Teachers have been frontline workers during the pandemic. They have had to adapt to a new style of teaching and push forwards despite the hiccups of poor internet connection, uncooperative students and hackers jumping into their class meetings.
Despite all of this, they have continued to be resilient and put their students high on their list of priorities. Elisabeth Thielitz, for example, a fourth grade teacher in Waukesha, has been impacted by these sudden changes and through it all has still maintained the same philosophy: teaching vulnerability and humility. Thielitz values not perfection, but showing effort and with that, making mistakes.
“I didn’t have a teacher that inspired me. I was actually very shy,” she said. Thielitz didn’t like school, and it wasn’t until High School that she realized the impact she could make on someone else’s life.
She realized that by teaching, she had the power to make someone else not dislike school. That, coupled with her mother saying how she was a teacher “in life,” inspired her to make the decision to pursue education as a career.
Thielitz received her undergraduate degree in education with minors in special education and theater. From there, she was a substitute for a year.
For her, getting a job relied on word of mouth, and being a substitute was a strong foot-in-the-door that allowed her to get her name and reputation out. Another route that some pursue is an internship to student teach.When Thielitz was hired, she had a panel interview with multiple principles from the district.
At her current school, she is the students’ English language arts teacher. She manages two sets of kids – 50 in total. She greatly enjoys the fourth graders she teaches, she told the UWM Post.
“They’re excited, but individuals who get a sense of humor,” she explained.
At the beginning of any semester, she makes it her goal to “build a personal relationship with every student,” making a point to ask them one detail they want her to remember about them.
Thielitz said this helps her to not only get to know her students, but also to better construct personal explanations to help students understand things later on. Teachers have curriculum and standards to follow, but she said they have the freedom to present it however they like.
According to Thielitz, teachers are extremely underpaid for the hours they put in. She normally goes in an hour early and leaves one to two hours later. And during report card time, which occurs three times a year, she puts in several extra hours over the weekend.
The hours teachers put in also includes the time spent setting up activities for students and other tasks necessary to keep the classroom running smoothly, according to Thielitz. This, a lot of time, also requires a teacher to spend money out of their own pocket.
“[Teaching] is more than loving kids, you have to love learning too,” Thielitz said. “You have to invest heart and soul, beyond the 9-5, because you get out of it what you put in.”
Thielitz is one of the many teachers working to continue kids’ education throughout the pandemic. To find out more about UWM’s undergraduate degree in Education, you can click here.