Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Interview With Teacher/Podcaster Victoria Wang




Victoria Wang is a retired kindergarten teacher who enjoys an open and honest conversation.


Throughout her teaching career, she learned that a single, authentic conversation can have a huge impact on a person’s mental well-being. She’s made it her mission to have these open, honest conversations with more and more educators.


One day, in her ideal world, she hopes teachers feel supported, sustained, and heard in their profession.


Now that you’ve been introduced to Victoria, let’s get to know her a little better.


Hello, Victoria, welcome to Lemon Drop Literary. Thank you for agreeing to do this interview.

Thank you for having me.


Why did you become a teacher?

I became a teacher because of a student I worked with during an internship in high school.

I volunteered at a school for children with neurological differences, and the next summer, when I went back to visit, one of my favorite students was aging out of the program and didn’t really have any other programs that could support his needs.



After spending that last day with him, I went back to college, switched my major from chemistry to comparative human development, and I began taking all the classes I could on education, child development and dis/abilities.



I went into the classroom because I wanted to eventually work in policy, and I didn’t feel qualified to make any broader decisions within education without having been a teacher. I ended up falling in love with teaching, and I still miss it so much to this day.




What grades did you teach?

I taught at various preschools during the year I was in graduate school, and I taught kindergarten for two years after that.


What were your responsibilities as a teacher?

I guess this question varies depending on who you ask. According to my school and contract, my responsibilities were to educate my students and give them the academic tools to be “successful” in the future - the eventual goal was for them to go to college.

In my mind, however, since kindergarten was their first official year in school, my responsibility was to make them feel loved, respected and valued in my classroom. I wanted them to leave my classroom knowing that school was a safe space, and that their teachers would always be one of their biggest supporters and cheerleaders.



Why did you leave the profession?

I really struggled with mental health during my two years teaching kindergarten. It was a mixture of personal and professional stress, and halfway through my second year of teaching, I was having mental breakdowns and panic attacks about going to work.

I realized one of my biggest struggles was not being able to support all my students. Both years, I had students come through my classroom with exceptionally challenging needs, and because my school was really understaffed and under-resourced in special education, I spent most of my planning and lunch times providing academic and social minutes for my students with IEPs.


The constant decision to either prioritize my students with special needs over the rest of the class, or vice versa, really weighed on me mentally.


I originally made the decision to leave my position as a general kindergarten teacher because of this, but after I started struggling mentally, I decided teaching wasn’t the best environment for me.








What was one of your favorite books to read to your class?

The Book With No Pictures! I loved teaching kindergarten because my sense of humor is pretty immature - they always love my fart jokes :)

I could read this book over and over, and my students would never get sick of it. Some might say it doesn’t necessarily have much academic benefit for students, but what’s wrong with telling them my best friend’s name is “Boo Boo Butt” and just letting them laugh and have fun?



What are your concerns regarding the mental health of young children?

Students don’t have enough time to play. They don’t. My kindergarteners had an extended school day, which meant they were in school from 7:15 to 3:45, with only 25 minutes of recess.

I could see the mental exhaustion on their faces halfway through the day, and so often, academics were prioritized over their social-emotional needs.


Schools and districts say they have social-emotional learning initiatives in place, but there’s nothing that can be improved unless they make time in teachers’ schedules for SEL.


Students’ imaginations are being suppressed, creativity is being stunted, and their emotions are silenced by the heavy emphasis on academics and testing. It’s time for our educational system to redefine what “success” looks like for our students.


Did cuts to education effect you and your students?

I worked at a charter school, and honestly, I don’t think I worked in education long enough to feel any changes due to budget cuts. I’d say the main way I was affected by poor funding was our lack of support staff, specifically within special education.


Do you have any concerns for the health and welfare of teachers?

Oh, I have so many. So, so many. It’s hard to even know where to begin.

I’ve talked to a lot of teachers at this point, and every single teacher I’ve spoken to has touched on burnout, exhaustion, and honestly, feeling pretty hopeless. A lot of it comes from the immense amount of responsibility we put on teachers and our educational systems.


