Teacher Talks #1: Allyssa
Siriana, founder of Allusio Academy, connected with Allyssa as a fellow member of Teaching Saves Lives (TSL).
TSL is a powerful and quickly-growing community of like-minded educators who believe in the power of education to empower students and teachers. Founded by veteran teacher Emily Alt, TSL honors teaching that is anti-racist, equitable, student-centered, and globally-conscious.
Siriana says, “Allyssa quickly left a strong impression on me as a fellow educator. She brought such thoughtfulness and eloquence into our group’s conversation. I was especially touched by her introspection and self-reflection. I was excited for Emily to connect us the following week!”
Meet Allyssa, of @teachingintheflx.
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx
Siriana: Hi Allyssa, so tell us a bit about yourself.
Allyssa: I am a National Board Certified, 7th grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher.
I currently work in a small rural school district in central upstate NY and this will be my fourth year there! I previously worked in North Carolina for five years right after I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree.
I knew that I eventually wanted to come back home to New York—I’m originally from the Capital District area—so during that time, I completed my Master’s in Education for Middle Grades English Education. I also coach volleyball and teach graduate courses through a program that our union provides, which is an awesome experience!
Siriana: Teaching graduate courses sounds fantastic. It’s wonderful that you’ve found space to support other educators while expanding your professional skillset. I can imagine it’s a different environment than with middle schoolers!
So you’re actually the first teacher I’ve interviewed, and coincidentally, you aren’t an early educator. I’d love to hear how you became a teacher and started this work.
Allyssa: This is going to sound incredibly cliche, but it’s just something that I always knew I would end up doing. Sure, I dabbled here and there with different ideas, but I kept coming back to teaching.
My mom was a strong influence on this decision—she stayed at home with me and my four siblings, and she always said that she wished she had gone into teaching. When my youngest sibling started school, she actually got a job as a teaching aide and has been doing that ever since! My poor siblings were constantly being corralled into playing school when we were growing up.
I also had a fantastic English teacher when I was in high school that really solidified the decision for me during my junior year. She was so passionate and made reading the required classics engaging. I remember reading Macbeth, and we had costumes, a fake fire for the witches, and so many laughs! I try to emulate her passion daily and just show kids how awesome books are!
On Teaching Middle School
Siriana: When people hear I’m a teacher, they think I’m heroic or honorable. Once they find out I teach preschool, the first words I often hear are “Aww, how cute!”. What’s your experience in sharing your profession with non-educators?
Allyssa: “Yikes, that’s really tough” or “Wow, that’s awesome! Where?” are the two most common responses. But add on the fact that I’m a middle school teacher?
I get blessed, prayed for, and sprinkled with holy water before we continue the conversation! Yes, middle school can be tough! Hormones are rapidly changing and kids are learning to become more independent, but they are still kids and they still need love and support.
Middle school students have gotten a terrible rep forever but I have mostly enjoyed my experiences! I wish that we could have more non-educators come volunteer in our schools to really see how much education has changed since they were in school.
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx
Flexible seating, student choice, social-emotional support, redo’s on work, and teachers as a “guide on the side” philosophy have totally flipped education into something beautiful, glorious, and meaningful!
I love sharing about what we’re doing in class and letting the world see the powerful transformation of schools and education.
Siriana: I’m one of the guilty ones that’s in awe of your work! I like to joke that my short height helps me connect better with the younger students. But you definitely are opening my eyes to the magic of middle school! On that note, I’d love to hear what notions or ideas secondary teachers have of us early educators.
Allyssa: When I was in college on breaks, I would substitute at the elementary school I had attended. I loved working with the little kids, but I definitely learned that I am a middle and high school teacher at heart! The students would want to sit on my lap, hold my hand, and I realized that younger students were just not my thing.
I highly respect elementary teachers who are in the same room with the same kids for hours a day. The patience that I have witnessed from elementary teachers always astounds me!
Siriana: I love this mutual respect and admiration we have for one another’s work. I am grateful for the quality and quantity of time spent with my same 18 children all year long in early education. We spend over seven hours together each day, 180 days a year—that’s over 1,200 hours in the same classroom. Switching gears to secondary education, I now can’t imagine the challenges of supporting and differentiating for so many diverse learners across a school.
Now that we know you a bit better, let’s ask some of my favorite teacher questions.
From Teacher to Teacher
Siriana: What piece of knowledge or resource do you wish more educators kept in mind?
