A Fresh School Year: Teacher Feedback
In our school, there are a fantastic number of teachers that all try their best to teach their students the education they’re passionate about teaching. We all appreciate everything they do at the school, and hope they continue doing so for the foreseeable future! Given the new school year has started, many teachers were recently interviewed via a Google Form or in person in order to provide input on how they feel the new school year is currently going and what they hope to achieve in it as well! These teachers were specifically chosen due to their numerous years of experience teaching at this school, and hearing their input will definitely provide a good reference for both teachers and students alike, whether they’re new or not, at this school to follow and/or consider in order to be the most successful as possible throughout their time here.
Mary Corey, who has been teaching for 25 years and is teaching English 10, AP Literature, and Mock Trial this year, comments that her classes have been good so far in the school year, further noting that it’s sad when summer ends but it’s always good to have students in her room and remember that she actually do love her job. When it comes to accomplishments, Corey states that she always sets some personal goals for herself every year, where August is somewhat of her personal “New Year”. For this year specifically, she’ll be working on balancing her personal life with her professional one, which has always been a challenge for her. For her students, she would really love for her sophomores to realize that reading can be fun, where her sophomore class currently has an exciting new novel they’re teaching that hopefully lets them experience that. Additionally, Corey advises her students that “in life, you are going to screw up. That’s a given. What’s important is, do you have the skill set to fix your mistakes and move on? That’s what matters.” To her, to be successful in her class, “you need to attend, pay attention, participate, and do your work. The work isn’t all that difficult–you just need to do it. If you do the work, you WILL pass. I promise.” Even as a well experienced teacher, there’s always room for improvement, which applies to everyone! In Corey’s case, she’s going to try letting students set their own grading rubrics for writing (with her guidance), and hopefully this means they’ll understand what they’re expected to do a lot more clearly as well as make her grading a lot quicker. In her opinion, she states that the best thing about being a teacher is getting “to hang out with teenagers and talk about books. What could be better? There are days I can’t believe this is a job that I actually get paid for!” However, the worst thing about being a teacher is “that the job never ends. I have to say ‘I’m done for today’ because it’s just not possible to get all the work done.” As a teacher, Corey also tries to make an effort connecting with her students too, where she tries to learn things about their lives, and share things about mine. After all, she’s a real person with a life. Interesting fun fact: Corey plays in a weekly Dungeons & Dragons game, which has been running since 1997.
Danielle DeLuca, who is teaching Dual Enrollment Calculus and Honors Algebra 2 this year in her 19th year of teaching at Atascadero High School, observes that her classes are going great this school year. She hopes to accomplish making a smooth transition with her students when it comes to switching to a new textbook this year in her Algebra 2 class, with also mentioning that she also hopes to keep good boundaries around her personal time and self care while staying on top of the additional workload due to how it’s a lot of work to make the transition. For DeLuca’s students, her main goal is for them to “find some joy in [her] room this year and take pride in their work”, also advising them to not wait to ask for help when they get stuck and need it. As a teacher, she wishes to improve on learning more Spanish to be able to better communicate with Spanish speaking students. Additionally, in DeLuca’s opinion, the best thing about being a teacher is meeting new students every year, whereas the worst thing about being a teacher is saying goodbye to her students every year as well. When it comes to trying to connect with her students, she prefers to go see her students’ performances. Interesting fun fact: DeLuca organizes her closet by color.
Dean Winther, who’s teaching Dual Enrollment 201A, Honors American Literature, and ERWC in his 4th year at Atascadero High School, acknowledges that his classes so far have surprisingly been really good, despite not wanting to jinx it. In general, Winther hopes to personally accomplish submitting a beautiful WASC Report and receive a 6 year clear as well as put into place an Early Friday Release rotation that will help support the WASC Action Plan. When it comes to his students, his goal is to help students find their passions and learn the skills needed to follow them, further advising them “in the immortal words of Eminem [that] you only get one shot so don’t miss your chance to blow Cuz opportunity comes once in a lifetime — yo!” As a teacher, Winther does not recommend falling behind, coming to class with a poor attitude, or simply not being engaged in what the class is doing that day. In regards to his teaching methods, he wishes to improve on incorporating more technology into the classroom, but mentions that he’s “a dinosaur and dinosaurs get set in their ways — extinction is just around the corner”. According to Winther, the best thing about being a teacher is working with young minds and engaging with them, but the worst thing about being a teacher is dealing with and doing all the stuff students do not see behind the scenes. Additionally, when trying to connect with his students, he uses the topic of sports and speaks openly and honestly about feelings and emotions, trying to create a safe space for all students. Interesting fun fact: Winther is obsessed with the Arsenal Football Club, so much so that he has a tattoo of their emblem on his inner arm.
