Celebrating Teachers: My Interview With My Fourth-Grade Teacher, Jane Porter

We all have that one teacher growing up that we still think of, to this day! That's why being a teacher is a very important occupation and should be treated as one! Teachers impact the lives of all students, whether it's a good teacher or even a bad teacher. Teachers stay with us for the remaining years of our lives.

When I was working on this project for Teacher's Appreciation Week, I wanted to do something for the teachers that have touched my heart and life. The very first person I thought of was Jane Porter. She has been a teacher to my two older brothers and I was fortunate to have her as my teacher, too! Ms. Porter was always spunky, honest, and was loads of fun! And she has not changed one bit! I had her as my teacher the last year before she went on retirement. In that year, she introduced me to a weird book, that I loved reading; she let me do a presentation with an actual SAW, that was passed down in my family; and she became one of my favorite teachers of all time.

I got to speak on the phone with Ms. Porter when doing this interview. To my surprise, I realized I haven't spoken to her in over twenty years! The moment we got on the phone, it was like nothing has changed- except our ages! Ms. Porter may have retired over twenty years ago but she is still the same spunky and awesome teacher I still remember! We got to talk about retirement, teaching now versus then, and when I was a kid in her class!

Please, take a read!

Tell the readers a little bit about yourself. How long has it been since you’ve retired and what did you teach?

I retired back in 20- when was it?! My gosh, 2003- just about twenty years ago! I started in Sanford, up in Hillside, teaching sixth grade in 1971. I was at Hillside Elementary School for eighteen years, in the same room the whole time. I taught sixth grade, fifth grade, and a lot of fourth grade. Then I moved on to Meridian Elementary School. I was there for fourteen years and taught strictly fourth grade down there.

Oh, my God.

Yeah! Thirty-two years!

Was there a subject you loved to teach?

I’m trying to think of all the subjects… (She thinks a moment) My favorite was English. Mainly the writing part of it, creative writing, I liked all that. Writing was art- that was my favorite. My worst, I think, was probably math! (We laugh) It was fourth-grade math, so I did pretty well in that! (I laugh)

I wish I had fourth-grade math in college! (We laugh) What made you want to be a teacher?

Well, I went to a one-room country school, kindergarten through sixth grade. I loved every minute of it. Really not the subjects, as much the socializing of it. You know, playing outside and all. The teacher, that we had for all seven years, took us out to the woods; we did lots of field trips just right around the area because it was all a farming area. When I went to high school, it was really sad, but the only things girls could kind of choose to do, for a career, were either: a nurse, a teacher, and a secretary. That was it! There was not a huge amount of opportunity for women back then!

Oh, yes… I have seen every episode of Maude and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. So I get it. It’s crazy because that was just recent! That was not a hundred years ago- it was forty years ago! I can’t believe it is not that long ago.

I guess I could have gone into the Peace corps. and all that- but I was a country kid! We didn’t know anything about that stuff.

I’m happy that you were a teacher because I loved every minute with you! What was the best and worst thing about teaching?

The worst thing- it wasn’t bad when I first started. It was the pushing for testing. I always felt like they did a lot of testing. And now, it is all the computers in classrooms! Kids have these tablets, and programs on the computer in class- I just feel like the personal part of it is getting lost.

Yeah, I didn’t think about it. But yeah, because the teacher doesn’t have to connect with the students anymore. They can just go, “Open your laptop and go to this program” or “Go do this online”-

The thing is though, Adam, I have been out of it for twenty years. When I retired, we still had a grade book that I could take home at night and correct papers and put grades in it! They don’t have any of that anymore. It’s all computer!

Oh, yeah, I think I was in high school it was all about computers. It wasn’t the grade books anymore. I do remember those. (I laugh)

Well then, for a couple of summers, I have a cousin that has a lot of reading problems. And they sent him to remedial reading in town. He went for two summers. I found out that all he was doing was sitting at a computer and he couldn’t read, and there was no adult there to help him! He would get through the story and then take a test. If he flunked the test, he had to take the story again. He was only in fifth grade, he told me he was doing the same story for two weeks and still haven’t passed it. He was sitting there alone! He didn’t know what he was doing!

