieJuettner and I’ll send you the link.
Teachers, once again, thank you so much for everything you do. Hang in there. Spring Break will be here before you know it.
Carie Juettner 