By Shoda Khan
Ms.Landman is an English teacher here at Manhattan Center for Science and Math. She kindly answered a few questions for us. During this interview you’ll get to know more about her life as a teacher and how it all started for her.
Q: What is it like being a teacher here at MCSM?
Ms.Landman: It’s by far the best school I’ve ever worked in. The students are amazing —really self motivated, and smart, and just fun and interesting people. But the other teachers are also really supportive and everyone in the administration does as much as they can to support the teachers. I have too many positive things to say, (lol). I love it here.
Q: When did you start your job as a teacher and how long have you been teaching?
Ms.Landman: I didn’t realize I wanted to be a teacher until my late 20’s, but I had some experience because in 2010 after I finished college, I taught English as a foreign language in a few countries abroad (honestly just as a way to earn $ so that I could travel). After a year of doing that I moved to NYC and did a lot of freelance writing/editing while also auditioning and working as a dancer. In 2016 I decided to go to grad school at Hunter college and got my masters in English education! I taught 9th grade for a year and then moved to MCSM last year. So I’m kind of a sophomore who teaches sophomores in a way. I’m so glad I had that teaching abroad experience though, because without it I would never have realized how much I enjoyed doing it. Now I’m still in shock about how much I love my job. I knew I would enjoy it and find meaning in it . . . but I love it even more than dancing which came as a surprise to me.
Q: What was one of your worst experiences as a teacher?
Ms.Landman: My first DAY working at this English school in Kiev, Ukraine where literally no one spoke English except one of the admins. I was teaching a class of 7-10 year olds. We had 90 minute periods, so we always took a break in the middle. So, I stepped into the teacher’s lounge for a minute just to take a breath and calm myself, and I heard screaming. Apparently one of the girls gave one of the boys the middle finger and he PUNCHED HER STRAIGHT IN THE FACE—like she was going to have a black eye! I was so inexperienced— [because] they literally threw me into the classroom the day after I flew in)—that I just ran upstairs and grabbed the one administrator that spoke English.
Q: Do you prefer online classes or in person?
Ms.Landman: 100% in person. I get sad sometimes because I know I’m missing out on that classroom atmosphere and culture and bonding stuff. I do feel like teaching online has refined certain skills of mine faster than if this had never happened, and I know some students do thrive in this sort of learning atmosphere. I am excited to incorporate certain aspects of Google Classroom and some online platforms once we go back to “normal.” But overall in my opinion there’s no comparison to in person.
Q: Why did you choose to become a highschool teacher?
Ms.Landman: The main reason is I like hanging out and working with young people. I think one of my “talents” for lack of a better word is being able to see someone’s potential, and I like helping people see it too. I like getting to be creative, and I also wanted to help people, even if it was just in little ways. I’m also a huge nerd and I love the discussions we get to have in English class. Plus, I knew that by becoming a teacher— especially in a place like NYC which is so diverse—that I would continue to be a lifelong learner. My students teach me a lot.
Q: Tell about one of your favorite classes.
Ms.Landman: So my 8th period last year was really special. I think a lot of them were friends outside of class, and also since it was the last class of the day, they were a rowdy bunch to say the least (lol). When we had to go remote suddenly, they were one of the only classes that really kept up the “feel” of the classroom culture. It was nice because I had made group chats for each period, and p8 would randomly send memes, or say “hi”. We kept in touch more than any of my other classes did.
Q: What do you think matters more, education or experience?
Ms.Landman: There’s so much overlap between the two that it’s a hard question to answer. Obviously you do need to learn the fundamentals of reading/writing or the sciences an math so that you can pursue them more in depth in colleges, jobs and careers, but i did learn a lot about the way the world works just from my observations and experiences from physically attending high school. And while we won’t be living in a partial lockdown and having the majority of our interactions with each other on Zoom forever, this is going to become an even bigger component of how the education system—and world economies— function going forward. So looking at it this way I think there’s an argument to be made that students today are somewhat getting the [preparatory] educational experience that’s part of what school is for. And as far as job applications, depending on the profession, experience is probably more important. Unless you need a degree or certification for said job.
Q: What is the hardest thing you have to do as a teacher?
Ms.Landman : Right now, the hardest things are trying to gauge who needs help vs. who’s being lazy … how much work is an unrealistic amount … and who isn’t showing up because they are dealing with real problems vs. who just isn’t showing up. Trying to deal with all the uncertainties. In a normal year these range from students with behavioral problems that disrupt everyone, and managing my own workload. Normal stuff.
Q: If you were to go back in time what would you do differently?
Ms.Landman: I guess [learn] not to be so impulsive. Think before I say things out of anger, or just dumb things I’ve said without thinking first. Impulsive shopping purchases and other irresponsible things. Maybe I’d go back and take better care of my body growing up. I’ve had two knee surgeries from dance and I have back issues because I competed when I was injured or didn’t warm up right etc. it’s probably just genetics though, and it would still have happened.
Q: How were you as a high school student?
Ms.Landman: I was a decent student—I got A’s and B’s with an occasional C in Algebra II, because I really struggled. So I wasn’t a top student, but I always made the honor roll and did what I was supposed to do. I was pretty involved, too— my senior year I was captain of the swim team and student government VP, but I think I was probably kind of obnoxious (lol). I was really outspoken and used to complain to my AP and guidance counselor a lot about things that happened in the school. I got in trouble sometimes for talking back and having a bad attitude, or for getting caught skipping class (my parents put an end to that RIGHT away 😱). I mostly had guy friends because the majority of my spare time was spent at dance or cheerleading competitions and my girlfriends would get mad at me for missing stuff all the time. I ran into someone I knew from high school a couple years ago and we went out to dinner and she said something like “I always thought we would have been friends but you were so popular.” and I was like WHAT?.
Q: What is your goal for each and every new school year?
Ms.Landman: To get better. Refine each of my unit plans and individual lessons because every time you teach a unit it gets better. Every time I’m done with a book or finish a sequence of lessons i already know like 8 things i want to do differently that will make it more effective or more fun and engaging. I think being a teacher is an easy job if your goal is to just get by. [But] being a good teacher is a really, really hard job. And I see myself getting better with experience. So #1. Refine and improve my unit/lesson plans, and #2. Try to work on being more structured and organized (something I struggle with in all aspects of my life).
Q: How would you describe this profession to someone who doesn’t have any prior knowledge?
Ms.Landman: It’s kinda like being a nurse: you get little credit but all of the blame. I’d describe it as a job that keeps increasing your responsibilities, but not necessarily your training. I’m not sure I’m really qualified to say because I’ve only worked in 3 other countries and they weren’t like k-12 type schools. There’s more respect given in general but honestly unless I’m reading the internet or something I don’t feel disrespected as a teacher (lol). Schools are just underfunded and teachers and school staff are overextended. I wish [schools had] more mental health support systems because teachers have to pick up a lot of the slack and we aren’t trained for that.
Q: Do you think it ever gets overwhelming to deal with high school students, and how do you deal with it?
Ms.Landman: Usually it doesn’t, until about 3-4 days before report cards 😂 . This happened last year when we were in person too, so it’s not an online issue! Everyone (including me) is just scrambling to get their work done last minute, so that can be overwhelming. I try to just step away for a night, or a full day if it’s a weekend, and then when I go back to it I feel replenished. I also try to deal with it by preemptive answers to questions I think you may have, so when my inbox fills up I can just be like “refer to x post about it.” I think a lot of that also has to do with experience, and still being somewhat of a newbie teacher.