Full Transcript with Kerianne Carter
[00:00:00]Ryan Rarick: Welcome to the Utah Teacher Fellows Podcast. My name is Ryan Rarick and I am a teacher on special assignment at Snow Canyon High School in Washington County School District.
[00:00:16]Audryn Damron: And I'm Audryn Damron, a special education math teacher at Cottonwood High School in Granite School District. Welcome to another episode of the Utah Teacher Fellows Podcast.
[00:00:25]Ryan Rarick: As a reminder, the purpose of the Utah Teacher Fellows Podcast is to share teachers stories, share what makes teaching great, why teaching is great, and how teaching is great. We are excited to do this with our guest today.
[00:00:40]Audryn Damron: Today's Utah Teacher Fellows podcast. We have Kerianne Carter. Kerianne knew as a young student in Davis School District that she wanted to be a teacher.
[00:00:49] In 2017, she began her career teaching in Davis, sharing her passion for language arts, literature and history with elementary students. Kerianne currently serves fellow teachers as an executive board member for the Davis Education Association. And assist students as a Junior Hope Squad advisor for her school.
[00:01:06] She earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Western Governor's University in 2017 and has returned to a master's degree in leadership. She enjoys connecting with other educators on Twitter, and she can be reached at, @heysheteach. Welcome Kerianne.
[00:01:24]@Kerianne Carter: Hey, I'm happy to be here.
[00:01:28]Ryan Rarick: Our first thing that we do is an icebreaker.
[00:01:32] It's our procedure. It's our structure. What is your favorite topic or lesson to teach your students? And I guess for some more background, I'm trying to think of, what are the lessons that, even the day before, you're like, yes, tomorrow I get to teach this.
[00:01:45]@Kerianne Carter: I love teaching the Revolutionary War of fifth graders. It's their first experience with getting to learn American history. Usually what they know about it is pretty chunky, bits and pieces. So, kind of getting to lead up to it, that first big conversation we [00:02:00] have leading up to the fight for Freedom Revolutionary War.
[00:02:02] When we talk about Boston Tea Party where we talk about the Stamp Act, just kind of giving 'em those tidbits leading up to that big fight for freedom. It's my very favorite time of the year.
[00:02:12]Ryan Rarick: Do fifth graders act out the parts? Do they dress up or anything?
[00:02:16]@Kerianne Carter: So, dressing up, kind of giving the climate that we're in in education is kind of a no-go these days.
[00:02:21] We do a lot of hands-on activities with the tea party exploration. We do a lot with jigsaws where we'll break into the different causes and theories behind why the different groups joined in. We kind of make it as hands on as we can without digging too deep. I would say fifth grade, US history is more surface deep, and then I just try to get 'em really interested and I promise them by the time they get to junior high, they'll get a whole year where they can dig into it.
[00:02:45] So I just try to give them all the key points so that they really want more.
[00:02:49]Audryn Damron: Ryan are both in secondary, right? And. Kerianne, I love that you're, you're telling your kids this is exciting and I'm just gonna give you preview pieces here, but then you're gonna get a whole year to dive into this.
[00:03:00] Because sadly, a lot of students when they come to me hate and loathe history and I'm like, oh my gosh, what is happening? And they're all excited to learn different pieces in elementary school and then, they are not later.
[00:03:15]Ryan Rarick: And maybe we can tap into that and have the kids remember how excited they were. I wonder if any kids ironically use the lessons of the revolution to, Challenge any of your authority in the classroom. I want, I wanna know if any fifth graders are like standing on a desk yelling, give me liberty or give me death.
[00:03:30]@Kerianne Carter: They have asked if they could protest the principal and protest for longer recess because we tried to dig into, you know, the whole idea behind the revolution was they were treason. They were committing treason. So, by signing that declaration, all of them could. Really if caught, they could be committed to a death sentence.
[00:03:49] So they were really putting everything on the line. And so, then it gets into, well, could we put everything on the line and request more recess or better lunches or different lunch? So, I mean, it's an elementary mindset. So, then we kind of dig into, well, we have to really think what was the cause and what was the point and what led up to it.
[00:04:06]Ryan Rarick: Thank you for the icebreaker. Let's get into Kerianne's story.
[00:04:10]Audryn Damron: My favorite question is, how and why did you get into teaching? And Kerianne, you and I have had many different conversations about how and why, and so I will be asking probing questions if. Do not get as many details as I want. So that's, please share with us your journey. Was this like, I mean, your bio mentioned that you wanted to be a teacher forever, but I feel like you started in a different field.
