My relationships with my teachers are based on respect.

No		Somewhat	Absolutely
1 = 1	2 = 0	3 = 14	4 = 17	5 = 9

"The teachers are absolutely amazing."--10th grader

"I love this achool and its facilitators."--12th grader

Carlos Hernández
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Carlos Hernández reflects on a teacher who has provided guidance and knowledge at New Roads School.

TCLA: You know you have a quality teacher when . . .

CH: In the classroom you feel the passion she/he has for the subject that students are learning and when you feel a personal connection with the teacher. The teacher that I interviewed, for example, you can just tell that she knows so much about what she is teaching and she loves what she is teaching. It is contagious to the students and the students also became passionate about the material.

TCLA: Can you describe a teacher that has been the most inspirational, motivational, and/or helpful?

CH: One of the most inspirational teachers that I have had is Leslie Rochenbach. When I came to this school I had a passion for social justice and social change, but it wasn’t until I took her class that I really began researching and learning about historical and present issues. She was a great resource for me. When I had a question about a specific movement, I went to her and she knew exactly what happened. She went far beyond facts or names and explained the deeper meaning. Her class was the same. For example, in her U.S. History class a lot of us went in there feeling a little weary about the traditional U.S. History class with just facts and figures, but when we saw the syllabus for her class, it had sections on Chicano history and other stuff that went beyond the American history.

TCLA: What subject did she teach?

CH: She teaches U.S. History, World Civics, and right now she is teaching a Society and Ethics class where she discusses issues such as the war with Iraq, as well as race, class, and gender and how they are related. I took U.S. History with her and also did an Independent Study where we learned specifically about Chicano History and it was there where I got to know real well.

TCLA: What did they do differently than other teachers?

CH: She engages students and doesn’t let students get bored. A student like myself wants to learn and is encouraged to critically analyze material.

TCLA: How did they influence you as a student?

CH: She definitely directed me towards social justice and activism. I also learned to think critically, which goes far beyond any kind of occupation or job. It was more of a life experience that I applied to everything. She made me passionate. Her style of teaching was easy for students to grasp and if you took the initiative to ask her questions and meet with her after class, she would definitely be open to that.

TCLA: How active is she in the school community?

CH: Within the school community she is definitely a force. When we have rallies and walkouts for peace here at New Roads, she is someone that begins discussions, asks for students’ opinions, and informs students about current issues.

TCLA: How would you describe her in one word?

CH: Passionate.

Teacher Interviews

Ms. Rochenbach
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Carlos talks to Ms. Rochenbach about her experiences as a teacher.

CH: What motivated you to go into teaching?

LR: I wanted to be of service to the world, and I thought that teaching young was a missing service. I really enjoy meeting young people because they are a personal inspiration to me.

CH: How long have you been teaching?

LR: I have been teaching 5 years at the University level and 3 years in high school (In Buffalo, New York and here at New Roads).

CH: What have you learned from teaching?

LR: I have learned that the actual subject matter itself is sometimes superfluous to the connections that you can make with students. The biggest impact you have the students is the impact that you have in your heart and the kind of intimate connections you. Sometimes the study of history is a bit tangential to a larger intimacy we are developing as a community.

CH: Why did you choose to teach here at New Roads?

LR: Because it has a radical philosophy that I support. I could never, ever teach in a school that catered to a specific ethnic or economic group, and I feel that the commitment that New Roads makes to ethnic and class diversity is just a gift. I love being in this kind of environment.

CH: How do you deal with the students that don’t necessarily believe in the philosophy?

LR: I love them as I love each student that I teach. I think that it is more personally enjoyable to teach students who are also committed to issues of social justice. I find a more personal connection to those students, but I think that it’s those students who are initially turned off by those kinds of issues that I feel most called to reach. I am glad they are here.

CH: Why not teach at other schools that don’t have this philosophy and students might be in more of a dire need to hear and learn about issues you teach and passionate about?

LR: In my future that might be an option for me, but right now I feel personally drawn to teach here not only much because of the philosophy but because of David Brian. It is a comfortable place to work, and I think that I don’t rule it out teaching in an inner-city school or teaching in Los Angeles Unified. There are lots of pros, but some cons as well. I wouldn’t want to be in a school where I had to teach the same subject for six periods in a row. That is just more of a personal preference even though the message I am delivering should reach everybody. I don’t rule it out. To be a teacher it requires that you not get burned out and this is a school that is easy to stay focused, healthy, and centered. In some schools in some areas, you can only last so long. I don’t want to be in a school where I don’t have free choice of the curriculum I teach or constantly haggling with administrators. Those are the kinds of stories that I hear that happens in some public schools. I don’t want to burn out. I feel that what I am doing is of value and I love what I do. I feel totally called to be here. I feel lucky. It is still a private school, but it has the diversity of a public school.