Allyssa: Make mistakes in front of students, whether they are intentional or unintentional. Own up to mistakes, apologize, let students see that you are a human being as well.
We’re not perfect and we should own it! Make education humanizing and show students how to be accepting of others’ and their errors. This is something that has taken me years to accept but it’s a game changer in the connections that I build with students.
Siriana: Tell me about a “teachable moment” you’ve had in your work. Was there a time you realized you could’ve handled the situation differently? Embarrassing moments are welcome, too!
Allyssa: How do you choose just one?! We are always trying to model for our students how to appropriately handle situations and their emotions.
Last year, I had a student accidentally break a piece of furniture while I was out in the hallway handling a separate situation. When I came back in and realized what had happened, I was incredibly angry and flustered. Rather than speak to the student at that moment, I turned to my co-teacher and told him that I needed to take a walk. There were only five minutes left in class, but I needed to escape before I said something that I regretted. The next day, I explained to the class what I had been feeling and why I chose to walk away.
For many of them, it reinforced what we had been suggesting all year. They were able to see an adult handle their emotions and remove themselves from a tough situation. It was key to discuss the situation the next day, to make this a teachable moment for students.
Siriana: I value the power of reflection in my personal and professional lives. This is a skill we practice with our preschoolers, and it is powerful to share with learners of all ages. What’s the most frustrating part of your career?
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx
Allyssa: Who makes educational decisions frustrates me to no end.
Educational decisions should be made by those in education, not those who attended school a million years ago and have no concept of what it’s like in schools today. There are so many fabulous educators out there doing insanely awesome things with students, and the way that students are taught today is completely different than it was even ten years ago.
Educators are frequently not treated as professionals, despite numerous degrees and certificates, which require maintenance to stay current and active, and we are often left out of the decision-making process. How that makes sense baffles me, and hopefully if there are changes in the election, we’ll see a Secretary of Education who is or has been in education.
Siriana: What’s one educational material you always have with you?
Allyssa: A book! Books are the best educational materials. Whether it’s an e-book or audiobook on my phone or a physical copy of a book, there is always something that I’m reading with me.
On Books
Siriana: Let’s talk about that more. How do you read so many books each month? Your August booklist is impressive! 7 physical books, 1 e-book, and 4 audiobooks! Until I left for university, that was pretty much me. Being a reader was a part of my identity.
Truth be told, it has become a challenge to prioritize books in my life, especially with social media, adulthood, and the option to stream your favorite series for days on end. What’s your secret?
Allyssa: I was the same way for a long time! If I finished 10 books in a year, it was a great success! I realized two years ago that I wasn’t reading enough and I was disappointed in myself. I’m an English teacher who rarely reads? That doesn’t make sense!
I started using the Goodreads app and set yearly goal challenges for myself. When I met my goal last year, it was like a switch turned and GAME ON! This year, I drowned myself in books to help with anxiety and stress due to COVID. Books have always been a solace for me and I relied on it heavily this year. I don’t watch shows often unless I really just need to zone out, and social media can be a distractor for sure, but I schedule in my planner 30 minutes daily to read! My commute is 45 minutes each way, and we just got a dog that I walk a minimum of 2 miles daily—so that gives me a lot of time to be able to listen to stories!
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx
Siriana: We all know how our profession, notably female-led, is paid such unlivable salaries. Contrastingly, teachers pay hundreds to thousands of their own dollars on classroom supplies every year. What are your thoughts on this paradoxical culture we face as teachers? Did you struggle with this in your own career?
Allyssa: There’s a meme floating around that describes a teacher as a babysitter and breaks down the cost of what the teacher should be paid if they are truly a babysitter. According to the meme, what we should be paid is more than $300,000 what I make now! As long as I’ve been teaching, I’ve had many side hustles to help bring in extra cash. I’ve worked at a bookstore, a cafe, a vineyard, and now I coach and teach graduate courses. On top of that, I take advantage of opportunities in our region, such as participating in a technology program.
It is insane how hard teachers have to work, not only in their classrooms, but outside of them, to be able to provide and support their families. It’s frustrating to hear that so many folks still believe that we shouldn’t get paid more because we have summers off. I have never had a summer off!
To help purchase items for my classroom, I constantly use sources like DonorsChoose and seek out as many grants as I can. But I have certainly paid for many of the books in my classroom library myself using sites like First Book Marketplace and Book Outlet. Often, the spending money I set aside for myself goes right back to my classroom! Currently, New York State schools are facing a 20% budget cut, and there are most likely more cuts come January.