Andrew Wilkie, who has been teaching at Atascadero High School for 27 years and is teaching Biology and Anatomy & Physiology this year, remarks that his classes so far have been great, with being “excited to have all those classes for the year! :-)” For the school year, Wilkie hopes to accomplish instilling a greater love of and interest in science for his biology classes, and fostering a greater understanding of how the body works and a love for potential health care work for his Anatomy & Physiology classes. Not only are these his goals for his students this year, but he also has another goal of his students having a greater belief in themselves and the potential to succeed in many different ways. As a teacher, he recommends being “inquisitive and asking questions as well as making your education interesting by finding the interesting in each subject” while not recommending to procrastinate or give little effort in order to succeed in his classes. For his teaching methods, he wishes to improve individual motivation for each student to learn and enjoy the subject as well as trying to give real-life examples for each lesson and “why” his classes are studying what they are studying. In Wilie’s experiences, the best thing about being a teacher is seeing students grow in confidence and love of science, in which he regards as “one measure of success for [him]”, while the worst thing is having to take time away from the students that want to learn to deal with the ones who don’t really care. When trying to connect with his students, he focuses on being open and showing concern for them as individuals, with using his own life stories to illustrate points in his classes. Interesting fun fact: Wilkie’s heart stopped for 57 minutes two years ago.
David Donati, who has taught at Atascadero High School for 21 years and is currently teaching US History, Dual Enrollment Honors US History, and Ethnic Studies this year, notes that his classes so far have been awesome. For this school year, he hopes to accomplish writing curriculum for the new High School Ethnic Studies course that will be a graduation requirement at some time in the future. Donati’s goal for his students this year is for them to “learn about our society and develop empathy for people who are different from themselves”. As a piece of advice, he recommends to his students that they participate in their classes and in extra-curricular activities, due to how “[you’re] only in high school for four years, make the most of your time here.” However, what Donati does not recommend is missing school as it makes being successful at learning more difficult. In regards to his teaching methods, he wishes to improve on trying to incorporate more active learning where students are moving and interacting with each other more. In Donati’s years of experience, the best aspect about being a teacher is working with students and helping them grow as human beings, but the worst part is dealing with paperwork that requires checking boxes. When it comes to trying to connect with his students, he always tries “talking to them to see what interests them”. Interesting fun fact: Donati enjoys blacksmithing.
Peter Smith, who is teaching Political Science and Economics as well as the Honors courses of those classes in his 35th year at the school, remarks that his classes so far have been easy because he’s taught those courses before and because he’s savoring the experiences due to how he’ll be retiring. For his last year teaching here, he hopes to not only accomplish making sure all his students pass his courses to graduate, but also hope to go out strong and be very positive and influential as well as not be tired in the end too. Smith’s goal for his students this year is to teach them how to have civil political conversations with people and that “you can talk to people that you disagree with and have a fine conversation where nobody’s feelings get hurt”. As a whole, he advises his students to definitely not procrastinate, especially if they’re going to the next level in Dual Enrollment classes due to how “there’s so much stuff that needs to be done [that] you really have to learn to manage your time. . . [if you understand] how to get ahead of it a little bit [it] makes you feel a little bit less stressed and when you feel less stressed, you can do a lot more things. Your health is better. Your mental health [and] your physical health”. To Smith, he would not recommend his students to not have some sort of organizational strategy, where students are just flying by and going through the day as well as not “understanding that success really depends on organization to some degree”. As a teacher, he wishes to improve on communication and trying to become a better communicator in a lot of different ways. In Smith’s experiences, the best thing about being a teacher is not really knowing day to day what’s going to happen because there’s so many different interactions that he has, especially with now having 150 different students in all his classes, while the worst thing would probably be dealing with students who just don’t care, where sometimes that’s hard to deal with when he’s trying to energize students to get them to care about their learning when they just don’t. When it comes to connecting with his own students, Smith tries to do it on a personal level, where he talks a bit about his life, what he’s done, and about his emotions to help students understand that the adults in their lives are just like they are and only just older. Smith further comments that “it’s all the same stuff. We were all in high school. I know what you’re going through. It hasn’t changed. All the emotions haven’t changed. You want to feel belonged and loved. [You] don’t want to feel isolated. All those things. So I try to connect with my students on that level. And hopefully I’m doing a good job.” Interesting fun fact: Smith is a professional casino dealer.
