What school did you attend, and when did you graduate?
California State University Sacramento, Fall 2009 for Bachelors of Art,
and Spring 2010 for Teacher Credential
Where do you work, and what grade do you teach?
Yav Pem Suab Academy –2nd grade
Why did you choose this grade level instead of another (eg. middle, high school)?
I actually chose 3rd grade but was given 2nd grade. I love it! I prefer 2nd and 3rd grade because they
love sharing stories and still listen to the teacher. It’s also after 2nd grade that the achievement gap
starts to widen, so I feel I can make the most difference in this grade level and hopefully prepare them
for the next grade level.
When did you decide to become a teacher?
I decided to become a teacher when I was in 5th grade. As I started my journey at Sac State, the classes
only reassured me that teaching was what God has made to do.
Why did you decide to become a teacher?
In fifth grade; the reason why I wanted to become a teacher was because I was in love with my 5th grade
teacher. Now, I just want to make sure that all students, no matter what ethnicity, get a chance to
become who they want to be and know that someone believes in them.
If you had it to do all over again, would you still be a teacher? Why or why not?
Yes! Even though teachers get paid too little for the amount of work that they do, I feel I will make the
most difference being a teacher.
What was the most difficult part of the teacher-credentialing program?
The most difficult was the work load, plus student teaching, plus a part time job. It was incredibly hard
to work when you were student teaching all day and going to school until eight at night. However, I truly
felt I have benefited greatly from the credentialing program.
Please describe the student teaching portion of your training and how you felt during it.
For the first semester, I was student teaching 2 full days and 1half day a week. In the second semester, I
was student teaching 4 full days a week. It was extremely overwhelming because we had homework and
readings and had to create lesson plans so that we can teach the next day. Now that I have a teaching
position, student teaching was nothing compared to real teaching. Now there are other variables that
affect teaching such as administration, state test, staff members, school climate, and the list goes on.
As a young, female, Hmong teacher, how do your students/parents/colleagues treat you?
Students—My students love me, but every second grader loves their teacher. My students do realize that
I’m young but it doesn’t really seem to bother them. They love the fact that I can speak Hmong because
now if they have a question that they cannot articulate in English, they can just ask me in Hmong. I will
then respond in English. So in terms of my Hmong-English learners, it has been really helpful.
Parents—I feel intimidated because I do feel like the parents will question whether I have any experience
being a teacher because I’m still so young. I haven’t been mistreated yet, but I do feel like sometimes
they may question whether I know what I am talking about.
Colleagues—I’m known as the baby of the group, which is a huge adjustment because I’ve always
been the oldest. I’m one of the oldest in my family as well as youth group so to be the youngest is really
different. I turn to my colleagues a lot because they are experienced, not only in the teaching field, but
in life as well. So my colleagues have been nothing but helpful. God has definitely given me a great
group of ladies to work with.
Have you done parent-teacher conferences yet? If so, how did they go and how did you feel doing them?
Yes, and it went well. The hardest thing I’m noticing is speaking in Hmong because some words do not
translate so well. So trying to make it simple so that my Hmong parents understand what I am talking
about is definitely the hardest part.
Describe a typical day at work for you.
8:00-9:30 Students come in and work on the morning routine (daily language review, morning
movement, board math, checking homework).
9:30-9:40 Yard duty/recess
9:40-11:30 English language arts/Math lesson with workshops, where I’m able to differentiate and work
with students who have not grasped the concepts
11:30-12:10 Lunch, but in reality I only get about 15 minutes of lunch
12:10-2:00 Science/Social studies with workshops
2:00-3:00 Collaboration with other teachers
3:00-4:00 Professional development
4:00-4:50 Prep
4:50-5:00 Walk students out/dismissal
Then I work from 5:00-7:00 p.m. preparing for the week.
Was your perception of a teacher’s job accurate? If not, what are the differences?
There’s definitely a lot more work that I didn’t consider. Teachers have to do so much and taking care of
20 students is a lot so I need to give kudos to teachers who have 30-35 students. There’s so many
variables that I didn’t consider before such as parents, income, study trips, neighbors, administration,
state tests, etc.
Do you have to spend a lot of time outside of school hours preparing material and grading papers, etc.?
YES! I’m constantly working because I’m thinking of my students all the time. I think about how I could
have taught a lesson differently, or how I will be teaching the next lesson. I also think about what
workbook or activities I can provide to make sure all my students will learn.
Students get all the holidays and vacations off, do you get them off as well?
So far, we get every Fridays off, but I come and prepare for the following week, so I do not get it off.
There are some Fridays, however, where I do not go in to work because of church or family related
activities. When the holidays come around, I hope I will be able to relax and enjoy my time with family
and friends.
How often do you have to attend staff meetings/trainings?
Staff meetings—we have them once a week
Trainings—our school provides lots of professional development, which is great but can be a little
overwhelming. We get one hour of professional development everyday. Some weeks we have them by
outside trainers and sometimes it’s from our administrators.
What information about being a teacher do you wish you had known before deciding on this career?
I think I knew a lot of the information, I just didn’t know how much work everyone was talking about.
What advice do you have for students interested in becoming teachers.
You really have to have a passion to teach because you’ll hate the workload and little pay combo. :D
Is there anything else you would like students to know about being a teacher?
It’s absolutely rewarding.
