By Benjamin W. and Leni T., Grade 6
Did you know a teacher (not at MIS) screamed at her class at 1.21 decibels?
That’s equivalent to a jet engine! And just because she was so stressed and couldn’t cope!
Being a teacher can be super frustrating, so what inspires people to become one? And how does planning organisation and everything else work? We interviewed 5th Grade teacher Ms. Hewett and her class to find out more!
Ms. Hewett is responsible for planning English (her core subject) for all of Grade 5. She helps students through difficult times and does much, much more.
“We are all people first, then I am a teacher, and then they are students,” Ms. Hewett said.
The big question is always “if teaching is stressful why do you do it?” Well every teacher has their own reasoning why they became one, but for Ms. Hewett, who is close to her relatives, we had to dig into her roots to find out.
“Growing up I had a lot of teachers in my life,” she said.
Ms. Hewett said that almost everyone in her family had a history of teaching. For example, one of her relatives oversaw a preschool! So, at a young age, she always wanted to become a teacher, just like her relatives.
In her high school years, though, she became interested in art, so she applied for an art school instead of learning to teach. During that time, she realized she did not want to be in art rooms all day and left art school to become a teacher. She said that she loves that you never know what’s going to happen when you work as a teacher. Every day is different!
But, being a teacher can also be stressful. Ms.Hewett said she exercises to gather her thoughts and calm down.
One thing that can cause stress is planning within the MYP curriculum. Teachers plan lessons and assessments so that students can learn exactly what the program wants them to.
“I don’t want to be the person cramming academics into students’ heads, I come from a place of care,” Ms. Hewett said.
Each teacher in 5th grade covers one subject that they plan and specialize in. For Ms. Hewett this subject is English. So, she plans every English lesson for 5th grade along with Ms. Strauss, the 5th Grade EAL teacher. She also plans the ethics lessons with the other 5th grade home room teachers. They communicate mostly over Teams and have meetings multiple times while the 5th graders go to German.
Ms. Hewett said she believes that everyone is a good person, and every student deserves the best, which she tries her hardest to give them. She finds being a 5th grade teacher is different from being a 6th or 8th grade teacher because you spend every day with your students, so when the time comes to say goodbye it’s hard to watch them leave, but she said she knows they will achieve great things.
Ms. Hewett is known to be very friendly, meaning she is close with the other people at MIS. They often carpool and have a Friendsgiving together every year.
All in all, Ms. Hewett is a great teacher who cares about her students and spends countless hours trying to give the kids in her care the best education possible. A lot of people love, like, and appreciate her. And multiple students stated that she is the best thing about fifth grade.