Teacher or Tic-Taccer?

We talked to Mr. Heidke about what it’s like to be a teacher and coach. Here’s what he said.

Q: What’s your name and your role here at CHAH?

A: I’m Mr. Heidke. I’m the 6th grade science teacher, you also catch me a lot in the hallways and the cafeteria helping, that kind of thing. I also coach middle school basketball and baseball.

Q: How long have you worked at CHAH?

A: This is my 11th year. I came to New York City out of college in 2015 and then I got hired here and I just loved it so I never wanted to leave this school.

Q: What made you come to CHAH? What about this school made you gravitate towards CHAH?

A: Being a science teacher, there was a lot of opportunity for me and I actually went on multiple school tours, I met a lot of administrations, but Mr. Tusher was actually the first adult I met here, he made me feel very comfortable and excited, and then I met Mr. Hauss and Mr. Falciani and they did too. This building is beautiful, there’s not a lot of new buildings in New York and I was just excited to work with those guys and have them be my mentors as a new teacher.

Q: Why do you like teaching science?

A: Well, I always liked science a lot when I was in school as a kid. I think at its best science is like, ‘We have a question, let’s figure out a reliable way to get the answer’ and you learn about the world, so that’s why I always liked learning about it, and I try to create those experiences for students, right? Like, let’s do real science.

Q: If you had an opportunity to teach a different subject, what would it be, and if you wouldn’t mind telling us, why?

A: I also really love social studies. I find history fascinating, like all my pleasure reading is history non-fiction, pretty much. So I like that a lot.

Q: What’s your least favorite part of teaching?

A: You know, there’s not enough days, all these days off, there’s the summer break, I just wish I could be here more.

Q: What inspired you to be a teacher?

A: I think a really lucky thing that the students at CHAH have is this wonderful guidance department that creates these job fairs, right? So, I felt like I didn’t really know anything outside of basic jobs, like teacher, doctor, you know, things that you see very visibly. Like, I didn’t know what a business degree was. I loved being in school, I liked to be a student. I just was always really happy at school, so I was like, “I’ll probably be happy on the other side of it.”

Q: What is your favorite part of teaching?

A: I’m a very social, walk-around person, right? Like I would hate being at a desk. But what I really enjoy is that I get to walk around and interact with people all day. You know, all day I pretty much chat with either kids or other adults.

Q: When did you begin teaching?

A: This was my first teaching job. I went to New York and I did some student teaching in Liverpool Middle School and Auburn High School. But this was my first real job.

Q: How do you feel knowing that the majority of students don’t come to school in some places?

A: It’s bad. It’s sad, because that’s obviously putting them at a disadvantage for the rest of their life, healthwise, financial stability-wise, and just like learning, and learning how to learn things, is such a skill. Even if all the stuff you’re into at school is not good for you, just the skill of being able to learn something that you do like is so important. It just enriches your life. So, it’s sad.

Q: What made you want to be a coach?

A: Well, I’ve always played sports as a kid and I just really like it. It actually gave me a big boost of excitement about working here once I started coaching middle school baseball a few years ago. Coach DeJesus approached me and was like, ‘Hey, you know, it would be really cool if you could start a school baseball team and funnel kids up through the middle school with some more experience.’ So, I appreciate him taking me under his wing and teaching me a lot about [coaching]. So yeah, it’s just fun and another way to connect with kids.

Q: Why did you want to teach sixth grade?

A: Well, originally, I didn’t. I got my degree to be basically a high school chemistry teacher, but CHAH already has a fantastic high school chemistry teacher, Ms. P. But they had a spot for sixth grade and I thought it would be cool, especially because in a lot of elementary schools in New York, especially the ones that a lot of our students come from, they don’t take science in elementary school, so it’s a really great challenge and opportunity for me to expose kids to science in a way that’s gonna make them love science and want to pursue science, which should be a huge national goal, right? STEM, engineering, all these things are, I don’t think, celebrated or pursued enough in our society. So I really take that challenge seriously.

Q: How do you plan your lessons?

A: You kinda start with, like, actually this learning target format we use and success criteria is a really good way to start. This is the thing I want the kids to be able to do, this is how I’m gonna assess them, and now I think, ‘Okay, how are we going to practice it?’ What’s gonna be the fun aspect that gets kids engaged and ready to participate because if there’s no engagement, if there’s no joy for students, then they’re not gonna really jump in, you know? And I get that, like, I was lucky, like I said that I always liked being at school, I always liked being a student and learning, but that’s not everybody, so how can we reach kids who don’t want to be in a classroom?

Q: What’s your advice for staying organized as a teacher and coach?

A: Well, as a teacher you guys have seen my desk, [staying organized] may not be my nuggets strength, but I think having a well-organized Google Drive is good. That’s helpful. And a lot of checklists, right? So, when I look at my unit plans, I write down the supplies I need so when I look at it the next year I don’t [need to] get something the day of. I use a lot of checklists, and for coaching I have a checklist that I can give to older players and they know they gotta grab the water, and the batting gear, and all the stuff. So checklists are huge.

Q: Last question, if you had changed your career, what would it have been?

A: You might think scientist, but I actually don’t really like being in a lab that much. Maybe I would try to be one of those famous Tic-Taccers on the TicTac app.