Ms. Calio is an Italian and Spanish teacher here at BHS. We are both students of hers and love having her as a teacher. Her fun classroom environment, kindness, and helpful ways of teaching are why we enjoy learning Italian so much. We also love how passionate she is about her job, as she treats all of her students like family, which is why she deserves the spotlight.
Questions:
The Eagle’s Cry (S): What’s your favorite part about being a teacher?
MC: “My students always make the experience so much better.”
The Eagle’s Cry (S): What influenced your decision to become a teacher?
MC: “A teacher that I had in college really inspired me and what I wanted to do.”
The Eagle’s Cry (S): Have there been any points in your career that were difficult? If so, how did you overcome it?
MC: “There’ve been many difficult points in my career, like tenure, which teachers have to go through. It used to be four years, but now it’s five years. You basically have to prepare all your lessons a week in advance and have your boss check them over. For me it was very tough because I’m a second career teacher, and first starting I never realized how much work being a teacher is.” Though once you learn the balance and know how to be more productive, it works and has gotten much better for me.”
The Eagle’s Cry (S): What teaching strategies do you find most effective to keep your students engaged?
MC: “My strategy would be teaching through stories. I think kids enjoy the stories as long as I make them relate to them and are comical because it keeps their attention. So they are comprehending the material without realizing.”
The Eagle’s Cry (S): What;s your favorite trip you’ve taken with your students and why?
MC: “My favorite trip was the first time I ever went to Italy with a group of students. We went to Sicily, where I’m from. Having them talk to me about how cool it was seeing me in my element and talking to my people there, seeing the town and meeting my family. It kind of brought the whole purpose of why I teach the language and the culture.”
The Eagle’s Cry (E): If you weren’t a teacher, what other career would you have chosen?
MC: “Well, the other career that I did do already prior to teaching was work for the airlines. That was my passion and I think still is. I think I miss flying and being able to be at the airport just invigorates me. It’s like really crazy but I get this feeling like I’m in love with the airport and I’m in love with the concept of getting on a plane. So I kind of did the career I wanted. I really did.”
The Eagle’s Cry (E): Are there any goals you want to achieve while you’re a teacher?
MC: “Oh several. I taught the AP and my students did well so that was one goal I’ve actually done. So take that off the list. But I feel that you know you never stop learning. I would like to learn more ways of being organized, simplifying paper, you know, allowing the students to like take over the class while still instructing them.”
The Eagle’s Cry (E): What part of Italy do you like most, and why? Would you ever take a trip with students here?
MC: “You know I don’t have a specific part of Italy that I like though. Cause now that I’ve traveled throughout Italy, North, Middle, South, I’ve even been to Sardegna. Italys so diverse because of the 20 regions that were different countries so to say. So every time I go to one area, I find something that I love about it and want to go back. So, it’s just like a bottomless pit, like you’re never done exploring it and falling in love with it.”
The Eagle’s Cry (E): Carnevale was a huge success. What, if anything, would you do differently or add to the event?
MC: “Well first off, we would need to plan it months in advance instead of, you know, doing it three weeks prior and begging people to donate food. So we would definitely need time to organize, to get more vendors to donate. I would have the Italian Club prepare to sell stuff at the Carnevale as well so that we could make money, like little trinkets or shirts or something. I would definitely get the DJ cause even though that guy kinda came out of nowhere randomly, I would definitely have gotten music and had like karaoke for kids to do cause I think that would’ve been fun. And I definitely would have advised my colleagues to teach about Carnevale before that night so the kids were more prepared as well.”
TEC follow up: Do you plan on hosting it again next year?
MC: “I hope so, yes.”
