oral history

I interviewed a good friend of mine that is in her first year of teaching. She is teaching first grade at a public school in the west suburbs of Chicago. She is 24 years old, and she graduated from the University of Iowa.

Did you always want to be a teacher?
When I was younger I always wanted to be famous. As I got older realized I would make a great teacher. I used to want to teach at the secondary level, but I changed my mind after observing at a high school. I felt the students in high school didn’t really care about much and I just had a better experience with the younger kids. Both of my parents are teachers as well and they both have a ton of fun with it.

How has your experience as a teacher been thus far?
Teaching first grade is just as fun as I thought it was going to be. I love it.

Do you consider yourself lucky to have found a job right out of college?
I definitely am lucky to have gotten hired as quickly as I did. Quite a number of my friends that have graduated with an education major were not as fortunate as me.

What do you think you would be doing if you were not so lucky?
I would definitely be student teaching as much as possible. I would also be frustrated because who knows if I would ever get an opportunity with our economic problems.

Were you nervous?
Nope, I wasn’t nervous one bit! I was anticipating the first day of class since I got hired. I was anxious to get into my own classroom to decorate.

How is your relationship with your students?
My students are very entertaining. There are a wide variety of nationalities in my class which makes things interesting. I have one student who doesn’t speak a lick of English which makes things challenging as well. Luckily I do speak a bit of Spanish so I am able to communicate with him. The kids all get along and I enjoy every single one of them; they all bring something different to the class and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How do you get along with your coworkers?
The staff is great. I have only been here for 2 months, but I feel I have connected to everyone already. I am very easy going and I am definitely a people person so getting along with people is an easy thing to do for me. We have gotten together as a group outside of school a few times already and we had a blast.

Has your social life changed once the school year started?
Well I don't go out nearly as much but I still keep in touch with all of my friends. My priorities have definately been altered a bit. Being a teacher is pretty exhausting and I can't hack going out as often as I used to.

What is your favorite thing about teaching?
I really love when friends and/or family of mine ask me how the students are because I always have a good story to share. My students crack me up everyday and if I get a class as good as this class every year I will never get sick of teaching.