Fab Educator: Taylor Kuehl
Taylor Kuehl is a second-grade teacher at Houdini Elementary in the Appleton Area School District.
How long have you been teaching? Going on year eight.
What inspired you to be a teacher? I wanted to be a teacher since second grade because I loved my second-grade teacher.
What is your greatest joy in teaching? My greatest joy is a student coming back after they’ve had me and visit. I have kids that are seniors in high school that still reach out and keep me updated on their lives.
What about your greatest challenge? My greatest challenge as a teacher is placement. Currently, teachers are being given TWA (teacher without assignment) if the numbers in the school are not great enough to fill a class size to capacity due to kids still not yet being enrolled in school. For example, instead of having three classes of 25 students, the district allocated for only two teachers and classes of 30/31 with a split grade-level class. So enrollment numbers for one grade might be great but lower in another so split grade levels are created along with a TWA. A lot of parents don’t realize that teachers’ jobs depend on their student enrollment and wait until August to register their kiddos. This puts teachers and administrators in a tough spot because at this time in the year teachers don’t want to leave their school and the administrators are the ones who have to chose who has to take the TWA and potentially lose an amazing teacher to another school then risk not having them if enrollment does go up at the beginning of the school year. It also is tough to gain stability in a school with staff always changing.
How has the COVID-19 pandemic altered your day-to-day as an educator? The pandemic really only challenged me as an educator when it came to online learning. At the time, I was teaching first grade, and they have little-to-no computer experience, not to mention they didn’t know how to read. That was the biggest challenge. I am happy, though, that this pandemic pushed our district to get devices for each student moving forward so we can help kiddos become more tech savvy as it is a career skill needed in our world.
If a student can have only one takeaway from time spent in your classroom, what would it be? I hope they felt loved, respected and know they can always come back to me for help or guidance, no matter what. I want to continue to make an impact on young lives.