Have you ever wondered why teachers teach? Today, educators from Woodbridge Middle School share their past, present, and future of educating. Teachers have an interesting background. Some teachers had a more indirect path to teaching than others. Teachers also have different styles. Some also have various ways of motivating their students. Teachers are among the most valuable people during childhood. The critical thinking teachers do every day is under-appreciated. Now, why do teachers teach?
What made teachers teach at Woodbridge Middle School?
Mrs. Douglas, an English teacher at WMS, started with a celeb gossip website. After time, writing about celebrities wasn’t her thing. She had a degree in English and Journalism. She started to substitute teach and realized she loved being a teacher.
While Mrs. Douglas discovered her love for teaching because she wasn’t interested in writing about celebrities, some knew from a young age that they wanted to teach.
Ms. Moorjani, a math teacher at WMS, had a different path, where she just knew she wanted to teach.
Mr. Blackmore just feels a connection with his students.
Mr. Blackmore, a science teacher from WMS, feels like he is an 8th grader. He remembers being an 8th grader and loving to do things, and he wants kids to love to do things too.
While Mr. Blackmore had a connection to teaching due to relating to younger people, Mrs. Liastro had a connection to teaching due to her mom.
Mrs. Liastro, a history teacher at WMS, had a deep connection to teaching. She always wanted to be a teacher, but she also wanted to live in New York City. Then her mom passed away in 2008. Her mom was a teacher and when she had her wake, many kids she taught came. She finally got her ‘a-ha moment’ and that if she wanted to do one thing it was to have somebody at the end of her life, say she changed their life. So she went back to school got her degree, and became a teacher.
Do teachers see more or less hard-working students each year?
Mrs. Moorjani thinks “If I try to compare the era, I think the world is more in the STEM field, so I think kids are working more and more hard because they know these are the very important field especially if they want to go into computers or with this AI technology. Everything is all logic and math-based so I think they are becoming more inclined towards that thing especially if they want to work in the back end tool, like in the database or something and they will become inclined towards to get into those and they will work hard for it.”
Mr. Blackmore said, “Different not less, today they are exposed to so many things and somehow they can multi-task, their music and their focus, and they find ways to laugh and giggle, but those little distractions are preventing them from being the hard-working life skills…”
Mrs. Liastro said she thinks it is a mixed bag, sometimes she sees the work ethic in students increasing. Liastro thinks the more reliant we are on technology the more students say “Oh I’ll do my work later when I can play this video game now.” She thinks covid put us in the position of saying “Oh I don’t need to do that.” She thinks we need to get away from technology, so we can be better at doing what’s in front of us.
Why did they choose their subject?
Mr. Blackmore chose science because he “grew up on Lake Erie and I loved fish and I thought that I would be around the water. I studied marine biology at Ohio State, thinking I would be swimming with the dolphins and my students in New Jersey became my dolphins because I didn’t have the skills to develop the PhD the Dr. Blackmore. Dr. Blackmore never arose and without a PhD in marine biology there are not as many opportunities as you would think.” So he chose science which is close to marine biology just in a different setting.
Mr. Blackmore was connected to science at a young age, but so was Mrs. Douglas!
Mrs. Douglas chose a different route, she said, “I have been passionate about reading and writing since I was little. My mom put me into preschool when I was very young. I started reading when I was 3. I used to make books, I would set up a library and I’d make my parents come in and they had to check out books from me. So I’ve LOVED, I’ve always had a passion for reading and writing my whole life.”
Mrs. Douglas discovered her love before middle school, Mrs. Moorjani discovered it IN middle school.
Mrs. Moorjani also had a similar route, it just occurred to her at a different age. She always had love and passion for math. When she was in middle school she started gaining interest in math and chemistry. She ultimately chose math.
Mrs. Liastro always loved history. That was settled quickly for what she wanted to teach.
