Ms. Christy Becnel
Who in your life influenced your decision to become a teacher?
Maybe it is in my blood? My grandmother, Gladys Becnel, started out as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Belle Chasse, LA. That didn’t last long, though, since she ran off and married my farming grandfather, who she raised 10 children with. Honestly, I have always enjoyed helping others. In college, my professor often asked me to help him teach ceramics classes and I was even offered the job of taking over the ceramics department at Delgado, but that program went away before I could do so.
What is your biggest challenge as a teacher?
Right now, my biggest challenge is the amount of paperwork I am required to complete. Because Talented Art falls under the umbrella of Special Education, each of my students has an IEP (Individual Education Plan) that I must keep up with, which means tons of paperwork, meetings, uploading documents, lots of progress reports and more. I also need to keep up with critiques, grading, tests, observations and other assorted paperwork that is normally required as a teacher. All of that eats away at my time to actually teach, which is what I really wish to be doing.