[00:04:36] Tell us your journey. How did you get here?
[00:04:39]@Kerianne Carter: So, I did always wanna be a teacher. We moved a lot when I was a kid. In elementary school, like thinking K through six, I went to I think seven different schools. And people would always say, oh, is your dad in the military? No, he worked for Sam's Club.
[00:04:53] So it was back in the nineties when Sam's Club was like the thing before Costco. And so he would get movedto open new clubs. So, we moved all the time and I never really felt like I had a place. And then we moved to Utah in sixth grade and when I was in sixth grade, And I finally kind of got settled and I had a sixth-grade teacher who happened to answer the phone call one day when the junior high asked, well, who would wanna be your seventh grade student body representative for your school?
[00:05:21] And he picked me. And it kind of changed my whole everything. My junior high was in Davis, and it changed my whole world. It kind of gave me a place, it gave me a purpose and it gave me kind of a solid ground. And there were teachers that worked at Davis School District, Jodi Hutchinson, Ken Wright who.
[00:05:40] Gave me a place where I felt at home and I felt comfortable, and that really drove me forward and I wanted to do that for other people. So, I always wanted to teach secondary. It was always my purpose to teach English and history. It's what I wanted to do. I graduated in 2005 and I went straight to Weber State everybody else did in my school graduating class.
[00:06:04] And so we rolled in and you know, I went and met with the advisors and this was in oh 5, 0 6 when there were a lot of people wanting to teach English and history. And the advisor said, well, do you think you might be interested in teaching math or science? And I said actually, I don't enjoy math and science is messy, so, no, that's, that's a no.
[00:06:26] And she's like, well, I'm gonna tell you, since you don't really have a coaching background, which if you knew me, I can't even throw a ball in the direction of the hoop. So, nope, that's gonna be off the table as well. You're probably gonna need to go into maybe elementary. So I didn't really wanna do it at that point, so I kind of tabled school.
[00:06:46] I got married and I quit school like every parent tells you not to do. And I ended up in marketing. For about 10 years I did e-commerce marketing and I learned a ton. I ended up in purchasing in sales, and I became really good at building relationships and really fostering those relationships and finding ways to connect with people.
[00:07:05] And it, it was actually my sister-in-law who went back to school later as well. Now we're in our mid twenties, and she went back to school with little kids too, and she got her own classroom. 2013 and was telling me we were on Willard Bay, we were boating, and she was like, I've got my classroom set up and I'm just so excited to get started.
[00:07:25] And I told her how jealous I was and she looked me in my face and she said, I don't know why you could go too. And so I did. That night I signed up, I registered at Slick at Salt Lake Community College, and I took all the classes I could take at Salt Lake Community College, and then I transferred to Western Governors and I just kind of never stopped.
[00:07:44] I ended up doing elementary because that was what worked for me. It worked for my schedule, and I had a little kid at that point. I still love teaching elementary. It's not what I thought I would do. I actually find myself connecting a lot with secondary teachers as well, so I don't know what the future will hold long-term.
[00:08:01] I definitely like teaching the older elementary people. I connect better with them. The younger kids don't understand sarcasm. They just, they don't think I'm funny. They just think I'm weird. They just think I'm weird.
[00:08:14] They just give me the side eye and walk away. So, I definitely find, though, in so many ways that I wouldn't have ever anticipated that my marketing experience applies so directly to my education experience. So much of education is building relationships. And it's making connections and it's fostering those relationships and keeping strong and open communication with people.
[00:08:37] And that's what I did every day. I had to get people who wanted to open accounts with me and it, they had to wanna do it just because they liked me. And sometimes I feel like an education, we have to have students who want to. Because we want them to, they don't wanna come to school and learn because they want to.
[00:08:57] The intrinsic motivation isn't there, especially in my fifth and sixth graders, where if they don't have the push at home, they're not gonna come to school and wanna work hard unless they wanna do it for me. So, I work really hard to establish the same relationships with a 10 and 11, 12 year old that I did with, you know, huge businesses in the juvenile.
[00:09:18] That I did, you know, five or six years ago. So, it's interesting how much they overlap, but that's why that's my way. So, I've got a few follow ups here. The, one of the things that I love pointing out in all of the stories that we've heard from the, the various fellows that we've interviewed is just the power of a single moment that people can often trace their story back to.
