Niyati Batra had a conversation with Ms. McDonald about her insights on high school and other lighthearted topics. Ms. McDonald currently teaches Web Design, Graphic Design, and Video Editing.
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Was teaching always your first career choice? If not, what else did you consider?“No, I was a graphic designer first, and then a programmer, and then I became a teacher.”
What is one subject you definitely wouldn’t teach and why?
“I don’t enjoy teaching computer science because of math. I’m not very fond of math. That’s literally the only reason.”
What’s your favorite part of teaching high school students?
“Probably the different personalities. You guys are entertaining. Very entertaining.”
What do you hope students take away from your class beyond the academic content?
“Work ethics and being able to work in groups. Those are skills that you’re going to need when you get a job.”
What’s the most ridiculous excuse a student has ever given you for not doing their homework?
“I don’t give homework. But my students give me excuses for not doing their classwork anymore… and honestly, they’ve just stopped giving excuses lately. The usual excuse is ‘Oh, I didn’t know I was supposed to do that,’ even though the assignment was in Google Classroom.”
Would you rather have to fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?
“I’ve heard this one. I’m going to go with one horse-sized duck, if it’s just me fighting it. The 100 duck-sized horses would all swarm me. (Regarding the 100 duck-sized horses) And ducks aren’t all that tiny, they aren’t small like mice.”
If you were a flavor of ice cream, what flavor would you be?
“Probably what I always get, which is the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream, which has peanut butter ice cream, Reeses cups inside of it, and peanut butter swirls.”
