Teaching math has been something Ms. Proctor has dreamed of for a long time and now she is doing that at Sennett. Erin Proctor, sixth grade mathematics teacher with the Miranda Scholars, agreed to answer a few questions for our Know Your Sennetter series. She met, via Zoom, with our correspondent Luka S. last spring (March 2021). This is an edited (for readability) version of their conversation.
LS: What was middle school like before it was virtual and how is it different now?
EP: I can only speak from being at Sennett for two years but, before this all happened, my experience was that it was very friendly place and had the feeling of a family. I created my room to represent that so I had café tables and kitchen tables from the 1950s and comfy chairs. It did not look like a classroom you had ever been in which is what I wanted it to be because I feel like education has changed so much. It’s nice to reflect a difference from when I was in school where you had your traditional chairs in traditional rows and the teacher talked for an hour and you just sat there and listened. I like a more interactive experience. The math classes that I teach are also interactive and it is student-driven, so my classroom is set up to reflect that. What I miss most is hanging out in the hallways during passing time especially in the morning. Getting hugs, high-fives and greeting everybody as they head down the halls. Sixth grade is really well known for doing that and really being a family. So I miss that. I feel like I’m in a little isolation bubble. I miss that interaction with students and staff. We’ll get back to it someday.
What are your thoughts on how virtual school is being conducted this year?
I think we’ve done a fantastic job with a near impossible situation when I look back and compare it to when we were in what was called “crisis mode” last Spring because it happened so fast. I’ve talked to you about this date last year. The 13th of March. A Friday. A full moon. And Friday the 13th. That was the last day we were in the building and two days later we got emails saying we were going to be teaching virtual. We had none of the skills that we have now. Zoom was a new thing. Zoom didn’t know how to handle all the business that was coming their way. So getting us through that year, in May and June, was really all about just trying to keep connections and keep what they had learned so far “in heads.” There wasn’t new learning that was going on. It was called crisis teaching and it was crisis learning. The nice thing about knowing that the chance was going to be that we would be working virtual and most of us figured we were starting virtual was that so many of us spent the summer getting the skills we needed. For example, learning how to use Zoom, learning how to use bitmojis, and learning how to use Google Suite. We felt so much more prepared when it came to September. We were going to be able to still provide a family, a homeroom and teach at the same time. Right? Because that’s the one things I think that really bothers me is when people say they have to get back to school. And it’s like, no, you want us back in the building. And that’s a valid point if you want us back in the building, but learning is happening. You know, I’ve got the data to prove it. Students are learning, students are teaching and doing the best that they can do in this situation. Which is phenomenal. And I feel like, and I can only speak for myself because I’m in my isolation bubble, but I feel like I’m doing a good job of not only creating an environment that is respectful and cooperative but it’s also rigorous. I have high expectations of kids and I try to provide the scaffolding that they need to achieve that. So, I don’t look at this as a reason to not continue to push students and give them the education that they can handle.
How was your change to virtual school and was it difficult for you?
The only thing difficult is the missing people. That was the hardest part for me because I am a people person. I’m the type of teacher that always got there early and left late. I mean, that’s just my personality. So I would come in in the morning before people got there and turn on my lights. I have a record player in my room so I would play records. Just that kind of really nice, slow start to the day. To chat with people if they come in and out. That kind of energy and that kind of vibe is what I miss. I don’t have that here. But on the other side, I don’t drive half an hour each day. So I get up in the morning, get some coffee and then I can start right in on what I’m doing. So if I look at it that way, that would be a positive and negative.
Where did you go to middle school and how is it different now?
I went to what was called “junior” high school in San Diego, California. It was seventh, eighth and ninth grade. Elementary school went through sixth grade and so we went 7, 8, 9. It was incredibly different. One, no snow, no ice, no freezing weather. So we didn’t have one big building. We had a more of a bungalow or campus-style where there was a big quad in the middle and the lunchroom was by itself with an outdoor seating area. There was a lot of walking outside the building between classes to get to where you needed to go. That was a big difference. We had a different teacher for every class. Instead of having somebody for science and social studies, you had a science teacher and a separate teacher for social studies. You had a Spanish teacher and you had a math teacher. So it was more like a high school model in that regard. And the other thing was, we did what was called “tracking” back then. So based on how you were perceived as a student or how well you could do on a standardized test determined what class you were in. So you’re either in remedial, which meant you needed a lot of help. Or you are a grade level or you were advanced, which meant that you tested higher than everybody else. Now that doesn’t mean that I was smarter than anybody else but I was a really good test-taker. Unfortunately, I think with that model, there probably were kids in the remedial or in a regular class that weren’t good test-takers and they didn’t have another way to show what they know. So if we think about being an anti-racist school, that’s one of the things I would have to say. My school was very racist in that regard because I’m white and I came from an upper class family that could provide me all sorts of opportunities and were able to push me to learn and to read and to ask questions. So I ended up in that track which gave me opportunities that other students didn’t get. That’s absolutely unfair. Of course, at the time, I had no clue because I was just a 12, 13, 14-year old. But as an adult looking back, I can definitely see it and acknowledge it and wish that everybody had had the opportunities that I had because I loved junior high school. There was nothing not to love about it. I know that not everybody had that experience in my school that I did and that’s unfortunate.
Who was the person or people who got you interested in being a teacher?
