An 18 minute interview with Ms Drew Smith on her teaching persona, recorded May 2nd 

 Ari will stand for the interviewer, Ari Hensley, and Ms. Smith will be Ms. Smith for obvious reasons and organization’s sake.

 

Ari – “You are okay with me recording this, right?”

 

Ms. Smith – “Mhmm” (hums in affirmative)

 

Ari – “Okay cool, because I need to transcribe it onto paper.”

Ms. Smith –    “It’s no problem”

 

Ari – “Kay, so first question, um, what is your teaching background, how did you start 

teaching, and what was your prior teaching experience like, if you have any?”

 

Ms. Smith – “Whew, loaded question. Um, so. Um, I grew up in church, and I always liked to

 teach Sunday School. Like, I always liked to be the person who got to have 

everyone sit like in a circle or a round and like lead discussions, or um, y’know 

use a (an interruption for a student to go to the office on the intercom) use a dry 

erase board and to put like assignments on a board. Um, I would often take my 

tests home from school and stuff and make my brothers do them, just to see how

smart they were. Right? So I always kind of had like an inclination towards 

teaching, as a little girl. Um, as I grew up, I decided that, ‘hmm, that would be a 

really awesome career choice, and y’know, really fun to get to impact people like 

actually impact people, not pretend impact people’. (laughs)  And so, umm, I

decided in college to major in education! However, I ended up second guessing 

myself  and changing my major like three different times. It originally started with

 English Education and ended at like- brain surgery, or neurosurgeon, or 

something at one point, tell that to organic chemistry, um bleh. Um, and then after

 that, I was like, ‘You know what? What am I really passionate about?’And  I 

knew I was passionate about teaching and I was like ‘But it’s too late to try and

 get like an actual Educators degree, so what can I do that can springboard me in,

 to getting at least an alternate route degree?’ And I thought about what I really 

loved. I was like ‘I really love history, I like being involved in politics,’ and I was

 like ‘I want to major in political science, with a minor in history.’ So I did! And, 

then from that, I was able to get my masters of arts and teaching, which is an, um,

 alternate route degree.But, it’s… It’s–it’s a degree nonetheless. Like you don’t 

have to have a bachelor’s to become a teacher. Um, or a bachelors in teaching to

 become a teacher. And, umm, I graduated December of 2019? And then, you 

know, come like March of 2020 everything is locked down, the world is in chaos

 (laughs), and I’m jobless. So, I asked around for like y’know, all of the schools 

are shut down, so like how in the world am I going to get hired? Well, there was a

 private school in my area that ended up needing a history teacher. So, I applied, I 

got accepted, and I taught there for two years, um, teaching seventh through 

twelfth grade. All different kinds of history you can think of, I was teaching. And

 the Spanish One class. Um, so that was fun. And then I decided to apply for other

 jobs because that job didn’t give me insurance, and when you have to learn to be 

an adult, you have to learn to do adult things, like get insurance. So, I started 

applying to schools, and nobody hired me. I don’t know why ‘cause I was very

 qualified. But, It was more, I think about, not having the right position open. Like

 there wasn’t a lot of English. I had gotten 18 hours of English under my belt in 

college, so I was able to tack that onto my social sciences degree; so I can teach

 social sciences and I can teach english. Um, And then I had put in an application

 to the Alaska teacher placement program, like back when I first graduated, uh, 

early 2020, and I started getting interviews, and ended up here teaching English.

 Um, Pretty cool story, pretty fun story. Uh, but, whether I’m back in Mississippi

 or whether I’m here in Alaska, teaching is teaching, right? Um, the field is 

competitive, even though they say like ‘there’s such a need for teachers’, which

 there is. Um, but if you want to get into a good district and in a good school, it is

 quite competitive. Um, but I love it, I love what I do, I love getting to inspire the

 next generation and try to help the next generation think logically and critically, 

um, you know, skill that you just learn in English class, but you use for the rest of

 your life. So, that’s kind of been my experience, so this is your three, concluding 

your degree of teaching.”  

 

Ari – “Nice! Um, off topic, but do you particularly like Alaska?”

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah. I do, I love it here, it’s a lot different than Mississippi. But that’s why I like  

1. I love Mississippi, don’t get me wrong, and I miss my family, but I do love it 

Here.”

 

Ari – “The Air is, I would assume, a lot cleaner than some states.”

 

Ms. Smith – “I’m from a small town back home.”

 

Ari – “Oh! Nice.”

 

Ms. Smith – “Mhmm (Affirmative), clean air, perfectly fine. Just hot. Oh, so hot.”

 

Ari – “Well, it’s also very cold up here.”

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah.”

 

Ari – “Summers get only up to like 70.”

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah.”

 

Ari – “Um, next question. What do you think you are like as a person, and what do you 

think you are like as a teacher in contrast to that? Are they different personalities? 

If so, why?” 

