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Interview with Kelly Harmon

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Interview with Kelly Harmon

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Interview with Kelly Harmon

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  • Kelly Harmon Transcript: Kelly Harmon Interviewee: KH Kelly Harmon Interviewer: LA Laura Abernathy Interview Date: Oct. 19, 2018 Location: Rutherford College, NC · Length: 59 minutes Start of Interview Laura Abernathy: Are you aware that you are being recorded for public purposes? Kelly Harmon: Yes I am. LA: Ok, so first I'd like to thank you for taking the time, participating in this interview. I really appreciate you helping me out. KH: You're so welcome. LA: What is your name? KH: My name is Kelly Harmon. LA: When were you born? KH: 1981. LA: Where were you originally from? KH: I was born in Detroit, Michigan. 1 Kelly Harmon LA: And you moved down here.: KH: I lived all over the place. I lived in Detroit, Michigan, St. Louis, Missouri, London, Kentucky, and then to Morganton is where we moved. And then I met my husband just around this are. LA: So is your family still up there? KH: Well my parents, my dad worked for the baker in Valdese and then he got transferred to Colombia, South Carolina and Knoxville but he was always moving around so I interned, moved with my parents and attended lots of different schoo--elementary school in one state, middle school in state, high school in another state and then they continued to move and I got married and stayed here so. LA: Ok, super cool. Ok so how long have you been a teacher? KH: I have been a teacher, public school teacher for five years and then, let's 'see here, my son--when I stopped teaching after five years when I had him and he's nine so nine minus five. Four or five years I've been homeschooling and then when his brother came along I've been homeschooling him too, so I would say around nine or ten years altogether if you were to mush it all together. LA: So mainly, that's elementary school? KH: Elementary, I taught fourth grade the whole time I just loved fourth graders and I didn't want to go anywhere else and I always begged my principal to stay there and she was always real kind and let me stay. We were there, she was hired on at the same time I did and then when she left I ended up leaving so I only had to work under one principal which is super nice. 2 Kelly Harmon LA: Yeah that's nice. Did ya'll get alo-you liked her? KH: Oh, I absolutely loved her. LA: That's awesome. Was there a reason in particular you liked the fourth graders or was it just, you had good experience? KH: This is kind of silly but they were old enough where they weren't like peeing their . pants (laughs) and being just, you know, just babied all the time and they weren't quite hormonal enough in fifth grade to get in fights and you know so I always thought-! always told everybody that fourth grade is the best year and finally my son is in fourth grade in homeschool this year and I'm finally like, oh my goodness I feel like I finally know exactly what you're . supposed to know. Cause you're kind of grasping at straws sometimes with homeschooling so I was really grateful that he was finally in fourth grade so. LA: That helps you out a little bit. KH: Oh yeah, Oh yeah. Definitely. I know I finally feel like I know what I'm doing. LA: That's funny. So what made you want to become a teacher? KH: I always loved playing school when I was a little kid and that sounds so silly but I just always loved grading my brother's papers and putting F's on them and you know just being, just playing school and then just always really liked children. And at first f was like, just thinking the big picture if one day when I have children, the school schedule is just eight to three, they can come to my school and then we can go home and I can be at home with them in the afternoon. And later, it did not ever end up like that and God totally changed all my plans. But that's kind of one of the things that drew me there and I just always really loved teaching things and sharing things with people and several people had told me I just had a gift in that and so I kind of went 3 Kelly Harmon that route and got into that Gardner Webb and really loved the professors, and I just·couldn't get enough of it. And that just seemed where I needed to go and where I fit so that's where I chased and went so. LA: Ok yeah so elementary, you chose elementary just because you really liked young children? KH: Yeah, I always had problems with Math in high school and so, it scared me to get too high up in high school and I felt like elementary is where I felt really knowledgeable and really strong and so I just stuck with elementary and always just liked that age so. LA: Yeah, awesome. So what was your experience like as you were a begging teacher, . like your first few years of your career. What was-was it difficult or ·was it easy? KH: I had such, I was just placed in such a fantastic school, Rutherford College Elementary School, which actually closed this year it was a really, really old school. LA: I didn't know that. KH: And they closed it down this year, yep, it was just too old that I think they kind of said it wasn't safe anymore. I mean it's hundreds of years, well maybe not hundreds, but it's very old, it's very old. And they decided to close it, but it was such a small school and I really feel like its success lied in the fact that it had small classrooms. My first year of teaching I only had sixteen kids in my class which was just a dream and I had, you know most classes have twenty­five, twenty-eight, and I was lucky enough to start out my first year with sixteen kids. And when you look at test scores through the years that I was there, not that we base everything on test scores, but we looked at test scores and compared over the years--that was the very best year we ever did was with those low class sizes, because we were able to really get to know the kids 4 Kelly Harmon and really be more, you know, one-on-one with them in the classroom and stuff. So my first year, I just look back on it as being so successful and I had a phenomenal, no substitute teacher but what's the teacher called? LA: The teacher's assistant? KH: No, the person who you sub, you teach under. I can't think of what it's called (laughing). Her name was Diane Frye and she was like helping me to,-you know she was the placement teacher. I can't think of what her title would be. But she was my teaching person, they put me under there at Rutherford College for my first six months there, whatever. And she was so experienced and so knowledgeable and she just really guided me along well and . answered all my questions and really modeled for me really good teaching practices. Now I was also placed next to a fantastic teacher, Ginger Sinson, and she did the same thing, really helped with me. It was a really good community there and we actually ended up having, the first year I was there, like the highest writing scores in the state of North Carolina; and I know everything doesn't go back to testing but the kids worked really hard and we worked really hard and so my first year, when I look back, just had lots of really good memories and I was voted like the first­year teacher of the year for Burke County. LA: Oh, that's so awesome! KH: So it was like a really, when I look back on my first year, it was just, I started out with a bang. It just really .. LA: Yeah that's a great experience for your first year. KH: It was just so encouraging to get just that and just be encouraged by your peers and things like that. And I look back and it was just such a great year just with lots of encouragement 5 Kelly Harmon for other teachers and my