Mr.Hippard and the Life of a Teacher Ever wondered what the life of a teacher is like or how they became who they are today? Well now you have the chance to find out. Peter Hippard is a fourth grade teacher at Clarendon Elementary School who has been kind enough to share his journey to becoming a teacher. Schooling Peter Hippard never really started high school off to well. During the first two years of high school he did pretty poorly, he got bad grades and just didn’t too well. In spring break of his junior year though, he went and stayed with his cousin at a university and got a taste of college life. He lived in the dorms and had a blast; his experience that spring break changed his life. From that experience he learned that he really wanted to go to college and he found out in order to do that he would have to start getting better grades and just do a lot better in school. From then on in his high school life, he did a lot better and got better grades. He didn’t really have an idea of a career he wanted to pursue but he did know what college he wanted to go to. He visited the University of California in Santa Barbara and liked what he saw. He then applied for that college and got in. He started college off like any other freshman with all the regular classes. When choosing a major he choose history of public policy. He decided on this major because he chatted a lot with one of his professors and his professor got him interested in this topic. Jobs Before becoming a teacher, Mr.Hippard had several other jobs. One big job that he had was that he worked for an elevator company. If he didn’t become a teacher he thinks this could have been his possible job because he could have moved up in the office. Another job that he had was a pizza deliveryman and he had other jobs like that. The job that changed his life though was when he went to Japan after college to teach English in a school. From this job he got the idea to become a teacher. Becoming a Teacher After that life-changing job in Japan, Peter enrolled into the UC of Berkeley to get a credential in education. During his education there he had to do a program of teacher which is when you get a job to teach in a school so you get a taste of how teaching would actually be. When he was done with that, he didn’t really know where to go from there. His daughter was going to Clarendon, so one day he decided to talk to the principal. He asked the principal to tell him of possible good schools that he should try for. During the conversation, Peter mentioned how he spoke Japanese and the principal then became very interested in him. A teacher was leaving the school because she was having a baby and they were looking for another teacher that could work in the Japanese section of the school. In a sense, Peter got his job out of luck. When he was deciding in what a grade to teach he looked back to what years where the funest to him. He remembered that fourth grade and fifth grade were the funnest for him so he ended up choosing to teach fourth grade. Being a Teacher As a teacher, Mr.Hipard tries to make sure every kid by the end of the year develops skills to grow and be socially adequate. Also he tries to make sure they become good members of society. Besides those things his job entails to keep up with the state standards by making sure they are in his lesson plans. Also in the beginning of the year he has to make short and long term plans. Over the time of his teaching, he has developed a philosophy- to make things as connected to life as possible. What Mr. Hippard likes about teaching is that most kids come from good families and he likes the feeling of helping people. What he doesn’t like about teaching though is that there is not a lot of growth. For example you can't really be promoted, there is nothing you can really look forward to except becoming a principal but that is not something he wants to do. After 10 years of teaching, the thing that inspires him to keep going on though is watching kids grow. The Social Life of a Teacher When Mr.Hipard is away from school, he likes to play guitar, travel, read, exercise and just roaming San Francisco. The thing that he enjoys a lot though is being able to go on vacations with his daughter because they have the same vacation period. At home, he likes to try to keep his job away from his social life. Even though he has to correct papers at home and things like that he likes to keep it separate. No matter how hard he tries though the school and the kids he works with always stays with him. For example when he's shopping, he will still look out for cool things he can buy for class that would be a cool project.
Through Mr.Hipards journey of becoming a teacher and becoming who he is today, he has no regrets. The thing he recommends the most for people who want to be a teacher is to not do it unless you really really like kids.
It all started out with setting my goals towards being successful. I really didn’t know what I was going to do in my future. All I thought about was to succeed in life, make money, and be able to support my family. Who would’ve thought that I would become a legal secretary at an attorney’s office? I certainly had no idea. I’ve always thought about interior designing as a future career because I have a passion for creativity and I’m pretty sure I would be able to stick to it. It’s something I like to do. I was 18 then, still young and learning about what I wanted to work my way towards. It was that usual transition in life that everyone goes through, from school going on to career life. That eager yet undefined feeling of what you will accomplish later in life. It was my friend’s father that led me to discover an opportunity; this opportunity that made me get my current job. Of course it wasn’t an easy task. My friend’s father made my friend and me apply to take a test at Civil Service Department to see if I qualify for a position that dealt with Human Resources. It wasn’t just this test I had to take I had to take college courses to prepare my self. Before I became a secretary at the attorney’s office, I worked at the General Hospital keep track of patient’s x-ray files. Then I moved on to a job at City Hall where I had to take care of the records of citizen’s marriage. In the end I got this job, legal secretary at the districts attorney’s office. Most jobs that I’ve worked with are similar and they dealt with record management. I believe that it’s hard to settle for one job because there are always career changes throughout one’s life. When I first started working at the office everything seemed like a mess. I started in a Record Room where there were only two employees, when in fact I needed 6 for the help. The Record Room contains many files, which it refers the information of what crime a person committed, and boxes & cabinets for filing. It was the generation when technology began slowly evolving. Everything was behind, there were no computers and technology wasn’t advanced. There was poor time management, everything seemed off schedule. It took quite awhile before the office supplies were updated. The experiences that I learned from working at this office are that I learned more about the political campaigns. I gained knowledge with working along with other diversities. During a usual workday I feel good about my day. I feel good because the jobs aren’t complicated and things can be repetitive so I know what to do. Everything dealt with paperwork. Throughout my workday, I am expected to generate/type complaints, look through motion compilations, and doing dictions/ transcribe during the work hours. I wanted this job because it had good pay, and it was a supervisory job, which is something I like doing also. My future goals are to buy 2 condos, and be able to retire at age 55. Becoming a probation officer would be a goal because for probation officers you can retire at a higher cost because it has good pay. If you are interested in applying and working here in the office it would be best to finish your school, increase your typing speed and keep a certificate that proves your ability and that you qualify for the position you wanted. Currently working as a legal secretary isn’t a relaxing job. I’ve worked for about 17 years at the office, since 1990. The things that I am responsible for doing are typing up complaints, generate through courts to retain defendants and supervise students for their work experiences. I have to say that the reasons why I continue to work at the office or what inspires me are the new experiences and challenges that I gain and money. Everyday is a new experience for me because everyday is different. I would’ve chosen to become an interior designer instead, but the opportunity of being a legal secretary came first and it turned out well. As people are still young they should take the advantage of working hard, staying focused, remembering their goals and keeping them in mind. Don’t settle and permanently stay in one spot because you won’t be able to learn new experiences and explore. One last thing is to always believe in yourself, “Believe & you shall receive.” From having this job I am thankful for the good pay I get and I enjoy working at the attorney’s office. But there are times when I feel like I am up and ready for a new challenge in life whether it’s getting a new job or moving on.
