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Can you tell us about yourself? 

"Hi, my name is Melissa Muse and I'm with Quest Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas and I am the technical lead teacher. I have taught at Quest for four years and I've taught for five years total." 

Why did you start a career in education?

"Why did I start my education career? I started my education career kind of by accident. I was in it for almost 16 years and left work, went back into the workforce and found the job that I'm currently in and I love teaching technical everything technical to kids." 

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

"If I could have any other job, what would it be and why? I'm travel writer so that I have an excuse to travel and have other people pay me to do it."  

How are kids different now than 30 years ago?

 "How are kids different now than 30 years ago? I honestly don't think kids are that different now than 30 years ago. I think that the core is still there. I feel like kids are still needing the same things that they needed 30 years ago from us as teachers and as parents and so overall, I don't think that we are that different or they are that different."

How is teaching different now than 30 years ago?

"How is teaching different? Well, I didn't teach 30 years ago, but I was a student. And I will tell you that as a student, I faced less challenges because I had no easy access to social media, uh, to instant information. Uh, that could be a detriment, but it was also a good thing. So as a teacher, you, I think that you had to teach a lot more about how to research, how to find your own answers."

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

"What I tell someone right now that's thinking about becoming a teacher, I would say that you absolutely need to become a teacher. The one of the most rewarding things that I have done for myself and for other kids, I hope was to become a teacher."

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

"What's one thing I would change to help kids learn better? Oddly enough, I would say that we need to take away the emphasis on technology and we need to get back to the core basics. I feel like technology is something that can be used to help bolster people's educational experience, but it can also be used as an excuse to not get through the core subjects and ideas."