Most teachers usually know what they want to do from the start, but our ELA teacher, Mr. Ricci actually wanted to be an accountant first. He realized he liked reading way better than math or any other subject.
He chose English because it’s about the humanities and helping people become better people, while other subjects are just about memorizing the hard and boring facts. In language arts you actually have to try.
But teaching now is not as easy as it used to be. Mr. Ricci said his favorite year of teaching was way back in 2018. This is because it was before COVID ruined everything, and students actually had motivation to do their work.
Right now, Mr. Ricci says his biggest challenge is dealing with student attention spans that literally do not engage. On top of that, everyone is trying to use AI to cheat on their essays. To stop us from turning AI work, he has to use GoGuardian, AI detectors, and constantly tell everyone to just not use AI.
Even with the hard work, he still makes class pretty fun. His favorite part of the curriculum is when we work in groups to figure things out together.
Our school district picks the list of books we are allowed to read, but this year The Outsiders was his favorite because it “teaches students discipline and about the real world.” He also has a soft spot for To Kill a Mockingbird, The Book Thief, and Inside Out and Back Again.
Some of the challenges in his first year of teaching was that students were violent and some were even in gangs. Luckily, he had a good school system behind his back that would support him through everything.
When he finally leaves the school building, Mr. Ricci isn’t just grading papers. He stays busy by working out, playing the drums and guitar, and driving his kids and daughter to dance practice.