I didn’t start studying to be a teacher earlier in college. I was studying Business and was an undergraduate. During this time, I tutored kids, helping them with their homework. Halfway through studying Business, I stopped because I hated it. I then decided to become a teacher because I didn’t really have any interest during college. What interests me to work with kids is that there are new set of problems and situations every year. Every year I get new kids and there are new problems and situations I will have to deal with. Kids are never the same every year. Most of the time I get really nice kids, but once in awhile I have to deal with evil kids. In order to become a teacher, you’ll have to go through some kind of teaching education. You either have to get a Bachelor degree in a single-subject or take Liberal Arts classes. I had to go through a test called AMSAT to be tested to see if I knew the subjects because I didn’t have a degree for teaching. I first started as a teacher’s assistant helping out in a 3rd grade class. And my first time teaching was teaching 4th graders and then I started to teach 5th graders. I kept going back and forth in teaching 4th and 5th graders until I stopped and just taught 5th graders. The first year I taught was in 1994. During my first year of teaching, I was overwhelmed. It was tiring and there was a lot of work to be done. When I got home after a day of teaching, I didn’t feel like doing anything, but sleep because it was so tiring. I also lost my voice during the first week of teaching. But as the years go by, it got better. Some challenges I faced during my first year of teaching were classroom management because the kids were rowdy. I also didn’t have a teacher’s credential, but I had an emergency credential. Dealing with parents were also a challenge I’ve faced because parents always think it’s the schools’ and teachers’ fault. They blame us for everything. I communicate with kids pretty well. I give them work straight as it is instead of making it all pretty and fancy because I think my kids are old enough where they don’t need it to be all pretty and fancy like the lower grades do. They are old enough to understand without making the work all nice. When I handle disruptive kids, I tell them and remind them that they are being disruptive. I sometimes stand next to them and try to keep them from disturbing others. I try to have them stay in the room and not kick them out because if I kick them out, they will miss what is being taught in class. Sometimes they are being very disruptive and I would need to call their parents to tell them about it. But usually, the kids would give up being disruptive before having the need to call their parents. Helping individual kids that are behind are up to them. They need to speak up about it if they need help catching up. If they ask for help I would keep them in for recess or afterschool for a tutoring session. But I believe that the kids should go out during recess to socialize and gain some energy. I talk to teachers in the beginning of the year and throughout the school year to plan lessons and to check out if there are some special and fun kinds of lessons to teach and do with the kids. When I plan lessons for myself as a reference, I don’t make it as detail because I already know what I need to teach and say. But when there are substitute teachers, I usually make it detailed, so it tells them what they should teach my class about. I usually divide the lessons in three chunks, like from morning to before recess, after recess to before lunch, and after lunch to before school end. I like to plan out that the kids do reading and writing in the morning and science in the afternoon. A recent challenge that I’ve faced was that before Ivy came to help me out in the class, I had this kid that was supposed to be in special education instead of the regular education. He was a disruptive bully and always arguing and talking back to the adults, like the principal and me. He had basic knowledge of what was being taught in class and wasn’t up to the standard of all the other kids in the class. What I dislike about teaching is the paperwork, writing report cards, faculty meetings, parent teacher conferences, and non-supportive parents. What I like about teaching is that you don’t have to sit around all day long, and there are new set of situations and problems every year. Well, recently I have been thinking about teaching middle school. Maybe a single-subject, like math. Just not lower grades because then I would have to laugh at my own jokes.
Marc Simons first got interested in photography because his friend had a black and white darkroom. This was really what started it all. He built his own darkroom in his basement and started using his parent’s box camera. After a while he saved up enough money to get a 35 mm camera. This was what he considered his hobby. Usually this involved pictures of his family, friends, and neighborhood. He had become very interested in taking photographs and developing that at 13. At first, he just did it as something fun that he would like to do. But once he entered high school he started to consider having a job as a photojournalist. When he first entered college, he went to the University of Illinois. After a while, he transferred to the University in Chicago for photography. After a few years there, he transferred to Columbia College which is a visual arts school. His first job in photography was working at a photo lab and learned a lot more about color theory than he did at school. After a while working there he saw the work of commercial studio photographers and got interested in the work. He decided to get a job as an assistant at a photography studio. At the studio he did a lot of the same work that I did. He built sets, set up and moved lights, and painted. He learned a lot at this job. He spent some time at various studios and jobs, and started building a portfolio. He decided he wanted to be a photographer, but first he got a job as a junior photographer at a photography studio. After a while, he quit and got a job as a real photographer at a studio. After a while working there he decided to start his own studio. One of the things he likes the most about being a photographer is being able to create images and through a process realize ideas and have them come to life. What he doesn’t like is marketing him, and bugging people for work. It’s a very competitive field and he says people think it has an aura of glamour, and a lot of people want to do it because its fun. If he could change one thing about his job, he would make it so he could get out of the studio more often.
