Interview: (Frau) Ms. Engevik
Q) How long have you been teaching/where have you taught before?
A) This is my third year of teaching in Minnesota. Before coming to Lincoln High School, I taught at Marshall School in Duluth. I also spent a year as a U.S. Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Berlin, Germany the year after I graduated from the University of Minnesota. This was an especially unique opportunity that I would encourage all those interested in pursuing the study of foreign language beyond high school to ask me about!
Q) What is your favorite German word?
A) There are so many great German words out there, which makes it difficult to decide. I’d have to say ,,das Eichhörnchen,” which means squirrel, is at the top of my list because very few English speakers can pronounce it correctly and very few Germans say “squirrel” without any trouble.
Q) What made you want to teach a language class?
A) This is kind of a long story, but I like to tell it, because I think it demonstrates how the combination of a person’s interests, abilities, and opportunities can impact and sometimes change their goals. When I was sixteen, my family and I hosted Fabian, a German foreign exchange student for six months. We didn’t always get along in the beginning. I overheard him talking to his parents on the phone one day and said, “When you talk to your parents, it sounds so nice! German sounds really different than what I expected. Could you teach me a little sometime?” Right away and without irony he said, “No, it’s too hard for you. You’ll never learn it.” A few years later, when I was a freshman at the U of MN, I had to decide which foreign language I was going to learn for the next two years. It was mandatory to take two years of a foreign language as part of my program. Out of spite, I chose German. At the time, my goal was to become a high school English teacher; however, after two years of German and a year of study abroad in Austria, I thought to myself, “Why would I waste the time and money I’ve invested in learning German?” and decided to double major. That meant staying an extra semester, so it was no small decision. It was during those last two years of my undergraduate career that I began to consider teaching German. Since then, I’ve had many experiences working with students in a Foreign Language classroom setting, and I decided to continue teaching a language because languages are a student’s ticket to a whole world beyond what they know to be true. Personally, by pursuing language I gained a lifelong friend (Fabian and I managed to get past the whole you’ll never learn German thing.), a career in which I can continually keep growing and learning, and the opportunity to help students learn about the world around them.
Q) If you were to have another job, what would it be?
A) I would love to be an artist full-time. When I was younger, my mother started her own small business and gained regional recognition as a ceramic artist. In the future, I plan to take over the business when she is ready to retire. I have always enjoyed making art, and it is a great creative outlet.
Q) What qualifications are needed to become a language teacher?
A) If you wish to become a foreign language teacher at an elementary, middle or high school, you will be required to complete teacher certification requirements, which typically include completion of an accredited degree program, classroom experience and an examination, depending on the state in which you work. I took a little different path than most. As an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, I double majored in German and English Literature. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to teach high school English or German, so I decided to gain some experience before I went back to school to make sure teaching was the career I wanted to pursue. If I could go back and tell my younger self anything, I would say, “You’re going to love teaching German! Get a degree in education and German as an undergraduate and save yourself some money.”
Q) What interests do you pursue outside of the classroom?
A) Outside of the classroom I enjoy dancing, especially salsa, playing music on the flute or guitar, reading fiction and poetry, writing, running, making pottery, horseback riding, and traveling!
To what teams and/or clubs did you belong as a student? As a student, I ran cross country, played basketball, bounced back and forth between track and softball, and I was in a number of academic activities. I really worked hard at and enjoyed speech, one-act, band, and choir.
Q) What is your philosophy of education?
A)
First, do no harm. I try to put students first and to impact their day, each day, positively.
Help students become global citizens. Familiarize students with new cultural products, practices, and perspectives that can teach them about the world around them.
Make content accessible. Help students to set realistic goals and set them up for success.
Q) What do you think is the greatest challenge facing students today?
A) One of the greatest challenges facing students today is understanding that it takes work to master any skill, and that talent actually has very little to do with learning. When I say work, what I mean is thinking critically about problems. When it is so easy to google an answer, it can be challenging to make the choice to take the long road and actually work to understand the underlying “why.”
Q) What are the qualities of an excellent teacher?
A) Excellent teachers have passion for their content area, strong communication and organizational skills, a good sense of humor, empathy, and patience.
Q) What’s something that people might be surprised to know about you?
A) I really enjoy mountain biking.