Listen

Watch

Can you tell us about yourself? 

“Hi, my name is Amanda Richmond and I work for Kimmie Brown Elementary. I am the Instructional Technology Specialist. We are located here in Dayton, TX. I’ve been here for 7 years.”

Why did you start a career in education?

“I started in education because I had a real passion for math, and I wanted to share that with my students.”

If you could have any other job what would it be and why?

“Went through a couple jobs before going into education. One of the careers I miss is being in EMS. I was an EMT for a few years and I really loved it. I would love to go back but the hours were a little awful, but it is something I would like to volunteer and maybe do a little bit more of.”

How are kids different now than 30 years ago?

“It’s hard to say how kids are different now than 30 years ago. I feel like kids are kids but the technology and the things that are surrounding these students are a little different than what was around 30 years ago. So, I feel like the conversations they have, and such has changed more from probably sports and what they were doing outdoors and different games that they were into and into the games that they play now which are electronic.”

How is teaching different now than 30 years ago?

“Teaching is different now because of that technology too. There is a lot of varieties of things that we use to teach our students and to reach all of our students that we didn’t have 30 years ago.”

What would you tell someone who wants to become a teacher?

“If somebody came to me and said they were thinking about becoming a teacher, I would tell them to definitely to sub, and to mirror teachers, student teach, get your feet wet, have a good idea of what you are getting into before you start because those first days of schools are so important and so it’s critical to get off to a good start. So, I would definitely come to that first day prepared.”

What is one thing you would change to help kids learn better?

“One thing that helps kids learn better is the opportunity for teachers to visit with them individually. I feel like with class sizes being so large really hurts the students not getting individualized attention. So, definitely, if I had all the money in the world, I would change the student teacher ratios in the classrooms.”