I had the opportunity to have Mrs. Levystone as my intensive reading teacher in my 10th grade year, and she was the kindest and most interactive teacher I ever had. She teaches so that you can understand the concept and gives recognition when we do well on assignments/tests. I decided to interview her to tell everyone else about her and her amazing teaching skills.
What strategies do you use to keep students engaged and motivated in learning?
She responded with “I like to do interactive lessons, positive verbal reinforcements, and positive token economies such as stamps, stickers, treats, etc. ”
What are your strategies for managing challenging behaviors in the classroom?
She said “Students who are challenging… I usually give them tasks to complete so they can feel… kind of useful in a way. So I approach problem students with care and then they eventually become like a favorite student when you get to understand each other’s point of view.
Can you describe your experience of going to teaching 10th graders to teaching 9th graders?
She replied “To me, sophomores are more mature and responsible but are also just doing their own thing and are independent and are like “whatever”, whereas freshman are more moldable and appreciative but it depends on the freshman because some are immature.”
Is working at Santaluces different from any other school that you’ve worked at? If so, how?
She stated “I love working at Santa because the students are amazing and the technology is highly graded. Digitally it’s superior and well-behaved because, I used to live in New York, and compared to New York, the technology is definitely more advanced. There wasn’t much technology there we just used the boards but the kids were more interactive in New York compared to the kids I have taught here at Santaluces.”
How do you handle the stress and maintain a work-life balance?
She gave a short and sweet response stating “I workout and walk a lot, and I pray.”
Can you share an example of a time you made a mistake while teaching and how you addressed it?
She said “I accused a student of cheating and gave him a 0 but realized after that it wasn’t his phone, and I apologized and let him redo the assignment”