Michele Hunnewell, was born and raised in San Francisco. She attended Lowell High School, Cal Polly and UC Berkeley. She first attended Cal Polly to become a veterinarian but she realized her educational attributes did not include the necessary natural grasp of mathematics. She then transferred to UC Berkley and got her English Major. Before the Marine Mammal Center, Michele was a systems analyst for a major health care provider. Once she was laid off she began volunteering. Michele has been a member of the Marine Mammal Center since 1980. She has been volunteering for nearly 13 years, seven of those years as Supervisor, three as Assistant Supervisor. All the animal care knowledge she has she learned at the Marine Mammal Center, including husbandry and certain medical procedures as well as the science and biology of the species we treat. Her responsibilities in these roles include animal care, coordinating husbandry efforts and leading a crew of other volunteers in successfully carrying out the veterinary staff medical and husbandry instructions. When I asked Michele how she feels about working at the Marine Mammal Canter, she responded, “It is very rewarding. It feels like you can make the world a better place; and that’s what motivates everyone who volunteers here.” When I asked her what were some negatives about working here, she said, “It’s always very sad when you lose an animal. Just today you saw how sad everyone was when Darla died.” Sure enough I saw a lot of the crew crying. I was touched myself from the loss and the sad emotions which enveloped the center. When I continued to ask Michele questions, she proceeded talking about one season in 2003, when all of the animals were dieing. “It was one of the most shocking and emotionally painful years I and the most of the crew have ever had to face.” After seeing such sad remembrance I concluded the interview. Michele is currently unemployed working at the Marine Mammal Center as Supervisor for Wednesday Day Crew Topside (elephant seals, fur seals, California sea lions), and Assistant Supervisor, Thursday Day Crew, Harbor Seals. She is living in S.F. with her spouse, two dogs, one cat and a fish tank.
On Wednesday I interviewed my mentor, and I asked him about how he became a teacher, and reason why he wanted to be a teacher. We kind of talked about his struggles he had been through during teaching kids. That gave me more idea of how it is like being a teacher and what are the problem am I going to face if I decided to become a math teacher, and how can I avoid them.
Mr. Strom was a good student in high school, he had good grades and he graduate from high school on time. During his senior year, he still didn’t know what major he should study in college. He was too confused to choose only one major out of hundreds different majors. He was sort of interesting of being a math teacher, so than he was a teacher assistant at elementary school for a little while. He thought it was great and fun working with kids. While he was there, he made a good relationship with the kids, and most of the kids liked him because he was being nice to them, and he thought if he will become a teacher, he would be the kids’ favorite teacher if he will be nice to them.
So after he experienced how it is like being a teacher, and he knew that teacher have a big responsibility, like working with kids, standing front of the class and have to make sure everybody in class has to understand and do their work, and keep them on track, he finally decided to become a teacher. So in order for him to become a teacher, he was in college for 4 years, and the reason why he wanted to become a math teacher specifically was because he felt he’s better at teaching math, and teach kids how to solve problems, and also it won’t take him that long to prepare the lesson and it is less work.
When he first started teaching, he was teaching 3rd grade. He was confused, unorganized, and he didn’t know what’s the best way to teach the kids especially they were all in a different level, so he had to make sure every student in class understands before he moves on. But even though he was struggling in the beginning, he enjoyed it, and luckily 3rd grade was a lot better compare to any other grades. 3rd grade was the grade level he wanted to teach before he started teaching.
One of the most important things he experienced when he first started teaching was when he was being very nice to kids, and he was trying to be the best teacher in the school, and to be friendly with his student as possible, but I didn’t work because kids didn’t give him the respect he supposed to get from them. Kids were playing around during class, talking, and not paying attention. But than he acted more like a teacher to them, he cared less about being the kids’ favorite teacher because he would rather kids to respect him and pay attention during class and understand than being the coolest teacher in the school.
The recent challenges he’s facing rite now are difficult student, and his child. What I mean by difficult student is that some student who are loud, talkative, or student who refuse to do work. It seems like it’s a small problem, but it’s a big problem because these type of students distract other student by talking to other student, or they could be bad influence. Or sometimes the whole class gets punished just because of one kid. They way he’s solving this problem is to talk to them individually, or tell keep them during lunch, provide them from anything they like.
Sometimes it’s hard for him to make sure that every student in the class understands when there is kid that are behind, or can’t understand very quickly. In these kinds of situations Mr. Strom try to focus on them by work with them in a small group, or if he has volunteers or assistant to work with them individually, so that way he can move on.
Mr, Strom spends 1 hour after school to prepare and organize his lesson for next class using books that he’s given from the school. And what’s interesting is that sometimes he talks to other teacher form the same school, or form another school and discuss the problems that they all having and try to solve them. Or they talk about what type of lesson should they teach, or try to focus on. And what’s interesting about him that he doesn’t only teach kids from the traditional books, he also teach them problems they can use in real life.
