For my Community Connection assignment, I wasn’t sure who I wanted to interview at first. I don’t know for sure what I want to do as a career, so I didn’t have a clear idea right away. So, I started thinking about things I like doing. One thing I kept coming back to was being with kids. I babysit lots of kids including my cousins, and a couple Sundays a month I volunteer as a teacher in the Preschool-Kindergarten classroom at my church. So, I reached out to one of my old teachers, Mme Diandra Price!

(I’m in French Immersion, so the beginning of my email to her is in French. I’ll add the English translation underneath the pictures.)

*Hi Mme Price! In grade 9, we have a course called ADL, and we have a project where we need to ask questions to someone who has a job that we are passionate about/interested in. If it’s okay, I have six questions for you about your job.

 

She got back to me quickly. Here’s her response:

 

Can you explain your roles and responsibilities with your current teaching position?

I teach gr. 7/8 at Pitt River Middle. I teach every subject except Career Ed and PE.

What obstacles have you faced to get you where you are today?

I am a trained French Immersion teacher, however, French is not my first language. An obstacle I have faced in my educational training and career is proving myself capable of teaching in French. Another obstacle I have faced is going from being a specialist in high school to becoming a generalist in middle school. It has been a challenge learning to teach all the various subjects at a high level. (gr. 8)

What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?

Advice I would pass on to someone interested in teaching is: DON’T DO IT. (Juuuust kidding!) I would say that it’s important to love learning, to love helping people and to love building relationships with kids if teaching is what you want to do.

Why are you passionate about your job?

I have a heart for kids, particularly at this middle school age (gr 6-8) as they’re in that “awkward” stage of life where they lack confidence and are pretty insecure. I love being able to walk alongside them, calling out their strengths and talents and encouraging them to believe in themselves. Building relationships with students and creating a safe classroom community where differences are respected and celebrated are my passions. Helping students learn that they CAN learn new things I also something that I’m passionate about.

If you could change one things about your job, what would it be?

I would love to have more consistency in my job. I’ve been teaching at Pitt River for seen years… In those seven years I have:

• been a part of 5 different teams
• had 6 different teaching partners
• moved classrooms 5 times
• taught gr 6, 7 and 8
• been a French Immersion and English Core class teacher

What is one characteristic all teachers should have?

A love for kids!

 

What I learned from this interview:

• You can’t always choose what you want to do specifically, especially with teaching. You need to know how to be flexible, and adjust to your circumstances.
• When you’re a teacher, helping students is really what you’re doing. Instead of only grading their assignments, you’re creating a space where they can feel safe. You need patience, kindness and “a love for kids”.
• It’s important to acknowledge your students’ strengths, and help them with their “weaknesses”.
• Reaching out to people you don’t know/people who aren’t in your inner circle can be challenging, but it’s worth it! You can learn so many things from others that can influence your life or inspire you.
• Even when you’re a teacher, you still need to love learning, because we never stop learning!

 

I’m still not 100% sure teaching is what I want to do as my career, but I do think it plays into my passions. I’m glad I got to reach out to a previous teacher of mine, and I learned a lot from this project!