Mrs. Liastro always liked history. Liastro had the most fun in history classes, she also found the most interest in history. Mrs. Liastro took several history classes in college and when it was time to declare what her major was, she looked at the classes she had taken already and said, “Oh well history actually I really liked that” so she decided to become a history major. She took some boring classes with boring teachers but she also took some cool classes that peaked her interest.
Teachers also change their style daily/yearly, but what do they do when they change?
Mrs. Douglas changes it yearly, “depending on the group I have, there are some students who need a little bit more structure, whereas others have a more handoff approach so you need to get to know your students to kind of adapt your teaching style to that.”
While Mrs. Douglas may change it yearly, Mrs. Liastro changes it daily…
Mrs. Liastro said she thinks “you have to read the room because different groups of students are different one class might be having a great day, and another has a not-so-great day. So I think as a teacher one of the things you need to do is to be flexible and think that if something works in one class it might not work in another class and there is always a way to improve how we teach and try to reach students in different ways. A lot of that is learning from your students and trying to figure out what they need and also talking to some other great teachers and getting ideas from them on what you can do to be better cause I think no matter what you’re doing you can be better.”
How do their teaching styles stand out to others?
Mrs. Liastro tries to be fun and an energetic person. She wants to bring that energy into her classroom. Through experiences, Mrs. Liastro knows Social Studies can be very boring, so she tries to make it as fun as possible. She likes to bring energy, have fun, and make it a place where kids want to be.
Mrs. Liastro and Mrs. Douglas who are best friends, both love using energy and making the class fun.
Mrs. Douglas said she uses a lot of sarcasm in her classroom compared to other teachers, who she thinks might be more strict and straightforward. She likes to be an open-book teacher she thinks this really benefits her students. “If they know who I am they know that I am really there for them and I am not trying to bog them down with work but rather actually to help them to become better people.”
Mr. Blackmore finds himself different to them.
Mr. Blackmore thinks he is weird, “I’m not a traditional teacher. I try to show by example. I try to include my lifestyle in my teaching. If kids understand it they get it but a lot of kids today dont understand where I’m coming from and after 25 years I kind of feel if it doesn’t work anymore which it used to, maybe another form of teaching I need to pursue.”
Mrs. Moorjani prefers to have a good reputation.
Mrs. Moorjani tends to build a good reputation with her students. She wants the students to be open, comfortable, and can ask questions freely without having any hesitation in her classroom.
How do they get their students motivated?
Mrs. Douglas said she tries to level with them and be honest. Douglas is very conscious of the work she gives students, since next year it’s gonna be even more work due to it being half a year long. She finds honesty to be the best policy. She also tries to show students there is a possibility to get their grade up as long as they turn things in, whenever.
Mrs. Douglas likes to be honest, and Mrs. Moorjani likes giving a reward to motivate her students.
Mrs. Moorjani likes to use little candies. She finds her 8th graders to be motivated since they know they will soon be in high school. They have built a habit of becoming motivated on their own.
While, most teachers don’t use candy, Mr Blackmore uses something better than candy… humor!
Mr. Blackmore likes to use his humor, although kids might not get it, he hopes for the ones that do get it, to be motivated. He often finds them to be the most motivated.
What are teacher’s favorite parts of teaching?
Mr. Blackmore loves the challenge. He had a student who struggled this year but did the most amazing work, it brought tears to his eyes. “I guess that’s what my life is really about, right, I married the woman that was the challenge she didn’t even like me and somehow we ended up with a great family”
Mr. Blackmore always found challenge in his life, and Mrs. Liastro loves having a connection with her students.
Mrs. Liastro loves connecting with her students. She believes the connection you have with your students can’t match anything else. Her favorite part is having fun in her classroom and continuing to build those connections.
Conclusion
In the end, teachers have different paths, with unique styles, and ways of helping students want to learn. The biggest step is to learn about the teacher. Understanding is a key element of learning. They teach to make a lasting impact on you. In the end, they are here to improve you. Take a moment to understand where the teacher comes from.