Even though he has a lot of struggles, and difficulties, he still loves his job, and loves working with kids, and enjoys it, and he feels his work is nothing compares to other people, he’s very comfortable with his job, but he doesn’t want to be a teacher for the rest of his life. But he’s not thinking about it yet. The only word that comes to my mind when I think of Mr. Strom is “confident”
Daniel Fazio is my mentor, at San Francisco California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). He is the manager of the Cath Lad. As being the manager of the Cath Lad he’s has a number of duties to attended to. Like Daniel is the person that makes sure things are done on time and done correctly. He’s the one that puts out all the fires that go on. He’s the guy to come to when staff members are having issues going on in or outside the Cath Lab. He manages the budget that his department has to stay within. Daniel answers hundreds upon hundreds of emails. Creating policies/ setting up the agenda of the week is also apart of his job description to sum it all up Daniel is also considered to be the glue of the department. Obviously, as a child Daniel never dreamt of becoming the manager of a Cath Lab. In college he majored in Medicine and Biology, but he never end up finishing college. Instead he wanted to pursue in radiology, by becoming an X-Ray technician. So he went to a number of class which intern he graduated from in becoming an X-Ray technician. Right after graduating from X-Ray school he was immediately put into (CPMC’s) Cath Lad department. After 5 years of working in the Cath Lad he felt he was qualified to manage the whole department. Daniel obtained his position as the manager of the CPMC Cath Lab. He’s has been working there for about 9 years now. Many of the problems that he encounters are with the Nurses. Since he did not get his nurse credentials, many of the other Nurses don’t want to be told what to do. Another group that can be complicated at times is the veteran staff, since Daniel is very young; many of veterans want to impose their ideas and what they think is the right thing to do to him. Daniel believes the best tool to us in these situations is communication. It is key to keeping the department strong, if he explains his points as well as listens to other’s points and stays firm on what’s to be expected, then, he is keeping things on track and solving problems. Daniel in general is an awesome person; he cares about the things that go on in and out side the hospital. He makes sure that things a done right, and appreciates each and everyone of his staff member. Daniel stated if he could work at any fantasy job in the world, he would want to be the grounds keeper to the Giants Dugout.
1) How long have you been teaching? I have been teaching for 4 years. 2) Have you always wanted to be a teacher? Well i wanted to become a teacher during my second year of college, I did tutoring projects with children, i was doing a science major. I had done a program with children called Project Read and another called Watz in L.A. I went to UCLA college where i tutored at a Recreation Center doing 1 on 1 tutoring with kids. My mother is a techer and she showed me that kids needed help and i want to help those types of kids. I noticed that kids do need attention. 3) Would you trade teaching for any other job, if asked? no i wouldnt, i did think about it but no, I see myself as being a teacher. My mom is a teacher and i saw how i wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to teach not because of the pay but because of the kids. i wanted to show the bigger picture witch was helping the kids learn. I say you live for a certain amount of time so you should make a difference while your alive. I saw how my mom was changing the lives of the children that she was working with, i wanted that same feeling of change. I also saw how there was great discipline in my mother teaching and i wanted to show that same amount of discipline as well. 4) Are you happy being a teacher? yes im happy. I have had some hard days pretty much every day. My first year of teaching was really hard. I used to go home and cry and i would sometimes have nightmares but then the next day i felt better and happy just to be a teacher. when im a teacher it feels like i can be creative with art teachings whenever i want and that makes me happy to be a teacher as well as knowing that the children are actually learning from my teaching. 5) How has teaching helped you to interact with others? it's helped me to learn how to deal with different learning and behavior styles, and learn how to address different situations because there are certain ways you can and have to talk to others without making them feel offended. 6) When you teach do you learn things also? yes i do, i taught the same curriculum for 4 years and and i have learned how to actually teach it better and better with each passing year. All the things i learn i bring into my teachings. 7) Do you feel that you've grown into a stronger person by being a teacher? yes i have proven that i can get through the school years and solve problems very effectively, i have grown and learned allot from colleauges as well as the kids i teach. Getting help from others i finally accepted that i always wanted to do everything on my own. Collaborating with colleauges and others are much better than doing it all alone. 8) Do you feel like you actually impacted a younger childs life by things you've said or done during your career of teaching? yes i think that i do everytime that i teach kids. some students have said that they liked and enjoyed my class/teachings. I believe that shows the impact that i had on there lives through teaching them. 9) How has teaching in an elementary school showed you different ways of life? its taught me to take things a day at a time, be patient, and while im teaching noboy is perfect and that i cant always loose my temper when something goes wrong and it doesnt go the way i really want it too. I had to realize that everybody makes mistakes and that life is a learning experience. 10) Have you aver wished that you were never a teacher? sometimes i have but eventually i came back to reality. the only thoughts i have had were that i was rich and i didnt have to work at all, but i wouldnt trade teaching for anything else. 11) What did you study in college that went towards your teaching career? No nothing that i actually studied in college went towards my teaching career. didnt have an education major only an education minor. I took science then switched to teaching really late. Studied classical civilization major and latin minor. My latin teacher in high school encouraged me to be a latin minor and to be a teacher i allways felt that he had so much knowledge and so much to give and i wanted to have that to so i became a teacher, as well as the influence from the clubs (mentoring, tutoring) that i was a part of went toward me becoming a teacher. 12) How is teaching now different than it was when you first started teaching? well now i know the curriculum better and i know how to teach it correctly. at first i was confused but after years of teaching it I've got it down. 13) If you werent teaching right now, what do you think you would be doing? i would be home with my baby. I'd be a fulltime stay at home mom so i can be with my 3 month old baby untilk he gets to pre school.