This unfortunately means that more of the supplies and items for my classroom will have to come out of pocket, which means I’m going to have to re-balance some of our own personal family spending to compensate. It’s not fair to my family, but I also know that I need to get materials to kids who otherwise won’t have what they need to grow. Luckily my husband is mostly understanding!
Siriana: Thanks for sharing these wonderful book resources. Hopefully our culture is shifting to one where all schools are equally funded. I see you read Paul Emerich France’s book, Reclaiming Personalized Learning. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Allyssa: I actually read it this summer during a training to teach a course that is based on Paul’s book and it was fantastic!
One of Paul’s major points is that humanity needs to be the center of education and that technology shouldn’t be the only differentiation tool used in a classroom.
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx
He provides strategies and anecdotes about how to bring humanity back into the classroom while students are able to learn and explore in a variety of ways. This is something that I strive for daily but it offered some great reminders and anecdotes to learn from!
Siriana: I appreciate your commitment to uplifting Black voices and people of color within the literature you read. You teach in the Finger Lakes, in upstate New York. It’s a beautiful part of the country, and I’m sorry to share my lack of awareness on the community that calls it home. I wonder what your experience has been in diversifying your curriculum, especially as a European-American teacher.
Have you ever felt push-back in introducing certain works? What is the role of anti-racist education in your classroom?
Allyssa: When I arrived at my current position, the expectation was that we were teaching the New York State modules, but we could modify them as necessary for student needs. Being brand new to the district and coaching high school volleyball at the start of the year was tough, and I relied heavily on the modules to begin to formulate my curriculum. I quickly realized that the modules, which are scripted, did not work for my students.
I began to adapt immediately. When our new principal began in October, we were granted permission to teach as necessary to our students, even if that meant moving away from the modules.
Last year, I made it a goal to focus more on independent reading with students, and I knew that my classroom library needed more BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) voices.
This year, we’ll be taking it even further and have a social justice book club planned that will have students analyzing the issues in the world around them. We started this work last year with a hip-hop unit when we read Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes and brought ABAR (anti-bias, anti-racism) conversations into the room, but we have a lot of work to do.
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx
As of yet, we haven’t heard of any push-back, and I think a lot of that has to do with the area that we’re in. My co-teacher and I had a conversation recently with our superintendent about providing more ABAR training for our staff and bringing more resources in for our students. He was in complete agreement and understands the necessity of these conversions with our faculty and students.
Our district is a majority of white students, but over the years, more and more BIPOC families are moving into our district.
Being a white educator who brings ABAR practices and BIPOC voices into the classroom is necessary and critical, especially at this time in our world. Students want to discuss what’s going on and they need a space to help them process this information.
Looking Ahead
Siriana: How has your work changed in a virtual setting?
Allyssa: This spring was challenging and we tried to just to build on students’ skills and keep them engaged, rather than learn new curriculum. The 2020-2021 school year will look totally different, but our goals of examining social justice and bringing student voice and choice to the learning will not change.
We’ve used technology before, but our school will be (finally!) migrating to 1:1 devices for our student population. We faced numerous challenges in our rural setting with families not having devices or even internet services.
The district has worked on conquering as many of these challenges as possible, but equity is always at the back of my mind as we progress into this upcoming year.
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx
Siriana: So you’re coming into your decennial year as a teacher, is that correct? What’s the biggest change you’ve found in yourself as a teacher from when you first started?
Allyssa: This upcoming year will be year nine for me, so we’re getting close to a whole decade! When I first started, I was determined to be creative and engaging and make my class meaningful for all of my students.
Unfortunately, the school that I started at was very test-prep heavy, and creativity was discouraged. I learned a lot in my five years about what did not work for me and for my students! My current district has an incredible administrative team, and the support that they provide for educators to take risks is amazing. I could not ask for a better team of educators to have my back when it comes to doing what is right for students!
Because I’ve been able to take risks for the last four years, my confidence as a teacher and as a leader has increased.
Siriana: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Allyssa: This is a tough one to answer! When I first started teaching, I swore I would stay in the classroom until the day I retired. Last year, my principal suggested that I should consider administration at some point, and I’ve been mulling it over since then.
I have a couple more things that I want to accomplish before I would go back to school to receive an administrative certification, like renewing my National Board Certification and clearing out more of our student debt.
Allyssa, it has been so wonderful getting to know you. You’ve introduced us to fantastic resources and perspectives to bring into our work this year. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!
Photo credit: @teachingintheflx