 

Ms. Smith – Um, who I am as a person versus who I am as a teacher. I don’t think it’s too 

different. Um, I like to be my authentic self with my students because I feel like 

putting up a persona puts a boundary between you and your students. When 

teaching, we have a generation of independent thinkers, and it’s, um, you know, if

 I was teaching back in the 1800’s or something than I would be like ‘I’m the 

teacher, you’re the student, that’s the boundary line. Like you don’t get a say, you

 do it, what I say, what I command’, right? We don’t, we don’t teach like that 

anymore, right? We like to have inclusivity, and we like to have, um, diversity of

 thought, and we like to have student voice and input. So I feel like to achieve 

trust with my students, to make them feel safe and comfortable talking to me and

 voicing their opinion, I need to be my authentic self, and I am. And they’re like 

‘oh, she’s human. She has good days, she has bad days’ um ‘she listens to me, 

y’know, she listens to what I have to say’. Then, I think it’s easier to gain trust 

with my students and be able to have that voice and the choice that I want to 

implement. Um, I think my personality traits, such as um, being a determined

 person, being a person who empathizes, being a person who likes to think outside

 of the box with things, and being a person who just likes to talk and have 

discussions makes this career choice perfect for me. Because it’s like I just get to 

hang out with people all day every day and have discussions and read a book, 

that’s fun. (laughs) That’s what I like doing.”

 

Ari – “So, you would say there’s not really a clear division between your teaching 

persona and your normal self?”

 

Ms. Smith – “I would say probably not. The only distinction I think I would implement would 

be, y’know the fact that I am a younger teacher, so I do have to establish that I’m still the adult in the room, and I still have to maintain the responsibility and not become a sister to some of the… It’s easy to step into that role because I am so laid back and nonchalant and carefree of all things, so.”

Ari – “So, um, would you think that you present any kind of personality traits more than 

you would normally, no like your friends and stuff, to your students? Or do you think that’s just like, there’s no, like, clear distinction from what you’ve already said?”

 

Ms. Smith – “Probably no clear distinction. Other than that one little thing because, I dunno, I

don’t want to wear a lot of different masks. I’d rather just…”

 

Ari – “Well, we have been learning in my class that the teacher persona is more like just 

hightining some parts of your personality to better suit and better help your learning environment for teachers rather than just putting on a mask.”

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah… That’s, that’s interesting, and I’d probably have to think about that 

more. I guess y’know… Y’know, I would say like my compassion and stuff, but I’m very much compassionate with my friends and other people in my life as well. I would probably say I repress some personality traits when teaching, more than heighten. I would repress, um, my goofiness a little bit, as to not rille the class up sometimes then. I repress my sarcasm a lot. Um, every now and again it’ll kind of slip out, and it’s kind of like knowing which students you can be sarcastic with and it’s not going to hurt them. Um, so yeah, that would probably have to take a more repressive feature on that. 

 

Ari – “Okay, so that is actually my next question, so that fits perfectly. Um, how much 

personal information, regarding children, spouses, hobbies, etcetera, do you choose to share with the students? And why you choose to share those, and does it have an impact on your relationship with your students?”(9.30)

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah, so ,well… From the get go, everyone wanted to know if I was married. 

Which I was open and honest, y’know, no. I’m not married. Um, when I did get a boyfriend over Christmas, uh, one of my classes asked me about it and I shared it with them, y’know. It’s kind of like if they ask, I’ll share, but I would never go into ‘let me talk about all of my trauma going on with you’, or ‘difficulties I’m having in this relationship’, or y’know, getting into personal weed. Like very surface level. I want them to know that like… Y’know, ‘Hey! I have friends, I have a family, I have y’know, connections outside of school. Just like you do, right?’ Um, but I don’t need them knowing all of the ins and outs of my personal life, so I very much don’t share a lot of things in my life with my students. Um, if there’s a student that comes to me one on one that is dealing with something in particular–‘cause I feel like I’m a counselor a lot here too–there may be a moment where I’m like ‘Hey, y’know, I’m kind of going through something similar. Like, y’know, let me relate to you better’ and help them to be able to share with them some things, of course, lots of boundaries in place, in order to help them see light at the end of the tunnel, so to say, right? Um, it’s all about just… having boundaries and knowing for yourself like the walls that you need to put up to keep, again, a professional environment while maintaining, y’know, personal connections and being able to be open for students to… Again, just understand you and trust you. Know that, ‘Hey, they have my best interest at heart. They’re looking out for me, but they’re still human too’. So, it’s an interesting dynamic.”

 

Ari – “Another off topic question, do you think it’s ironic that you found a partner over 

Christmas? I didn’t know that you did that, but that’s kind of hilarious considering your book about (Ms. Smith and Ari laugh) Christmas.” [Ms. Smith has written a novel called “The Politics of Christmas” that is a romantic comedy]

 

Ms. Smith – “I know! It is, it is pretty ironic, um, unfortunately we broke up Thursday

 [At the time of recording].” 

 

Ari – “Oh, I’m so sorry!”

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah, yeah, it’s been hard. Um, but y’know, there’s reasons for it and we’re

 living through it.” 

