Interview with Norman’s Teacher of the Year

Interview with Mrs. Tracy Bates, Norman North’s Teacher of the Year, Friday, Oct. 12.

Describe the process of becoming North’s Teacher of the Year, and a little about how it has influenced your attitude and method.

“It was an honor. I was surprised; it was a lot of work. Once you get selected by your peers, then I had to write three essays, and I had to be interviewed by a panel of twenty people.”

This panel is made up of a diverse group of teachers and administrators that work in the school district. The committee asks three unknown questions, and Mrs. Bates said this was one of the more stressful parts of the process.

“After that, when I was a finalist, I had to write three more essays, get letters of recommendation, and go for another interview.”

Mrs. Bates also attracted attention when she took a step back from teaching for a time.

“I left to stay home with my kids, and when my youngest child was in sixth grade, I went back to work.”

Mrs. Bates has been back in the classroom for six years and doesn’t see herself leaving anytime soon. Despite only being back for a short time, Mrs. Bates said she did not find that to have a negative effect on her journey to Teacher of the Year.

“I think what helped was my experience before, but also my experience with my kids. With my own children, and staying home, and seeing the other side, the parents side, and having kids who had gone through high school… and seeing that perspective of what parents needed, in order to be part of a team for their kids’ education. I think that really helped, a lot.”

“I always told my husband that if I was gonna go back to work, I was gonna go back to work and do the thing that I love.”

Mrs. Bates had realized through a prior job that her love was teaching others, especially young adults. She went back to school to get her certification in teachers and always planned on teaching high school.

“I knew if I worked when I had children, I wouldn’t have the patience to be around little kids all day and go home with my own little kids. I like the adult age. You guys are like real people, adult people.”

Our Teacher of the Year told The Howl what she believed was the most important part of her job.

“Making sure you guys can communicate through the written word. Because if you can’t – now we’re so text driven, through social media, through Facebook, through emails, through text, through snap, through whatever, through all these social media platforms – you have to know how to write and know how to write efficiently and concisely. So you need the vocabulary, the grammar, and the ability to put those words together in an efficient manner. So you can say what you want to say.”

Mrs. Bates favorite part of her job is getting to know her students personally. She strives to make the learning personal for each student. Mrs. Bates wants her students to find a passion for English, and be able to enjoy what they do in her class.

The one takeaway Mrs. Bates has from her experience is that no-one is perfect. “We have to have that growth mindset. People are gonna mess up, and you celebrate when you mess up, and then you figure out how to not do it again, and move forward.” Mrs. Bates tries to take this principle with her wherever she goes.

“When I mess up at home, its okay we messed up, we celebrate it, and we move on. That’s really been the biggest thing helping me not be so… crazy, and not so much of a perfectionist.”

Mrs. Bates also advises all students considering a career as an educator to do it.

“People will say ‘you’re not gonna make a living’ but you will make a living. If you were meant to be a teacher and you want to be a teacher, you will find a way to make that money work for you to provide a living. So don’t not do it because of the money. I think there are people that get into [teaching] because they think they want to be a teacher, and they end up loving it. And I think there are people who think they have a passion for it, who end up realizing they don’t. I think it’s just like any job. You try a job, and you hope that it’s one you’re going to love, because you don’t want to spend your day doing something all day you don’t want to do. I think for most people in this building, [teaching] is a passion. The people I work with, it’s a passion.”

In regards to our school community, Mrs. Bates said that our teachers, while readout and divided, have a wonderful way of rallying together when needed. She also said that, because of her title of Teacher of the Year, she feels a responsibility to be welcoming to all in the building.

“I used to think [Teacher of the Year] was a title, but then I realized that people wanted to come in my classroom, and they wanted to see what I was doing. So I didn’t realize the responsibility that went with it, but you do have a certain responsibility in just having an open classroom. Being not only a teacher to kids but a teacher and a mentor to new teachers in the building.”

Mrs. Bates said she has no problem with anyone coming into her classroom, whether they be from the community, parents, whoever, and see what we do in here.

“I guess it’s different from what goes on in other classrooms; I don’t really know.”

Even with her success as an educator, Mrs. Bates said that a goal of hers this year was to visit other classrooms. Mrs. Bates hopes that students walk away thankful they had her as a teacher. She understands that her students time is valuable, and tries to respect that in her classroom.

The English teacher credits her success to her openness to trying new things. “ Norman’s really good about giving us a lot of professional development and teaching us about new things and new techniques. I’m more than willing to try those things, and try those technologies, and try the new curriculum online… It’s just that [my class] is a little bit different than the typical high school English classroom that people have in their heads.” She advised other teachers to listen to their students. “Pay attention to what is going on in your classroom, in terms of their mood. You have to react to what they are responding to. I have to figure out ‘this worked’, or ‘this didn’t work’, and then respond to it. If I just keep doing the same thing every day, whether it’s working or not, it’s not going to make an impact. So I would tell [other teachers] to really listen to what the kids are saying in their classroom.”

Since becoming our Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Bates has been thrust into the spotlight. She mentioned doing an interview with Boyd Street Magazine, and being on a leadership committee with all the site-based Teachers of the Year. This committee is a way of representing our school from a teacher’s perspective, rather than an administrator. Despite the new responsibilities, roles, and fame that have come with her title, Mrs. Bates is immensely humble in her role. She continues to strive to better her classroom, make connections with her students, and positively influence her students. We thank Mrs. Bates for all that she does for Norman North.