Informational interview with mr. lawrence brooks,
ab calculus teacher at langley high school
1. Where did you attend college and what degree did you earn?
I earned a BS in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Electrical Engineering from UVA. I attended William and Mary to earn the Masters credits in Education that I needed to teach.
2. During a typical week, what things do you have to do in order to prepare for class?
I don’t typically prepare week by week but unit by unit. It’s good to have a unit prepared before teaching it. This keeps me focused on what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and why. It also makes it easier for me to alter should some unexpected event change the calendar or some unexpected concept baffle or amaze the students.
· Write and post notes for the unit. If I’ve taught the course before I correct/alter/update/change notes I may have already written.
· Create and post appropriate worksheets and reviews. Make student copies of the material I need for the classroom.
· Create and make copies of the assessments (quizzes and tests) necessary for the unit.
· Grade and record any assessments or homework that have been given.
These things don’t include the numerous administrative things that need to be done. Calling and emailing parents, meetings with team members or councilors or parents, writing recommendations, recording and documenting the achievement of goals for administration, etc.
3. How did you get into the teaching business?
In short, luck… I was working for Nations Bank after college many years ago when my program was cut. While searching for another job I did some substitute teaching down in Newport News Va. Schools liked a substitute who could actually understand and help kids with math and science so I was in demand. I liked that much more than what I had been doing and no one seemed to want to hire me, so I got a job in a small Catholic school in Williamsburg. I went back to school to get certified to teach mathematics. Twenty two or three years later and here I am in northern Virginia.
4. Teaching is a pretty time-consuming job. How much time do you have to yourself a week?
I’ve learned to get a lot of work done at school. It’s difficult but necessary. My children are very active and I cannot ignore their needs. I still take about three or four hours of work home a week.
5. What do you like most about teaching? What do you like the least?
I like the classroom the most. I am prepared and knowledgeable enough in my field to relax and try to understand the strengths and weakness of each classroom as a whole and students in general so that I can vary how I interact with them and explain what I need them to learn. That interaction is one of the great reasons to teach.
I like the administrivia the least. I don’t like the paperwork required by administration to codify everything I do in the classroom so that they can pretend to hold us (teachers and schools) accountable in the public eye. I don’t mind the accountability but the evaluation rubrics and the documentation change almost yearly. They add hours of time to my job that I could be spending more constructively. They do not measure what they claim to be measuring, which is usually something nearly impossible to measure anyway. Oh well, I will let my little rant trail away here…
6. Is there anything you would've wanted someone to tell you before you started teaching?
I find it very difficult to answer this question because I wasn’t thrown head first into the maelstrom in a public school. I had a very limited idea of what a full time teacher had to do when I took my first job. Fortunately for me I was hired and administrated by an incredibly knowledgeable, supportive, and firm group of Nuns from the Sisters of Mercy. They directed and molded me into the teacher they wanted and I can never thank them enough.
7. What advice would you give someone who is considering a teaching job?
Don’t let the administrative crap, the few negative and insulting parents, the long hours and low pay, or anything else burn you out. It’s a wonderfully rewarding job if you stop and realize that many administrators haven’t been in a classroom in decades and don’t know what they are talking about, most parents are supportive and great to work with, you control the amount of work you do, and the kids desperately need good teachers. We older teachers need you too. If you need anything just ask one of us older types, most of us are happy to help in any way we can. Keep the young blood and fresh minds coming. I’m just a curmudgeonly old man but I’ve been doing this for over two decades without giving up.
I’d like to add that the administrators that annoy the most are not the principals and their assistants in the schools. They are usually just as harried and annoyed as the teachers about a large number of things. I’m annoyed most by those above them who decide policies and create budgets. Far too much politics is involved in those sorts of positions and unrealistic decisions are made far too often.
8. What advice do you have for finding a teaching job/internship?
This is my third school and hopefully my last. Apart from my first job what I did was apply to school systems. Fairfax County has a job fair. Most large counties do. Get a resume together and go. Talk to as many people there as you can. Let the human relations people know who you are and let them know that you are interested. If you have particular schools where you would like to work see if the principal or an assistant principle is willing to talk to you, give them your resume, and let them know you have given the county your paperwork.
