Classroom Conversations: Ms. Jenkins and Mr. McQuaid
Ms. Shea Jenkins was a new addition to the seventh-grade team at our Dana Ave. campus last school year. At the end of the math teacher's first year, she would win the "Rookie of the Year" award at the professional development-focused Staff Retreat over the summer.
A part of the Dana Ave. community for six years now, Mr. Zach McQuaid has taught various grade levels and curricula over his teaching career and is ready for this year's new challenges and excitements.
The pair sat down with The Huddle to discuss the changes vet-teacher Mr. McQuaid has perceived over the years, Ms. Jenkins' reflections on her first year teaching, and how they're ready to serve students in this new school year.
The Huddle: Could you introduce yourselves? What do you teach, how long have you been teaching, and how long have you taught here [at Dana Ave.]?
Ms. Jenkins: My name is Shea Jenkins, I’m the seventh-grade math teacher here at Dana. This is my second year here and second year teaching.
Mr. McQuaid: I’m Zach McQuaid, I’m [teaching] seventh-grade history, and [I am] the seventh-grade Grade Level Chair. This will be my sixth year at Dana and my seventh year teaching. I’ve taught sixth, seventh, and eighth ELA at different places. I’ve taught tenth-grade English, I’ve taught sixth-grade social studies, and now I’m finally at seventh-grade history!
The Huddle: How do you two know each other? When did you meet? Where are we right now?
Mr. McQuaid: We met last year, when you started — when you were hired, right?
Ms. Jenkins: Yeah!
Mr. McQuaid: During Summer Institute last year, whenever I first came back—because [veteran teachers] start later than first and second-year teachers.
Ms. Jenkins: Yep! And we’re in the library!
Ms. Jenkins: What have been the biggest changes you’ve seen since you first started? Because you’ve been here for a hot second.
Mr. McQuaid: There are always new people coming and going, so I'm seeing a lot of newer folks come in. A lot of you guys coming in have teaching backgrounds and teaching experience, too, which is cool.
With COVID and things like that, we’ve had many weird things happen in between. My first year was the year that all of that started, so there have been a lot of ups and downs and changes to how we do things, and the way we schedule things. I think the past couple of years have been a return to normalcy in that regard; I think we’re hitting the tail-end of the kids that hit the roughest patches with not being in person. I think working around that has been different.
Mr. McQuaid: What are some goals and aspirations you have for this upcoming school year?
Ms. Jenkins: I think for me, coming into this year, I know the routines, I know where I am, I know the curriculum, so I think just really trying to implement those the best that I can. I feel like I’ve definitely gained more confidence in the curriculum and knowing where I’m going with it and how to do more with that. I think also just, in terms of doing dollars and deductions and Kickboard [behavior support] stuff, I feel much more confident in that and confident being the adult lead in the room. I also have my own homeroom this year, so I’m excited to kind of go out on my own because I was in homeroom with you last year, so spread my wings a little bit. Try to find my place a little bit more.
Mr. McQuaid, laughing: I set the best example possible.
Ms. Jenkins: Yeah, seriously!
Ms. Jenkins: What’s a memorable moment from your teaching career that’s had a significant impact on you?
Mr. McQuaid: I’ve made a lot of really good friends with people who have way more experience than I have, and learn a lot from them! I think of Caitlin Hughes, Nick Kowaleski, and people like that who were there when the building pretty much started. I’ve learned a lot from them. Getting to know and be friends with people like that has been really invaluable. I’m trying to think of something more memorable than overall…
Ms. Jenkins: Maybe a student impact moment that sticks out?
Mr. McQuaid: Every time we have our [Dana Ave. Family] Carnival and kids come back, and they’re in high school now?! I’m hearing about, “Oh my God, we go to the Charles School now!” They’re taking college classes, right? They’ll say, “It’s so easy because we did harder things in sixth-grade writing with you!” That stuff is wild to me!
We have [specific alumni] who always come back and just hearing them talk about that, that’s really cool. It’s like, “I was doing this stuff when I was in sixth grade.” And I’m like, “Yeah! That’s right!” That’s always fun to hear that. Something we did way back in sixth grade is making their high school career easier.
Ms. Jenkins: That must be really cool to see.
Mr. McQuaid: Yeah, you’ve probably seen [them] around! They’re really cool. [One of them] is interning at a law firm. He wants to be a lawyer and would probably be a good one!
Ms. Jenkins: Yes!
Mr. McQuaid: Ooo! What’s your favorite thing about teaching seventh grade?
Ms. Jenkins: I think just seeing the personalities of the kids and seeing how much they grow throughout the year. They come in, and they’re still — I don’t want to say the “little kid” mindset — but you see them start to grow up a little bit more! Some of them are just finding confidence in themselves and who they are as people.
Finding themselves, but also finding who they are as a student, so some of the kids who would start at the beginning of the year are like, “I don’t know what’s going on,” but they’re some of our high-flyers by the end! Which is really cool to see. Like [this one student last year], at the beginning of the year, looked at me and said, “You’re out to get me.” I was like… “Okay…” By the end of the year, he was like, “Oh, I got an A in Math? Of course, I did!”