 

Ari – “Um, this has- this question is void; um, ‘has your teaching persona changed over 

time, and since you said you don’t really have a teaching persona, per say, has like your… ability… has like you repressing certain things (interruption from the intercom) and certain parts of your personality ever interfered with helping a student or class learn?”

 

Ms. Smith – “Um, I’d probably venture to say yes. Because when I have a set personality in 

place, though I am very flexible and very… y’know empathetic, and see from different points of views, um, I think that y’know, having a class of 27 kids, this is my biggest class right now, can be very challenging because you have (whispering) 27 different personalities that’s clashing with your own and clashing with each other. Um, so there can be times where y’know, where I like, I like a room with like low chatter and I’m fine with you talking as long as you’re on task and doing your work; but then I have a class where they’re all friends and have louder personalities, and so there’s a lot of like- there’s times when it gets overwhelming for me. Like, where I feel like just the loud environment will trigger my anxiety and it makes me want to flip out. But as the adult, and as the teacher in the room, I’m not allowed to do that, right? Um, a student can flip out on me, but I cannot flip out on a student, right? There’s that professional boundary there, that I have to maintain. Um, so, those can be impactful moments where I have to just step out of the classroom for a minute to regain my wits and my just patience, right? Um, and that, that can impact a lesson. That can impact, the trajectory of a class for sure. Doesn’t happen often, but it does happen on occasion.”

 

Ari – “I think I know which class you’re talking about, because my friends are in that

 class (Ms. Smith and Ari laugh).”

 

Ms. Smith – “Sixth hour?”

 

Ari – “Yes. (Ms. Smith and Ari laugh again). It is only between me, you, and my Intro 

to Education teacher, so it’s fine (Ms. Smith hums in the affirmative). Um, have you ever had, like the person- we already, I think we already covered this as well like we’ve said in what you said, but have you ever had your personality slip while teaching a class? Was it for the better or for worse? Which you just covered saying that you had to step out of class.”

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah, um, I definitely actually lost it on my ninth grade class a couple… Like 

last week. Was it last week? Yeah. Something like that. I yelled, and I don’t really yell. I’m not a person who likes to yell, or appreciates yelling. So obviously, that was for the worst. I mean, it got their attention as in y’know like ‘Hey, we need to stop what we’re doing’. But, I shouldn’t have done that, even though they were doing atrocious things. Um, and, you know, again, that reiterates that all teachers are humans. We all have a limit, every human has a limit, and once that limit is reached it is very hard to maintain self-control. But as a teacher, you have to fight that each and every day to not lose your cool on people” 

 

Ari – “I assume it’s like- (intercom interruption) I assume teaching them is like our past 

ninth grade teacher who, she retired last year, was trying to teach our class. Um, Not to get into too many details, but she was not a very good teacher. Um, and she could not handle the class so it was constantly loud and we hardly ever learned anything. The only thing I remember- I only remember three, no two things from that class because of how she was not able to take control of the students when it was necessary sometimes… Do you particularly like (intercom interruption) Do you like you’re teaching- the personality you put on while teaching? Or is it something you would rather just not do altogether?” 

 

Ms. Smith – “Hmm, yeah. I like it. I like who I am (Ari laughs a little). That sounds really 

cliche. Um, There’s always room for improvement. There’s always room for growth. Each- Each year, each new class that you get, presents its own set of challenges and you have to be adaptive. With first hour, I’m a little more quiet and lowkey with them. With second hour, that’s the class where I can jump in and be sarcastic with and goof off with, and still they get their work done. My freshman, I’m a bit more of an authority figure for them, because they’re just not adults yet (Ms. Smith laughs).”

 

Ari – “Freshman- A great majority of the freshmen I’ve met are very annoying.”

 

Ms. Smith – “Yeah, they’re very rough. Um, with you guy’s class, I can be just- that’s a time 

where I get to breathe. During your class. Um, because you guys work so well on your own, and you’re self-motivated, and I can give you a task and I trust that if you’re not understanding something, you’ll come ask me, and y’know, you guys work well together, so, your class is a breath of fresh air. Sixth hour, I have to be more on top of. They are motivated, they get their stuff done, but I have to constantly redirect that class back to focus. And seventh hour is my team taught, and I… I’m failing that class. Honestly. It’s hard. That’s my most difficult class. But, I’m have to be more strict with them, I can’t be as friendly with them. Because they’ll just take advantage of it. So, you gotta adjust and adapt.”

 

Ari – “Very sorry you have to deal with children who try to take advantage of you.”

 

Ms. Smith – “It’s human nature.” 

 

Ari – “Yeah, but it’s… bad human nature. The part that infuriates me and makes me not 

want to teach.”

 

Ms. Smith – “But you’ll learn to love it because a lot of those kids have so much going on. 

And then, if you can gain their trust and they start confiding in you, the relationship you can build with that student is phenomenal.”

 

Ari – “That’s awesome. Um, that is all of the questions I have. You wanna say anything 

else to add or would you like to continue your lunch alone?”

 

Ms. Smith – “Good luck. Good luck teaching (Ms. Smith and Ari laugh)” 

 

(End Recording)