Name: Misty Vognsen
School district: Wayside Schools Charter Network
City/State: Austin, TX
Class/content area taught: 6 sections of English I (9th grade)
What you are most excited about with your new career: My school just moved into a brand new building because they were out growing their old one, so I am in a classroom that no one has ever been in before which is super exciting!
The other thing that I am really excited about is helping ELL students achieve their language goals. About 70% of my school population is Hispanic, and many of them are ELL students who have potentially only been in the country for a year or two. Helping these students get something out of their English class is a blast!
What you enjoy most about teaching: The kids! My school is on a modified year-round schedule which means we only have six weeks of summer and then get two weeks off every nine weeks. This means that we go back to school a lot earlier than most schools, so I just finished my third week! Freshman are just so goofy and fun to be around, and I have loved getting to know them.
I also really love showing kids that reading and writing can be fun! A lot of kids come into English with the idea that they already hate it, and I love making literature and literacy more accessible to them.
Ways your school/district has supported you: Everyone here has been wonderful! Specifically, my district had a full week of professional development before we went back to school, with the goal of integrating the new teachers and introducing us to “The Wayside Way” – common rules and procedures, etc. I also have administrators and a department head that are always right there to help and encourage.
Specific things you believe KSU especially helped prepare you for your new career: One thing I have heard over and over is that people at Wayside are so surprised that I have as much classroom experience as I do. There are other educators who have started at Wayside with no classroom experience at all (including student teaching!) so I feel very prepared and thankful for all of the classroom experience that I got in my time in the College of Ed. I have never felt uncomfortable or nervous in my own classroom, and it is mainly because I have so many hours of field experience under my belt.
Specifics about your background that make teaching the perfect fit for you: I have never wanted to be anything else. I have wanted to teach since before I entered kindergarten, and I put my younger siblings through countless hours of playing school when we were younger. I also have a wonderful family, who places an extremely high value on education itself. My mom and grandma have always instilled in me that education is the only way to help yourself grow, no matter what situation you come from in life.
Suggestions/encouragement for new teachers: Get as much information as you can about your school when you get hired. For me, this was reading through not only the teacher handbook but the student handbook, reading through curriculum materials, and talking to other teachers. The more you know about the school and its culture, the more comfortable you will feel going in.
Don’t be afraid to start planning, even if you don’t know for sure what you will be teaching. I didn’t know which grade level I would be working with until a week before school started as there were multiple English positions open in the district. Plans can always be scaffolded up or down, or adapted for different grade levels. Don’t be afraid of planning early! It is much easier to adapt lessons than start from scratch.
Don’t treat college like a joke! You are stressed, tired, and you have so much going in and out of your brain. Think of this as a constant state of professional development. You are an educator, and your first year you will probably be a stressed and tired most of the time.
The more that you practice having a positive outlook and attitude now, the better prepared you will be when your first school year as a licenced educator starts and you begin to feel a little bit overwhelmed.