Sheri Yutzy - Speculative Fiction Author

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You are here: Home / All Posts / Made to Create-Interview with Rose Yutzy

Made to Create-Interview with Rose Yutzy

March 15, 2017 by Sheri

Hello faithful readers,

For our March interview, I’ve asked my sister-in-law, Rose Yutzy, to give us her story on teaching. Rose has been teaching grades 1-4 for seven years. She inspires me with her passion for creativity in the classroom. It’s more than just a job for her.

S: Hi Rose, thanks for joining me. So, who influenced you the most to be a teacher?

R: I’m not sure who influenced me the most to be a teacher, but my mom has been my biggest cheerleader. She has always affirmed and encouraged my school teaching career. And while I’m not sure who has been the biggest influence, I do know what has been the most influential decision in my teaching career. I took the two year teacher training program at Faith Builders, which changed so much of how I teach and even the level of enjoyment I get from it.

S: What are some rules for creativity you’ve adopted from other teachers?

R: “Every day of learning should bring some joy to the student.”

Although I’m always looking for ways to keep daily lessons from turning into drudgery, my goal is to do something additional each day. A small, intentional break in the routine. Sometimes it’s a funny poem or an unusual picture and sometimes it’s a game we play to drill math facts or phonics.

“Utilize your strengths.”

I love reading and all things books. So this is an easy way for me to practice creativity. In addition to the usual story time at noon, I try to read fun stories at sporadic times at least several times a week. I carry out armloads of books from the local library about twice a month to encourage my students to explore the world of books. I also use story books for science, history and creative writing class. It requires a minimal amount of energy to incorporate books into my lessons because it’s a passion I naturally have.

“The Spirit is the most creative teacher.”

This is one I’ve depended on a lot. I’ve been amazed at how often the Spirit has given me an idea when I needed one and remembered to ask.

S: I love the idea of doing something fun every day. Maybe we all could benefit from such a habit.

Rose’s classroom.

Teaching children to love learning requires a lot of creative thinking. What’s your greatest challenge in trying to make learning fun and interesting?

R: Creativity is hard work. It’s easier to spend five minutes preparing for a boring lesson, rather than taking the extra ten or even thirty minutes needed to make it a memorable one. Time obviously places certain limits on this, but my biggest challenge is to keep from letting the boring five minute lesson always become the default.

Also, creative output requires creative input. So another challenge is to invest the time needed to equip myself to have something to give.

S: What’s one thing you wish you’d known when you started teaching?

R: A teacher can easily get bogged down with a constant sense of underachievement. Lessons of character and academics both have nearly limitless potential for improvement. There will always be at least one student who needs better work habits and another who needs to learn how smiling is better than whining on the playground. Also, there will always be lessons that I didn’t teach as thoroughly as needed, whether for lack of preparation, time, or simply a lack of know-how. I wish I had known not to focus on my underperformance and allow it to define who I am as a teacher. Because we can’t get it all perfectly, it’s easy to not work on anything. But pick out a few things and make improvements. Focus on the growth you see, not the growth still left undone.

S: That’s well said. What’s the most fulfilling aspect of teaching for you?

Rose’s students.

R: The power to set the tone of my students’ learning experience. This is both fulfilling and also humbling. I receive fulfillment when the energy I invest lights them up with joy in the process of learning. When I see them having fun it energizes me to want to keep making it fun.

But this power I hold becomes humbling for me when I misuse it. I have days or moments when I create an unhappy atmosphere for them. I speak sharply to them and take out my frustrations on them. The thing that has humbled me repeatedly is their eagerness to leave that behind when I turn things around again. They want to be on my side and they prefer a happy experience to a negative one.

S: That is a great responsibility. We need children to remind us how to forget our mistakes and those of others!

Thank you so much for taking time to answer these questions. Teaching is a vital but too often undervalued gift.

And thank you, readers, for joining us here. Did you like this interview? Please share it.

Know any creatively inspiring people? Leave me your suggestions for interviewees.

I wish you an inspirational day.

 

 

 

 

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About Sheri

Here Goes Something New!

Hi, I'm Sheri Yutzy. I love forests under the night sky, trying new foods, and drinking Irish tea.
I'm married to a musician who looks good in black, mama to two toddlers who love to eat, and happy resident of a Cape Cod cottage in Ohio.
I write YA fantasy and am acquisitions editor at sparkflashfiction.com.
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One thing I love about Ohio yards: no matter where One thing I love about Ohio yards: no matter where I go, I can always find a little patch of whimsical greenery somewhere that whispers spring is here. My yard right now is strewn with little branches and dried plants from the flowerbeds and old, brown leaves. But soon the grass will grow tall and we’ll gather the branches and everything will be lush and green again.
Fairy tales always seem like a spring thing. The curses end in spring, the eggs hatch in spring, the weddings happen in spring. But I love to see the magic woven into each season, each so different, preparing the earth for the next phase.

What whimsically green corners have you found this week?

#whimsicalwednesday #sheriyutzy #whimsicalgreen #whimsicalcottage #whimsicalspring #whimsicalgarden #yafantasyauthor #hanschristianandersen #bestlovedfairytales #fairytales #springfairytale #magicalspring #magicalcottage #booksoutside #slowliving #changingseasons #marchgreens
🌿✨🌿 Enough words in the world Enough bulbs 🌿✨🌿
Enough words in the world
Enough bulbs budding 
And stretching their hearty arms
Like solid poems, fragrant poems
The world outside is living poetry.
🌿✨🌿

#twentywordtuesday #poetsofinstagram #springpoetry #ednastvincentmillay #springinthegarden #poetryoutside #moodycottage #sheriyutzy #shortpoems
Mondays do odd things for me as an introvert. (By Mondays do odd things for me as an introvert. (By introvert I mean I need solitude to recharge.) 
🌿🌿🌿
Here’s what I mean. By the end of every week I’m ready to see my people, engage in my church community. And by the end of Sunday? I’m ready to be alone again. My kids usually are too, so they spend Monday playing pretend together and I lurk around catching up on housework, reading a book, and gazing out the window, enjoying my own inner silence. (It’s not super silent outside of me, but that’s okay.)
Monday is just lovely, because I’m filled up and rich with community, and I have a whole day to be home and ponder that fullness.
Yes, sometimes I want to be with adults after hearing children chatter all day, but most of the time their conversation is refreshing.

How do you find Mondays? Do you like to get started on the week, or would you like to stay in the weekend?
The wisteria is budding, and will soon be spreadin The wisteria is budding, and will soon be spreading its sunshine across the yard. Our bush was here when we moved and I’ve been so grateful for it. It blooms so early, the brightest thing around.
This weekend was a bit crazy. I did some new things, like make meatballs for a crowd, and juggle three Airbnb guests’ requests at once, and change a car key battery while away from home (thank God for the extra battery in the glove box) but here I am at Sunday afternoon, my time to take a look at the week before, and everything worked out.
I know it doesn’t always, but for today, I am grateful.

What made you grateful this weekend?

#wisteria #buddingwisteria #sheriyutzy #gratefulsunday #kingdomofashandbriars #hannahwest #yafantasyauthor #booksoutside #slowliving #gratefulliving #moodycottage #cottagegarden #intentionalliving #gratefulthoughts #springtimeblooms #timeforspring
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