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Can you tell us about yourself? 

Hi, my name is Katelin Barson. I am an eighth-grade literacy teacher at Aurora Hills Middle School. The school is located in Aurora, Colorado, and I have been here for about eight years. 

Why did you start a career in education?

I started a career in education because I love middle schoolers. I think that the way middle-schoolers look at the world is awesome. I like interacting with them, um, and I like seeing them grow up. 

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

If I could have seen them grow up if I could have any other job, it would be a flight attendant because I like to travel. Flight attendant jobs are a little bit hard to get though. So I haven't pursued that field.

How are kids different than they were 30 years ago?

Kids now versus 30 years ago are different because we have technology. Kids need to learn how to interact with technology positively. And they also have to learn how to sift through info information, um, before it was a lot easier to get black and white information.

How is teaching different than it was 30 years ago?

And now it's really difficult because the information that they do get as in shades of gray they have to be able to shift sift through bias and understand what biases and how to tell the real information from false information.

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

If someone was to become a teacher right now, I would probably tell them that they have to be confident in themselves and their abilities. They have to be able to persevere even when days are hard because they will have hard days. And it's the ability to persevere that makes a good teacher. You have to know what you're in for and know that you're here for the long run and not be willing to give up whenever.

What would you change to help kids learn better?

One thing that I would change to help kids learn better is smaller class sizes. Um, in order to tailor lessons to kids, um, individually, we just need a little bit less kids in classes. Thank you again, my name was Kaitlin Barson and I am an eighth-grade teacher at Aurora Hills middle school.