I’m facing the same problem. I have a class now that requires a lot of reading. I know the pages, inside and out, but when I get to the questions- I don’t understand. I have a hard time reading. It wasn’t until recently, that I became a book lover and try to read books more frequently now. I’m not the fastest reader, I’m very slow at reading.

When I went to that one-room country school, I had a heck of a time in reading. I couldn’t read out loud. I couldn’t comprehend and my attention was not there. I had a lot of reading problems through high school and college! I ended up getting my Masters in Remedial Reading! My reading got better when I started teaching because I had to read out loud to the kids, all the time.

Do you think that there is a difference between teaching now versus when you were teaching?

Oh, my God… (We laugh) We had no telephone in the country school, we used a hectograph for making copies and eventually advanced to a hand crank mimeograph machine! I can even remember when a child got sick, the teacher would drive them home and leave all of us children at school, usually with a 6th grader in charge! (I laugh) Schools were safe, doors always open to all and we never had to worry about violence or "lockdowns". The Columbine shooting happened in 1999 and the nation was shocked! Now, it is a constant problem. It’s sad… I have a niece that teaches right now, and she does a lot of the things I do! She has the kids dancing and doing all kinds of things! She teaches second grade. But during the pandemic, with the virtual learning, the teachers are having a heck of a time with it, and are the kids!

Do you think, if you were young again, you could’ve been a teacher now?

Oh… You know, I have thought about that before? I don’t know if I would’ve gone into teaching in this day and age. Well, there are a lot more jobs than when I started. Now there are so many that I don’t think I would’ve gone into teaching…

If you weren’t a teacher, what career would you have wanted?

I took a test once, to see what I really should’ve done. I really liked private investigators and law enforcement. I also like mechanical stuff, so I should’ve been a mechanic!

I do want to know your thoughts on this because it has always been an issue. Budgets have always been an issue. And we’re seeing it actually get even worse. I can’t tell how many teachers I know can’t even afford to get markers!

I know! What is going on?! I remember when I was teaching, I spent a heck of a lot of money on stuff for the classroom. I even bought food for the kids. I liked doing it but I could do it, and I enjoyed it. But I was talking to my niece the other day and she was telling me they get three or four hundred dollars to spend on supplies. I told her, “We used to get that much!”, and that was twenty years ago!

Yeah, and they only have that amount for all their classes! It’s not each class- it’s all classes! I remember as a kid, this was an issue… Do you think we’ll ever have a solution to this?

As you said, I feel like it is getting worse… I honestly don’t know what is going to happen.

Do you think education is important?

Yeah, I do but I don’t think, you know the four-year college, I think the tech schools are really the place for a lot of kids. And there are getting to be more of them.

What advice would you give teachers of today?

Oh boy… The thing with me was I spent so much time with the children. I knew every one of them, so well. They all had different needs. They all worked at different paces. I honestly, wouldn’t know what to tell a teacher today! They have to really connect with the kids, and I don’t know if a lot of them do. You have to be sincere; you can’t be fake with them.

What advice would you give someone that wants to be a teacher today?

Go look for a different job. (I laugh) Maybe a teacher today can give better advice but I don’t know what I would tell someone today. The advice I have been giving my niece is: You have to retire! (We laugh) I mean, I love the kids but it’s all the other stuff now.

It’s sad because being a teacher is the most important job, besides being in the medical field. Teachers make an impact on students’ lives. Do you believe that?

Oh, yeah, I do! Some teachers make a real difference. Some. (I laugh)

When I wanted to do this project for teachers I loved- I thought of you instantly because of how much of an impact you’ve made on me. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. I remember, in your class, I told you I had a problem finding the right book. I loved scary stories but there wasn’t a lot out there for kids my age. I remember you pulled off this book from your shelf, which I am holding right now because I had to buy it myself, called The Night Walkers-

Oh, my God! I forgot about The Night Walkers! That was a horrible book!

Yes, it is! (We laugh) I read it and it was better than all the stories I was reading at the time! It was scarier! It was about zombies and I loved it.

