THE COMMUNITY
“I think the geography is important. (…) I live in the same area as some of my kids and I feel like that allows me to be able to connect with them. I know where all the local places are (…) I end up working with a lot of rural kids who live out where I live and are grounded in farm culture or hunting culture. And I have a lot of friends who are farmers and hunters and I have a little bit of background knowledge to be able to connect with kids on that level.”
“[My district] prides itself on teacher retention, so it is very much of a community where you know every single person in the school. Not everybody does end up staying (…) but the teachers I work with tend to be pretty consistent, and there's a strong culture of eating in the teachers’ lounge and hanging out and talking—which I participate in mostly because I go to the lounge to cook my food and then get trapped in conversation, and then I'm hanging out. But also, it's kind of nice.”
“How satisfied I am does switch depending on who I'm working with (….) There's a few people (…) who aren't good at self regulating and then helping teachers regulate becomes part of my job. And I also really don't like it when teachers blame students when their class is not going well.”
“It is harder when I'm with a team that is sensitive to any reflection or feedback and doesn't like the kids. Always kids know when you don't like them.”
THE ADMINISTRATION
“Currently, we have a principal who I really, really like. I didn't like her at all at first. I thought that she was just trying to get improved test scores on her resume, framing it as an equity thing. But I think she actually is very passionate about equity and wants kids to have every opportunity possible. She is a little bit socially awkward and doesn't come off as being particularly approachable at first, but I’ve come to really appreciate her and realize that she is there as a source of support for pretty much all of us. And she's very decisive, which is nice (….) If there's an issue that she thinks is important—which is mostly ones that are important—she takes quick action, which I really like.”
“We also have a really good dean of students right now (….) It helps everybody. The kids are so much more chill. If you do write a referral and send them to go see the dean for something they did, he's very good at figuring out—Is this a conversation? Is this a call home? Is this a lunch detention? He's very good at figuring out what might be the best approach, and also flexible and willing to carry out secret plans that I have. ‘This kid doesn't want to get in trouble because his birthday is coming up. He would rather serve a lunch detention than get a call home. In fact, he wants to hang out with you for lunch. You want to hang out with him for lunch, right?’ (…) He's very much a partner when it comes to discipline stuff—that's great!”
“Our superintendent is pretty great right now, too. So all of those things are helpful.”