principals there just always helping me and we had really good students and my first year was just fantastic. I probably slept less than any other year cause I · was always up lesson planning and it's really stressful your first year teaching but.l just really had a fantastic first year. LA: That's really great. That's not something you hear often, for teachers especially cause you're jumping right into .. KH: Yeah, and one word of advice that Diane Frye gave me was, I was just so overwhelmed with understanding all the curriculum for one year. And one really goo(! piece of information she gave me was just to know one day, you just have to master the material one day at a time. Of course we plan for a week at a time or in quarters a·s in big chunks. But she always told me, just look at tomorrow's plans, be a master of tomorrow's plans, look over your lesson plans, know that material so well and then that's all you got-don't get overwhelmed and I think that was so encouraging. So, every night I would go home and I would look over my stuff to make sure I knew exactly what I was doing and get organized and I would just take it one day at a time instead of getting so overwhelmed about, oh I don't know what to do or there's too much to teach so. LA: Yeah, that's smart. Yeah cause I've always, we've been doing unit plans and things like that and it's a lot of information. KH: Yeah it can just be information overload. So she really helped me learn to like long range plan, you know short range .. LA: Yeah, it's a Jot Jess stressful. 6 Kelly Harmon KH: and then just daily, you know just mastering that material and understanding that if you're teaching them long division, practicing and making sure you know all the steps and the best way to teach it and you know, just don't get overwhelmed. LA: Yeah, that's awesome. That's great advice especially for an incoming teacher. Ok, what's a time that particularly inspired you while you were teaching. Like was there a student . that stood out, that just really motivated you to continue teaching or was there anything in particular? KH: One, I had a student that actually passed away when I was teaching and her name was Megan Cunders and I would say that was like a real pivotal point in my teaching career because, (tearing up) you kind of get in the mode of like just seeing the kids all day and checking. off the attendance sheet and getting in the mode of not really being one-one-one with the kids. Really looking in their eyes and sitting down with them and stuff and that was, what was the exact question you said .. LA: Oh, what's a time that inspired you .. KH: Inspired. I would say that would be kind of be inspirational for me in a way because her death really caused me to focus on my kids more and make it less about tests and you know really get to know the kids and just knowing that it's more-there's more to life than tests and studies. It's important to love the kids, and to know them and that was just very inspirational. You know you think what good can death ever bring but in my life it was really a turning point for me to really just focus on the kids more and not so much on the studies because you know the kids are, they have needs and wants and things like that. They need to be heard and listened to and things like that so that caused me to really shift my thinking as being so goal driven to just really focused on the kids and their importance in life. 7 Kelly Harmon LA: Yeah definitely. That's so sad but it's, it transformed your view of being a teacher. KH: It did. And parent later on and how important every single day is cause when they, when the students are in your classroom and they really become your kids you know. You spend, a lot of times, more time with them then their parents do. So not that I know them better than their parents, cause they've been with their parents forever, but you are spending hours upon hours with these kids and you really get to know them and they become a part of you and you just worry about them at night just like you do, you know, your own children-just brings a whole another perspective that, yeah. LA: Yeah, that actually brings up another question. Do you think that teachers focus too much on test scores, the growth, rather than the kids. KH: Well, I came from a really heavily testing school. Like, just, cause they always did so fantastic. If you look up the scores and reports and things, Rutherford College is always at the top. But, and I do think that you get very focused on it. But I do believe a lot in testing and my friend and I, that we talked together we could always look, you know, at our roles before the kids took the test and say you know, do we feel like this child knew the material, do we know, how well do you think, how do you think they're going to do? And we were almost always right so. I feel like testing gives you a goal to, a goal in sight of the information, it keeps teachers really accountable for what they need to teach their kids. But there are some circumstances where kids, I had one student one year who was a foster child and they were in and out of foster homes and that, to her, testing was not important, it was getting enough food and being cared for and things like that. So sometimes it's just not the most important, it's not always the most important thing. But, in general, it-when teaching a whole class, it gives you, I think, a real goal. It gives teachers what they're responsible for teaching their kids and teachers work so hard to 8 Kelly Harmon just cover all the basics and things like that. And it gives us a goal and I feel like if you're doing . what you're supposed to and covering what you're supposed to, your kids generally do pretty well. So, and of course there are like English speaking-you know language students that are learning language and that's so hard to,. there's just so many obstacles in education and it makes it really difficult. And now I've been out for nine years so it probably looks totally different than how 1-1 mean I can't imagine what it looks like now compared to nine years ago. I mean education is constantly changing. But I am, I do think testing is a good thing but I think it's used too much probably. Cause if you test all. the time, you never have time to have fun with learning and do things like that. But I think there's a time and place for it, you know I think it's, it's necessary to see where kids are and to assess them properly so. LA: Yeah that's, that's a very good answer. Cause most of what I've heard is: standardized testing is a pain for teachers. KH: Yeah, it kind of is a pain. But it's, to me it was such a good picture of how they were performing or how they were doing. You know, like with the writing test, I know they've taken it · out since then, but I could just tell you who was going to pass and who wasn't. Because of either how hard they were working or how much motivation they had. So, I like when the siandards are high cause it gives the kids and the teachers something to really shoot for but there's a time and place for it and sometimes it can be way too much. You just feel like all you're doing is giving tests and things like that. And 1- its caused me to kind of look inside as a homeschool mom and try to think, have I given my students, my own children enough tests and things like. But I'm more able to be one-on-one with them and know kind of exactly where they're at and so. Yeah, that's insightful I need to be thinking testing my own children. (laughs) They have to take yearly tests but anyway. 