Mr. McQuaid: In sixth grade, I taught a student two years in a row, and seeing them grow is insane. By next year, he was [on top of everything]. That was all him. Growing up over the summer!
Ms. Jenkins: That growth was really cool to see last year. Also, they still think that you, as a person, are cool — at least some of them do — and they want to talk to you and get to know you, which I really, really like.
Mr. McQuaid: Even the kids who might be struggling the most will still want to come in and tell me about random things.
Ms. Jenkins: Them trusting us enough to tell us some of that stuff.
Mr. McQuaid: They trust you enough to come to you and say, “Oh my God, Mr. McQuaid, guess what happened?”
Ms. Jenkins: I just love that trust built throughout the year. At the beginning of the year, just getting to know them, by the end of the year, “You need to know everything that’s happening with me!” And it’s like, “Okay, let’s go!”
Ms. Jenkins: You’ve been teaching for a while, so how do you stay motivated and passionate?
Mr. McQuaid: I think the big thing for me is, with the exception of last year, I get a different group of students to teach every year! And it’s always fun to see what they’re like, what that dynamic is going to be. You get a new “client” every year, right?
It keeps it from being the same old, same old because each kid and each group of kids is different, so that’s always exciting. That’s a big one for me.
Ms. Jenkins: Were you excited when you were moving to seventh grade and doing new content?
Mr. McQuaid: Yeah! It was definitely challenging. I don’t think I’ve taught the same curriculum for more than one year here, even when I taught writing, I taught two different ones from one year to the next. That’s always been an “I’ll figure it out!”, so that was definitely a challenge.
Being with the same group of kids again gave me a leg up on everybody, knowing them. But it’s also a challenge because they’re probably sick of seeing me every day!
Mr. McQuaid: So, how do you balance work and personal life? What strategies do you use? You should be asking me that! No, I don’t have one for this — how do you do it?
Ms. Jenkins: During student teaching, something my teacher said really stuck with me. What she told me is it’s okay to be tired on a Friday. It’s okay to [make] sure you’re still doing the things that fill your cup and make you feel like a person who’s not just tethered to the building.
I do my best not to bring stuff home with me. I go home and talk about [work] for a few minutes, and then that’s it, I let it go, which is way easier said than done.
Mr. McQuaid: Yeah! I try to front-load as much of the other stuff so I don’t have to worry about it when the day is done. Just mentally thinking about, I need to do this thing today and not worrying about it after school, I think, helps me. Slowly I’ve been trying to do less and less outside of school hours. Slowly but surely, we’ll get there.
Ms. Jenkins: I just wanted to go into teaching, not trying to burn myself out because this is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid, and I didn’t want to come into it, first year, and, by the end of it, hate it, and be exhausted and mentally over it.
Mr. McQuaid: Yeah, it’s not easy! A lot of people in their first year try to do too much. That’s something I’ve been trying to tell myself is, “Don’t bite off more than I can chew.” I hear, “Oh, this is a great idea. We should try this out.” Then, I tell myself, “Is this something I or the team can fully commit to consistently?” If not, we’re not doing it. We’re not spending time on it, we’re done thinking about it. Because I don’t want to do something one day, half the day, and then we don’t have time to keep doing that thing. Whether it be a procedure or a [room] award or something.
Ms. Jenkins: I liked that, last year. When we started implementing Golden Broom [grade-level award], that was something that was fairly easy for us to commit to. Like, okay, who has the cleanest room? Boom, yeah.
Mr. McQuaid: That’s something I’ve been trying to do more of. All these great ideas, but can I do all of them? Commit to be less committed to everything.
Ms. Jenkins: Last year, I felt like I just needed to do what I could. With Ben (Xabouthone, Teaching Fellow) and me planning our homeroom this year, there’s a lot of stuff that we’ve talked about that he’s taking charge of because I just would not have the mental capacity to be able to, but he has the ability to do that, and I appreciate that.
The Huddle: What is your big hope for your students this upcoming year? What is a big goal?
Ms. Jenkins: For me, I know the curriculum more now, I know what’s going to be on the state tests, and I have a greater grasp on all that stuff. I’m trying to deepen their understanding of math as much as I possibly can; teaching the new stuff, but also going back and building their confidence with old skills. We’re doing more structured stuff for flex this year, so bringing back those old skills so they can do that. I want them to leave liking math just a little bit more.
Mr. McQuaid: I really want to build on classroom discussion, putting more thinking on students. I think, traditionally, with history, you just listen to an old guy tell you a bunch of stuff. I think trying to find ways to interject more discussion and more student-led class time has been in the back of my head for the last year.
Before, during, and after their interview with The Huddle, Mr. McQuaid and Ms. Jenkins exhibit the kind of rapport that is built through continuous teamwork and collaboration. Thank you both for sitting with The Huddle and exemplifying the work ethic, collaboration, and compassion for students that define our relationships, learning, and growth at United.
Connection is a hallmark of United culture, and this is a glimpse into the dialogues that define our campuses.