CH: Would you identify that as a problem—that sometimes teachers are restricted in what they would want to teach?

LR: I think you have certain selection of books to teach from. The freedom I am given here in terms of choice of curriculum, I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams doing that in LAUSD.

CH: What are methods that you use in teaching?

LR: I like to use the Socratic seminar. I think that students learn from actually talking and dialoguing about the material. The less information that I am constantly forcing down them, the better. The more that they can speak for themselves and workout ideas, even if they are imperfect kinds of conclusions, I think that the will develop the skill of critical thinking. That is one skill. Simple things, for example, like having my students to sit in a circle. In very difficult topics, having my students call on one another so there is less of an authoritarian role in the classroom. One of the methods that I really use is honoring what happens in the current world in which my students live, and the more I focus on that, the more interested they are as students and the more active they are in class in participation.

CH: When students are having difficulties with assignments or class, what steps can they take?

LR: The benefit of being here is that there is lots of opportunity for them to come to me for individual instruction.

CH: What do you hope your students take with them after the year is over?

LR: To be able to think critically about the world. Not to lose their innocence but also not be so naive. To find that balance and to be able to see something and feel that they can understand it. That they can see both sides of an issue, but they can also be passionate about things. To teach kids how to feel passionate about the world they live in. That is the most important thing. I have a lot of intellectual interests, such as being able to have my students see the interconnectedness of race, class, and gender in the United States, as well as special focus on U.S. foreign policy.

CH: We know that the work of teachers can oftentimes be difficult or challenging—what conditions do you need to support your work as a teacher?

LR: I need a supportive administration, which I have, encouragement, to be told that I am doing a good job, support. This is such an independent that it sometimes very difficult to get pat on the back. You often have to sustain that validation for yourself. Time off, a good salary, and good benefits help tremendously.

Principal David Brian
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Carlos shares the interview results with Principal David Brian.

CH: What steps does this school take so that all teachers can have the strong qualities that Leslie Rochenbach possesses?

DB: There a bunch of high quality teachers here and it is always difficult to figure out how to do that, but there is a practice that I have: the initial sort of screening of applications, some sort of phone conversation, then more in-depth conversation, watching the person teach, which is always important, and then luck. Ultimately, you never know what you are going to get until you have been around someone for a while. Some people who just seem that they are going to be splendid, over time you find out that they are not and other people, that they are. Part of the process is at the front end before you hire them and then there is the way that they actually are inspired and encouraged by the environment—the students, the philosophy of the school, by the feel of the place. There are some people that are clearly good teachers are able to be good teachers are not necessarily good teachers here because the environment’s impact on them doesn’t fit. This is the same for admissions of kids. You can have somebody that is on paper a wonderful student and may have been a wonderful student in all sorts of different places and then come here and for some reason this environment does not foster that. Same thing with a teacher. Somebody who you think that is going to be wonderful and feeds the place and at the same time feeds him/her. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

CH: What qualities should a teacher have?

DB: Certainly be knowledgeable in the subject matter that they are going to be working in and they should be absolutely in love with the idea of being a teacher. There is a tendency among teachers to describe themselves and what they do to people that are not teachers to say, “I am just a teacher.” You want someone that does not have that “just” but who really understands that it is an incredibly role to play. They have to know their subject matter, love teaching, and they have to be willing to fall flat on their face because they have to be trying different things. If they are just doing it by formula, even if it is a formula that is really good, formulas fail, unlike when in chemistry they come out the same way, with human beings, even if it has worked for four years, it might not work the fifth year. Really great teachers need to always be on the look out for stuff and do things differently. The responsibility is the same for the student for learning just as much for the teacher for teaching. A person who is fascinated by—how can I teach more effectively? It is potentially really fascinating thing, but a lot of people don’t find it that way. In my conversations with teachers before I hire them with teachers that don’t really want to be teachers, they don’t really get it. It sounds like I am a really boring person. The most exciting moments that I have had in my life have been in classrooms where ideas are bouncing around and connections are being made in ways that are so fast, frenzy, furious, interesting, and stuff that people haven’t seen before. If somebody does not know what this could probably mean than probably that person is not going to be teaching here. They have to understand that that is the potential in a classroom—so intense that you feel like you are going to explode. That is a hard thing to find.