Our social support systems within our society are broken, and teachers are expected to make up for decades of multi-generational trauma, centuries of racially and socio-economically biased societal structures - all in one year, for 25+ students.


It’s not possible, and furthermore, teachers are expected and pressured to do all this on barely a living wage, with media portraying them as lazy and ineffective, and absolutely no autonomy in their own classrooms.


There is so much more to say, and I could go on for hours, but I don’t want this to turn into a novel.









You’ve started a blog for teachers called Teacher Life Podcast. Can you tell us a little about the program and what led you to create it?


It’s a podcast! Blog part is…not very up to date, haha.


#TeacherLife is a podcast dedicated to sharing teachers’ stories and empowering teachers to speak up in their communities. I wanted to create a safe space for teachers to feel heard, validated, and connected with one another.


I love listening to podcasts, and one day, during one of my (many) mental breakdowns of my last year of teaching, I was looking through teacher podcasts to find one where I could just feel validated in how I was feeling - to just be told that I wasn’t the only one struggling.


At the time, all I had found were podcasts giving me tips on how to improve my classroom or instruction. They are, of course, really great podcasts, but at the time, that was the last thing I needed. That planted the seed for #TeacherLife.


I didn’t fully commit to the podcast until I started speaking up and sharing how much I was struggling, and I was surprised to see so many other teachers reaching out and saying they felt the same way.


There’s so much power in a single, honest conversation, and I realized that simply having an outlet to share my stories and struggles improved my mental health immensely.


So many teachers internalize their struggles in the classroom and blame themselves for it, so just hearing that you’re not the only one struggling takes a lot of that weight and responsibility away.


I hope that my podcast pushes teachers to have more of these open conversations within their own communities, and that my guests walk away from #TeacherLife empowered, knowing that they ARE experts on education and that their voices do matter.



What has been your most rewarding experience since starting your Teacher Life Podcast?

Honestly, it’s been in the small moments. This has happened with multiple teachers, but the surprised yet excited look on a teacher’s face when they realize that someone else wants to listen to what they have to say - that’s what makes this worth it.

Just knowing that another teacher feels valued and heard. And to have people who don’t work in education get excited about empowering teachers - it gives me a lot of hope that someday teachers can feel supported.



What advice would you give to teachers just starting out?

I would tell them to understand their limits and be kind to themselves. So many new teachers (and I’m guilty of this too) go into the classroom with a savior complex, hoping to make a difference in students’ lives and have a lasting impact on them.

It’s why we do it, and it’s what keeps us motivated, but that mindset can also lead to a very toxic relationship with work, as well as an unattainable standard for success.


Caring and loving your students can make you a great teacher but doing so at your own expense will burn you out.



Do you have any suggestions for people who want to start a podcast as well?

Do it! It’s so much easier than you expect, and there will be people out there who want to listen to what you have to say.

Don’t get caught up in the downloads, subscribers, reviews, etc. Always keep your mission close by to pull you back from feeling like your success and value lies within numbers and stats.



When you're not podcasting where can we find you?

Probably outside! Or road-tripping in Bernie, my Prius. I love hiking, backpacking and rock climbing, so on the weekends, I’m usually at a park somewhere.


What is your opinion on teachers carrying guns in schools? Why?

I think the question we need to be asking everyone is, why is there a demand for teachers to carry guns in school? How far from center has our society gone when we expect educators to also serve as police, when bringing a gun into a classroom full of children equates “safety”?

As a teacher, I absolutely would not want to carry a gun in school. That doesn’t stop gun violence though. There’s a deeper-rooted issue that needs to be addressed.



Is there anything else you’d like your listeners to know about you?

That I’m nowhere near perfect, and I’m struggling just like them! And that the mental health issues I’ve struggled with have only made me stronger and better at what I do.


Do you have any social media links you’d like to share?

Yes! Please say hi - I’d love to meet all of you!


Website: teacherlifepod.com


IG: @teacherlifepod


FB: facebook.com/teacherlifepod



My personal travel website: bernieontheroad.com


My personal IG: @unclevickie



Thank you, Victoria, for spending time with us and sharing your story. We wish you and Teacher Life Podcast continued success and lots of luck!



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