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Can you tell us about yourself? 

"My name is Carrie Klute. I teach third grade language arts at Lewis Cass Elementary, which is in Walton, a small town in Indiana. This is my 13th year at that school and my 26th year in education." 

 

Why did you start a career in education?

"Uh, why did I start a career in education? I always loved school, loved to read. Um, my mother was a teacher and I just never wanted to do anything else."

 

If you could have any other job what would it be and why?

"If I could have any other job, it would be to be a librarian. I love books, always loved books, loved to read. I love sharing my love of reading and my love of books with other people. Um, so I would love to be a library." 

 

How are kids different now than 30 years ago?

"Number four. How are kids different than they were 30 years ago? I feel like we have a lot more needy kids, needy in terms of, um, emotional needs and, uh, more kids have outside factors that are negatively impacting their academic progress. We've always had kids with those kinds of needs, um, impacting them, but more and more are showing up in my classroom that have those kind of, um, needs." 

 

How is teaching different now than 30 years ago?

"Number five, how is teaching different than 30 years ago? Um, I feel like overall there's less, fewer supportive parents. I do have some parents that are supportive of me and of their kids' education really work with their kids. But, um, there's more and more who, um, don't feel like it's their job. That is the teacher's job, the school's job to take care of everything academic and they're kind of hands off. Um, on that. Um, I also feel like we're as teachers expected to do more, um, meeting kids' needs outside the academic realm. We're supposed to do more of that with fewer resources than we have ever had." 

 

What would you tell someone who wants to become a teacher?

"Um, what would I tell someone that's thinking about being a teacher? I would tell them that the most important thing to work on, especially at the beginning of the year, is your relationship with your students. That's going to set the tone for your whole year. And if you have a good rapport with your students, um, is gonna make your job a lot easier and your students are going to see a lot more success."  

 

What is one thing you would change to help kids learn better?

"Uh, uh, number seven, one thing I would change to help kids learn better. I would, um, educate parents on ways to support their student's education and, um, ways that they can convey to their children that, uh, education is a high priority for them. So I would educate parents."