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Mr.Hippard and the Life of a Teacher
Ever wondered what the life of a teacher is like or how they became who they are today? Well now you have the chance to find out. Peter Hippard is a fourth grade teacher at Clarendon Elementary School who has been kind enough to share his journey to becoming a teacher.
Schooling
Peter Hippard never really started high school off to well. During the first two years of high school he did pretty poorly, he got bad grades and just didn’t too well. In spring break of his junior year though, he went and stayed with his cousin at a university and got a taste of college life. He lived in the dorms and had a blast; his experience that spring break changed his life. From that experience he learned that he really wanted to go to college and he found out in order to do that he would have to start getting better grades and just do a lot better in school. From then on in his high school life, he did a lot better and got better grades.
He didn’t really have an idea of a career he wanted to pursue but he did know what college he wanted to go to. He visited the University of California in Santa Barbara and liked what he saw. He then applied for that college and got in. He started college off like any other freshman with all the regular classes. When choosing a major he choose history of public policy. He decided on this major because he chatted a lot with one of his professors and his professor got him interested in this topic.
Jobs
Before becoming a teacher, Mr.Hippard had several other jobs. One big job that he had was that he worked for an elevator company. If he didn’t become a teacher he thinks this could have been his possible job because he could have moved up in the office. Another job that he had was a pizza deliveryman and he had other jobs like that. The job that changed his life though was when he went to Japan after college to teach English in a school. From this job he got the idea to become a teacher.
Becoming a Teacher
After that life-changing job in Japan, Peter enrolled into the UC of Berkeley to get a credential in education. During his education there he had to do a program of teacher which is when you get a job to teach in a school so you get a taste of how teaching would actually be. When he was done with that, he didn’t really know where to go from there. His daughter was going to Clarendon, so one day he decided to talk to the principal. He asked the principal to tell him of possible good schools that he should try for. During the conversation, Peter mentioned how he spoke Japanese and the principal then became very interested in him. A teacher was leaving the school because she was having a baby and they were looking for another teacher that could work in the Japanese section of the school. In a sense, Peter got his job out of luck. When he was deciding in what a grade to teach he looked back to what years where the funest to him. He remembered that fourth grade and fifth grade were the funnest for him so he ended up choosing to teach fourth grade.
Being a Teacher
As a teacher, Mr.Hipard tries to make sure every kid by the end of the year develops skills to grow and be socially adequate. Also he tries to make sure they become good members of society. Besides those things his job entails to keep up with the state standards by making sure they are in his lesson plans. Also in the beginning of the year he has to make short and long term plans. Over the time of his teaching, he has developed a philosophy- to make things as connected to life as possible.
What Mr. Hippard likes about teaching is that most kids come from good families and he likes the feeling of helping people. What he doesn’t like about teaching though is that there is not a lot of growth. For example you can't really be promoted, there is nothing you can really look forward to except becoming a principal but that is not something he wants to do. After 10 years of teaching, the thing that inspires him to keep going on though is watching kids grow.
The Social Life of a Teacher
When Mr.Hipard is away from school, he likes to play guitar, travel, read, exercise and just roaming San Francisco. The thing that he enjoys a lot though is being able to go on vacations with his daughter because they have the same vacation period. At home, he likes to try to keep his job away from his social life. Even though he has to correct papers at home and things like that he likes to keep it separate. No matter how hard he tries though the school and the kids he works with always stays with him. For example when he's shopping, he will still look out for cool things he can buy for class that would be a cool project.
Through Mr.Hipards journey of becoming a teacher and becoming who he is today, he has no regrets. The thing he recommends the most for people who want to be a teacher is to not do it unless you really really like kids.
"What it Takes to Succeed-Mentor's POV"
It all started out with setting my goals towards being successful. I really didn’t know what I was going to do in my future. All I thought about was to succeed in life, make money, and be able to support my family. Who would’ve thought that I would become a legal secretary at an attorney’s office? I certainly had no idea. I’ve always thought about interior designing as a future career because I have a passion for creativity and I’m pretty sure I would be able to stick to it. It’s something I like to do.
I was 18 then, still young and learning about what I wanted to work my way towards. It was that usual transition in life that everyone goes through, from school going on to career life. That eager yet undefined feeling of what you will accomplish later in life.
It was my friend’s father that led me to discover an opportunity; this opportunity that made me get my current job. Of course it wasn’t an easy task. My friend’s father made my friend and me apply to take a test at Civil Service Department to see if I qualify for a position that dealt with Human Resources. It wasn’t just this test I had to take I had to take college courses to prepare my self.
Before I became a secretary at the attorney’s office, I worked at the General Hospital keep track of patient’s x-ray files. Then I moved on to a job at City Hall where I had to take care of the records of citizen’s marriage. In the end I got this job, legal secretary at the districts attorney’s office. Most jobs that I’ve worked with are similar and they dealt with record management. I believe that it’s hard to settle for one job because there are always career changes throughout one’s life.
When I first started working at the office everything seemed like a mess. I started in a Record Room where there were only two employees, when in fact I needed 6 for the help. The Record Room contains many files, which it refers the information of what crime a person committed, and boxes & cabinets for filing. It was the generation when technology began slowly evolving. Everything was behind, there were no computers and technology wasn’t advanced. There was poor time management, everything seemed off schedule. It took quite awhile before the office supplies were updated. The experiences that I learned from working at this office are that I learned more about the political campaigns. I gained knowledge with working along with other diversities.
During a usual workday I feel good about my day. I feel good because the jobs aren’t complicated and things can be repetitive so I know what to do. Everything dealt with paperwork. Throughout my workday, I am expected to generate/type complaints, look through motion compilations, and doing dictions/ transcribe during the work hours. I wanted this job because it had good pay, and it was a supervisory job, which is something I like doing also.