9 Kelly Harmon LA: Yeah, the end of year tests? KH:Yeah LA: Those are always fun. (laughs) So, ok, in your experience, what were the difficulties that teachers faced on a daily basis at a public school? KH: The first that just comes to mind is the parents, which is kind of a sad thing to say. LA: It's, it's a common thing. KH: It's a common thing. I just felt like I was battling parents all the time and I felt like, I feel like I'm a nice person, I know that sounds horrible. But I had a parent throw a pencil at me across a table at a parent teacher conference and I think a lot of parents just feel like their kids can do no harm and are perfect angels and we all know that's not usually the case. So, that was a real obstacle for me, communicating with the parents and having enough time to communicate properly. As I came out of this school system and sent my younger ones to Bust~R­Bus and BB Bus, it's like a local pre-school program, I was just so amazed at their communication· and it really made me think, oh my goodness, I just did not communicate nearly as well as I should have. But they, of course they're littler and the fourth graders could explain niore and everything. But having enough time to do everything was always a struggle for me. Having the time to call parents or, it seemed like I just always ran out of time just with school. But working with the parents was always hard. I'm trying to think of other things, interruptions were a big thing for me. I feel like we were constantly being interrupted in public school with announcements and fundraisers and-it just felt like it was nonstop interruption. LA: Yeah, a little too much. 10 Kelly Harmon KH: Yeah and it would, it was hard finding enough time to really do anything cause there was so many interruptions with you know, not a whole lot of snow days. But there's just always something going on and. LA: There's so much material to teach. KH: Yeah, and there was so much, so many things to do and I just struggled with always getting the time to get everything finished. But I'm real type-A, so I was always trying to check off boxes and get things done but.. LA: Yeah, but that's a good thing, especially as a teacher. KH: I don't know. I tried. LA: It can be a little frustrating, I've heard time management is very important in education. KH: Oh I'm a believer in that, mhm. I mean I could have stayed at school all night long several times but it just got so creepy and dark over there I was like, oh I got to go! But you can just work yourself to death so I think there's a good-it's important to find a balance and knowing when to go home and rest and get ready for the next day. LA: Ok, that's good advice for future teachers too, for sure. So, in your opinion, what were the best educational advancements made during your time as a teacher and how did you incorporate them into your classroom if you could? KH: The best educational advancements, give me an example of one thing. LA: It could be like technology, was there a program that they started while you were there? I know different schools have different programs, especially in elementary school. 11 Kelly Harmon KH: I think about, we got a document camera when I was there and that was reall-but · we didn't have like any kind of technology when I was there nine years ago, and now I know all the kids have, have their own iPad and things like that. LA: Yeah, that's what I've heard. KH: So it makes me sound like a cave woman. (laughs) I've been out forever. LA: No, no, no. I've been out of high school for four years and they've already changed up everything. (laughs) KH: The technology has really changed. I think I would really struggle with being able to balance that now and be a good teacher cause it would be so hard having to go through everything. But, I just think of my-the small things that, like our PTO purchase for us. We did really well that year in writing and they thought we needed some things to help us even more so they got us document cameras where the kids could see, it was just kind of like an up-to-date overhead. But just different little technology things that kind of made it new and different for the kids. I don't, I'm struggling with answering, trying to find an answer for that question. LA: Oh that's ok. So what was it, the document camera? It's what, showed it up on the wall? KH: Yeah, it's like a-yeah it just made it easier. It wasn't a whole lot of copying and laminating, you know you could just put an example of writing up and it would show and the kids could come up and share something and everyone could see it. LA: Instead of passing it out. KH: But I don't know if that's the best answer for that. 12 Kelly Harmon LA: No that's perfect. That's, yeah. That's fine. So, you were able to incorporate that into your classroom. KH: Yeah and I was able to really, it made things so much easier because I felt like I wasn't constantly running and make copies and I could share good quality writing with the kids and they could see it as I would read. LA: It's the little things. KH: It just made things a lot easier and I appreciate the PTO just encouraging·us with that. LA: Can you tell me what the PTO? .. KH: It was a parent teacher organization so it was like they were doing fund raising and things for the teachers to be able to buy things for their classrooms and stuff like that so. LA: Oh that's nice. So parents and teachers worked together? Oh that's nice. KH: Mhm. They would meet like once a month and have meetings and they would come up with ways to fundraise and things to-things that teachers needed and they woulil give us supply checks like I think $75 or $150 a semester to try to help with the expenses cause being a teacher can be really expensive if you .. LA: I've heard you got to buy your own utensils a lot. KH: Yeah, there's a lot of stuff you have to buy sometimes and I tend to go overboard with stuff so I would always be buying stuff. (laughs) LA: See that would be me cause I get excited. KH: I know, I know. 13 Kelly Harmon That's what-and then I think, well I'll just be in fourth grade my whole life so if I just buy one time I'll be able to use it for twenty-five, thirty years. But anyway. LA: That's what, that would be me. I feel like every time I go school supply shopping, I find paper, I find folders, I find pencils .. KH: I'm a post-it note, highlighter. I do things .. LA: Yep. You just have it all ready, that would be me, that would definitely be me. Kind of switching gears, to what extent did your personal education contribute to your methods of teaching? KH: I can think back to the really good teachers I've had and I can think back to the really bad teachers I've had. LA: Yeah, you learn from both. KH: And I think that that was such a contribution, having those teachers that just made class so boring and that encouraged me to really make it fun and make-why, why make it boring when it can be fun? You know, and so I think back to the teacher like Mrs. Bolick that I had that just made Math, I struggled with Math even failing the end of course test one year and having to be remediated and my teacher had to come to my house and-just really struggling with Math and she was somebody who just danced around the room and sang songs and just really energetic and she totally encouraged me to just want to be a better teacher and so, let me think about what that question said. LA: Oh yeah, how did your personal education, your experiences contributed to your methods. 