Lessons from the Field: Interview with Erin Keefe

This post is part of the Teachers Certification Map’s “lessons from the field”, a series of posts featuring passionate, inspiring educators from across the country discussing some of the lessons that they have learned over the years that would help young teachers as they embark on their careers.

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Erin Keefe teaches Honors American Literature at Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, an K-12 cyber charter school headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania (www.palcs.org).

Below is our interview with Erin:

How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching for 10 years. Five of them were in a bricks and mortar (traditional) public school. The last five have been cyber.

Where did your inspiration to teach come from?

My inspiration to become a teacher came from my tenth grade English teacher, who brought the subject to life. He encouraged all of his students to write and to be avid readers. I watched him turn students around who thought they could never love either writing or reading, and I wanted to be able to do that for others.

What did you wish you’d known before going into education

When I started teaching, I wish I had known how much I was going to learn from my students. Going in to teaching you think you are the expert and should know everything. But in all reality, for me, I learned as much as I taught every day. I would encourage all new teachers to be open minded, to listen, and to be willing to learn.

What have teaching courses taught you?

My graduate-level courses have helped me to develop a strong writing program for my classroom, as well as to better understand student motivation. I am excited about the possibilities that exist in teaching online. I enjoy finding new technologies to make learning exciting and interesting for my students.

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Do you know someone with great insights to share with young teachers, or do you want to be considered for an interview? If so, please email us at hello@certificationmap.com.

This is a guest post from our journalist Alex J. Mann.  You can subscribe to his blog here and follow him on Twitter here.