Nicole Gough

1. What are some past jobs/positions you have held?

I taught middle and high school English in Cairo, Egypt for four years. Before that, I taught at the high school in NJ that I graduated from. All of these schools rely on Common Core/ American standards, but the school I’m currently at is an IB school, so it’s been cool to gain training and experience with AP, IB, and the various grade levels I’ve taught.

2. Were there any particular TCNJ courses/internships that helped jump-start your career?

My teaching courses were all especially relevant (obviously!), but the teaching program itself, including JPE and student teaching, were what really prepared me. TCNJ’s global student teaching program allowed me to do part of my student teaching in Croatia, which is what eventually led me to pursue teaching abroad.

3. What are the most important skills you learned that you use today?

Academically, I benefited a lot from Dr. Meixner’s teaching reading and teaching writing courses. The strategies we learned in those courses have been really useful for my planning. As far as life skills go, I found the teaching program – especially junior year – to be especially rigorous. I had to balance teaching from 8-12 four days a week, plus a full course load, plus all of the activities and clubs I was involved in. Finding a healthy balance was something I learned and honed during my time at TCNJ and it’s helped me immensely as a teacher.

4. Do you have any advice for current TCNJ students trying to break into teaching?

I would love to plug teaching overseas. I love that I can stay current with American curriculum, but the standardized tests that are associated with Common Core are absent here. (Sure, we have MAP tests and, for some kids, AP and IB, but the atmosphere is more relaxed and truly skill-based, without the stressful testing environment.) I also love the amount of professional development I’ve gotten overseas. And living in a different country is an incredible experience. If people are interested in pursuing overseas teaching, I’d recommend signing up for International School Services (ISS) or Search Associates.