My future goals are to buy 2 condos, and be able to retire at age 55. Becoming a probation officer would be a goal because for probation officers you can retire at a higher cost because it has good pay.
If you are interested in applying and working here in the office it would be best to finish your school, increase your typing speed and keep a certificate that proves your ability and that you qualify for the position you wanted.
Currently working as a legal secretary isn’t a relaxing job. I’ve worked for about 17 years at the office, since 1990. The things that I am responsible for doing are typing up complaints, generate through courts to retain defendants and supervise students for their work experiences.
I have to say that the reasons why I continue to work at the office or what inspires me are the new experiences and challenges that I gain and money. Everyday is a new experience for me because everyday is different. I would’ve chosen to become an interior designer instead, but the opportunity of being a legal secretary came first and it turned out well.
As people are still young they should take the advantage of working hard, staying focused, remembering their goals and keeping them in mind. Don’t settle and permanently stay in one spot because you won’t be able to learn new experiences and explore. One last thing is to always believe in yourself, “Believe & you shall receive.”
From having this job I am thankful for the good pay I get and I enjoy working at the attorney’s office. But there are times when I feel like I am up and ready for a new challenge in life whether it’s getting a new job or moving on.
I didn’t start studying to be a teacher earlier in college. I was studying Business and was an undergraduate. During this time, I tutored kids, helping them with their homework. Halfway through studying Business, I stopped because I hated it. I then decided to become a teacher because I didn’t really have any interest during college.
What interests me to work with kids is that there are new set of problems and situations every year. Every year I get new kids and there are new problems and situations I will have to deal with. Kids are never the same every year. Most of the time I get really nice kids, but once in awhile I have to deal with evil kids.
In order to become a teacher, you’ll have to go through some kind of teaching education. You either have to get a Bachelor degree in a single-subject or take Liberal Arts classes. I had to go through a test called AMSAT to be tested to see if I knew the subjects because I didn’t have a degree for teaching.
I first started as a teacher’s assistant helping out in a 3rd grade class. And my first time teaching was teaching 4th graders and then I started to teach 5th graders. I kept going back and forth in teaching 4th and 5th graders until I stopped and just taught 5th graders.
The first year I taught was in 1994. During my first year of teaching, I was overwhelmed. It was tiring and there was a lot of work to be done. When I got home after a day of teaching, I didn’t feel like doing anything, but sleep because it was so tiring. I also lost my voice during the first week of teaching. But as the years go by, it got better.
Some challenges I faced during my first year of teaching were classroom management because the kids were rowdy. I also didn’t have a teacher’s credential, but I had an emergency credential. Dealing with parents were also a challenge I’ve faced because parents always think it’s the schools’ and teachers’ fault. They blame us for everything.
I communicate with kids pretty well. I give them work straight as it is instead of making it all pretty and fancy because I think my kids are old enough where they don’t need it to be all pretty and fancy like the lower grades do. They are old enough to understand without making the work all nice.
When I handle disruptive kids, I tell them and remind them that they are being disruptive. I sometimes stand next to them and try to keep them from disturbing others. I try to have them stay in the room and not kick them out because if I kick them out, they will miss what is being taught in class. Sometimes they are being very disruptive and I would need to call their parents to tell them about it. But usually, the kids would give up being disruptive before having the need to call their parents.
Helping individual kids that are behind are up to them. They need to speak up about it if they need help catching up. If they ask for help I would keep them in for recess or afterschool for a tutoring session. But I believe that the kids should go out during recess to socialize and gain some energy.
I talk to teachers in the beginning of the year and throughout the school year to plan lessons and to check out if there are some special and fun kinds of lessons to teach and do with the kids. When I plan lessons for myself as a reference, I don’t make it as detail because I already know what I need to teach and say. But when there are substitute teachers, I usually make it detailed, so it tells them what they should teach my class about. I usually divide the lessons in three chunks, like from morning to before recess, after recess to before lunch, and after lunch to before school end. I like to plan out that the kids do reading and writing in the morning and science in the afternoon.
A recent challenge that I’ve faced was that before Ivy came to help me out in the class, I had this kid that was supposed to be in special education instead of the regular education. He was a disruptive bully and always arguing and talking back to the adults, like the principal and me. He had basic knowledge of what was being taught in class and wasn’t up to the standard of all the other kids in the class.
What I dislike about teaching is the paperwork, writing report cards, faculty meetings, parent teacher conferences, and non-supportive parents. What I like about teaching is that you don’t have to sit around all day long, and there are new set of situations and problems every year.
Well, recently I have been thinking about teaching middle school. Maybe a single-subject, like math. Just not lower grades because then I would have to laugh at my own jokes.
Marc Simons first got interested in photography because his friend had a black and white darkroom. This was really what started it all. He built his own darkroom in his basement and started using his parent’s box camera. After a while he saved up enough money to get a 35 mm camera. This was what he considered his hobby. Usually this involved pictures of his family, friends, and neighborhood. He had become very interested in taking photographs and developing that at 13. At first, he just did it as something fun that he would like to do. But once he entered high school he started to consider having a job as a photojournalist. When he first entered college, he went to the University of Illinois. After a while, he transferred to the University in Chicago for photography. After a few years there, he transferred to Columbia College which is a visual arts school. His first job in photography was working at a photo lab and learned a lot more about color theory than he did at school. After a while working there he saw the work of commercial studio photographers and got interested in the work. He decided to get a job as an assistant at a photography studio. At the studio he did a lot of the same work that I did. He built sets, set up and moved lights, and painted. He learned a lot at this job. He spent some time at various studios and jobs, and started building a portfolio. He decided he wanted to be a photographer, but first he got a job as a junior photographer at a photography studio. After a while, he quit and got a job as a real photographer at a studio. After a while working there he decided to start his own studio.
