Listen

Watch

Can you tell us about yourself? 

Hello. My name is Claudia Cortez. I am at Gladys Porter, early college high school. I am an engineering teacher. I'm located in Brownsville, Texas. I've been teaching for 12 years. Six, seven of those years were in middle school, six of them here in high school. 

Why did you start a career in education?

Why did I become or started a career in education? It was because I decided to move out of the industry and became a teacher in 2009. 

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

 Engineer, that was, that is my first profession. 

How are kids different than they were 30 years ago?

And then definitely kids are very different from 30 years ago when I was in school. These students are more tech-savvy. They have information in their hands faster than anybody else. 

How is teaching different than it was 30 years ago?

How is teaching different? Since I've only been a teacher for 12 years, um, since my first year, all the way to my 12th year, which is now, um, teaching has been very different. Of course, the COVID pandemic affected us all. And that made teaching more technology needed. So, students, teachers, we use more learning management programs online

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

I would have to say rethink about it. And if it's something that you want to do for the rest of your life, go for it. This might be my last year teaching. It is stressful. It is demanding and I am prepared to move back to the industry. 

What would you change to help kids learn better?

What is one thing you would, one thing you would change to help kids learn better? less standardized testing to make learning more fun. Thank you.