Ms. Steinmetz

Within the school community, there are many different teachers. Fortunately, this school year, Grayslake North gained new teachers, and one of those teachers is English teacher Robyn Steinmetz.
As a new teacher, there are some changes from different schools, and even in the school that teachers student taught at.
“From the high school that I went to, [everyone here] is a whole lot nicer [and] much more inclusive; there’s a whole lot of diversity here, which I think is amazing. From where I student taught, I just think I’ve gotten to know [everyone] better. So, I would say it’s a lot more personal as well. I really like it here,” Steinmetz said.
For a new teacher, there are many different ideas to learn, and there are other teachers to help.
“There’s a whole lot to learn. I’ve been learning a lot from the other English teachers about what we do here because every school’s going to be different, but I love it. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve been trying a lot of new things and meeting a lot of new people, so it’s a good hectic,” Steinmetz said.
Also, student teaching before coming to one’s own class can benefit teaching skills because it gives teachers the opportunity to gain school and teaching experience.
“When you’re in college to become a teacher, you have a professor who’s standing in front of you teaching you how to teach. And so you’re sitting there thinking, ‘I think I could do this better than you because I know what you’re doing now, and I don’t really agree with the way you teach and the way you’re doing it’,” Steinmetz said. “So then when you student teach, you actually get that chance to stand up there, figure out what you want to do, how you want to speak, who you want to be, and how you’re going to do it.”
Support from other teachers also helps.
“The English office is a family. It is an incredible community in there. I have felt so lucky because 50 percent of first year teachers quit, so I think personally that part of the reason that the other 50 percent would choose to stay is when they have an office as amazing as the one here,” Steinmetz said.