I earned a BS in Applied Mathematics with a minor in Electrical Engineering from UVA. I attended William and Mary to earn the Masters credits in Education that I needed to teach.
2. During a typical week, what things do you have to do in order to prepare for class?
I don’t typically prepare week by week but unit by unit. It’s good to have a unit prepared before teaching it. This keeps me focused on what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and why. It also makes it easier for me to alter should some unexpected event change the calendar or some unexpected concept baffle or amaze the students.
· Write and post notes for the unit. If I’ve taught the course before I correct/alter/update/change notes I may have already written.
· Create and post appropriate worksheets and reviews. Make student copies of the material I need for the classroom.
· Create and make copies of the assessments (quizzes and tests) necessary for the unit.
· Grade and record any assessments or homework that have been given.
These things don’t include the numerous administrative things that need to be done. Calling and emailing parents, meetings with team members or councilors or parents, writing recommendations, recording and documenting the achievement of goals for administration, etc.
3. How did you get into the teaching business?
In short, luck… I was working for Nations Bank after college many years ago when my program was cut. While searching for another job I did some substitute teaching down in Newport News Va. Schools liked a substitute who could actually understand and help kids with math and science so I was in demand. I liked that much more than what I had been doing and no one seemed to want to hire me, so I got a job in a small Catholic school in Williamsburg. I went back to school to get certified to teach mathematics. Twenty two or three years later and here I am in northern Virginia.
4. Teaching is a pretty time-consuming job. How much time do you have to yourself a week?
I’ve learned to get a lot of work done at school. It’s difficult but necessary. My children are very active and I cannot ignore their needs. I still take about three or four hours of work home a week.
5. What do you like most about teaching? What do you like the least?
I like the classroom the most. I am prepared and knowledgeable enough in my field to relax and try to understand the strengths and weakness of each classroom as a whole and students in general so that I can vary how I interact with them and explain what I need them to learn. That interaction is one of the great reasons to teach.
I like the administrivia the least. I don’t like the paperwork required by administration to codify everything I do in the classroom so that they can pretend to hold us (teachers and schools) accountable in the public eye. I don’t mind the accountability but the evaluation rubrics and the documentation change almost yearly. They add hours of time to my job that I could be spending more constructively. They do not measure what they claim to be measuring, which is usually something nearly impossible to measure anyway. Oh well, I will let my little rant trail away here…
6. Is there anything you would've wanted someone to tell you before you started teaching?
I find it very difficult to answer this question because I wasn’t thrown head first into the maelstrom in a public school. I had a very limited idea of what a full time teacher had to do when I took my first job. Fortunately for me I was hired and administrated by an incredibly knowledgeable, supportive, and firm group of Nuns from the Sisters of Mercy. They directed and molded me into the teacher they wanted and I can never thank them enough.
7. What advice would you give someone who is considering a teaching job?
Don’t let the administrative crap, the few negative and insulting parents, the long hours and low pay, or anything else burn you out. It’s a wonderfully rewarding job if you stop and realize that many administrators haven’t been in a classroom in decades and don’t know what they are talking about, most parents are supportive and great to work with, you control the amount of work you do, and the kids desperately need good teachers. We older teachers need you too. If you need anything just ask one of us older types, most of us are happy to help in any way we can. Keep the young blood and fresh minds coming. I’m just a curmudgeonly old man but I’ve been doing this for over two decades without giving up.
I’d like to add that the administrators that annoy the most are not the principals and their assistants in the schools. They are usually just as harried and annoyed as the teachers about a large number of things. I’m annoyed most by those above them who decide policies and create budgets. Far too much politics is involved in those sorts of positions and unrealistic decisions are made far too often.
8. What advice do you have for finding a teaching job/internship?
This is my third school and hopefully my last. Apart from my first job what I did was apply to school systems. Fairfax County has a job fair. Most large counties do. Get a resume together and go. Talk to as many people there as you can. Let the human relations people know who you are and let them know that you are interested. If you have particular schools where you would like to work see if the principal or an assistant principle is willing to talk to you, give them your resume, and let them know you have given the county your paperwork.