Please give a brief background on yourself and your career.
My name is Lisa Koplik and I teach fourth grade at Greenwood Elementary School in Wakefield, MA. I have wanted to be a teacher ever since I had a kindergarten buddy in 5th grade! I have worked with children my entire life in many capacities, including babysitting, nannying, volunteering at local preschools and elementary schools, helping out at my own elementary school in FL when I visit home, student teaching, working as an aide in a kindergarten classroom, and finally teaching my own classroom of 20 fourth grade students for the past two years.
At Wellesley, I majored in psychology and received certification in elementary education through the College, which was an extremely wise decision. I went on to only have to complete one year of graduate school, rather than two, and completed my student teaching practicum in its entirety while at Wellesley. I went to Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and got my master’s in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on elementary education immediately after leaving Wellesley, while also working part-time in a kindergarten classroom in Newton as an aide. Upon graduating with my master’s, I searched for jobs and started working in Wakefield the following fall!
How has your career changed since you originally envisioned it at Wellesley? What other careers did you consider as a student?
I really am exactly where I hoped to be and I am doing what I envisioned as my dream profession after Wellesley. I have wanted to do this work since I was very young, so there was never any other real consideration at Wellesley.
How has Wellesley contributed to your career?
Wellesley had an unbelievably fantastic student teaching program which aptly prepared me for the realities of teaching by offering incredible support from professors, useful course materials, and student teaching placements, putting me right into the classroom. Additionally, Wellesley built my confidence, intelligence, and general excitement about heading into the working world, and the CWS also helped me greatly in my graduate school applications.
What is a typical work day or work week like for you?
A typical day consists of getting to work between 7:30 and 7:45AM and preparing for the day. The students arrive at school at 8:30 and come in to the building at 8:40. School lasts from 8:40AM to 2:45PM each day, and I teach all academic subjects to my fourth graders. I have them for a total of about four hours a day, in which time I teach math, social studies, reading, writing, close reading, and science. Science and social studies flip flop throughout the year, so we will do one unit of science followed by one unit of social studies, and then switch again. In a given day, in addition to teaching all subjects, I must also differentiate instruction and provide interventions for students who are struggling to grasp concepts.
I have to stay at school until 3:15PM, but usually am at work until at least 4PM. I do most of my planning at school during my 40 minute planning period, and after school for about an hour or so each day. There is a lot of copying, creating, and distributing of materials each day that needs to be prepared. I may also have a work meeting on a Monday for an hour after work, a parent meeting in the morning, or a team meeting with the other fourth grade teacher and the literacy coach.
What piece of advice would you offer students looking to get into your area of interest and expertise?
I would definitely meet with the professors and the director of Wellesley’s education department as soon as you are even remotely interested, because there is a lot to get done. If you have budgeted your time appropriately and can get certified at Wellesley, DO. Talk with the CWS about graduate school programs if that is where you are headed after Wellesley, because you must receive a master’s degree within five years of receiving your certification in order to continue teaching. I went straight to grad school and then began teaching, and I am very grateful I did not jump into teaching only to have to return to school myself.
Do not sell yourself short. I applied to about 200 jobs before I landed my job, but it was well worth it. Do not settle for a job you know you will hate or a job that you know is for someone with less experience and expertise than you. Educators will see your strengths and you will get hired, but it takes a long time, because so many people have very similar qualifications and experiences to you.
What do you wish you had known as a student?
I wish I had known a little more about the MTEL procedure (the teaching exams), and what exactly is entailed in receiving SEI Endorsement (Sheltered English Immersion), a necessary piece of teaching. I also wish I had known what to write in a cover letter to apply for jobs.
If you could come back and take one class at Wellesley what would it be?
Any and all social psychology courses. They were so fantastic and psychology greatly helps my teaching practices every day.