Ian Black

Olivia Black is excited to begin her teaching career.

Olivia Black always knew she wanted to be a teacher–from the time she would make up fake classrooms and assignments for her younger brother in their basement. She is also thankful for the many teachers she had growing up who influenced and strengthened her passion for teaching. Olivia always loved going to school, something that others might not be able to agree with, and learning in general. Since she had lots of opportunities to spend time with kids during her childhood, like babysitting, she quickly knew that was another feature of teaching that she enjoyed.

“I love children. I love seeing that lightbulb moment in their heads.”

Olivia also feels like being an older sibling thrust her into a leadership role for her younger brother, helping her learn how kids develop and grow throughout their childhood helped her learn how to be a good teacher. Mrs. Yates, her fourth-grade teacher, was Olivia’s favorite teacher that she’s had during all of her years in school.

“My favorite teacher hands down was Mrs. Yates,” Olivia said. “She just made learning so fun.”

During high school, Olivia got the chance to take many classes that helped her learn more about teaching and children’s growth. Those were Human Growth and Development and Teacher Cadet 1 & 2. She thinks that these classes were most beneficial for her because she learned how to make lesson plans and got classroom experience learning from actual teachers. This led her to choose the University of Northern Colorado for her college education since it has a very good program for elementary education. Here, Olivia got the opportunity to student teach junior and senior year at a small elementary school called Monfort in Greeley. She says she has learned a lot about teaching from the semester; classroom management skills and how to get her students to respect her as a teacher and authority figure, something that she struggled with at the beginning. When asked if she ever had doubts about becoming a teacher, Olivia answered,

“Absolutely, everyone does.”

Olivia talked about how she didn’t have doubts until college when she got student teaching experience and the kids she was in charge of didn’t listen to her because they didn’t see her as an actual teacher or someone they had to listen to. But from those doubts to now, she has improved a lot, finding her “teacher voice” as she calls it, with the support of everyone around her. Olivia recalled that whenever she would get doubts or struggle, she would think back to what her mentor teachers told her: that they had never met someone else who was as made for this profession as her.

When asked about how her student teaching has going so far, Olivia said it was going great. She had found out recently that she would be back in the same school for the next semester, something that she found comforting.

At the end of the interview, I asked Olivia if she was excited about having her own classroom next year after she graduates from UNC.

“It’s a scary thought knowing you are the only adult in the room.”

Olivia also said that she knows she learned enough from her high school and college classes and student teaching to do it. She was most excited about being able to decorate the classroom exactly like she likes. Olivia says she will forever be thankful to the many teachers who sparked her passion for teaching, and she dedicates her success to them.