The Passion For Teaching

An Interview With Rhonda Marn
Rhonda is an English teacher at Brooklyn Center High School

Beginnings

My parents were both readers, so there were lots of books around all the time. I was encouraged to read, my mom would read to me and it was like words and language was a part of our home culture.

A lot of people inspired me to be a teacher as well. I had some really amazing English teachers especially Linda and Dwayne Christensen. They were so inspiring to me and they gave me this great love of literature and passion for reading and writing and anything to do with language. I guess when I teach I feel like I kind of take a piece of what they taught me with them every day.

Also, when I was an undergrad at the University of North Dakota. I was in a woman’s literature class, and we were reading this short story called A White Heron, and there was teacher’s assistant in that class that was upset because she thought that this story was too difficult, she said it was too complex. I, however, enjoyed the fact that it was complex even though I was an English major. I liked that it made me work, that it made me slow down when I was reading it, I liked the allegory of it. And I was kind of annoyed by the fact that she was going to be somebody who was going to be teaching English and she didn’t seem passionate about it. So, I thought “well if I am really passionate about it then that’s probably what I should be doing.” That was the impetus for me wanting to be a teacher. I came to it after completing my English BA and my masters, so it wasn’t something that I kind of knew that I wanted to do with my life

Experience

My first teaching job in Minneapolis was a changing experience. It was at an inner-city school and I was teaching reading, and I guess when I went into teaching I thought I wanted to just be teaching advanced classes and I was of the mind that we should; as a teacher, it was my job to expose students to great literature and not necessarily try to find something that they are interested in, but my job is to make them read what is good for them, just like a doctor would give you vitamins. So, that was my kind of snobby English major attitude when I went in, but then after teaching these inner-city kids I realized that you have to get them there first, you have to find something that they want to read and you have to connect with them. So, I guess that kind of softened me a little bit, and that lead me to pursuing my masters in literacy education.

First Impressions

For my first day, I guess I thought the students were gonna be more interested in the subject than they were, and that was kind of surprising, not everybody is as excited about English as I am. So, you learn really quickly that there has to be another way to pass on what you love. You have to kind of show them why you are passionate about it and find something in it for them. That was something that was hard to figure out as a new teacher.

Brooklyn Center High School (Main Entrance, Exterior) - Photo Credit: Minnesota Heat

Middle School

Something that was really challenging for me was teaching middle school. I probably don’t belong in middle school (laughs). I think that was really hard because I personally did not enjoy the curriculum that much, this is coming from the perspective of somebody who’s ideal teaching job is kind of what I have now: teaching high school and teaching the advanced sections. It was hard to connect, especially with little kids who you know you are not going to be doing literary analysis the same way as older students because they’re not there yet. (laughs)

Motivation

I feel like [teaching at the inner-cities] really changed me, as a teacher, I think that my attitude about education and what the purpose of it was really changed. Some people go into education because they love working with kids, and they love students; and I love students, but for me, I went into education because of the content, because of my discipline. That’s first and foremost what I was interested in, and I love that in my job, every day, I get to be immersed in literature and, sometimes I pinch myself, it’s like “Do I really get paid to teach this? This is awesome”. It’s kind of weird, but I’ve had other jobs. I worked in a medical building office one time, and boy is that a soul-killing job, I don’t recommend it. I mean, it pays well, but it’s just so boring and so soul-crushing to me. I’m sure that in some way you’re doing something for someone that’s good, but you don’t really feel that and I personally need that.

Flexibility

You cannot be a rigid person {if you’re a teacher}.  You have to have a sense of humor, sense of irony. Something they tell you in teacher school is: you have to be comfortable with ambiguity, if you are a person who is very concrete operational, maybe education is not the right thing for you. When you’re working with students they have a myriad of life issues, and problems and experiences that they bring, and you have to be flexible and adapt, and you can’t do that if you have kind of this rigid corporate model for education. Kids are human. You have to be flexible, meet them where they are. And that’s hard, and frustrating sometimes, but that’s just what you have to do.

It’s almost like I’m a counselor. (laughs) I always have kids in my room, that’s part of your job though, I mean, teaching is (pauses) I think of it as working together to gain knowledge, but that’s only part of your job. Part of your job is the human side of it, too. Some of my favorite students have been kids that are really challenging, that really struggle academically, but gosh, if you can just get them a little bit to understand, I’m not being very articulate, but if you can get them to understand just a little bit, and get them to accomplish something, it can be so satisfying, you know, because maybe somebody else might’ve thought that that kid couldn’t do anything, but that’s not true.

And that makes it more meaningful, trying to get kids to understand ‘why are we reading this stupid book’ you know. I don’t know how many times I had kids that cursed me while we were reading Catcher in the Rye and then they would come back the next year and say ‘oh I miss Holden Caulfield.(laughs)

 

The Catcher in the Rye (Cover) - Photo Credit: Wallpapers XL

 

Building Relationships

I think that, at least for me, success in a classroom has come from building relationships with students I think that’s been really important. My kind of my method of classroom management is just getting kids on board with me and like getting others to know that we’re all in this together so I think that’s more effective to me because then they don't really feel like I’m not trying to push them to do something or manipulate them in anyway. This is school, this is what we have to do, but the relationships are really important.

Conclusion

Yeah it’s a fulfilling job, some hours more than others (laughs). I do I love what I do and I get a big kick out of teaching Catcher in the Rye; especially if it’s something I really love because I get into it, so I think I try to pass that on to students and the other thing I try to do is challenge students. I mean not every kid is going to be at the same level but I think with the right scaffolding you can get any student through just about anything you just kind of have to hold their hand sometimes and go slowly. I’m not necessarily trying to inspire you to be an English teacher, I’m inspiring you to be a reader, and be a thinker, think critically and look at the world critically so. If I have done that then I think I have done my job.

This interview was recorded and transcribed by Jackson Wuertz, Bianca Flores, and Madalyn Allison. 

Edited for clarity.