I’m surprised I wasn’t fired back then! (We laugh)

I know! As a fourth-grade teacher, telling me this- I remember reading that book and loving it. I wanted to tell you that I think you made me the artist I am today. Because of you, I fell in love with more scary stuff! I fell in love with scary movies more! I love telling scary stories. I think writing scary stories has really helped bring humor with darkness in every story I write. I really want to thank you for that.

That is awfully nice of you to say. To compliment me!

Yeah, that’s why I’m doing this. I really appreciate everything you have done for me, after all these years. You did make an impact on me, even after all these years! So, I have to ask, did you have a feeling I was going to be into weird stuff like that, in the future?

I knew you were going to be on stage somewhere. I didn’t know how or what way you were going but I always knew you were going to be on stage, entertaining people. I knew from how you were in the classroom! You would stand up in front of everybody and talk and do everything! That’s what I loved about you.

Yeah, I entertain anybody- everybody. And I love it.

Your brothers were way quieter than you. (I laugh) You were the outgoing one. They were sweeter than honey!

All of my siblings, try to be nice. We’re very respectful.

Well, you had such nice parents! That’s the whole thing too, about school… It’s very rare that you have a really good set of parents that are right there for you.

Yeah, thank you. I agree, it’s very rare. It’s sad. I always tell people I was very fortunate. I try to understand people that have had more struggles than I have.

When I was teaching, I used to read a lot of books to the kids, like Harriet Tubman. I was reading a lot of books where people were struggling- Helen Keller! That was a biggie. I have always been for the underdog.

It is crazy and sad to be still talking about a lot of these struggles because they still exist today…

I have been saying this lately: How, in this day and age, can we have one person ruining Europe right now and we can’t do anything about it? One person!

Yeah, and it’s scarier now because back then we would just be reading about these and have pictures of these incidences. Now we have videos at our fingertips, showing us bombs and the injustice of a lot of the situations that we’re in. The injustice of racism, still happening- at our fingertips!

And it’s not doing a darn bit of good…

The world, the problems we have always faced, are still the same today as it was back then. The only thing changing in our world is technology.

When I started teaching schools, in ’71, I had about thirty kids in the classroom. Everyone went home at night and sat at the table and had their dinner together. At the end of my teaching career, I asked my students, “How many of you sit at the table and have your dinner together?”, and you know, there were only about three or four of them that still did that. The family unit has changed.

Yeah, it has. Now we’re going to leave teaching and talk about you. What do you like to do for fun?

I actually have a farm. It takes a lot of my time. Fun, though? (I laugh) Well, I got all of my cats that I take care of. We do have a pool at the farm. But you know, Adam, I don’t do that much. I did vacation in Washington, D.C. with my cousin. That was a good time! But I’m mainly busy around the farm and in the summertime, keeping up with the pool and mowing the yard, non-stop. I love staying at home. I’m a homebody.

I am the same way.

I also love doing yard work. I love gardening and all that.

If you could describe yourself, using three adjectives, what would they be and why?

Oh, boy, that’s a bad one… (We laugh) I’m quite Industrious, I get a lot done. I work all the time. I do enjoy it. I guess I would say, entertainer. Entertainer of children. My third adjective… (She thinks) Oh, boy, I can’t think of another.

It could be anything! Animal-lover?

There you go! I’ll take that! (We laugh)

To end this interview, I wanted to ask you this question… You’ve had many, many students over the years and if you could say anything to all those students in the span of your career, what would you say to us?

I would thank every one of you because I think about all the kids I had, which is in the hundreds through thirty-two years, there is not one kid that I did not get along with. I got along with every kid. I never had a problem with any of them. I was talking to my aunt the other day and she asked, “Do you remember every one of your kids?” And I just about do! If I didn’t have Facebook, I would have no idea where you all are! (I laugh) So, thank you, everyone.

Teachers like Ms. Porter should be respected and celebrated! Not just for a week, but every day. Teachers make an impact. No matter how old I get I will always remember my time in Ms. Porter's class. She has been a part of my life for many years, and I like to think she shaped me into the artist I am today. She is not just my teacher or friend. To me, she is family.

Next is Teacher's Appreciation Week! To celebrate, I have interviewed my favorite teachers over the years! Don't miss it!

If you or someone you know have a story that you would like to share, please contact me. This is all experience for me. I would love to share any and all stories I can!