The Falcon Cry has a tradition where we ask students to nominate a teacher they believe shows qualities deserving of being written about in a spotlight and then we do just that. A teacher that several students found to be extremely deserving of this spotlight is Elisabeth Bear, a 6th grade dual language science teacher. She was shouted out for qualities like patience, calmness and creating fun and very hands-on lessons as well as being a favorite teacher to many.
Bear said that she chose to teach because she grew up very underrepresented in the schools that she went to, both from the teacher and student side of things.“A lot of the reason I became a teacher was to try and right some of the wrongs for young people who grew up with the same experiences as me,” said Bear. She hopes that her classroom can always be a safe place for her students and that they feel comfortable while in her room.
Bear wants to consistently be honest and genuine with the students. “In my opinion it was really obvious in middle or high school when teachers would make up something to make the class start feeling pressure,” said Bear. She makes sure that her students know that when she says something she means it and that she is truthful with them.
“She impacted me by teaching me more than I have ever learned and in a fun and interactive way,” said 6th grader Naya Iyer when she nominated Bear for this honor.
Making lessons engaging and enjoyable for students is extremely important to Bear.
“I love anything that gets the kids up and moving…there’s a lot of times where I’m not the teacher in the room, it’s the students..and they’re paying attention to each other because they’re up there at the board and acting like teachers…I’ll even ask them for their last name and we’ll call them Ms. Smith, for example,” said Bear. She also said that they do “a lot of kahoots, blookets and interactive vocabulary… anything that has to do with coloring, in my class, coloring is huge.”
Iyer also referred to Bear as “Always calm and patient with our class, even though we’re a loud one.” Bear finds it important to acknowledge that her students are still kids that have energy and need to let it out. She said that “quiet classrooms don’t always equal good classrooms” and that she tries to find the balance between keeping the kids under control and allowing them to do what they need to do to focus, whether that’s being on the counter, sitting on the floor, sitting close to her, whatever they need to do to be successful in her class.
Bear always strives to make her class enjoyable for her students and according to 6th grader Conner Eguchi who said “She makes my 2nd period fun” and “She is a really fun and really great teacher” she is doing just that. Even though Bear is a brand new teacher, she is already making her mark on every student that enters her classroom.
