My mom works as an intervention aid, essentially a teacher who works in small groups to help kids who are below grade level in reading. In my mom’s case, she works with non-native English speakers to not only teach them to read but also to speak the language. She teaches first through fifth grade. I interviewed her on some key parts of her job; below are her summarized responses.
- What’s your favorite grade to teach?
It varies year to year, but this year probably my third graders, the first graders are really cute too. I don’t always have a favorite age to teach because the personalities in my groups change every year. Some classes are definitely more difficult than others.
- How long have you been teaching?
I’ve been teaching since 2019 as an intervention aid, but right out of college, I taught high schoolers for three years in Boston. That was an interesting job because I was 21 years old and teaching classes of 18-year-old students.
- What languages do your students speak?
Most of them speak Spanish, but in the past I’ve had kids who speak Turkish, Farsi, Ukrainian, Japanese, and dialects from small countries in Africa (that was difficult because we didn’t even have a name for the language). I speak Spanish fluently, so for those kids it’s easy for me to communicate. For kids where I don’t speak their language, it’s a combination of immersion learning and learning through pictures & repetition. It’s difficult because there is usually a silent period with kids, especially those who’ve had a difficult journey to the United States. A silent period is where the kids don’t speak at all for a period of time, but usually they are invisibly picking up on things and will speak eventually. I’ve never had a kid that’s made absolutely zero progress.
- Do you like your job? Favorite part? Least favorite park?
I love my job! My favorite part is getting to be around little kids, they are surprising and unpredictable and often say funny things. The kids trying to speak English are fascinating to watch; they all learn in their own unique ways. Also, the days are never boring and repetitive, there is always something exciting and erratic that happens. My least favorite part is when the kids don’t try. I have no problem with kids who learn slower than others but when they don’t try it’s heartbreaking.
- What education do you have to have to become a reading teacher?
In order to be a certified ESL teacher, you need a college degree in education and specific teaching credentials (student teaching, etc). My case is unusual because I don’t have those credentials, but I can still teach because my job title is intervention aid rather than certified teaching. As an administrative aid, I’m not paid even close to the amount as a normal teacher, but I also don’t have as many administrative duties (staff meetings, etc.).
- Anything else you would like to add?
My message to high school students is you don’t have to have a perfect path picked out. You may think you want a job and end up hating it, you need some time to figure out something that works well for you. I was a teacher right out of college, and then worked at another job for a long time. Now I’m back to teaching again and I love how it gives me time with my kids. You don’t have to figure out right now what you want to do for the rest of your life. Things change, new opportunities come up, it doesn’t have to be a perfectly step by step thought out plan for what the rest of your life will look like.