14 Kelly Harmon KH: Yeah, just how the teachers treated us, I wanted to be treated how Mrs. Bolick treated me, not as, maybe other ones were unfair un-unkind. I just look to the ones that were really encouraging and try to take little bits of that and kind of like stealing a little bit from each teacher, stealing those fun things that my seventh-grade teacher did when we were studying Egypt he took a male Ken Barbie Doll and cut him open and did a, he wrapped him up like a mummy. Taking those little fun hands-on things from each teacher and the way they treated people and just taking all that, trying to take the best from all the teachers that how they modeled for us and try to pass that on it was kind of-I don't know if that answers your question or not. LA: Oh, no that's perfect. I know it's amazing how much teachers influence you. I had a-1 used to not like history and I had one good high school history teacher and I had him twice. And it just, it got me so involved and so interested in history and that's what influenced me to become a history teacher. KH: I remember writing teacher just going on and on about a piece of paper-just some paper I wrote on tornadoes or something in sixth grade and she was just so encouraging and from that I just got really encouraged with my writing and later on I was on like the newspaper . staff at high school and then, I just used, I think that was just like the· spark that really ignited the. real love of learning to write and teaching writing and so I think back to, I think her name was Mrs. UDIE (?)or something and she was just so encouraging and that can just go so far in a child's life, how your teacher was encouraging to you and so. Encouragement goes such a long way. LA: And it can influence you in your future. KH: Yeah. 15 Kelly Harmon LA: So that's awesome. So, what were some things you wish you knew before you entered the field of teaching? KH: Some things I wish I knew before I entered the field of teaching. LA: It could be organizational skills, time-management, was there anything that kind of · surprised you when you were a teacher that you wish you knew before? KH: I think all the extras that went into teaching just the requirements to donate to United Way, the requirements to donate to have your school get one-hundred percent, the requirements of staying after school for meetings twice a week, the requirements for getting there early to do bus duty, the requirements-all the extras that went along with it. I don't know, I was just blindsided or oblivious to that. LA: Yeah, it's not just eight to three. KH: No. I was really, really in Ia-Ia land about that. I just didn't realize it but, you know, it's a full time. I mean even when you get home you're still thinking about the kids in your classroom and you're still always thinking about things and-1 always said that teachers should get paid to be on Pinterest, they're always looking for ideas. The professional development that was required, I'm not sure what they call that now but the extra classes .. LA: The workshops? KH: The workshops and having to go, I mean I remember I spent several summers taking courses to keep my stuff current so I would just say all the extras just, I had no idea. You feel like you're juggling-just constantly juggling things but, I think it's ok to learn to say no to things that you can say no to in education because if you do say yes to everything I think you can quickly go down as a really exhausted, really tired teacher. 16 Kelly Harmon LA: Yeah that can be hard for some people. I know I have a problem saying no, even if­if they're really nice about it I just feel really bad about it. KH: Yeah, there's an amazing book called the The Best Yes, it's by Lysa Terkeurst, and she talks about just choosing the things that you can say yes to. You don't have to be on every single committee, you don't have to do every single thing. Because you're going to eventually want time with your family and your husband, and so I think it's really important to live a life of balance but. LA: Totally, especially as a teacher. So how have you noticed education changing society over the course of your years? like has-how has the education that you've given changed the kids and the society around them? KH: I don't know about the education I've given. I can see, I fee\ like, and I don't know if this from being a mom from the last few years and looking in, but I feel like there's a Jot Jess respect for adults since when I started teaching; which I don't know if that can, if that's an answer or not but I feel like it's really changed. I did have problems in my classroom, classroom management and getting the kids to obey and all that but I see and hear a lot of things from the classroom today and it just seems like there's not a lot of respect for authority and there's a lot of discipline problems and that seems to be getting worse and worse so it would be interesting to see where that goes and it's hard to teach when there's kids with home issues that are making them act out and things like that. LA: It can make it a little more difficult. KH: Yeah. 17 Kelly Harmon LA: That's definitely interesting over time. I know obviously you hear all the time, "your generation has changed so much from" .. KH: Yeah and you wonder if it's really changed that much in ten years but some of the things I hear and stuff form the schools it just sounds really rough. LA: Yeah, the things-my niece and nephew went to an elementary school and they recently moved to the one that my brother goes to because they were just having trouble with the kids at that school and just certain situations. But, going from one school to another, they've notice a huge difference in the way that the children act from behavioral issues to now, I mean there's obviously going to be those issues but the things they've heard in that school compared to this one it just it blows your mind. And a lot of it can be in the environment in, the town you're in, if you look at poverty levels and things like that. It's sad how much, especially in elementary school, that's heartbreaking for me to hear anyway. My brother plays football, he's only nine and the things he hears out on the field, it blows my mind. KH: And you wonder if that was still happening ten years ago, and I wasn't quite around them, I mean I was around them enough and I was breaking up fights all the time on the playground with kids. It just seems like a real loss of respect for authority. LA: Yeah, it's sad in a way. Just more challenges for a teacher. KH: It is. I hope it turns around somehow. LA: Yeah, and that's a good thing about being a teacher is you can help turn that around. KH: And I saw, our school did several things like they brought in the Appalachian State football team to our school one time to sit with the kids in class and they did some examples of some drills and how they responded to their coaches saying, "Yes Sir", just kind of modeling 18 Kelly Harmon . authority and I think our school tried to combat that a little with sonie fun things that would kind of teach them to learn to respect their authority and things. LA: Fun things. That's an interesting way of doing that cause as a kid, seeing those big football players in college KH: Oh yeah, and how they respected their coach and they kind of compared that to teachers so that kind of popped into my mind as being a good example. LA: Yeah, that's really cool, I wish my school would've done that. KH: I know it was really fun. LA: And this is just in your opinion, but do you think education is valued in society today compared to when you first started? KH: I think so. At the profession of education or the .. ? LA: Just education in general--like do parents, families value education as much as they did when you first started? KH: I think so. I don't have anything to really go on after that but I think it's still ... LA: Still the same? KH: Yeah. LA: Well, that's good thing. KH: One time I heard someone, a parent comment that being a teacher was just a glorified babysitter and that stung me and hurt me very badly. I just remember being, oh my goodness, they think I'm just a babysitter! But I think most people have a real respect for 19 Kelly Harmon education and it's not just sending your kids to a professional babysitter. That's the o'niy thing I can