Mr. Villalobos is by far the best teacher at Woodhaven High School, with his energetic personality and engagement with students of all ages. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and the purple pulse has decided to interview Mr. Villalobos about his time as a Woodhaven High School teacher.
What inspired you to become a teacher?
“I didn’t know that I was going to want to be a teacher. If you were to ask me, like when I was like in high school? Not a chance, but honestly, I kind of fell into it by mistake, and it was a happy mistake. I ended up having a scheduling conflict with my job, I was working when I was also going to school. Because of that, I was forced to miss registration. So, to keep myself as a full-time student, I had to take whatever they had left, and one of the options for me at that point was the only one that would fit my schedule. It was intro-to-teaching where they make you go in and teach once a week, and assist a teacher, and that’s where I kind of fell in love with it, so nothing inspired me to do it, it just happened, and it’s a happy accident.”
What’s the most rewarding and challenging part of your job?
“Just getting to talk to you guys right, like learning about each of you, especially now that I am in Woodhaven High School. I was just talking to Mrs Fondaw about this, it’s been really rewarding. Because when we were at Patrick Henry, you guys would just go, and sometimes I’ve never seen you guys again. But now I’m getting to see how you guys have grown, how you guys will grow in the future, goals that you reach, and stuff like that, and I get to kind of share in that success, and that’s probably the most rewarding part. Management behaviors, so you could imagine as a teacher you’re dealing with not only 150 different kids, right, but 150 different personalities, right. They’re not always going to match, they’re not always going to do what you want them to do right. So, just managing is the aspect of teaching that is probably the most challenging.”
What’s one thing you wish all parents would understand about teaching?
“I think a lot of parents assume that, like we do at school. For a while, that was probably a little bit true for me, but now you know I have a family and stuff like that I gotta take care of outside of school.”
How do you keep your students engaged and motivated?
“I think the big thing that I always push for is the relationship-building aspect rate. I take the time to get to know my students, what they’re interested in, what they like about their home life, and stuff like that, and I think that goes a long way. Students want to do well in my class.”
How do you handle different learning styles in a classroom?
“Yeah, that one’s tough, especially now we’re everything digital. Just trying to attack things from different angles. Like, sometimes kids are going to learn by doing. So, adding a lab aspect to something, some kids are just good at sitting and getting it right. I’ll talk to you for an hour, you’re going to absorb all of it. Some kids are gonna want a video or something like that. A modality of getting the information to the kid is probably going to be pretty important.”
What’s one thing you’ve learned from your students?
“I’ve learned so much, I’ll give you a somewhat funny answer. I am all up-to-date on my Gen Z lingo. Like, I know all of it right, so I can get on Instagram or TikTok and watch something and know exactly what they’re saying. Because I know all the lingo from these kids, so that’s one thing. You know what we’ll leave it at there right now, we’ll say that’s the thing I learned was the Gen Z lingo.”
