“I love people. I love interacting with people. And I feel that as a teacher I'm in a position where I get to talk to people all day long. I have a very curious nature and kids always have questions. So whether it's about a need—'Do you have a pencil?’—or something bigger, like ‘I don't want to graduate next year because I don't know what I want to do. Can you help me?’ Huge and tiny. Every day I come to work and there's a new, fresh plate of ‘Who knows what's going to happen?’”
“I also made my space a space I want to be in. Clearly, it's full of toys and books. I’ve always loved books, so I made this a space that I wanted to be in and read—read with my community. And I try to make it a space they want to be in. So I'm surrounded by people who want to be here. I guess I'm happy because I feel like I'm providing some level of happiness to the community around me.”
“It's wonderful.”
BEING A LIBRARIAN
“As an elementary school librarian, you're on a fixed schedule. I had eight classes a day, five days a week. It was bonkers. I mean, it was just in, out, in, out. So it was like teaching. But I just loved it. I loved teaching little kids about fiction and nonfiction. I made up songs. I had puppets. If they behaved well, they could pick what kind of librarian they'd have the next week—like a pizza librarian or a cheeseburger, and I'd wear costumes. I loved it. I felt like the library was a place where you could do all the funnest parts of teaching and not have to deal with [the downsides]. I wasn't responsible for teaching them math or how to read. I was just responsible for making them excited about reading in a place filled with books. I never looked back. I love being a librarian.”
“I really want it to be student-centered, student-guided—so a lot of gamifying. I'm actually glad I started in elementary school because when I came up to the big kids I could see they still wanted to play. But you’ve got to change the games a little bit, make them a little more complex. I find that when kids are excited and having fun in my classroom, then I'm happy.”