By Jennet Engles
Ms. Charlene Chan is a Living Environment teacher , ASR (Advanced Science Research) Program Director, and ISTEP (International Student and Teacher Exchange Program) founder and director at MCSM. She recieved Sloan Awards for excellence in teaching Science and Mathematics. We had a conversation about what she finds most challenging and rewarding about her role as a teacher.
Q: How did you feel when you discovered you were on the list of 2013 winners?
A: I was really suprised and happy because I wasn’t expecting that.
Q: How were you notified that you won an award?
A: I recieved an email from the team which they hired. The team picks 100 teachers and begins to research about them. And they choose 12 teachers out of 100. And out of 12 just 7 of them can be a winner. Every search takes 8 months, so they can follow the teacher’s work. Then they interview the teacher’s students, asking questions about lessons and the teacher’s behavior. They do this all without telling the teacher, so teacher can’t change their behavior to get the reward. As I said ı got an email from them, but before that one of my students was smiling at me without saying anything. So I knew that something had happened. Then I checked my email.
Q: What did it say?
A: It said that I won an award and that they wanted to schedule an interview with me at a cafe.
Q: Interview at a cafe?
A: Yes. (Smiling)
Q: What did they ask during the interview?
A: The interviewer wanted me to give him a Living Enviromental lesson.
Q: Do you think that you deserved the award?
A: I think many teachers do because every teacher is spending a lot of time and energy to help the students know the subject.
Q: Do you like to teach?
A: I love to teach. I always wake up and can’t wait to see my students and introduce them to new subjects.
Q: Mr.Brooks stated that the hardest part about being a teacher is giving grades. Do you agree with that?
A: No, giving grades is not hard for me. I think the hardest part is knowing how to perform every experiment and doing it correctly in front of the students. So students can learn to do the right thing.
Q: If students fail a class, does that mean they are not intelligent?
A: No, because it is just an effect of bad studying for an exam. The freshmen just came from middle school. So first the first three months are really hard for them. But after that they are learning how to study for tests and the Regents.