think of that was really, I can't believe I just heard that. LA: Yeah, my best friend is a teacher now at the Icard Church, Icard Baptist Church, they have a daycare there and she works there and she said people--the reaction she gets when she tells people that she works there is, you know, glorified babysitter. And she said, I mean the things she has to deal with, it's so much more complicated than that. It's sad. KH: Yeah. LA: How do you, and that leads into this question, how do people react when you tell them you're a teacher, or you were-a teacher? KH: I think it just has a lot of respect that comes with it. I get a lot of mixed views from when I tell them I'm homeschooling versus teaching. A lot of times we'll be out in public during the day and we'll get real snide comments from people like, "well why aren't you guys aren't in school?" and things like that. It's just, I have to explain, I just try to be real grace filled that, we've already done our work for the morning and we're going to go home this afternoon to finish but this is our break time. Does that answer your question? LA: Yeah, that's perfect! Especially like homeschooling. I know when I was homeschooled, you got that look a lot. Like if you aren't in school. KH: Yeah like, why aren't you sitting there for eight hours at home doing your work? But then you realize that you can get, you know, all that work done in an hour or two or ... LA: Right, and as a homeschool teacher the parent or whoever's teaching you at home, they get those looks as well you know, why aren't you at work? 20 Kelly Harmon KH: I had to kind of get over that, I'm better now, I'm better now. But, at first, I'd be like, Ughhhh. LA: Yeah, it's a little frustrating I can understand that. So, we're going to switch gears into like you switching from public to homeschooling. So, what motivated you to make that change? KH: Having a baby. (laughs) LA: Yeah, that can change things a lot. KH: Yeah it changed a whole lot; and I always said that when I had children that I wanted to stay at home and when they got to elementary school I would go back and they'd be at school with me. I just always had that vision, but God really changed my thinking and my heart and when I had him. I just did not want to go back to teaching, I wanted to be at home with him. So, I said, oh, I'll just stay out one year. And one year grew into two and before I knew it he was five and it was time to go to kindergarten, and I just could not send him to kindergarten. I was like, I don't know why, it was the number one school, he would have the best teacher in the world. I just could not send him and I just said, my husband and I talked a lot, and he said, "well, why don't you just homeschool him for a year?" and I said, ok I'll just try homeschooling for one year. So now we're on our what, fourth or fifth year, and I just am currently loving it. I said I'm not committing to anything for life. You never know what paths-what will happen. But, at this, we're just kind of re-evaluating every yea·r and see where we'll go next. But currently we just really enjoy it and feel like our kids are thriving in this atmosphere and I just really enjoy it. LA: That's good, yeah. So it wasn't anything that the public-school system had to do. 21 Kelly Harmon KH: No, no. I could've probably used a really good break after five years of public school teaching, that could've been one thing. I had a really hard year my fifth year teach-it's funny how the years kind of ebb and flow. The first year was just so fantastic and then I remember my second or third year we had a couple issues and then it was a really good fourth year and then my fifth year was really hard so ... LA: It's a rollercoaster. KH: It is a roller-coaster of emotions and everything, but I just felt like it was a real call for me to stay at home with my son. We had been saving some money for me to try to do it for just one year and stay at home and then I continued to tutor that year. The school would send me students and I would tutor in the afternoon. So, I still got to teach and that helped me to kind of stay connected to the school and the students and still give me an outlet so it was really nice. But I guess that answered that question. LA: Yeah definitely. That's good, I like that nothing was just angered you. You just felt led to try it out. KH: No I didn't have any-yeah. I just felt like, and it was a really big transition for me because there were no homeschoolers that I knew of at that time or no one-there were not a lot of moms staying at home from teaching and I just felt like it was kind of a lonely time there for a while. So, I really got to meet some more moms that were staying at home but I really felt like it was what God wanted me to do and I just could not see sending them to daycare at that certain time and it was just too much for me so I thought mentally for myself it would better if I just stayed home with him. And then I had two, another child and then I had another and then l'm-(inaudible) I'm good. So, I don't know, we'll see. 22 Kelly Harmon LA: That's funny. Yeah, it's hard to-1 just think of, like I have a niece and nephew like I said and then my brother and they're all around the same age but just, seeing them going to school and you're like, you know, I want to spend more time with them, I want to take them home, I want to teach them myself. But then I get excited when I become like a teacher that maybe I can have-1 don't know if they allow family to be, to teach your family but I think of that and that would be so much fun I'm so excited! KH: I know I was so excited about having my own kids in my class and stuff and through our co-ops we have a group that meets on Thursdays and Monday, I get to teach my kids in co­op and their friends and things so I get a little piece of that because I always wanted to teach my own child but now I really do. Now I get to everyday. LA: lots of fun. That's great. You get to watch them grow, you don't miss out on that time too. KH: Yeah, I didn't want to miss out on anything. LA: How has teaching at home been different from teaching at the school. The responsibilities. KH: Oh my (laughs). Well, when I tutored the kids from Rutherford College I remember I had planned just like a normal day for the kids to come with me for an hour or whatever. I remember finishing all the material, I was going to plan--the students would come for one hour and we were done with the material within fifteen minutes. I remember thinking, oh my goodness. We can get so much more done one-on-one. And I need to plan four times as much stuff because I did not have enough for that day. I think that kind of carries over to homeschool, if you've planned well enough and everything, you can just get so much more done in a time, a real timely manner. You don't have to spend time teaching the kids to line up. There's so much 23 Kelly Harmon in elementary school about routines and discipline, and in kindergarten you spend two weeks teaching them how to line up in the cafeteria line and learning routines and how to go to the bathroom, when to ask, where stuff is and we take a little break over the summer but then we sit back down and I don't have to teach them how to go to the bathroom, and I don't have to do that. So it's a real good way to use your time wisely and really get through some material and I save a lot of time that way. I feel like when we're done-we may finish a Math book in six months versus a year so we can kind of move faster in their education. What was that question one more time, I'm all over the place, sorry. LA: You're fine, you're fine. How has it been different from teaching at a public school? KH: Ok, so more about being able to teach so much more information in such a little amount of time. LA: You have to alter your lesson plans. KH: You kind of do have to alter your lesson plans and I still use the same plan book that I used when I was in elementary school. I got addicted to this one certain plan book, and a lot of homeschool moms don't necessarily use a plan book but I still find it-that's how it's kind of been the same LA: You've got that, you're a teacher yeah. KH: It's different because I'm not teaching twenty-five, twenty-six kids but I'm planning for two of my children and I'm really, it's causing me to really plan out. And so it has its differences but it has a lot of similarities and I can go on forever and ever about differences and similarities but... LA: So, in a way you've carried the skills you learned. 