Dr. Alexandra Lesk: Trusting the System

Dr. Alexandra Lesk’s Biography:

Dr. Lesk has a Ph.D. in classical archeology and studied the classical Mediterranean. She is currently working as an English teacher at a high school in Vancouver and she is also the mom of two teenagers. Dr. Lesk is an individual who loves the thrill of new challenges and never says no to learning. Working amidst the pandemic has challenged her at times but her creativity and passion for her job keep her going. Keep reading for a morsel of Dr. Lesk’s story. 

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do?

I lived in England for almost ten years between 2002-2011. I was there finishing my Ph.D. in archaeology and my husband was working in the Midlands. I would also occasionally teach archeology at the University of Nottingham filling in for professors on sabbaticals during which I would teach about Athens or Rome. I finished my Ph.D. two months before I gave birth to my first baby and such a life event always makes you reevaluate things. I tried to keep going with the archeology for a couple of years and I was running an excavation in Greece at the time so I sent my eldest son back here to Vancouver to be looked over by his grandparents. Once we had two kids though, it was just too hard. 

I then retrained to be a teacher. At that time, England was so desperate for science teachers that they paid me to train and become a science teacher. My undergraduate degree is actually in molecular biology and biochemistry. I loved it but it was also hard. The job I eventually ended up with was as a physics teacher in a small private school in Nottingham. The school I taught at was very close to where we lived so my kids ended up going there as well. Teaching there was a wonderful experience and I managed to get lots of girls to go do physics at A-level. One of my personal proudest achievements is that I encouraged more girls to go into physics than the national average. 

In 2011, I moved back to Vancouver to be closer to my family. My kids just were starting at a new school so I sent the school a letter and said, “Hi, I’m a mom of two of your future students, and I have a teaching degree, etc.” I needed a job so I was basically willing to be a TOC or anything. They responded to my letter and asked me if I wanted to teach Grade 7 English or senior school Math. I was terrified at the thought of teaching math so I accepted the job as an English teacher. But I was also thinking, “English, why would you want me to do an English job?” and they were like, “We’ve never seen someone use a semicolon so perfectly.” I definitely did write a lot for archeology so I thought, sure, that would be an interesting challenge! And just like that, I found myself teaching English and Social Studies at the school for the next seven years. 

After seven years, I switched to the school where I now teach English 8/9 and Yearbook, which also happens to be the school I attended for nine years when I was growing up. I have definitely led a very wiggly wonky life and I think the result is that I am always learning. This constant learning keeps my brain young and fresh. Like most teens, when I was young, I just wanted to finish my education because I was just so done with school. However, circumstances in my life have made me have to move around a lot which has actually helped me realize that I am someone who constantly needs new challenges because I get bored quite easily. That was a real discovery because I think I grew up with a very fixed mindset. Once I reached adulthood, however, I realized that I wanted to keep learning and keep growing.

What are some challenges you have faced?

There have definitely been challenges. For example, I really only learned how to write a good essay while teaching Grade 7 English. Or like when I was teaching physics, I would bring all the equipment home the night before and figure out how to set up the experiments for the next class. Sometimes I would shock myself the night before and then be able to confidently tell my students not to put certain wires together the next day. I was always just a class ahead. Thankfully my husband’s an engineer! I think it is because I have these experiences that I am a good teacher. These have all been humbling experiences but they were also super empowering. I have learned that if you just roll with things and aren’t afraid to make a fool out of yourself, you will get through it and learn from it. 

The hardest part of being a teacher is trying to treat everyone equitably and equally. Sometimes some students just need a little bit more help. At the same time, you want to make sure that everyone feels like things are fair. I like that challenge because I think it makes things more meaningful but it also means that however far you bend your back for a student or their parent, you aren’t always met with the same effort. It is very rare though and I feel very lucky that this rarely happens where I work now.

It’s funny that students always think that teachers are trying to trick them–we really aren’t! I wish students and parents understood that we teachers are on their side and want them to succeed. Sometimes we are just like our students. For example, when a parent calls or an administrator simply walks into the classroom, we teachers automatically feel like we’ve done something wrong. We’re just as scared of authority as our students–it’s just a natural paranoia. I love the interactions I have with my students once they realize that I am on their team and will go to bat for them when necessary. 

How has the pandemic affected you?

There have been little adjustments I have had to make since the pandemic. First of all, trying to coordinate all four of my family’s online Zoom or Google Meet sessions at home has been an interesting experience since we all had to share what felt like limited bandwidth. But instead of waking up at 5:45 am every morning, I now had some extra time in the morning to get ready, sit down with coffee, and prepare for my classes that day. To be honest, this extra time was pretty fantastic. I would then teach a class, have a break, and then teach two more classes. There was definitely a lot more planning ahead I had to do, and it was a lot of time in front of the computer–it was okay but it was also hard. The weeks went by so fast. Every day just looked the same! Not necessarily in a bad way but it would be like, “How is it Friday already?” It was a little freaky because I would realize how much I’ve spent in front of the computer. 

