My Story
I’ve been teaching for 20 years. I was a school principal in Guyana. I had just been promoted before I left to come here four years ago. I never wanted to be a teacher, I always wanted to be an air hostess or a lawyer. There was a principal living in my area and he encouraged my mom to send me to teach. So here I am, and I have to admit I do love it; especially the interacting with the kids and parents. Now I teach fourth grade at a private school in Brooklyn, while I get my master’s degree at night. Teaching in America is much different, and a bit more challenging. At home, you can really talk to the kids and they will not talk back at you — that’s the kind of discipline they have. If you found one kid who talks back in the entire school, that was a lot. Here, the kids sometimes say what they want to say and you must decide where you’re going to take it from there. I had to learn to adjust … I have to do more listening now.