It was my pleasure to sit down and talk craft with the fabulous Tonya.
I loved I am the Children I Teach! In Vermont, you
told me the back-story as to why you wrote this book, with this focus (partly through the lens of a
teacher who doesn’t exactly live for her students). Can you share that story
here?
I believe a lot of people think
teaching is easy. It’s not. I thought that too, and that was one of the reason
I applied for the job. I thought it was
easy enough to teach and go home with summers and weekends off. Snow days -- yes!
Holiday breaks -- awesome! Wrong. Teaching is not easy. You are never told the
true experiences you may face in a classroom or the challenges our students
(mostly inner city youth) encounter. I am the Children I Teach looks at the
side of teaching most don’t like to discuss, the issues that can cause a ripple
effect in your classroom climate. We educators are given one of the biggest
responsibilities and that is to help mold a child so they can become a
successful adult. Many of my students don’t get a chance to just be children at
home because of other responsibilities, exposure to adult issues, or due to
their environment. The last thing I expected was a battle for control or a
fight to show a child you care and to get them to believe you or a child who
can’t read and doesn’t want to learn how so they refuse to do the work. We as
educators have to fight for the trust of our students before we can teach them
the content. It’s a hard battle and you
have to be strong to stay the course.
 |
| (Tonya on stage as "Ms. Brown") |
I wrote the book after going to a
few professional developments that did not reflect my teaching experiences. No
one told me about these challenges, they just told me about lesson planning and
grading, but not how to build relationships with children, lay aside my own
biases, and embrace them anyway. That’s hard when you are taught to respect your
elders and everything else falls into place. Our classrooms can be a place of
learning and one of a battle for control at the same time. There is no class or
course for building a relationship before you teach your content. That is on
the job training and it is what makes some leave the profession. You get tired
of fighting just to help and to show you care. I wrote about my experience and
of those who I know. I wanted to tell the truth of what is behind the eyes of a
child and an adult (our own pain, experience and desires) when we enter the
classroom. To shine a light on the real experience of teaching in an inner city
school, the baggage we all bring into the classroom, and to make educators
reflect on our own childhood and how our childhood manifests through our
relationships with certain students.
In August, you did a staged performance
of the book. Please tell us about that -- the genesis, the challenges, the
results!
I had started writing my series Famine
and I just couldn’t ‘get into it. I felt like I am the Children
I Teach wasn’t done. I had copies in my basement and I kept
wondering why. I realized I wasn’t finished with those characters yet. I always
loved theater and did a few shows in college and in my 30s. I have even done
stand-up comedy a few times. I live for the stage and I knew I wanted to write
a script for the book, but I wasn’t sure of how. I sat at my desk and tried to
just cut and paste pages from the book, no go! As soon I let go of what I
thought it should be, it became what it was meant to be. I thought ok now what.
Do auditions and see if I can rent a space, but in reality I wasn’t sure if
anyone would know them like me. Who would evoke the emotion that I carried for five
years for each character. So, I thought I can do it. I know them, because I am
them. I am each character that I wrote about. So it began. I knew of a young
lady, Naelis Erving, who produced and directed For Colored Girls
and we had a reading at Panera. Her excitement and belief in me was enough for
me to go forward. A two-woman team put on a one-woman show in three weeks. I
can truly say I am very proud of our work. She pushed me to new levels and this
process became therapeutic for me. I told of my own story of abuse and pain and
was released from it as soon as I hit the stage. We sold out our first night
and were only seven seats away from selling out our second night. I had finally
lived a dream, my characters had come to the stage and I haven’t been the same
since.
 |
| (Tonya as The Boy) |
I loved hearing you read from the
book in person -- so powerful! How did that translate on stage to a bigger
audience?
There are four main characters in
the novel, Ms. Brown, The Boy, Redhead Freckle Faced Girl and Ms. Wilson. I
played Ms. Brown, The Boy and Redhead and brought Ms. Wilson to life through
audio and pictures. My stage was an actual classroom. My audience sat in
student’s chairs and they received a waiver for being a part of a classroom
discussion/scene. I made the play interactive so the audience felt like
students from the time they entered the school. They had to respond to parts of
the play and were held accountable for their “homework.” I believe the
classroom was the perfect stage, my audience felt included and the smell, set
up and decor of the classroom was the icing on the cake.
Tell us about your creative
process -- where you write, how you write, and what subjects call to your
creativity.
When I write I like it quiet. I
sit down at my desk, pray and then there are a few quotes I have hanging from
my desk that I read aloud. I am surrounded by things and smells that make me
smile. My vision board is in front of me, my grandmother’s teapot, writing
utensils I have collected from my travels, a picture or my husband and parents.
I burn scented oils and turn on my small desk light and go. Whenever I hit a
roadblock, I do the Cupid shuffle (line dance) or play a spiritual/ uplifting
song (Jill Scott, Stevie Wonder, India Erie, Marvin Sapp), dance my heart out
and get back to it. If I can’t write at home, Barnes and Noble is a wonderful
muse for me or just to sit outside and listen to nature.
 |
| (Tonya as the Red-haired Girl) |
What are you presently working on?
I am working on a few things. Presently
I am tweaking the show to go on tour next year hopefully to hit three-four
cities next summer. I am working on a devotional for writers and runners, my Famine
novel series and a workbook as a supplement for the novel for a series of
professional development for new and veteran teachers that I would hope to do
for the 2017-18 school year.
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