I am the Director for after school activities for a K-8 school that is within the Mission district in San Francisco. The school's student body is predominately Latino and 20% Filipino. I plan the after school curriculum, help with homework, do arts and crafts, sports, and sometimes I substitute teach certain classes.

EDUCATION | I attended SJSU for one year as a Radio/TV/Film major. I am currently attending City College, which is a Junior College in San Francisco as an Education major along with a minor in Asian American Studies.

HOW TO GET STARTED | Be flexible and be prepared. Not every student is the same. Be prepared to teach in different ways and think of alternative approaches to convey a message because each student has a different style of learning; some are visual learners whereas some are audible learners.

MUST HAVE TRAITS | The two most important traits are patience and the understanding of cultural perspectives of where they are coming from and what they have to deal with on an every day basis. It would make the experience for educators a little more easier, but it's something that a lot of them miss.

how I got started | During my first year of SJSU, I was doing Radio/TV/Film and was really interested in it. At the same time, I was working at a record label, but that experience turned me off by understanding the politics of radio. For example, they play every song repeatedly and there is a contract of which songs they can play and when they can play it. I decided to volunteer part-time for the Church Youth Group as a tutor for students after school. I saw this experience as getting my foot in the door for teaching. I was really indecisive in what my major should be so I used AmeriCorp as an opportunity to see how it would be like to work with kids for eight hours a day. I took a year off and did 1700 hours of service in a school. I worked at a Catholic school where all the teachers liked me and ended up hiring me. All the teachers were older in age and were Caucasian; they liked the fact that I was a person of color who was an example of a role model for the students. A lot of the students at the school lack a father figure, so it was great to be their role model. I received a lot of in-class experience just being a substitute teacher, a teacher's aide, and teaching the smaller classes that needed to be accelerated. For the program, you had to be a college graduate, but the principle of the school pulled some strings for me because everyone liked the work that I did since the principle noticed a significant difference in the students while I was there. Even before I started college, I had experience in working with kids. I had taught summer school for three summers to middle school students while I was in high school.

why this job?| I am an admitted introvert, but I really enjoy dealing with people. I sometimes consider myself as a counselor. There is concrete evidence that I am making a difference in the lives of these kids every day. I like the instant gratification where I am able to look in the student's eyes after I teach them something and actually see that it works. Whatever message I am trying to convey, I can see that it's churning in their head because they are thinking about it. I have never worked a desk job before, but I think finding those results takes time. It's rewarding to understand and see the kids thrive. I was writing a letter of recommendation for a student that was going off to college; seeing things like that is a big deal because I had some part in that student wanting to further their education.

why I love this job!| What I love about my work is that every day is different with new projects and new challenges. I am in charge of doing a lot of things such as planning fundraisers and working with around 200 students. I have to have a lot of relationships with all of them to some extent and with their families. Doing that helps me learn and understand about them so I can help them learn through specific teaching approaches. I try to come into classrooms every day and try a new approach to see how it works. If I had to choose a grade to teach, I would probably push for middle school students because I think they are at an age where I can be more honest with them. There are some things you can say to a 12 year old than an 8 year old. I know I feel more comfortable with middle school students because they are a little older and they are at a time in their lives where they need to hear and understand some things. They need that direction from strict leaders. Middle school students also tend to give more trouble because they are getting rebellious, but I think I enjoy this age range more because they are mature enough to understand from right and wrong. They are smart, but just need some redirecting and focus on some things in their lives. I like finding what they are good at and fostering it.

my typical day| Lately, I have been doing morning care, which is from 6:30-8AM for students who have parents who need to come to work early. I get to work at 6:30AM and put on a movie for the kids to watch and stay with them until school starts at 8AM. I then go from classroom to classroom and do 7th grade math and work with the 6th graders afterward until 10AM. We go through recess and then I have a 5th grade reading group for an hour until noon. I then have a two hour break during lunch time, but I use that time for office hours to do things such as planning an 8th grade retreat. From 2:45-6pm, I do the after school programs to help with tutoring and do arts and crafts. I takes a lot out of my day because I have to understand what the kids need help on and to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are in order to have everyone keep up with each other. I don't leave anyone falling behind. Some teachers are babysitters. They are just there for the money and watch the kids. There are some teachers who don't even like kids, but they are there. There are some who are good teachers and know how to deal with kids, but there is a difference between a C student and an A student and one would have to work somehow to cater to both.

what they are | The main challenge is trying to keep the kids interested in learning. There are some kids who are too comfortable just because they have a sibling who just graduated from the school and say things like, "Oh, you don't have to learn that!" There is a false sense of entitlement with these kids. Not only do I teach them, but I tell them why they are taught that. For example with linear equations, you have to have a good answer for that. Why do they need to learn it? It's true that they need it as a basic foundation in order to do well in high school and college; I don't really like giving them that answer, but it's what I have to work with. I try to keep the kids motivated in order to do their work since this day and age, there are so many distractions in our lives. From Facebook to video games, it doesn't make it any easier to capture their attention and make education seem more interesting.

all about growth | From this, I would like to get my credentials and teach full-time. I am not closing the door to counseling though. I can get a full-time job as a teacher at this school if I wanted to, but the question is whether I want it or not. What I have right now is a good situation. I have known my 7th and 8th graders since they were in 2nd and 3rd grade and they are comfortable with me and they know who I am. I would love to struggle else where and be the new teacher.

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