Story by: Jessica Qiu

Video: Hannah Wittwer

Photos: Shelbi Bretz

We’ve all experienced that awkward moment when we see our math teacher at the grocery store or our history teacher at a restaurant. There’s something about running into teachers outside of the classroom that just doesn’t feel right. Maybe it’s because we, as students, forget that our teachers are not defined by the curriculum they teach.

But our educators are real human beings, as silly as that sounds. Even they though invest a lot of time and effort into their students, just like us, they covet their free time and enjoy hobbies. However, most students hold a one-dimensional mindset about their teachers. So, we set out to shed a little light on those other dimensions by investigating what teachers are like after class is dismissed, what irks them while class is in session, and why they do what they do.

Balancing Act

Why Mrs. Petersen believes education is important.

Few know how precious personal time is like Social Studies teacher Mrs. Petersen. With a two-year-old daughter and another child on the way, Mrs. Petersen is especially aware of the difficulties that come with juggling her professional career with her family life. ”It was definitely hard to find that balance, especially after my maternity leave [after my first child],” she said.

When Mrs. Petersen isn’t spending time with her family or preparing for her classes, she reserves time to hang out with friends. ”It’s all about quality over quantity,” she said.

Mrs. Petersen isn’t the only one with a jam-packed schedule. Ms. Bohlender, the student teacher for both Mr. Gealy and Mr. Flowerday, has to play dual roles as a teacher and a student.

“I basically have a full-time job without the pay,” she said. On top of that, she has the responsibilities of a college student without attending formal classes. “I still have to fill out forms, and do assessments and journals.”

When she’s unwinding from grading essays and creating lesson plans, Ms. Bohlender and her friends find inexpensive ways to have fun. ”We play Ultimate Frisbee on Fridays and playground tag on Sundays,” she said. She also teaches Zumba classes and relaxes with yoga.

But Ms. Bohlender isn’t alone when it comes to teachers who continue to learn outside of the classroom. Chemistry teacher Mr. Thompson not only teaches six consecutive classes, two of which are new AP Chemistry sections, but he also is pursing his Master’s degree. “Sometimes that can take up more time than teaching,” he said.

Between teaching and working towards the next degree, Mr. Thompson is still able to pursue a variety of hobbies, ranging from house repairs to gardening to exercising.

Although Mr. Thompson and Ms. Bohlender don’t have to juggle family responsibilities alongside with their professional lives, they and Mrs. Petersen acknowledge that it’s not always easy to find the right balance. Striking that ideal balance can be unreasonable at times, which requires teachers to do what Ms. Bohlender terms their “balanced best”.

Mr. Thompson believes that education never ends.

Pet Peeves

Teaching certainly isn’t an easy job in the balancing department. And the teaching itself doesn’t always go as planned. As we all know, high school students are easily bored and can get fairly disruptive fairly quickly.

For Mrs. Petersen, the chaos of uncontrolled chatter and blurted thoughts is especially frustrating. “[My classroom pet peeve is] basically anything that’s disorderly,” she said. Whether it’s messy, illegible papers, crumpled assignments, or talking out of turn, disorganization’s myriad manifestations do not go unnoticed in Mrs. Petersen’s classroom.

Another thing that Mrs. Petersen is strongly against is last-minute pleading. “It bothers me when a student will come in the day of the quiz or test and say ‘I’m not prepared’,” she said. Many teachers will agree with her.

In general, most teachers contain their frustrations well. For Mr. Thompson, it’s exceptionally hard to instigate an explosive response. “I’ve probably reacted strongly once in three years,” he said.

But it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t hold pet peeves of his own. “It’s just when students don’t care or want to improve,” said Mr. Thompson. Not only is it hard to deal with the immediate consequences of a lack of will, such as low grades or poor attendance, but also finding solutions can be difficult.

Ms. Bohlender’s biggest classroom pet peeve is “egocentric impulsivity”. “I can’t stand it when students are unaware of the consequences of their actions on other students and the classroom,” she said.

However, Ms. Bohlender has had to quickly learn how to manage these situations. “Odds are that they’re not going to remember what they said the next day. The best thing is to just let it go,” she said.

Teaching Is Rewarding

Ms. Bohlender's opinion on why education is important.

Although she is currently two English teachers’ student teacher and spent a year in Cambodia teaching English, Ms. Bohlender is not set on teaching for a career. “I definitely did not anticipate the rigors of the job. And I think that teachers are largely underpaid and undervalued because people don’t know how much work it is,” she said. “I’m not certain about jumping right into full-time teaching.”

Even if Ms. Bohlender doesn’t become a teacher, she still finds it fulfilling. “The biggest reward is when you’re trying to explain something to a student and they just get it,” she said. To Ms. Bohlender, her favorite part about teaching thus far is whenever it matters to someone.

For those who have made teaching their careers, the rewards are similar. Mr. Thompson describes his favorite part about teaching as something that doesn’t have to be explicitly said. “Just knowing you made a difference in someone’s day [is the biggest reward],” he said.

For Mrs. Petersen, the interaction with her classes is key. “My reward is just the connection with the students,” she said. Even beyond the classroom, education becomes a life-long goal.

“The biggest thing for me is that you never want to stop learning,” she said.

All in all, it’s easy to see that teachers are hardly one-dimensional. Instead, they each have unique personalities and interests, and are passionate about education. No matter which department or how many years of experience, our teachers are multi-dimensional.

Video Interviews

A video interview with Mrs. Peterson on balancing teaching and being a mom.

A video interview with Mr. Thompson on what he does outside of teaching.

A video interview with Ms. Bohlender on why education is invaluable.