[00:09:45] And you mentioned you moved around a lot. First of all, absolutely. Love the idea that your dad worked at Sam's Club and then you said, so we moved around a lot because he was open up new clubs. And it just makes it seem he's just like this nightclub promoter, but it's Sam's Club, the club.
[00:10:01] He's selling the frozen goods. You guys, it was in the soft lines, hard lines. Anyway, the club life. But you, so you came to Utah in sixth grade and a teacher selected you as the student body rep for seventh grade? Yep. Why did, why did that teacher pick you? Do you know? Honestly, my class was super hard. I remember this being really hard and I, at that point, I wouldn't have recognized probably myself.
[00:10:34] Three years later, I was actually really quiet. I kept to myself quite a bit. I was pretty reserved. So I'm assuming he either he saw something in me that I didn't see. If I'm thinking teacher big, right? Or he just thought she had a really good student, I'll pick her. So it's one of the two, I would guess he's actually retiring this year, so I could probably email him and ask him if he remembered.
[00:10:55] But I mean, we're talking vintage at this point.
[00:10:57]Ryan Rarick: Speaking of that, who are these other teachers that you identified as inspiration?
[00:11:00] Was Jodi and Ken? Is that what their names are?
[00:11:03]@Kerianne Carter: Jodi Hutchinson, she teaches at Clearfield High now. She did health and she did English at North Davis Junior High, and then Ken Wright was, The student government advisor and he taught Utah studies, which I think is a really hard class to make.
[00:11:17] Interesting. But he really did, and he did eighth grade English at that point. But they were two teachers who were friends and then their outstanding communication and just bond with each other made me see that school didn't have to be teachers in closed rooms with closed doors doing their own thing.
[00:11:35] They collaborated with each other. They did funny stuff, they had fun at work and that was something I knew that I wanted. I wanted to have fun at work. So it was something I recognized wanting to duplicate in myself. I love that because that isn't necessary.
[00:11:52] I mean, I'm sure there were great moments in the classroom as well, but it just shows me that a lot of our profession and, you know, the promotion of.
[00:12:02] Happens in these moments where we're just being humans and not doing our work. Right. I think we've had a bunch of stories that talk about that too, where sometimes there'll be a comment that a teacher makes to a student that isn't even content based. It's not based on an assignment or anything like that.
[00:12:19] It's just because we've had interactions with that student and you should do this. You, you'd be a good teacher. And it's like that becomes an identity. For that kid. But anyway, so just carry on You seeing these teachers having fun and basically collaborating and interacting with each other.
[00:12:35]Audryn Damron: But I've legitimately never thought about my students watching the way that I interact with my teacher, my fellow neighbors as friends almost. You know what I mean?
[00:12:44] This is kind of blowing my mind actually in thinking about. The workplace environment, right, and having friends and stuff. I remember at Christmas, just this past Christmas I came home with a whole bag of goodies cuz teachers give each other everything. And my husband, who's an engineer was like, I don't.
[00:13:01] What is that? I don't talk to people at work , I don't like Valentine's Day, we did like a Valentine exchange with teachers. Right? Again, we, it's this community of people and like we're all kind of similar. Like if you choose teaching, you have a certain vein in you, right? But then on top of that, It's those teacher relationships.
[00:13:21] One of the other special education teachers and I are really good friends and I think it was the Covid school year, like when we were going back, we both talked about how hard life is and how much everything is hard. And so we decided to prank each other with our classes. In her class, got a bunch of spoons and like, wrote little messages on them.
[00:13:40] And then when I was gone co-teaching, they spooned my classroom, you know, and I got together with kids and she's afraid of clowns, so we printed off a million pictures of clowns and pasted them in her room like, like silly things like that. And I'm like, I never, I never even thought about what my students are looking at.
[00:13:59]But here you are saying that you thought teaching is fun. And I feel like we need that everywhere right now. This reminder that teaching is fun.
[00:14:08]@Kerianne Carter: Teaching is fun. These people were important enough that my mom knew that when she threw a 16th surprise birthday party for me, she invited these teachers, they were there.
[00:14:20] Like, yeah, they were there because they were important to me and she knew that. So, there's something to be said I think for that. You know, you just never know that, that that's, that joy is reflected in so many ways and it was special for me to see.