I also saw the pandemic as a challenge to my creativity. I wanted to see if I could recreate the magic of my classrooms in an online setting. And to be honest, my brain just went into logistical overdrive. I wanted to make our precious class time as little about me as possible because I wanted to get the students talking to each other. Sometimes even if I knew what and how I wanted to convert an activity to online, it would still take so much work. This one Romeo and Juliet lesson took me more than 3 hours to prepare but it was just so worth it because it allowed the students to engage deeply and share out their ideas. I really liked these challenges. There was something positive about teaching remotely as well. Students were less worried about how they looked or how their hair was. In some ways, things functioned smoother. It was hard though because we only had 45 minutes each class so we had to be super-efficient. I have actually learned a lot of skills and tricks from remote learning that I cannot wait to bring back into the classroom when we return to “normal.” 

Although it is my tendency to plan everything ahead, I am determined not to reorganize everything and plan three ways of teaching stuff. I am trying to stay patient, trust the system, and know that it is going to have to be okay. But I’ve got to say, the past two weeks have started to get me down more and I’m worried. I mean, I have friends in Italy who had to get a permit to go to the grocery store or to leave their house. I don't think Canadians, or Vancouverites specifically, have a sense of what that's like because we never had a full lockdown. I just hope that pandemic fatigue doesn’t ever hit and people don’t stop being careful. I’m eager to meet my new students and connect with them come September however we are allowed to come together. 

Something I have also started doing during the pandemic is relying on local resources. As an example, I am obsessed with sushi. I could literally live on sushi every day and we have a little sushi place that I want to make sure stays in business. So, I created a standing lunch order there during this whole pandemic. They know that I’m always going to come and pick up my order at around 11:45-12:00. I’ve always tried buying local but recently, I’ve really, really tried. My husband and I know how lucky we are to have our jobs so we feel like it’s our duty to spend our money as much as possible where it can go directly into the pockets of our neighbours. If someone on our block is making masks, I’m buying from them. It’s a new habit and mindset. 

Are there any moments that make you feel like everything you do is worth it?

One thing that really made all my work feel worth it was a journaling assignment I had my students do. At the beginning of every class, they would write about whatever they wanted. It didn't have to be pandemic-related but, before they knew it, it tended to be. By the end of the term, they had about ten or fifteen pages of journal writing. The school I teach at has archives of diaries and journals students wrote during the Second World War and I wanted my students to record and submit their journaling from this unique pandemic experience as well. Many of them did and it was amazing to see that some of my more reluctant writers would write even more than anybody else would. Some even wrote on the weekends! Every single day, I would read their journal entries and either write back to the whole class about themes that I saw or about any questions that came up. It was such a beautiful, intimate, and rare opportunity and I hope they felt appreciated as individuals going through these times. And yes, they are lucky and most of them live in lovely houses, but that doesn't matter. This pandemic has negatively impacted everyone. I hope that it was comforting to them to realize that they weren’t alone and that was really really special. 

What is something you’re grateful for everyday?

While the pandemic has created a lot of things to be concerned about, it has also given me a lot to be grateful for. For example, I am so grateful that my children are not young. They are absolutely able to make their own lunches and get themselves places. I think I would have absolutely lost it if they had been 11 and under–my kids are 13 and 15. I am grateful that my kids’ school did a really good job of keeping them engaged and learning. I am grateful that even though we don’t live in a huge house, we live in a house where we could all find our own spaces. I know that so many of my friends and colleagues are living in two to three-bedroom condos or apartments and some may even have a kid or two. I am also thankful that both my kids are homebodies. Usually, kids my sons’ ages would be scratching at the door to go out with friends and luckily they are just not like that. I think I just lucked out there and I thank my lucky stars every single day. 

I think the pandemic has also made me appreciate the little interactions I have in my day-to-day life. For example, we have a cute little porch where our friends come over, sit, have cocktails, and we just chat. Our neighbours in all different directions also come by. We are always sitting out there so if they see us while walking by, they will just come and sit. It is very spontaneous–I just love it! I remember when I was a kid, I would think “what do these old people just sit and talk about?” Now, I really appreciate these little conversations where we talk about anything from politics to the mouse infestation in the apartment block next to us. Important stuff but also dumb stuff. 

What is a piece of advice you would give to your younger self?

I think the most important thing is to live knowing that you only live once and that life is not a race. I guess the reason things have worked out for me is that I always have so many balls rolling. The idea is that when you throw so many things at the wall, something is bound to stick. It’s like bowling: one of the bowling balls will hit the strike zone and that’s the one that’s meant to be. You apply to ten things that you are interested in and the one you like, and you only need one, is the way you get to go. You don’t need to worry about the other ones but you have to get balls rolling. So many people are afraid to just put themselves out there. My advice would be to have faith in that system. It has totally worked for me and I’ve loved where I’ve ended up. As I mentioned earlier in this conversation, I’ve gone in a lot of different directions in my life and it’s all prepared me to teach high school English! We just have to trust the system!