What was it like becoming a teacher?

Ms. Rossi: “I think you don’t know how much you don’t know.” So, what I mean by that is, like, I went to CSU (GO Rams!!): I think they did a great job teaching me to be a teacher. This was almost a decade ago, you just ‘don’t know what you don’t know’ until you are actually in the field and start working with kids. Cause not everything can be learned just by books. You’ve got to experience the kids you will work with and what they need and what they like, and adapt to the kids. I think, in a way, that could be scary but also beautiful because it opens up stuff you didn’t even think would be possible. Also the people you meet.”

If you never became a teacher, what job do you think you would have?

Ms. Rossi: “I would have loved to become an Actor, I think. I never actually did plays or anything in high school.”

Why do you like Acting?

Ms. Rossi: “ I think,entertaining and telling stories is what an actor does. As an English teacher you get to entertain and tell stories, which is nice, but I think the stage would be cool. Like acting; I think teaching/telling stories is cool, but I’m really passionate about performing stories on a stage”.

Who is a student you would never forget?

Ms. Rossi: “ I won’t share their name, but I had a student that — going back to my favorite type of students, who are willing to grow, who are willing to get help — this student, a couple years ago, really didn’t like English. Who really didn’t want to try, but he met with me almost every day after school. Trying to think of ideas, and writing a paragraph. Then two years later, he would swing by my room and say, ‘hi, how are you? Thank you for helping me, it was so helpful.’ I think it was someone who didn’t think they could write very well, and how they put in the work to improve their writing.”

How many years have you taught?

Ms. Rossi: “This would be my eighth year.”

What would be the best part of your job?

Ms. Rossi: “ Working with the students: I think that writing, reading, and communicating with students is the best part. I like grading and planning, but interacting with the Kids/Young Adults is the best part — because y’all are funny, bright, and optimistic. I think teenagers of any generation get a bad reputation, but you guys restore my hope every day. Like, I think people are doing really cool things and I think you are going to bring new ideas and change everything. In a good way. You all bring me hope.”

Who was your favorite student to teach?

Ms. Rossi: “I don’t think that I have a specific name, but I can give you a type: someone who sees themselves growing. [It] doesn’t have to be the straight-A student, [but] someone who basically sees themselves growing as a writer and a thinker. And sometimes we recognize their growth together. My role as a teacher is to help and see that growth, but also appreciate their own growth. One of my favorite moments is having a bulb of thought, like, ‘hey!’ I actually get this’, or ‘I didn’t know how to put a quote in an assignment, but now I do’. Like those little moments. That is kind of my favorite teaching moment.”

What is your least favorite student to teach?

Ms. Rossi: “Maybe if they don’t laugh at my jokes. Jk. I believe we are all teachable, but I never had a least favorite type of student. I think everyone has different things they bring to the table. I generally enjoy everyone I get to teach and work with. I don’t think I have an answer to that. I guess someone who isn’t willing to talk to me. If you know me, I like to talk, right? So, if somebody gives me nothing back.”

What is the hardest and easiest part of your job?

Ms. Rossi: “I think the hardest part is grading. As an English teacher, you grade a lot of essays and writing to give students detailed and actionable feedback they could take — so they could change whatever writing skill they change. It just takes a lot of time to grade, so, that is the hardest part. The easiest part would be in the class when you’re working with students. To me, that is the most fun. Of course, that can be challenging. That is where my passion comes from, I’m someone where my students give me energy. I leave more energized after working with my students. So, I think that is the easiest part for me.”

When you retire, how do you want to be remembered?

Ms. Rossi: “I think just as a teacher who was just loving and kind to everybody. I obviously want to help students get better at writing papers, reading, and speaking and advocating for themselves. All of those skills. I like that quote, ‘People won’t remember what you told them, but how you made them feel.’ Maya Angelou, I believe, said that — going to have to fact-check that. Yeah, I just want people to remember how I made them feel good about themselves, that they could do anything they want to do. The best teachers in my life made me feel good about myself.”

Why did you end up wanting to teach English?

Ms. Rossi: “It goes back to kinda the actor thing where I like telling stories. Stories unite us. I think it is hard to dislike anybody when you hear their story. Not always. It is hard to hate someone when you sit down and have a meal together. It opens the window of empathy and understanding. That is one way, I think that high school is such a fun time because it can have room for opportunity. Also having the choice what you want to be. So, if I could be a mentor, a guide, for everything you struggle with.”

How would you describe yourself?

Ms. Rossi: “Hopefully positively. I think I’m energetic. Hopefully I’m engaging, grammar isn’t that exciting. Sets the bar high, but also give support when needed.”

Is there a word you wish you invented?

Ms. Rossi: “Like a word I came up with? I don’t wanna pick a super fancy word, but just fancy enough. Maybe, like, I would say ‘The’. You know about royalties, and trademark the word ‘The’.”

What is your favorite part of your day?

Ms. Rossi: “ I think I like the mornings the best, cause I think that is the time I have the most amount of energy. I think I’m always kind of hyped up, I’m probably hyped up all day. Yeah, but I think I’m always hyped in the morning, and make it a good day.”