EDITORIAL
Teacher Interview: Ms. Wang
By: Amelia Zalubas & Mahlet Ayele
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What do you learn most from your students?
“I learn to be curious, to take risks and to be comfortable making mistakes and asking questions.”
What is your favorite thing about teaching?
“Just being with the kids and helping them learn math, because I love math, and I hope that students also enjoy math as well. I have always believed that education is the gateway to opportunities, and I hope that the children can always get opportunities to do what they would like to do in the future.”
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If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you go?
“There are so many places I would love to go. Recently I’ve been really thinking about, I guess it might be strange, but definitely the Sahara Desert in Africa. I just think that there's going to be so many amazing animals and wildlife and just natural conservation places over there. And I’ve never been there.”
If you could add anything to your classroom, what would you add?
“I think a comedian, to make things a little more lively.”
What is your favorite time of day and why?
“The mornings. I am a morning person, because it’s really quiet and there’s not as many people up and about so I can focus on what I need to do and get a lot of things done.”
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What is your favorite music genre?
“I like indie pop, I guess, or indie rock music.”
How has school changed since when you were a student?
“Oh my gosh, a lot. We didn’t have all the high tech stuff. There were no Promethean boards, no smart boards, and it was a lot less interactive when I was in school. There was very little connection between the subjects, between the disciplines. It's just math, okay you’re doing math. It was they show you an example on how to do something and they give you practice and you just keep doing that. Very little connection between the subjects. Whereas now, we try to involve all the subjects together.”
What were you like as a student?
“I had two different personalities when I was very little. I actually grew up in Taiwan and was a really horrible student. I didn’t study. Learning things honestly was not on my agenda. I was more of one of those kids who really cared about my friends and what they thought of me. I really was trying to be the popular kid, and I was chatting a lot in class. When I turned 18 I moved from Taiwan to America and I had to adjust to a brand new system of schooling and of course language. At the time my English wasn’t that fluent, and I became 180 degrees different. I was completely shy and introverted and I couldn’t talk to people, so then the only thing I could do was focus on studying.”
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There will be more interviews in future editions that help you get to know your teachers as people, not just educators.