Jackelyne Gomez-Cavadas

EDU 214
Joni Flowers

Teacher Interview

I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs.Ashley Brisson who has been working at Valley View

High school for the past three years. Mrs. Brisson is from Syracuse, New York where she

attended State University, and graduated in 2008 obtaining a degree in Adolescent Special

Education. She later received her masters degree in 2014 at Le Moyne where she received her

Adolescent Special Education degree. I was looking forward to speaking with a High School

teacher since the last time I had a conversation with one was in 2010.

I started asking what kinds of software she uses in her classroom. It was very interesting to hear

that all the software being used in her classroom on a daily basis is the same software my

professors use at CSN. For starters, she uses canvas,gmail, sliders, forms, and padlet. For

keeping track of students' attendance she utilizes Infinite campus. In the same software she keeps

students' grades as well as keeping track of their data.

A software that Mrs. Brisson considered to be the most beneficial for her to use for teaching is

Canvas. She learned how to use Canvas during distance learning, and she considered it to be

simple to understand and kept everything she needed organized. She compared Canvas to Google

Classroom and preferred Canvas as her preferred choice. As for keeping her students engaged

and participating in class she has them using Google Padlet. The software that Mrs.Brisson uses

to create her lessons, quizzes, and documents sound very useful that all teachers should be using.

Something that I will take into consideration when I start teaching.

I discovered that Mrs.Brisson was trained to teach in Nevada State College a Education
Technology 214 class. I was impressed. The same class I decided to take this year. Teachers,

staff, and students were required to take a professional development class to learn how to

navigate through canvas. I thought it to be a great idea having the whole school learning together

how to use a software. Most software she has learned how to use and understand it on her own. I

learned how to use Canvas myself and it wasn’t difficult to comprehend, and it was simple to

navigate through it.

Mrs.Brisson doesn’t spend much time teaching her students how to use any software. Most of

them are very knowledgeable and learn on their own. It wasn’t very surprising since in this time

of age most young people know how to use technology in an instant! As someone who has two

nieces ages ten and eleven. They understand technology better than most adults do.

Mrs.Brisson doesn't feel that there is a digital divide. She says “ These students do not know

anything different.”

It was shocking to hear that there is a no cell phone policy at her school. . She discusses how her

students are constantly texting, watching Youtube videos, and they don’t know how to engage

without using one. It is left to the teacher to make a decision on what they should do with them.

In a school she attended in New York, they forced students to put their phones in a caddy before

entering the classroom, and it would be returned as soon as the lecture ended. I thought that to be

a great idea. Not only for teachers so they wouldn’t get disrupted, but students as well.

A concern that she has is that CCSD needs to find a solution on how to deal with technical

problems. As well as having better wifi. The whole school goes down when those problems

occur. Which can be frustrating as they want teachers to use technology to teach a class. As a
student myself I see how frustrating this can be as it affects a students learning process.

The first personal question I asked her was what inspired her to work with children? As a young

child Mrs.Brisson always dreamed of being a teacher. Some of her family members are teachers.

Her sister, three of her aunts, and her grandmother was a teacher as well as a school principal.

She’s also sure that her daughter will also become a teacher. I found it to be very admirable

when Mrs.Brisson said she wanted to be an inspiration in students' lives so they can become

better people. To see that we both share the same similar goal in life. I found that to be very

touching and to realize that other teachers want to have an impact on their students.

The second question I asked her was what will a successful school year look and feel like? A

successful school year would be for her students to want to engage with one another in her

classroom. For her students to learn how to engage with one another, having a positive mindset,

and not being in a comfort zone. To be the best version of themselves. I have found inspiration

and admiration in Mrs.Brisson and I hope her students realize how lucky they are to have such

an amazing teacher who wants the best for them.

And lastly ,how is Education changing? She says Education is changing everyday and one needs

to be able to adapt or it will be troublesome.

It was a great experience being able to hear Mrs.Brisson on her experience with technology at

school. Overall, many things have changed from the last time I attended High school.

Technology has come so far and this has taught me that teachers continue to learn as well.

Having to adapt to new technology and teaching students as well. Being able to adapt to new

things and willing to find different ways to teach a classroom. It was a great experience to learn

what is used in a classroom and how similar they are to what we use in college. Having teachers
that are passionate about their job makes me realize how important teachers are in a student's

life. I agree with Mrs.brisson how important it is to adapt to change because it will be difficult

along the road if we don’t try. I’m grateful for the opportunity of having this interview and I will

use this in my classroom.