Ms. Florey is the new AVID Excel teacher at Lively Middle School and I had the chance to interview her in her classroom.
What’s your name and position at Lively?
My name is Yasemin Florey and I am the AVID Excel teacher.
Could you tell me about your education? What degrees or certifications do you hold?
I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin with a minor in French. At that time, journalism had different sequences, so I did the Public Relations sequence of Journalism. And then I’m teacher certified in Journalism, Speech, Technology Applications and Technology Education.
You’re new to Lively. What’s your history in teaching?
I taught journalism, speech, graphic design, and computer tech for 11 years, most in middle school in the Eanes school district.
What led you to Lively?
I had worked in the private sector for the last seven years, and then our team changed so I considered just doing straight freelance work, but then I decided to teach because I always loved my kids, I always loved teaching but I got out of it originally to make more money in the private sector.
What do you love about Lively so far?
Lively is most definitely lively. It’s got a lot of spirit. It is challenging, but what I have been enjoying is the teacher support. I mean, they have a great team of teachers and admin who are genuinely kind and looking out for you and having your back and that is awesome.
What made you decide to be a teacher?
Well, it’s not a positive thing. There was a horrible school shooting many years ago at Columbine High School. My kids were itsy bitsy at the time, but friends were comparing the neighborhood and high school to that in my neighborhood. I started to become very nervous about my kids in public schooling, so a friend said, “Well why don’t you just go get your teaching certificate?” So I returned to UT to get my teaching certificate, and then I got a job in my childrens’ school.
Why do you teach what you teach?
Well, Avid Excel is a brand new class for me. I’ve never taught it before. I was intrigued by it because like any of the journalism classes you’re not so much teaching as you are guiding and coaching. And the focus is on reading, writing, comprehension, speaking, again, all the skills you develop in students in any of the journalism classes Ms. Everett teaches. And so I thought that’s something that would blend itself well to my background and the challenge of working with students whose first language is not English, I thought would be wonderful.
What inspires you?
My students inspire me. And that’s the same for all teachers, even when they’re not behaving, it still inspires you because it inspires you to keep after them and try to get them to see the light, and then the ones who do exactly as you ask, and really seem to enjoy learning, that inspires you in a whole different way.
What’s the best/worst thing about being a teacher?
The best thing about teaching is making a difference in the students’ lives, that sounds corny, but it’s absolutely true. Knowing that you got through, knowing that you made a difference. Ten years later your students are texting you so that’s always lovely. The worst thing about teaching, well, as you’ve probably heard, the salary isn’t what it should be.
If you could enroll in another teacher’s class at Lively to learn from them, what class would you take and why?
I think it would be between theater and art. Ms. Gang seems like an amazing teacher, she has the beautiful voice… And the skills that you learn in theater, they’re very useful later in life, especially public speaking.
Do you have any pets?
I do. I’m sad to say, I just lost one, so I have one Pomeranian Chihuahua and three cats.
What is your favorite memory from when you were in school?
Well, this is going to sound funny but, odd. So there was a civil war in the country that I was in, Angola, and armed guards took over our school. It was a very small international school. We had to move the school into, I think it was 3 houses on a residential street. And that was a lot of fun because we were always escaping from the houses and going to the next house. Basically house hopping during class, and now I feel so bad that we did that to those teachers. But that was a fun experience.
What are some hobbies that you have outside of school?
I don’t have a lot of time outside of school but once a year I go scuba diving and that’s pretty much my hobby right now.
What are your hopes and aspirations at Lively?
I would like to get to know the students better and I would like to become a better AVID teacher since I’m just beginning. There’s a lot for me to learn. That’s a transition all by itself. But it’s a good one. I would like to better understand my students, as individuals and culturally.