24 Kelly Harmon KH: I've carried a lot of the skills over but I kind of investigated new things. Like classical model of education is something that I don't remember learning a lot about in my teaching understudy in the university. I've really gotten a lot into the classical modelbot (?)memorizing things early and so it's cause-l've taken some things from the public school but I've also branched out into what else is out there other than maybe what my university taught me or--it's kind of all on me too. One thing I would say is I'm the cafeteria lady, I am the custodian, I am the teacher, I am the principal-well my husband is the principal, we call the principal sometimes. Like that's one major difference is it's all on me and my husband as far as making sure we cross all T's dot all the l's, make sure--it's a huge responsibility, and it's a huge responsibility in public school, but there are kids and so it is very different. I can really select their curriculum to exactly what they need. I have, one of my children I think is dyslexic and we're going through some different studies with him and I've been able to find him just the most perfect (inaudible) tutor and I've been able to be real selective about his curriculum. So, I would say like the individual needs, whereas I could not possibly meet every twenty-five kids needs in my classroom in elementary school. I would try, I would group them in similar groups, and I did everything I could. But when you have one or two kids you know exactly where they are, you know exactly what they need, most of the time and it just makes it a lot easier to be able to just really serve them. But. .. LA: Ok, so you can meet their needs per individual. KH: I think. LA: That's a big thing in teaching. They want you to focus on meeting everyone's needs KH: But there's so many needs. LA: That's almost impossible. 25 Kelly Harmon KH: You just feel so stretched and there's so many people coming to help, like an ESL teacher or someone that has a one-on-one assistance or there's all of this help but there's just never enough hands. I remember pulling my mom in, my mom at one time would come and help me in my class and she would listen to kids read. I would just pull in volunteers and beg volunteers to help. And I would always have this piece of paper if a volunteer came in, you could help this, this, this, and this. I just had such a desire to help these kids but there just wasn't enough me. LA: Do you think that desire, and that's what you should have as a teacher, but do you think that kind of burns you a little bit, trying too hard? KH: I think it's really easy to get burned out. Like I was saying before I think it's really important now that I look back just to set up boundaries and goals. I'm going to leave every day by 4:30, I'm not staying here until6:30, seven o'clock every night. If I can't get it done, it can wait. Don't kill yourself. Because I think you can easily-l'm not sure how that is different in high school. I think it has a little bit different schedules and you have a bigger block time and things like that. But I can still see how that can be a lot in high school if you were a, had a testing grad or anything like that. I think it's important to watch out for your mental health as well because it can really, it can be a lot, it's a big responsibility. LA: Definitely. It can be draining. Keeping up with all those students, meeting their needs, grading their papers, taking it home with you. KH: I hope this isn't too overwhelming for you. LA: Oh no, no, no, no. Trust me, I've heard the good and the bad. 26 Kelly Harmon KH: Yeah you hear so much bad too. That's one thing that is really discouraging to me because you hear so much bad form public school teachers. And my, I had a family member that really pointed that out to me she said, "You be the one that when they ask about teaching in education that you are saying good and encouraging things." LA: Yeah, that's awesome, KH: like try to, there's good things to talk about, just don't talk about all the bad things. I try to always do that with my teaching. LA: And there's always good and bad things in any job. KH: Everywhere, everywhere. But that's what-my husband and I were just talking about on the way home, we were saying every job, you just have to, every, there's not one job that's just simple you know every job has some work and is difficult so. It's just, you choose what level of difficulty and how you're going to handle it. LA: Right, yeah. You can't let that stress overwhelm you. KH: Yeah, definitely. LA: Ok, and that's one ofthe reasons I ask the question how do people react when you tell them you're a teacher, specifically homeschool because I remember the reactions we got. I get reactions when I tell people I'm going to school to be a teacher. I mean, "why would you do that?" Exactly, "why would you do that?" They bring in the pay, they bring in the students, and the parents and the work and the paperwork, the staying after and-but you know, if that's what you're .. KH: called to do .. 27 Kelly Harmon LA. Exactly. If that's what you're called to do, if that's what you want to do, I think ... KH: Exactly. LA: you can to do it. KH: Yeah. LA: And you get past it so. That's great, I love that you stay positive. KH: I don't know. I tried. I probably said quite a few negative things. LA: No, No, No. It's your experience. KH: You know, I just did have a family member that really encouraged me to try to turn It to the positive because you know it can be discouraging sometimes. LA: And it's good to hear the positive things cause you don't hear them a lot. If you could go back In time, would you have taught public school again or would you have just stuck to homeschooling? KH: Oh goodness gracious. I just had such a good experience in public school. I really did. I mean I had such a good-1 don't think I would've changed one thing. LA: That's great. KH: I just really, I just really tried to follow God's plans for my life and listen and be aware of how I was feeling and how-what I needed to do and my husband's encouragement and things on and how I was doing and just try to be obedient to what he had and I feel like I just wouldn't really change, God really has blessed me in this whole education realm, you know? LA: Yeah, and that sounds like your experiences at the public school were able to help you with the homeschooling. 