[00:14:34] It's a dream I never gave up and something I wasn't willing to walk away from. But I'm really glad I had the marketing experience to push me through in education as well. I just, it's been an interesting.
[00:14:47]Ryan Rarick: It's pretty cool that you, you mentioned you were able to make some connections between marketing and teaching and like this concept that like, now the thing that you're selling is you or your content and you're like getting a, a new client every day.
[00:14:59] And I think that's a, that's a pretty cool way of that was part of your path, not a different path, you know what I mean? Like we're all on our own path and the experiences that we have are build us, we all become a total of our previous experiences.
[00:15:12] One, one other follow up and then we're gonna get to another topic. But I, I did wanna ask one more thing. You said you were on Willard Bay. With your sister? Is that who you were with?
[00:15:21]@Kerianne Carter: She was my sister-in-law. Sister-in-law, yeah.
[00:15:24]Ryan Rarick: And you said that you were jealous. I wanna explore that. When you, when she told you that, what was it that made you jealous? What were the thoughts that were going through your head that you were like, oh, I want to have that?
[00:15:37]@Kerianne Carter: It seemed impossible at that point, cuz at that point I probably had a year of college done and I was, I'm trying to think how old I even was.
[00:15:45] It's like I teach like a little bit of math. I mean, I was probably like 25, 26 I teach language arts and history. That's the primary stuff that I teach. So I mean, the thought of going back full-time and doing college seemed so unattainable to me and just.
[00:16:02] Overwhelming, like, how would I do it? I had, at that point, I had like a four-year-old. I worked full-time and then the thought of working full-time at college as well. I didn't know how I would do it. And then just having her look at me dead pan and say, why couldn't you?
[00:16:17] Of course you can just go. I think it was the inspiration and I guess the kick that I needed to say. You're right, of course I can. And one day if I want my own kid to do that, I should probably be the example of what. I'm expecting of him. And so I'm really glad that I did. I remind myself that every day as I work on my master's degree as well.
[00:16:36] It's an ongoing, you know, it's an ongoing career path and something that I feel like we're always seeking to obtain is that further education and we're always pursuing. You know, the next level of what we can educate ourselves on, whether it's in professional development or you know, like what we do with the teacher fellows trying to uplift and just educate others about our profession.
[00:16:58] Having her look me in the face and tell me, go back to school. You don't need to be jealous. Now she teaches second grade and I'm not jealous of that. That's okay. I'm okay with her teaching second grade because you will find with elementary teachers, there's two very different groups of us. There's the group that teaches the older kids and the group that teaches the younger kids, and we love and appreciate both.
[00:17:21] Because they're very different breeds of people. The younger grades teach the kids the foundational skills that they need to be successful. I feel like my job as an older elementary teacher is to teach them how to use those skills and to prepare them for what comes next when they come to the both of you.
[00:17:40] That's my job is I'm gonna teach them to love to learn how to learn and how to apply those foundational skills that their younger elementary teachers have.
[00:17:49]Ryan Rarick: That's awesome. And it's like you know that that vertical alignment where everybody's filling a role and then we're getting the, getting the most out of, out of the students and providing the most for the students so that they can, we can put them in a position to be successful.
[00:18:04] Okay. We're gonna make a transition cuz you just brought it up a second ago. You, you mentioned, One of the, one of the most fascinating, sometimes it seems daunting, but it's actually one of the most stimulating aspects of our profession, is that we are continually engaged in a cycle of improvement, like, and learning.
[00:18:23] So even if we're teaching the same content, we're learning new things all the time. And, and one of the more overt ways that we demonstrate that is by pursuing degrees. So let's, let's talk about education leadership. And Kerianne, tell us a little bit about why you decided to pursue the master's degree that you're pursuing and specifically a degree in education leadership.
[00:18:44]@Kerianne Carter: I work for a really great administrator. He does a really good job of. Allowing teachers the flexibility to do what they're good at while embracing a leadership style that coaches when needed. I recognize that when you work for a leader who matches your learning style, well, I guess that you should attack that opportunity while you've.
[00:19:12] In Davis, we tend to shuffle our administrators. I mean, every so often there's no like science behind it, but there's not like a long lasting opportunity for an administrator that you work well with to be with you for the long term. So, I recognize that I wanted to continue to learn from someone who I felt like reflected my philosophy of education and whose alignment was very close to.
