Murphy has found eighth-graders still need love
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“It all started in the third grade when I began working with a small group of special education students. I continued to peer tutor them through high school. I loved it. It was very fulfilling and knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life,” she said.
After high school, Murphy enrolled at Motlow State Community College before transferring to Tennessee Tech. Upon having her two children, she took some time off from school, but eventually returned to Tech where she earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education.
Her first classroom experience came last school year as she filled a half-year leave in a first-grade classroom at Morrison Elementary.
This year she received a classroom of her own, teaching science, math and reading to seventh- and eighth-graders, a change, she said, which has been quite an adjustment.
“It’s been harder this year in that it’s more difficult for me to see when the students are getting it – the ‘light bulbs’ are harder to see,” she said.
“At first I thought there were no similarities between first-graders and eighth-graders, but I soon realized the older students are still young too. They may act tough, but they still need love and attention. They’re really not that different.”
While saying she enjoys her job and would not consider changing careers, Murphy said she is sometimes exasperated by evolving changes in education law which continue to place greater responsibility on teachers for things over which they have little or no control.
“There are so many things, beyond teaching, which are my responsibility, so many different pressures. I fear we’re going to lose some teachers because of them because it’s hard to make miracles,” she said. “But I don’t wish for a new career because every once in a while you know you really make a difference. That’s what makes teaching so rewarding.”
When not in the classroom Murphy said she has no trouble occupying her time. She is kept plenty busy with her two children, Brooke, age 4, and Layne, 2.
During her free time she enjoys riding horses, making scrapbooks and teaching Sunday school with her husband, Bryan.