California State University Sacramento, Fall 2009 for Bachelors of Art,
and Spring 2010 for Teacher Credential
Where do you work, and what grade do you teach?
Yav Pem Suab Academy –2nd grade
Why did you choose this grade level instead of another (eg. middle, high school)?
I actually chose 3rd grade but was given 2nd grade. I love it! I prefer 2nd and 3rd grade because they
love sharing stories and still listen to the teacher. It’s also after 2nd grade that the achievement gap
starts to widen, so I feel I can make the most difference in this grade level and hopefully prepare them
for the next grade level.
When did you decide to become a teacher?
I decided to become a teacher when I was in 5th grade. As I started my journey at Sac State, the classes
only reassured me that teaching was what God has made to do.
Why did you decide to become a teacher?
In fifth grade; the reason why I wanted to become a teacher was because I was in love with my 5th grade
teacher. Now, I just want to make sure that all students, no matter what ethnicity, get a chance to
become who they want to be and know that someone believes in them.
If you had it to do all over again, would you still be a teacher? Why or why not?
Yes! Even though teachers get paid too little for the amount of work that they do, I feel I will make the
most difference being a teacher.
What was the most difficult part of the teacher-credentialing program?
The most difficult was the work load, plus student teaching, plus a part time job. It was incredibly hard
to work when you were student teaching all day and going to school until eight at night. However, I truly
felt I have benefited greatly from the credentialing program.
Please describe the student teaching portion of your training and how you felt during it.
For the first semester, I was student teaching 2 full days and 1half day a week. In the second semester, I
was student teaching 4 full days a week. It was extremely overwhelming because we had homework and
readings and had to create lesson plans so that we can teach the next day. Now that I have a teaching
position, student teaching was nothing compared to real teaching. Now there are other variables that
affect teaching such as administration, state test, staff members, school climate, and the list goes on.
As a young, female, Hmong teacher, how do your students/parents/colleagues treat you?
Students—My students love me, but every second grader loves their teacher. My students do realize that
I’m young but it doesn’t really seem to bother them. They love the fact that I can speak Hmong because
now if they have a question that they cannot articulate in English, they can just ask me in Hmong. I will
then respond in English. So in terms of my Hmong-English learners, it has been really helpful.
Parents—I feel intimidated because I do feel like the parents will question whether I have any experience
being a teacher because I’m still so young. I haven’t been mistreated yet, but I do feel like sometimes
they may question whether I know what I am talking about.
Colleagues—I’m known as the baby of the group, which is a huge adjustment because I’ve always
been the oldest. I’m one of the oldest in my family as well as youth group so to be the youngest is really
different. I turn to my colleagues a lot because they are experienced, not only in the teaching field, but
in life as well. So my colleagues have been nothing but helpful. God has definitely given me a great
group of ladies to work with.
Have you done parent-teacher conferences yet? If so, how did they go and how did you feel doing them?
Yes, and it went well. The hardest thing I’m noticing is speaking in Hmong because some words do not
translate so well. So trying to make it simple so that my Hmong parents understand what I am talking
about is definitely the hardest part.
Describe a typical day at work for you.
8:00-9:30 Students come in and work on the morning routine (daily language review, morning
movement, board math, checking homework).
9:30-9:40 Yard duty/recess
9:40-11:30 English language arts/Math lesson with workshops, where I’m able to differentiate and work
with students who have not grasped the concepts
11:30-12:10 Lunch, but in reality I only get about 15 minutes of lunch
12:10-2:00 Science/Social studies with workshops
2:00-3:00 Collaboration with other teachers
3:00-4:00 Professional development
4:00-4:50 Prep
4:50-5:00 Walk students out/dismissal
Then I work from 5:00-7:00 p.m. preparing for the week.
Was your perception of a teacher’s job accurate? If not, what are the differences?
There’s definitely a lot more work that I didn’t consider. Teachers have to do so much and taking care of
20 students is a lot so I need to give kudos to teachers who have 30-35 students. There’s so many
variables that I didn’t consider before such as parents, income, study trips, neighbors, administration,
state tests, etc.
Do you have to spend a lot of time outside of school hours preparing material and grading papers, etc.?
YES! I’m constantly working because I’m thinking of my students all the time. I think about how I could
have taught a lesson differently, or how I will be teaching the next lesson. I also think about what
workbook or activities I can provide to make sure all my students will learn.
Students get all the holidays and vacations off, do you get them off as well?
So far, we get every Fridays off, but I come and prepare for the following week, so I do not get it off.
There are some Fridays, however, where I do not go in to work because of church or family related
activities. When the holidays come around, I hope I will be able to relax and enjoy my time with family
and friends.
How often do you have to attend staff meetings/trainings?
Staff meetings—we have them once a week
Trainings—our school provides lots of professional development, which is great but can be a little
overwhelming. We get one hour of professional development everyday. Some weeks we have them by
outside trainers and sometimes it’s from our administrators.
What information about being a teacher do you wish you had known before deciding on this career?
I think I knew a lot of the information, I just didn’t know how much work everyone was talking about.
What advice do you have for students interested in becoming teachers.
You really have to have a passion to teach because you’ll hate the workload and little pay combo. :D
Is there anything else you would like students to know about being a teacher?
It’s absolutely rewarding.
| Teacher Interview |
| Ms. Diane Xiong |