[00:19:37] So he asked me one of the first couple months of school, like, so what are you gonna do like long term? And I was like, you mean like teach like I'm gonna keep doing this. This is what I'm gonna do. And he said, and you're great at that. Do that. But have you thought about doing administration, you're a leader.
[00:19:54] I recognize that you're organized, like what would come next for you? So, in our district to work in the district office to pursue other opportunities maybe outside of just the classroom environment. A master's degree in education, leadership is what you need. So, it's kind of like that back pocket degree that you need.
[00:20:11] So why did I pursue a Master's in education Leadership? It's because I work for a strong principal, and I wanted to attack the opportunity to have that time with him and to learn from him while he was in my building.
[00:20:26] And Davis, we don't always get an administrator for the long term. And so much of a master's in education leadership is practicum hours where you work hand in hand with that administrator. And his philosophy of education is very close to mine. So, it was kind of that once in a lifetime, like if you're gonna do it, you should probably do it now.
[00:20:45] So that's part of why I decided to attack it at the moment. And then on top of that, in Davis district to work in our district office, typically those positions require a degree in education leadership. So it kind of was a twofold it was kind of thebest of both worlds for me at that. I didn't know that I would wanna take it into an administrative opportunity, but I feel like it was a great chance to educate myself and have it available if the opportunity arose.
[00:21:14]Audryn Damron: So, you're currently doing practicum hours?
[00:21:17]@Kerianne Carter: Yes.
[00:21:19]Audryn Damron: What does that look like for someone who's never done? Anything like that because you're like teaching full-time but also doing practicum hours. Like how does that work?
[00:21:27]@Kerianne Carter: So sometimes I will take personal leave and I will work with the administration on various task. It's looked like at times when both our, we don't have assistant principals at Davis. In elementary we have as elementary interns. If the elementary intern and our principal is out of the office, then there's been times where I've taken my own personal leave to be able to work in the office and get that experience.
[00:21:50] On top of that, our school implements a middle school model for our fifth and sixth graders. So, what I've been doing on top of my regular teaching routine is we do scheduling for our fifth and sixth graders in a system that's very similar to the junior high and high school scheduling system. But we have too manually do it.
[00:22:12] A lot of my hours are built into the scheduling, maintenance. I'm responsible for schedule changes and building the schedules and making the surveys where the kids all pick their courses. So, a lot of it I do after hours. Not a lot of it is spent during the school day because there's just not a lot of bandwidth for it.
[00:22:30] You do have to do a certain percent of secondary hours too. Western Governors allows you to count. Meetings, like school board meetings, the secondary hours. And then I also spent time during the summer helping run a summer camp at the local junior high. So, I found ways kind of to try to work it to my advantage and be out of my classroom as little as possible so that my kids aren't suffering for the attainment of this degree.
[00:22:56]Ryan Rarick: Kerianne. What's something, as you've been pursuing and, and earning this degree in educational leadership, and maybe even from your practicum, what's something that's been eye-opening to you that from like the educational leadership side that maybe most people from the teacher side wouldn't either know or know or have a lot of familiarity with?
[00:23:17]@Kerianne Carter: There's no right answer, to any situation, so no matter what an administrator chooses to do, someone will be unhappy with it.Either the educator who referred a student to the office will be unhappy with the decision. The parent of the student will be unhappy with the decision. The student themselves will be unhappy with the decision.
[00:23:43] There's, there could be disagreement within the administration about the way the situation was handled. I feel like the biggest takeaway I've had is no one's ever happy. So, what we do is we find the path of least resistance that offers the best results for the child. And if we're doing what's best for the kid, then we've made the right choice.
[00:24:04] Now that might not always look like the best thing for the teacher. But at the end of the day, we're here for the kids. So that's been my biggest takeaway and it's probably impacted the way that I teach as well, because it's a huge, it's a huge transition to really consider that everything we do is student-centered and everything the office and the administration deals with is student-centered too.
[00:24:28] If they send that kid back with a Jolly Rancher and a smile. There was probably a reason behind it, and communication may be lacking. There could be things that need to be refined, but at the end of the day, there was a reason it was done that way, and it's probably because it's what's best for the kid.
[00:24:45]Ryan Rarick: That's like the best explanation I've ever heard for that, that there's no right answer.
[00:24:50]Audryn Damron: We're almost out of time. How is this happening? Okay, so Kerianne, we have discussed how you've gotten to teaching. You have a very unique perspective cuz you were in marketing, which I love. And then we're in teaching right now, we're getting a master's in contemplating. Ed Leadership.
