Behind The Scenes Of Teaching

Chester Street Elementary 

         Have you ever thought about being a teacher with today's challenges? I had the opportunity to interview this teacher named Mrs. Rossi. She is a teacher at Chester Street Elementary and teaches 5th Grade there. There are a lot of challenges in teaching today, some are safety and technology.

        Mrs. Rossi has been a teacher for 15th years now going on her 16th year in this upcoming school year. I asked her how she has liked her job so far, “I love teaching, It is a very rewarding career. I love seeing the light bulbs going off in my students' heads when they understand a concept.” You were able to notice that she was very polite and had a pleasant tone with the students. Another thing when people walk in is that her room is colorful and neat but not overly stimulating. She also has a lot of inspirational posters.

      A lot of teachers have a very different way of teaching but her way was very good. The lesson I watched she used technology with a whiteboard and had students volunteer to use it. She kept the students very involved and no one felt scared to answer because they knew they were in a safe environment. Another thing with technology is I observed that the kids were able to lesson and then use their laptop for a lesson. All the students were given laptops provided by the school. 

Inside The School

    Marissa- “How has technology changed from the beginning and now in your career?” Mrs. Rossi- “Technology has greatly advanced over the last few years. We have gone from everything being paper, pencil, and textbooks to digital copies, apps, and students having their own computers.We were basically forced to learn how to stream teaching into households during the Covid years.” When people walk into the school the school looks very outdated but one thing you can notice is that the technology is up to date in this school.

     Do you think safety is a big thing in schools and do they take it seriously? When visitors walk into this school they cannot walk through without going through a metal detector first. Mrs. Rossi had some thoughts on school safety. “Our school has taken many steps to keep our students safe over the years. We now have metal detectors, constables, and police officers on campus. Although there is always room for improvement, I try to make sure my students come to a safe environment when they enter my classroom. More importantly, I want them to be sure they feel safe." 

Mrs. Rossi Classroom

        You can tell that she kept her students very involved with each lesson. She tried to do different things for students to help them learn.She put them in small groups and they had to work together to solve tasks and do work. ANother thing is she made learning fun because the kids wanted to be there. Nowadays kids have to be forced to go to school, not her kids though.

        The last thing is I asked her if she would give any advice to a new teacher. She responded with “ I would tell any new teacher entering this profession to be sure they stay organized, keep communication open between school and home, Set clear boundaries, and always smile at your students.” Mrs. Rossi said “I cannot see myself doing another career. If I had to do another career, not by choice, I do not think I would feel as rewarded as I do teaching. I always said if you love what you do, it doesn't feel like a job.” It is very clear to say this teacher loves her job and knows what she is doing and does it well.