Why This Project

Hi, my name is Julia Quintero. I’m a fourth grade teacher in Chicago, heading into my eighth year of teaching this fall.

If you’re a teacher, you already know what I know: teaching is extraordinarily complex work.

But much of that complexity is invisible to people outside our profession. Many non-teachers know school only from the student side of the desk, which can create the illusion that teaching is easier to understand than it actually is. They may see the lesson, the worksheet, or the classroom routine, but miss the hundreds of decisions underneath it: how to respond to a half-formed answer, which students to group together, when to abandon the planned example, how long to let the silence stretch, which misconception to surface, whether to offer redirection or reassurance – and above all, how to make constant micro-adjustments so that every student feels safe enough, challenged enough, supported enough, and known enough to learn.

Teaching may not be the only misunderstood profession, but I believe the stakes of misunderstanding teaching are especially high. Public understanding of teachers shapes how people talk about schools, how they respond to education debates, and what kinds of policies they are willing to support. When the public underestimates the expertise teaching requires, teachers are too easily dismissed, blamed, micromanaged, or left out of decisions about the work we know best. This project is one small attempt to pull back the curtain — not by portraying teachers as saints, martyrs, or superheroes, but by revealing what the public rarely sees: the decisions, tensions, and expertise inside everyday teaching.

Of course, nothing can fully replace stepping into the classroom and doing the work itself, making real-time decisions with real students. But through teacher interviews, stories, and artifacts, I hope to give the public a meaningful glimpse into what teaching really demands of us: analytically, creatively, and emotionally.

If you would be willing to share a piece of your practice, I would be honored to include your voice in this project. Together, we can show the public what teaching looks like from our side of the desk. 🍎