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Can you tell us about yourself? 

"Hello. My name is Romney Anderton. I am a fifth grade teacher at Mohawk elementary school. Mohawk school district is located about an hour North of Pittsburgh. Um, I have been at Mohawk for about seven years, but it is my 14th year of teaching."

Why did you start a career in education?

 "Why did I start a career in education? I think when I went to college I knew that I was going to go into education. I just wanted to be able to help children the same way that my teachers, um, had helped me. And I have a lot of family members who are educators. So it was just kind of the natural path for me to take."

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

 "If I could have any other job, what would it be? I always say that I would have loved to have gotten to school, to be a nurse and that's not something I would've considered in my younger years. But after having children and getting great care in the hospital, I think that that would also be a very rewarding job."

How are kids different now than 30 years ago?

 "How are kids different now than 30 years ago? Well, 30 years ago I was in school. Um, I think the biggest difference is technology. Uh, I like to tell my students about when I would write a research paper, how we would have to use encyclopedias. And most of my students have no idea how to go into a dictionary and find a word, let alone an encyclopedia."

How is teaching different now than 30 years ago?

 "Also think that teaching is different because, uh, we have Pinterest and if we need a quick lesson or a quick idea, you know, it's all at our fingertips. So technology is definitely the biggest difference with our teaching."

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

 "Um, what would I tell someone right now if they were thinking about becoming a teacher? I'm very happy in my job. I love what I do. I would encourage someone to be a teacher, but I would also let them know it's not just all summers off. It's a lot of work, a lot of frustration, a lot more work than you ever thought. Uh, this is my first year in fifth grade and I don't just teach, I collect papers and I do fundraisers and book orders and a lot more than I ever thought a teacher did. So I would let them know they need to be prepared to kind of do it all."

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

"And one thing I would change to help kids learn better is I think I would do away with the one size fits all standardized testing. We have kids who are all different levels, and I don't think it's fair that we make them all take the same exact test. Um, it would be easier as a teacher for us to grow these students if we were able to meet them more on their needs than trying to get them where our state or our government feels that they should be. So thank you."