One of the things he likes the most about being a photographer is being able to create images and through a process realize ideas and have them come to life. What he doesn’t like is marketing him, and bugging people for work. It’s a very competitive field and he says people think it has an aura of glamour, and a lot of people want to do it because its fun. If he could change one thing about his job, he would make it so he could get out of the studio more often.
my interview will be on here next wednesday!!!
Michele Hunnewell, was born and raised in San Francisco. She attended Lowell High School, Cal Polly and UC Berkeley. She first attended Cal Polly to become a veterinarian but she realized her educational attributes did not include the necessary natural grasp of mathematics. She then transferred to UC Berkley and got her English Major.
Before the Marine Mammal Center, Michele was a systems analyst for a major health care provider. Once she was laid off she began volunteering. Michele has been a member of the Marine Mammal Center since 1980. She has been volunteering for nearly 13 years, seven of those years as Supervisor, three as Assistant Supervisor. All the animal care knowledge she has she learned at the Marine Mammal Center, including husbandry and certain medical procedures as well as the science and biology of the species we treat. Her responsibilities in these roles include animal care, coordinating husbandry efforts and leading a crew of other volunteers in successfully carrying out the veterinary staff medical and husbandry instructions.
When I asked Michele how she feels about working at the Marine Mammal Canter, she responded,
“It is very rewarding. It feels like you can make the world a better place; and that’s what motivates everyone who volunteers here.”
When I asked her what were some negatives about working here, she said,
“It’s always very sad when you lose an animal. Just today you saw how sad everyone was when Darla died.”
Sure enough I saw a lot of the crew crying. I was touched myself from the loss and the sad emotions which enveloped the center. When I continued to ask Michele questions, she proceeded talking about one season in 2003, when all of the animals were dieing.
“It was one of the most shocking and emotionally painful years I and the most of the crew have ever had to face.”
After seeing such sad remembrance I concluded the interview. Michele is currently unemployed working at the Marine Mammal Center as Supervisor for Wednesday Day Crew Topside (elephant seals, fur seals, California sea lions), and
Assistant Supervisor, Thursday Day Crew, Harbor Seals. She is living in S.F. with her spouse, two dogs, one cat and a fish tank.
On Wednesday I interviewed my mentor, and I asked him about how he became a teacher, and reason why he wanted to be a teacher. We kind of talked about his struggles he had been through during teaching kids. That gave me more idea of how it is like being a teacher and what are the problem am I going to face if I decided to become a math teacher, and how can I avoid them.
Mr. Strom was a good student in high school, he had good grades and he graduate from high school on time. During his senior year, he still didn’t know what major he should study in college. He was too confused to choose only one major out of hundreds different majors. He was sort of interesting of being a math teacher, so than he was a teacher assistant at elementary school for a little while. He thought it was great and fun working with kids. While he was there, he made a good relationship with the kids, and most of the kids liked him because he was being nice to them, and he thought if he will become a teacher, he would be the kids’ favorite teacher if he will be nice to them.
So after he experienced how it is like being a teacher, and he knew that teacher have a big responsibility, like working with kids, standing front of the class and have to make sure everybody in class has to understand and do their work, and keep them on track, he finally decided to become a teacher. So in order for him to become a teacher, he was in college for 4 years, and the reason why he wanted to become a math teacher specifically was because he felt he’s better at teaching math, and teach kids how to solve problems, and also it won’t take him that long to prepare the lesson and it is less work.
When he first started teaching, he was teaching 3rd grade. He was confused, unorganized, and he didn’t know what’s the best way to teach the kids especially they were all in a different level, so he had to make sure every student in class understands before he moves on. But even though he was struggling in the beginning, he enjoyed it, and luckily 3rd grade was a lot better compare to any other grades. 3rd grade was the grade level he wanted to teach before he started teaching.
One of the most important things he experienced when he first started teaching was when he was being very nice to kids, and he was trying to be the best teacher in the school, and to be friendly with his student as possible, but I didn’t work because kids didn’t give him the respect he supposed to get from them. Kids were playing around during class, talking, and not paying attention. But than he acted more like a teacher to them, he cared less about being the kids’ favorite teacher because he would rather kids to respect him and pay attention during class and understand than being the coolest teacher in the school.
The recent challenges he’s facing rite now are difficult student, and his child. What I mean by difficult student is that some student who are loud, talkative, or student who refuse to do work. It seems like it’s a small problem, but it’s a big problem because these type of students distract other student by talking to other student, or they could be bad influence. Or sometimes the whole class gets punished just because of one kid. They way he’s solving this problem is to talk to them individually, or tell keep them during lunch, provide them from anything they like.
Sometimes it’s hard for him to make sure that every student in the class understands when there is kid that are behind, or can’t understand very quickly. In these kinds of situations Mr. Strom try to focus on them by work with them in a small group, or if he has volunteers or assistant to work with them individually, so that way he can move on.
Mr, Strom spends 1 hour after school to prepare and organize his lesson for next class using books that he’s given from the school. And what’s interesting is that sometimes he talks to other teacher form the same school, or form another school and discuss the problems that they all having and try to solve them. Or they talk about what type of lesson should they teach, or try to focus on. And what’s interesting about him that he doesn’t only teach kids from the traditional books, he also teach them problems they can use in real life.