28 Kelly Harmon KH: Oh yeah, it was such a good sounding, or you know it was a good way to jump from one thing to the next. But it, they are two totally different-they're so similar but they're so different, it's such a crazy thing. There's so many things that are the same but is different. LA: This is kind of off topic but I know when I was homeschooled, you get the question you know, homeschooled are seen as .. KH: Unsocialized .. LA: Exactly, that's what I was trying to-un-socialized, or they're seen as they're supposed to be more advanced. But if they jump into a public school like I did, you see that you're not behind but you're not, you do it differently than how the public school does. So you're seen as behind. Have you seen that in the differences between public and homeschooling? KH: I have, I have. I'm trying to think of what I was going to say a second ago. LA: You're fine. KH: The un-socialized thing that you commented on, I get so tired of hearing about that. I must roll my eyes and go on cause I'm like, that's so silly. But you're as socialized as you want your kids to be like our biggest problem in homeschooling is that we have so many things to do that we have a hard time getting our main school work done. LA: Really? KH: There's so many opportunities out there. We have classical conversations which we do on Mondays from like nine to one and one to three, and it's a real high intense level classical model of education. And then we have our tutoring that my son does on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and we did piano, but we had to drop piano because it was getting crazy. And then we 29 Kelly Harmon have a co-op group on Thursday and we have a Mom's group on Facebook called Fun Bunch and they're always messaging and commenting about neat activities that are out there as far as like pumpkin patch, apple orchards, you know educational field trips and things. And there's just so much to do out there and so many things to be constantly into, that you really have to kind of set up boundaries in your homeschool and make sure that you know you're not overdoing it and leaving the time to get your things done that you need to get done so. We've kind of transitioned, I was a real regimented, you know we start in August and we end on June 15'". I'm always kind of like that, but I've kind transitioned into more of like six weeks on, take a week off, recover, get things organized, six weeks and kind of-- education has really changed, you know, we do our morning work and our afternoon work but I've just really opened my eyes about like even in the car. Talking about, for my son that's dyslexic, like looking at that word, what does that word say? Or look at those leaves changing do you know how that works? And just caring how, education can just be all around us and our Science and Social Studies in elementary school-you know we always had such a hard time getting that in cause Reading and Math and writing took such a strong point. And so I always struggled that I wasn't doing enough, but when that carried over to homeschooll just kind of have an un-schooling approach in a way cause like, you know, following my kids leads as far as what they're interested in Science. And our first week we had a Box Turtle show up on our car port and my kids were asking all these questions, "Well what do they eat?" and "Where did they sleep at night?" and all these little questions and so we were able to -1 was really able to follow their interest and their leads and ... LA: That's super cool. KH: You know you get more excited about education when it's something that you really love. It's really changed me as far as watching my kids and how they learn. And one child is a very auditory learner, he can just listen to stuff on C. D's and he does very well in our classical 30 Kelly Harmon conversation program cause it's listening to a lot of things over and over. My other child is a real kinesthetic learner, so I have to be really intentional about having cards and things for him to work with, playdough, you know it's just how he learns and so. I've been able to take a lot of the things from public school, but it is like we said, so many times so alike and so different it's just really interesting. LA: But you get that time, not only with your kids, but to meet their individual needs. It's funny, you mentioned the auditory learning and KH: Kinesthetic LA: I can't remember. The different learning skills cause we're learning about that in my psychology of education class right now and we're trying to teach our kids how to learn how they learn. If that makes sense. KH: Right. Yes it's amazing. And then, so not only are you trying to meet all their needs, but you're also trying to meet how they-so you got to have such a good concoction of auditory things in the classroom; things for kinesthet-1 mean it's, you feel like you have to do so much but I think it's important to have, to put it, you know, to use all of the methods. Even though my other son is a kinesthetic learner, I'm still having him listen to those C. D's to try to strengthen that, that learning style so I think it's just it's just so interesting how God makes each of the, each of our children so different. LA: Yeah. KH: How they do all--you learn one way, I probably learn one way and taking that what we know from ourselves and try to help our kids as far as teaching. It's just an interesting, it's so interesting. 31 Kelly Harmon LA: It is, it is, yeah. KH: It is, to see how, and to--it was just so interesting to see what kind of learner Noah was and what kind of learner Jacob was. It was just so interesting to me cause it's like, oh, well now I know how to help you even more, you know just like, yay I LA: So do you feel like you get that connection where you can help them more as a homeschooler? KH: I mean they're always here, they never leave so I can't help but teach them. (laughs) I mean they're always asking questions as kids, I'm sure they'll get to a point where they will stop asking but, they're always asking. They must ask so many questions in one day. And so, I feel like I'm constantly Go ogling to find information or, let's go look and see if we can find a book about that, or I'm constantly trying to answer their questions. They're just little sponges that just stay in elementary school where they just want to know so much. So I'm kind of just trying to feed that while they're young and so they can soak up more now and build on it later so we'll see. LA: Yeah, definitely. Yeah. That's good. So you've kind of talked about this a little bit but what are some challenges that you face as a homeschool teacher compared to the public school? We talked about the positives, you can spend more time, but what are some difficulties? KH: Yeah. Difficulties. One major difficulty I have is navigating, just like my son. I'm confident he's dyslexic and just navigating the waters of that, trying to, there's like no-I have the responsibility of doing it all by myself so I'm having to ask on Facebook and get recommendations from random people about who the best (inaudible) tutors are. How do you get diagnosed with dyslexia? Like going through all of this by myself; whereas if they were in 32 Kelly Harmon elementary school, they would have a 504 and they would easily be helped and they would have all these people coming to help them. So I struggle with that a little bit. That's been a real difficulty and challenge this year as far as trying to do what helps him best. I find myself on Amazon trying to find, type in dyslexia books and dyslexia cards and trying to serve him the best. So for me, homeschool, that has been the biggest challenge this year. I feel like I'm just blindly trying to find the answers for him. And what's the benefit of getting diagnosed as dyslexic young. Is that a stigma if he gets diagnosed? You know so that's been a challenge. let's see, another challenge is the younger siblings. I have, that's one reason we do the co-op in the CC program. There is a daycare, not a daycare but like a group where Andrew, my youngest, can go and play while his brothers are in their classes and not being distracted but he's three and he's distracting and he likes to go in and show them his Megatron toy while they're doing their Math and stuff. So we've had to work around him. We've worked a lot while he's napped, we've worked, I work with one of my kids while the other one is in