[00:25:05] And I actually wanna make one comment before we just kind of discuss one more topic. So we were at dinner at our last Utah Teacher Fellows convening, and I sat at the same table as Kerianne. And at this table next to us was another educator who we actually interviewed at the beginning. And her name is Michelle.
[00:25:23] She's a librarian. And she talked about how we were talking about Kerianne's story right now and going. Admin and Michelle said, I. I'm so glad there are people like you because she's like, I have no desire to leave the classroom. Like I'm so happy with where I am and I'm so grateful for teachers like you, like quality teachers who are interested in education, leadership.
[00:25:48] And Kerianne, I don't know if you remember what she said, right, or not Probably do because you said something like, I am excited. Because I, I'm excited for where I'm going because I want teachers like you to be able to stay in the classroom. Tell us just a little bit about that, because that gives me the chills.
[00:26:05] I'm so grateful for both of you and your experiences. Right. Tell us a little bit about that.
[00:26:10]@Kerianne Carter: When people ask why I wanna do administration or why I would ever wanna choose to leave the classroom, the first thing I usually tell 'em is, it's not that I want to leave. I love what I do.
[00:26:19] I love working with kids. I love when they walk in and they're excited to see me and they wanna know what we're gonna do for the day. But I also recognize that I have a passion for things that other teachers don't. I recognize that I love going to lobby on the hill. I recognize that I have a passion for ed policy.
[00:26:37]I recognize that I love creating relationships with people that other teachers have no desire to talk to. I recognize that there's a place for me in education leadership so that my friends can stay in their classrooms. Now it's self-serving in that I would love to be an administrator as well. I would love to represent teachers because we do the best work that there is.
[00:27:02]But I also would love to be an administrator because the colleagues that I work with deserve the opportunity to do the work that they love and be represented by someone who understands what they do and cares enough to do it in the right way. The things that I love can be intertwined together in a really powerful way.
[00:27:20] Usually that's when people ask, why would you ever wanna be a principal? Ew. I usually will tell them, because I feel like it's my purpose to step up and do a role that I know that I would be good at and that I would enjoy doing so that my friends can do what they love and they can teach.
[00:27:37]Audryn Damron: Oh snaps.
[00:27:38] I'm like, jazz hands snaps. Like what do I even do right now? That was just so powerful and I, so I just wanted to bring that up cuz when we were at dinner I, it was a pretty powerful conversation. I feel like we, we had a lot of connective moments and that's the beauty of even like the four people on this podcast.
[00:27:55] Shout out to Kayla, who we never hear, but she's doing a lot of the back work. It's our different roles and how, like, how we've gotten there and where we've followed our passions. You know, Kayla left the classroom and is working at U e n, but she's following her passions and her skills with digital and like teaching classes.
[00:28:11] And Kerianne is talking about you know, pursuing some ed leadership. The same thing happened with Ryan as he was pursuing what different thing. We all get to take our educational experience and we get to follow a passion. I think that's what keeps us in, which is getting close to our last question.
[00:28:30]Ryan Rarick: But anyway, I just wanted to, to bring that up is that it's not it's not a, it's not two sides or opposing sides. It's, we're all, we're all teammates and we need the best people in all of the places.
[00:28:43]@Kerianne Carter: It's a friendship bracelet, you guys. It's gotta be braided together.
[00:28:48]Audryn Damron: I get to sandwich my favorite questions. Why do you get into teaching? And then tell us what keeps you in. And I know you've said a lot of reasons already. But give us the final, like what are you excited to do next?
[00:29:01] And I know admin, you know, applying to jobs and stuff, I know that's in your future. Tell us where you want that to go. Like what's your timeline? Of course, you don't know all of that cause that kind of depends, but, and then what keeps you in? Like why, why are you still teaching amidst to the crazy, the craziness of teaching sometimes.
[00:29:20]@Kerianne Carter: What comes next? I don't know what comes next. I applied and but I'm really excited because at this point,
[00:29:25]Audryn Damron: You've applied for admin positions, correct?
[00:29:27]@Kerianne Carter: Yeah. But at this point in the year, interns have been placed, so I'm actually really excited that I get to have a year more in my classroom.
[00:29:36] I feel really good about that. I'm in a really good spot.
[00:29:38]Ryan Rarick: So real quick, Kerianne, just to clarify for maybe some of our listeners, when you apply for an admin position in Davis, I know this is how it is in Washington County, are you actually applying for a candidate pool?