Even though he has a lot of struggles, and difficulties, he still loves his job, and loves working with kids, and enjoys it, and he feels his work is nothing compares to other people, he’s very comfortable with his job, but he doesn’t want to be a teacher for the rest of his life. But he’s not thinking about it yet.
The only word that comes to my mind when I think of Mr. Strom is “confident”
Daniel Fazio is my mentor, at San Francisco California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC). He is the manager of the Cath Lad. As being the manager of the Cath Lad he’s has a number of duties to attended to. Like Daniel is the person that makes sure things are done on time and done correctly. He’s the one that puts out all the fires that go on. He’s the guy to come to when staff members are having issues going on in or outside the Cath Lab. He manages the budget that his department has to stay within. Daniel answers hundreds upon hundreds of emails. Creating policies/ setting up the agenda of the week is also apart of his job description to sum it all up Daniel is also considered to be the glue of the department.
Obviously, as a child Daniel never dreamt of becoming the manager of a Cath Lab. In college he majored in Medicine and Biology, but he never end up finishing college. Instead he wanted to pursue in radiology, by becoming an X-Ray technician. So he went to a number of class which intern he graduated from in becoming an X-Ray technician. Right after graduating from X-Ray school he was immediately put into (CPMC’s) Cath Lad department.
After 5 years of working in the Cath Lad he felt he was qualified to manage the whole department. Daniel obtained his position as the manager of the CPMC Cath Lab. He’s has been working there for about 9 years now.
Many of the problems that he encounters are with the Nurses. Since he did not get his nurse credentials, many of the other Nurses don’t want to be told what to do. Another group that can be complicated at times is the veteran staff, since Daniel is very young; many of veterans want to impose their ideas and what they think is the right thing to do to him.
Daniel believes the best tool to us in these situations is communication. It is key to keeping the department strong, if he explains his points as well as listens to other’s points and stays firm on what’s to be expected, then, he is keeping things on track and solving problems.
Daniel in general is an awesome person; he cares about the things that go on in and out side the hospital. He makes sure that things a done right, and appreciates each and everyone of his staff member. Daniel stated if he could work at any fantasy job in the world, he would want to be the grounds keeper to the Giants Dugout.
1) How long have you been teaching? I have been teaching for 4 years. 2) Have you always wanted to be a teacher? Well i wanted to become a teacher during my second year of college, I did tutoring projects with children, i was doing a science major. I had done a program with children called Project Read and another called Watz in L.A. I went to UCLA college where i tutored at a Recreation Center doing 1 on 1 tutoring with kids. My mother is a techer and she showed me that kids needed help and i want to help those types of kids. I noticed that kids do need attention. 3) Would you trade teaching for any other job, if asked? no i wouldnt, i did think about it but no, I see myself as being a teacher. My mom is a teacher and i saw how i wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to teach not because of the pay but because of the kids. i wanted to show the bigger picture witch was helping the kids learn. I say you live for a certain amount of time so you should make a difference while your alive. I saw how my mom was changing the lives of the children that she was working with, i wanted that same feeling of change. I also saw how there was great discipline in my mother teaching and i wanted to show that same amount of discipline as well. 4) Are you happy being a teacher? yes im happy. I have had some hard days pretty much every day. My first year of teaching was really hard. I used to go home and cry and i would sometimes have nightmares but then the next day i felt better and happy just to be a teacher. when im a teacher it feels like i can be creative with art teachings whenever i want and that makes me happy to be a teacher as well as knowing that the children are actually learning from my teaching. 5) How has teaching helped you to interact with others? it's helped me to learn how to deal with different learning and behavior styles, and learn how to address different situations because there are certain ways you can and have to talk to others without making them feel offended. 6) When you teach do you learn things also? yes i do, i taught the same curriculum for 4 years and and i have learned how to actually teach it better and better with each passing year. All the things i learn i bring into my teachings. 7) Do you feel that you've grown into a stronger person by being a teacher? yes i have proven that i can get through the school years and solve problems very effectively, i have grown and learned allot from colleauges as well as the kids i teach. Getting help from others i finally accepted that i always wanted to do everything on my own. Collaborating with colleauges and others are much better than doing it all alone. 8) Do you feel like you actually impacted a younger childs life by things you've said or done during your career of teaching? yes i think that i do everytime that i teach kids. some students have said that they liked and enjoyed my class/teachings. I believe that shows the impact that i had on there lives through teaching them. 9) How has teaching in an elementary school showed you different ways of life? its taught me to take things a day at a time, be patient, and while im teaching noboy is perfect and that i cant always loose my temper when something goes wrong and it doesnt go the way i really want it too. I had to realize that everybody makes mistakes and that life is a learning experience. 10) Have you aver wished that you were never a teacher? sometimes i have but eventually i came back to reality. the only thoughts i have had were that i was rich and i didnt have to work at all, but i wouldnt trade teaching for anything else. 11) What did you study in college that went towards your teaching career? No nothing that i actually studied in college went towards my teaching career. didnt have an education major only an education minor. I took science then switched to teaching really late. Studied classical civilization major and latin minor. My latin teacher in high school encouraged me to be a latin minor and to be a teacher i allways felt that he had so much knowledge and so much to give and i wanted to have that to so i became a teacher, as well as the influence from the clubs (mentoring, tutoring) that i was a part of went toward me becoming a teacher. 12) How is teaching now different than it was when you first started teaching? well now i know the curriculum better and i know how to teach it correctly. at first i was confused but after years of teaching it I've got it down. 13) If you werent teaching right now, what do you think you would be doing? i would be home with my baby. I'd be a fulltime stay at home mom so i can be with my 3 month old baby untilk he gets to pre school.
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