the basement playing with him, so that's been a challenge. I wouldn't trade Andrew for anything, but he has been a little bit of a challenge. So, I would say that the dyslexic has been a challenge, trying to navigate that and then working around siblings. And then also trying to balance just normal life like cooking and cleaning and taking care of kids and getting them to doctor office visits. You know, I think it's, every education type has its struggles, but I would say those would be my top two. LA: Ok. Yeah and that makes sense, you're on your own. KH: Yeah, you really are. And it's such a huge responsibility. You know, like today we have a really big weekend ahead of us and I had to some shopping. And so we took today off and in the back of my mind I have this guilt of like, oh my gosh when am I going to make that day up? You know, you're constantly like having this internal struggle of making sure that the days balanced out; and I think some people are a little more relaxed about it than myself but I 33 Kelly Harmon think the public school background in me, I feel like I have to have my 180 days in and everything. But I got to just remember that my kids are just always learning and asking questions and we have home-ec in the kitchen and home-ec as they learn to do their laundry. They're just constantly learning so I got to remind myself ofthat. And I try to make the best use of car time, as far as listening to C. D's and watching educational things in our car, so I'm always feeding things to them I think. I don't know, I try. I'm definitely not a perfect teacher at all. LA: That's awesome. Yeah. But that's awesome that you try that, you get more time with your students. KH: Oh I do get a lot more time, I get way too much time, I know my husband comes home and I'm like, here you go, here you go, give me a break, I'll go cook or clean, just let me go upstairs and be quiet for a minute. LA: {laughing) Just let me stare at a wall. KH: (laughing) Yeah LA: So what keeps you motivated to homeschool your children? KH: What keeps me motivated? LA: Yeah, why do you keep it up versus putting them in a public school? KH: I don't know I think I just see the growth that they make and I just, the opportunities that they have. They do public speaking at their CC class and it just seems like they're not tested-they are tested yearly as public school students but there's not that stress and strain, so there's so much freedom and I think that in itself is very motivating. The fact that they can just have fun with learning and that really keeps me motivated. I'm really encouraged by that group of Face book moms that we have in Burke County and I'm in charge of that group and I do 34 Kelly Harmon different learning things for them. We get together and we talk about struggles homeschool moms have and that is a way that just keeps motivating and encouraging, cause you can kind of get, you can really get worn down if you don't have that community of other home school moms to kind of be a sounding ward. So, that keeps me very motivated and I don't know I just keep seeing how much they're learning and what they're doing and that's just been very encouraging tome. LA: Yeah, you get to see their growth personally. KH: I do. I get to see them remember things and recall things. LA: It's inspiring. KH: It is inspiring, it's been really encouraging. I'm not saying I'll do it forever, but this year it's what we've committed to so we're going to kind of look at the end of the year and see where we're at. LA: That's cool. And do you feel like it's more, it's better because you're not as focused, the kids aren't as stressed about the tests scores? KH: I think it is, but on the other hand I'm like, Uhh, I'm going to get, I still pull in some of my old materials from downstairs where l--in my education stuff and every once in a while, I'll pull out something and I'll be like, ok let's do this. You know, I just feel like they're still, I do need. to still test and be, hold them and hold the things to how they were in public school. I feel that need a lot but that could just be me type-A like that. LA: Weill mean the tests help. KH: Oh I think they're awesome. And they do have a yearly public schoo-or homeschool test that they take, the tests are given and that's always a good look at-the tester 35 Kelly Harmon will sit down with me and say, "what did you do this year for spelling? Because", this is what she said last year, "he's two years behind in spelling." And I'm like (Gasps}, I knew he struggled and so testing is a need of, he didn't do very well so what are we going to do now. That's where I think testing, it can help us see where we're going and what we need to do so it's a good guide. LA: What you need to work on. KH: Yeah. LA: Ok. That's good and positive about testing, you don't hear that a lot. KH: Yeah I mean it's, sometimes I cry when the tester talks to me about where I'm going. (interruption} Last year when she mentioned that one of my sons might've been dyslexic I just cried I was like, Nooooo! You know, it was really emotional. But she gave me names of people to contact and resources to use and so testing is always a good thing to help you kind of navigate your next path and option, so didn't do good on spelling, here's two or three good spelling programs that may work, having problems with dyslexia, here's a solution for this. So I think testing has it's good sides and bad sides, we should look at it and try to help the kids learn more from it. LA: That's good. I like that outlook on it. You don't get that a lot. So we've talked about that, so what's the highlight of your day as a teacher. And you can talk about public schooling and homeschooling. KH: Hmmmm, highlight. I just like being around my kids. I know it can be so draining at home but I just, I enjoy the things we do in our CC community with the presentation and seeing my kids just really shine with the information that they've learned. There are just so many highlights. Maybe in public school I think back to the times when the kids got their test reports back and they all scored fours or they all scored threes, and our principal would always do an ice 36 Kelly Harmon cream party or popcorn and just to try to celebrate their achievements and things like ... LA: It makes you proud. KH: Yeah, the highlights, just celebrating the kids and rewarding them for their hard work. Because they really do work hard, we really stay on the kids, both in public school and I think almost all the teachers I've ever met just really, really want the best for their kids. And I think celebrating would be my highlight, when I think back to all the good times we had, I would think the times we would really celebrate the kids were the highlights. LA: Yeah, you're proud of them and their accomplishments and you can take a step back and say you know, we did this, we worked together, they showed growth. That's got to be a great feeling as a teacher. KH: (sigh of relief) We did it! That's exactly right. LA: Ok, is there anything that you'd like to add? KH: I don't think so. I think you've been a great interviewee LA: Thank you I KH: Interviewer or interviewee whichever one. (laughing) LA: Whichever one. Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it KH: You're welcome. Let me know if I can every help you in the future. LA: Thank you so much. END OF INTERVIEW Transcribed by: laura Abernathy Interview: October 19, 2018 37
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Oral Histories of Western North Carolina

These interviews document the communities and culture of Western North Carolina. Topics include the building of the Fontana Dam, the history of WCU, stories from local veterans, integration of the...

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