Have you ever had a question for a teacher, but have gotten too scared to ask? Possibly a question about their class, or even their personal life? I was able to ask teachers Mrs. McShane and Mrs. Smith questions brought up in a survey sent out to students. According to Artsy Course Experts (a site to help teachers be creative with technology and interact with each other), some students feel it is too late to ask teachers clarifying questions. However, it is never too late to ask. Many students have questions, but would rather not ask face-to-face. Other research sources say, “some students may be shy or may truly have a unique question and prefer to send private questions to the teacher.” Some of the questions students asked in my survey are not just about school, but about the teachers themselves. Many scholars wonder what their teacher was like in the past, or what they are like outside of school. Students also wondered why teachers do what they do in a classroom. Thankfully, I got the answer to some of these questions.
My first interviewee was Mrs. Smith. Mrs. Smith is a well-loved history teacher at IHS. She sees students’ minds evolve over many years as she teaches sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Mrs. Smith has taught some of her students all three years, which has helped build strong student-teacher relationships.
The first question I asked Mrs. Smith was more on the gossip side of the survey. I asked: “Do you ever try to sit kids together who you think have a crush on each other?” A shocked smile and laughter emerged after being asked the question. She responded with a “no”. As a follow-up, I asked: “Do you know any teacher that does this?” Her reply was, “I don’t think so. I think one or two teachers have helped kids get prom dates. I don’t remember anyone sitting next to each other because they have crushes.”
Next, I interviewed Mrs. McShane. Like Mrs. Smith, she has had plenty of years of experience. Mrs. McShane teaches junior and senior English courses. Most of her students are independent and knowledgeable about life at IHS, so I asked her more fun and personal questions. Because she teaches upperclassmen, many younger students may not personally know Mrs. McShane.
With that being said, I started off with the question: “What might students be surprised to find out from you?” She said, “I have three kids. I am married. I live in Lynnfield. I like to spend time with my family, and watch my kids play sports. I like to cook.” She expanded on her story by telling me about one of her hobbies. “I like to go on walks. I don’t like to run, but I do feel good afterwards, which is something most of us can relate to.
The second question I asked Mrs. Smith was: “How much do you talk about students to other teachers (in a good or a bad sense)?” To not many students’ surprise, she answered, “I mean, sometimes, a lot of times, if you’re having a problem with a student and you know someone else had them and had a better relationship with them, sometimes you’ll ask for that kind of stuff. Or we will tell each other funny things that happened in class.” Luckily, nothing too bad about students is being said across the staff.
Another question for Mrs. McShane was, “What were you like in College/High School?”
Confused on how to answer, she replied “I had a really great group of friends. I did well. I loved sports, I played field hockey and softball. I was involved in school.” She also told me she graduated from Stoneham High in 1998. She is also still in contact and hangs out with her old High School friends. I asked if she has ever seen herself in a student, but she claims that the times have changed so much that she doesn’t see herself in any students. However, she can tell which students enjoy being in school (like she did) and who don’t.
My final question for Mrs. Smith was a very popular question that reflected students’ mid-year anger: “Why do we have midterms?” Mrs. Smith responded to the oversaturated question: “Well I think one of the ways that helps is that if we just had finals, then the final would be on the entire year. This way it breaks in half, so it’s like 10%. That makes finals less stressful than having the entire year and 20% of your grade be at the end of the year. That’s my thought.”
Mrs. McShane’s last question was, “Why do teachers not give breaks anymore?” Her thoughts were, “I think I do every now and then. Sometimes we take a five minute break, because seventy minutes is a long time to be sitting. I try to be aware of that because students’ minds drift. But I guess every teacher is different.”
There you have it, personal and school-related questions answered by IHS staff themselves. Overall, never be scared to ask your teacher any type of question; whether it furthers academics or teacher-student relationships.