[00:29:49]@Kerianne Carter: Yes.
[00:29:50]Ryan Rarick: Okay. Sometimes people misunderstand that.
[00:29:52] There's gonna be an opening at this school. Many school districts ask for, they want candidate pools of qualified people. And then when there's an opening at a school, the school will look at the candidate pool and select somebody from there. So, you don't always have a say in where you go in an administrative role.
[00:30:09] You, you go to wherever there's an opening.
[00:30:11]@Kerianne Carter: Yes, so I'm okay with that. I feel like pacing is everything and timing is everything. It gives me more opportunity to work with more kids, build more relationships. I'm okay with that. Next year I'm really excited to teach sixth grade language arts all day.
[00:30:25] And then fifth grade US history. So, I really get to focus on two core content areas, which are two core content areas that I love. So, I'm really excited for next year. And then what keeps me in the profession is I love what we do. Every day is different, and I feel like my business and marketing background, our job is difficult and it's arduous, and there's days that are so ridiculously hard, but every day is.
[00:30:51]And so I can wake up tomorrow and have an entirely different day. I can have kids with different moods. I can have a whole different lesson plan. I can teach different content. Everything is new. So teaching is never stale. Teaching is never uneventful. Teaching is never boring. It's always something fresh and new and spicy.
[00:31:10] And I just, there's nothing I don't love about what I do. There's just days that are hard, so I wouldn't do anything.
[00:31:18]Ryan Rarick: I think your kids seeing you do things is really powerful, but our time is winding down and I think. The quote is timing is everything. It's really cool to be in a position like you are Kerianne, where you, you, you're looking for opportunities in the future, but you love what you currently do.
[00:31:36] For our listeners, thank you for joining us and for listening to Kerianne's story.
[00:31:40]Audryn Damron: Thank you everyone for listening to us and allowing us to introduce you all to Kerianne. Please listen and subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Google Play, apple Music, Stitcher, or wherever you access podcasts. We produce episodes every month and we'll continue to introduce you to other passionate educators who are excited to share their stories.
[00:31:58] A huge thank you to Kerianne for joining us. This podcast was produced by Kayla Towner for my co-host Ryan Rarick. I'm Audryn Damron. Thanks for listening. Go make teaching. Great. Bye everybody.
[00:32:10]Ryan Rarick: See ya.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow the UTAH TEACHER FELLOWS online at theutahteacher.com (our blog) and on social media at:
Email: socialmedia@hopestreetgroup.org
Twitter: @HSG_UT
Instagram: @ut_teacherfellows
Facebook: @utahteacherfellowsprogram
CONNECT WITH US:
Kerianne Carter (@heysheteach) -- 5th & 6th grade teacher in Davis School District
Audryn Damron (@audryn_d) -- 9th & 10th Grade SPED Math Cottonwood High School
Natalie Johnson (@Natalie83913767) -- Grades 7-12, Arts Foundations, Computer Science, Digital Graphics, Creative Coding, and College & Career Awareness teacher in San Jan School District.
Ryan Rarick (@Coach_Rarick) -- Administrative Teacher on Special Assignment at Snow Canyon High School
Kayla Towner (@mrstowner9) -- Technology Instructor Trainer at Utah Education Network (UEN)
CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AMAZING PODCASTS:
Social Media Connections:
Teacher Fellows Website: teacherfellows.org
Linkedin: Utah Teacher Fellows
Twitter: @HSG_UT
Instagram: @hsg_ut
Facebook: @utahteacherfellowsprogram
Email us: socialmedia@hopestreetgroup.org
Part of the Show
Info Drop Spokesperson:
- John Arthur (@9thEvermore) -- Co-Director of the Teacher Fellows, 6th Grade Teacher in Salt Lake School District, 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, 2021 National Teacher of the Year Finalist.
Hosts:
- Lauren Merkley (@lmerkles) -- Taught AP English Language and Composition, Creative Writing in Granite School, 2020 Utah Teacher of the Year
- Ryan Rarick (@Coach_Rarick) -- Education Pathway Teacher for Washington Country School District
Production Team:
- Kiera Beddes (@KBeddes) -- Digital Teaching & Learning Specialist for Jordan School District
- Kayla Towner (@mrstowner9) -- Technology Specialist and Product Manager for Utah Education Network (UEN)
