Going Into Year 4: A Conversation with Ms. Herron

As the new school year begins, it’s always important to look at it as a fresh start and an exciting new beginning. I had the opportunity to speak with a young teacher about her experience in education. 

Chelsea Herron, 25, is looking forward to what her fourth year of teaching will bring. 

What do you teach, where do you teach, and how long have you been teaching? 

I teach English at West Cabarrus High School, and I am going into my fourth year!

What is your ‘why’?

As a teacher, I have a unique opportunity to shape the future through my students, the future of the world literally sits in my classroom. It's so exciting to see a student master a standard, like how to cite a text or determine a theme, but it is a different, more rewarding feeling to see them open up and become compassionate towards their classmates, people who they might not have ever spoken to if it weren’t for my classroom. It is my greatest hope that through creating an inclusive culture in my classroom, it will have a ripple effect on the world. 

School starts this coming week, how are you preparing for another school year?

Now that I’m in my fourth year of teaching and considered a real teacher, haha, I am focusing on the details to prepare for this coming school year. I think the first couple years of teaching are just trying to keep your head above water; going into this school year, I’m feeling pretty good about my swimming abilities. I know the standards by heart, I know which texts I’m using and I’m feeling confident in them, I know which classroom management strategies to use. So to answer your question, I am fine-tuning my teaching practices in order to prepare. I have figured out what does and doesn’t work for my teaching style and I’m excited to put those things into action this school year!

What is your favorite thing to teach, and why?

My favorite lesson would have to be Postcards from Odysseus. The Odyssey gets a bad wrap, but I’ve always found it to be a class favorite. As we read about Odysseus’ journey home to Ithaca, my students will inevitably have a couple favorite places that he stops at - The Land of the Cyclops usually takes the crown. Once we begin wrapping up the unit, I have students pick a location that we read about and write a postcard to Ithaca, from Odysseus’ point of view. In the postcard, they write about what happened at that location, it is a great way to teach summarizing and key details. Then they have to get artsy and draw on the front of the postcard what the location looks like in their head. Their favorite part is when we actually mail the postcards to Ithaca. I’ve had a couple of students who have ended up with pen pals and they think it's the coolest thing.

Do you have any advice for new teachers?

My best advice would be to form those relationships with your students. A student might hate writing, but if they respect you, they’ll write anything you ask them to. A student might not be the best reader, but if they know you believe in them, they’ll try their hardest to read Shakespeare. A student might not care at all about what diction is, but if they know you care, they’ll give diction a try. So much pressure is put on standardized testing and which teacher will have the best exam scores, and that stuff is important, but none of that matters if we don’t know who our students are outside of the classroom, who they go home to, if they even have somewhere to go home to. The relationships matter, build them. 

What do you think makes a classroom successful?

Referring back to my previous response, I believe relationships make a classroom successful. I have made it one of my teacher responsibilities to have all of my students’ names memorized within the first three days of school. When I stand outside of my classroom and greet students as they’re walking in, I greet them with specific details and then I always make sure to include their name; it’s a small gesture that goes such a long way - “Hey Payton, I love your Yeezys.”, “How are you today, Ricardo?”, “Congrats on winning your basketball game last night, Emonie!” If kids feel noticed, appreciated, and cared for, they’ll do anything for you, they’ll even write that research paper they dread so much. 

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Thanks, Chelsea! If you’re an educator and want to share your story, we are all ears! Send us a DM on Twitter or Instagram @leapedlive. Have a great start to your year!