Kyle Linnik by Paola Yee
Paola Yee (PY): If you don't want to answer some of my question feel fry to tell me to go on to the next one.
Kyle Linnik (KL): Sounds good.
PY: What do you most like about your working environment?
KL: Ah I like that well I love the energy that kids give is really good just talking about that seventh graders have so much energy and i really like that aspect. i also as far as my working in ht s oposes to other school the flexibility and personality i can put in the projects that freedom i can put as opposed to other schools
PY: Do you like the part that is one on one teaching?
KL: I love that aspect, small class sizes are great I mean I only have 56 students last year I had what 204 and so you definitely get that connection with them I get to know kids parents and talk to them throughout the year, you get to know the kids and you know when one of them is having a bad day or a good day is lot easier to tell that you know and heard things from all of the kids cause they keep a close community.
PY: WHat brought you to teaching?
KL: So well I went through a crazy college experience all of my life i thought i was going to be a doctor I entered college and did pre-med for the first couple of years and then i decided that medicine was;t for me for bunch different reasons and thought that hey I'm going to business actually i almost had a degree in business I was what five classes away, I decides although I liked most of the concepts i just didn't like much of the jobs associated with it long ours it just wasn't everything that suited me, that was about the time I met my wife and she was just finishing up her credential in program in UCSD and going into teaching and she knew that i've always loved science which was part of the reason i wanted to become a doctor so she encouraged me to go back into biology get a degree in biology we will figure out what to do with that later and so i went into there and then just after seeing her teaching and interacting with teachers that is went kid of the bulb went on and i decides I want to try this. And is just great you get in the classroom and you know at your age you would ask me if i would be a teacher and would've laughed at you no there is no possible way but know i'm a teacher and i can imagine doing anything else.
PY: I actually think teaching is really hard i've been here like a couple of times and it's really hard.
PY: What's the best part of your job?
KL: The best part for me is when I get kids excited about learning stuff or excited about school because I've thought kids that are just never excited and a lot it's about the school they go to and I really seen that light go on you know like excibition night that glow that is in everyones face just seeing that energy that the kids know they putted all thiw work together and you know they learn a lot and just being super proud about what they did I mean that's part of my favorite aspect, watching that occur.
PY: What are your challenges?
KL: I think you've seen much of it already, well the kids can definitely be challenging there are some days that they are just not going to do anything that you say and you have to be aware of that, and also I think I mean parents can be challenging at times you know they obviously all come with expectations for their children and you have come with all of the expectations for the kids in your class and sometimes those two don't line up exactly right and that creates friction and that can create some challenging moments but I think over all is just I don't think is one aspect of the job that is challenging, I think every aspect of the job can be challenging but it depends on what time or what is going on and in what circumstances.
PY: Do you think you are being successful?
KL: (Laugh) I'd like to think so
PY: I mean do you think they are learning and they like it?
KL: I know they like it, I can tell how much, I hope they are learning I feel like they are learning they seem like they are learning um yea over all I think I am being successful I think I get the kids engaged in what they are doing that's one of the more challenging things that teachers deal with. If they're engaged they'll learn something along the way either they want to or not.
PY: I agree. What are your passions inside and out of school?
KL: I love science and specially biology but I am also into cooking, i've been cooking since probably before i could walk i don't know i've always been in the kitchen that's one of my big hobbies and that and surfing i actually met my wife surfing i got married on surf boards in the ocean
PY: Really ? That's amazing and really original
KL: Yeah, the picture up there (pointing to a picture) is our wedding we gave little gifts at the wedding to all the guests we gave little surf wax, so yeah I mean those are of my favorite things and since i've been like growing and getting older i love learning many of the things i do are things that i don't know anything about and i do that because i learn with the kids.
PY: What do you want your students to take out of this year?
KL: Well obviously I want them to know about the topics we covered, but I think if I had to pick one thing they took out is that they can learn anything that there's nothing that's too advanced, you know I've done problems with my students that are in tenth and eleventh grade math level and they solve them so just because it't an eleventh grade math problem does't mean you can't do it in seventh grade or just because this is something I learned in college doesn't mean you can't learn it know and just creating that environment that thought process in their head
PY: " Everything is possible"
KL: Yeah everything is possible, and i now it sounds kind of cliché but it's a good thing to learn, i don't think i learned it till when i was twenty-two twenty-three at least
PY: How would you describe yourself as a person with one word?
KL: Well... Different and i mean like i don't do the same thing over and over again, I can't do the same thing over and over again, so if you would ask my students they would say that everyday is different obviously we have certain routines but overall each day is different.
PY: Have you every had a difficulty working with students?
KL: (Laughs) Seventh grade of course, yes yes i've had plenty of difficulties, a great story when i was doing my student teaching i was at at this high school and students there, were very challenging, I was teaching eleventh and twelfth grade chemistry and I remember it was probably the second week at school I'm in the middle of the class I am just getting the hang about this and you know i had a student she got up in the middle of the class and i told her what are you doing and just in the middle of the class tells me to go F@%$ myself like in the middle of the class and i think that was one of the more challenging situations and it was because i was so shocked by it and i had no clue what to do and probably my face turned white and is just one of those things that i look back and so if that happened again i would totally know what to do.
PY: That' all of the question i have for you do you have any questions for me ?
KL: I do actually, so how do you, well lets start with this way, was this what you expected?
PY: I expected it to be easier, but kids are challenging they think they can trick you but they don't because you've been through that.
KL: Yes I agree, students are like that I mean if you ever teach in a class that's not yours or you substitute a teacher students test you, they push you they want to find out what your limits are were your beliefs lye and what you look forward as a teacher, because i think all teacher look for different things and students really push you on that I'm sure that's what they're doing to you, I guarantee it and i know thats one of the things that well they do to me sometimes too, I've seen seventh grade students do many amazing products and projects and I've also seen seventh graders doing absolutely nothing and you know it's how do I get the best out of them. So what about mmm , you came here since you said 9th grade?
PY: Yes 9th grade
KL: What do you think about this class compared with other classes?
PY: Well, besides the age difference i think they know more know than what we knew when we were freshman, they know more about computers programing projects etc.. And I am really excited too see what they are going to know when they are graduating from high school, and I'm even more excited to see the kids that started in High Tech since kindergarden I mean imagine what they are going to be capable of doing when they graduate from high school.
KL: Yeah imagine they will be solving the worlds greatest problems I mean I don't know. What about has this change your mind of teachers at all?
PY: Yes, well I've actually always had respect for teachers because they are able to spend a lot of time with students personally I couldn't do that and as I said i respect them because they are able to do that and they know a lot, basically they guide you through the first few years of your life and then they release you to the world.
KL: Yes it's difficult but and weird but I think it's great you had the experience so young, you get a lot from it.
PY: Yes, I agree
KL: Well those are all of my questions for you.
PY: Ok well thank you very much
KL: No thank you.