That’s really funny because people my whole life had said, “Go get your teaching license. You’re a teacher.” I kind of went through life not knowing where I was going to end up. I started out pre-med. I was going to be a baby doctor. And I went to college. I was 3,000 miles away from my family at the University of Wisconsin campus all by myself. It was a great opportunity to grow as a person. As I started to take different classes, although I loved the idea of being a baby doctor, there were classes that I didn’t have an interest in doing. You have to be interested in doing certain classes to be a doctor. So once I decided to change course, I just kind of went from place to place and I ended up with an art degree. There’s not much you can do with an art degree. Two weeks before I was going to leave school, I was going to graduate, I’d been working at a record store and the manager says to me, “Do you want to be in the key holder?” It wasn’t an assistant manager, it was the next one and I was like, “Sure.” So, I stayed in Madison. I had a grandfather here that I loved dearly and so I got to continue to spend time with him. It just seemed like opportunities were here. I just kind of took them as they came and that led me to being able to go to concerts, which I’ve loved. Then my love of going to concerts got me into interviewing bands, album reviews, concert reviews and concert photography. I did that for a couple of years. Working at the record store, I met my husband. So, I just teetered along and went where the wind blew. I stayed home with my daughter and I promised myself that when she was going to fourth grade, I would go back to work, which I did. I ended up getting into being a special education assistant. And from that I said to myself, “I really do like being in school, I like helping, I like teaching” and I made the choice. When my daughter was old enough to go to college herself, I wanted to be a teacher. And during her junior and senior year of high school I started my teaching classes at the same time I was working for Madison Metropolitan School District as a special education assistant. When she was done with high school, I was ready to be a teacher. I came to this very late in life.
Why did you choose to teach math class?
I love math! I love math and I love science! I always have and I’ve always had teachers in those areas that provided really fun classes. Classes that pushed me to do well and I like a good challenge. I’m very competitive. It came very naturally to me. Although I’m really a good reader, one of the downfalls of being tracked was this crazy idea in Southern California back then. Back in the day, the idea was that many thought those of us in the track I was in could educate ourselves. So when it came to spelling and sentence deconstruction and all of that, it was like “Oh, here are some kits. Go teach yourself.” Well, as a sixth-grader, sometimes you don’t want to do things on your own. So, I didn’t do those opportunities that I could. So as much as I love to read and write. It’s not something I ever wanted to teach because it doesn’t inspire me. It wasn’t something I liked to do then and I don’t like to do now. And so, when it came time to be a teacher, I knew I was going to do one of those. It was really interesting because in one of my first teaching classes, they said, “What do you want to teach?” and I said, “Math and science.” And the teacher said, “What if they offer you a language arts class?” I said, “I would turn it down.” And the whole class looked at me like I was crazy. “Why would you do that?” And I was like, “Well, why wouldn’t I? Why would I teach something I don’t love? How are students going to love it if I don’t love it?” And they’re like, “OK.” So, I kept that that motto. When I was a student teacher, I taught in an eighth-grade science class. When I was working as a substitute teacher, which is what most people do when the earn their teacher certification, every class I subbed for with math or science. I kept building up that practice and that understanding of it. I was very fortunate. Mr. Kigeya needed a math teacher a couple of summers ago and a friend of mine called me and said, “We are short a teacher. Will you do it?” I said, “Yeah” and we hit it off. He saw how I could teach and got me my job at Sennett. So here I am. I been able to keep true to my word. Math and science. That’s it.
If you could choose any of their subject if you didn’t teach math what would it be?
It would be science. It’s interesting because science has changed now. They have what is called the Next Generation Science Standards. I’m not sure what they look like, as far as grade level. When I was student teaching and working as a special education assistant, eighth grade was focused on human brain and senses, electronics and planets. Those are my jam. That was so much fun to teach. There were so many fun experiments to do and it let you be really creative. So science would be it in a heartbeat.
What was your favorite experience in being a teacher?
So far? My favorite experience? I would have to say, probably the day I got the job at Sennett. And that’s not a student experience. I mean, I’ve had lots of those because I love working with students and I get emails. Students tell me how they’re doing and that’s amazing. I love hearing from students. But that idea that I worked so hard to get where I wanted to be and then finally get that job in a school that was welcoming and they’re like, “We are so excited to have you!” “Here is your room, here’s your team.” It just made all of that studying pay off. It’s really hard to do both at the same time, work full-time and go to college full time. So, I would say for me, when Mr. Kigeya called to say he wanted to hire me, he called me on the phone, that’s probably my happiest day.
What do you enjoy about teaching 6th grade students and why 6th grade?
Well, I always knew I wanted to teach sixth or eighth grade. I originally thought eighth grade because my daughter was older and I understood that transition from middle school to high school. I felt really comfortable talking with kids and and getting along with them. Then I did some work in 6th grade and I realized they have a transition too. They’re transitioning from elementary to middle school. That’s a huge bridge and it’s that opportunity to see people grow the most. Right? It is so different from elementary school to middle school. I love the enthusiasm sixth graders. It’s a whole new world for them and so that brings all sorts of experiences that jaded seventh graders and jaded eighth graders don’t have. Which might be different because we have not been in the building. So now, you guys, in some ways, you’re going to be a kind of a 6th-7th grade hybrid because you didn’t experience those things of being in a building and relationships and situations and going to lunch and going on the playground and negotiating all those things that you have to do. But I really like to help, I like to teach, I like to see people grow and I think the sixth grade gives me that opportunity.
UPDATE from this school year:
How has it been difficult for you to be used to being back in person?
One was just the stamina aspect. I mean you literally sit on your couch for a year, then you’re standing, walking and talking in a mask. Which can be challenging. So that was definitely one part which was getting used to being in a classroom again.
How have you adjusted to in person school this year?
Trying to balance the emotional needs that students need and academics that they need. Because you didn’t really see that in virtual last year. Unless someone opened up and said something. Otherwise you really didn’t know, so it was really easy for them not to show that side. But when you’re in the building you can really see physically see reactions and emotions and just the amount of stress and trauma. That has affected everybody but especially middle school students because it’s already a crazy time anyway. And know you have this on top of it. So I think that’s really been a lot more of that emotional caretaking that has been going on in addition to the education.
