Hlee Ly Phul: Third Grade ESL Teacher   (view transcript)

Sinat Long: 8th Grade Pre-Algebra Teacher, Rhode Island

I decided to become a teacher because I liked my education courses in college. I had a teacher that told me my writing was not good and that I should not be doing this, but to me it was just like "now I am going to do it."

It was hard in the beginning, then I found out about the career ladder program. I started visiting schools and there was a specific teacher in Norwich that was really great. I did not think I would like math, but after taking a class I liked it. Being a minority, I was basically the only Asian person in the school. I think it is important for Asian persons to become teachers, because there are so few of us. I remember being excited when I saw one Asian teacher in my school.

I think it is important for kids, minority kids, to see people of their culture in a higher status, so they can believe they can do it too. Because most of their parents didn’t finish high school, they will be the first ones to finish high school.

The pre-tests were hard. I am not a person that likes tests, but I pass them. I think that if I did not have anyone supportive of me, I would have quit. My first year teaching… at first teachers would talk to me like I was one of the kids because I was so young, but then the year goes by and they saw how I managed my classroom and they gave me respect.

I enjoy my teaching and sometimes it’s hard in the inner city, but I actually really enjoy teaching in the inner city because I think that’s where the kids need the most help. I like that challenge and try to make a make a difference in someone’s life.

Leslie Taylor: School Improvement Specialist

Before becoming a teacher I was a paraprofessional for 3 years in a public school system. I started working as a paraprofessional in a school for emotional behavior disorder kids. It was very challenging and required a lot of patience.  I eventually moved on and received a transfer to an elementary school where I worked for the next two years.

I continued to work as a paraprofessional as I attended college. I had the motivation and I was determined to become the teacher that I wanted to be, so it was worth it. For me, personally, being in the classroom for those 3 years assisting a certified teacher gave me the opportunity to observe, gave me the opportunity to even practice.

I've been certified to teach now for 9 years. My first class was a first-second grade transitional class where I had second graders who were on a first grade reading level. I then went on to teach kindergarten for many years, the love of my life. In addition, I was also a math coach to 4th and 5th grade students.

I think my experiences as a product of the inner city schools enabled me to share my experiences with my students. I tried to purchase literature that related to my children's experiences living in the inner city. I think that's what pedagogy is all about. Pedagogy is more than teaching. It's about relationships. In order to teach you have to build a relationship with these students, so that's what I set out to do.