No. 1 | Amanda Ali
Elementary School Teacher in Atlanta, Georgia
If you ask Amanda Ali what she does for a living, she’ll tell you she is an elementary school teacher in Atlanta, Georgia. What she might not immediately mention is that hers is somewhat of a winding pilgrimage—from the corporate world in Canada to classrooms in the south, and she speaks about it with the clarity of someone who has found not just her work, but her calling.
Since it’s August and officially back-to-school season, it felt only natural for Silhouette to begin here—with a teacher. For many of us, the earliest female role models we knew beyond our mothers were the women who stood at the front of the classroom. They were the ones who taught us how to read and do long division, yes—but they also modeled what it meant to listen, to lead, to be patient, to speak up, and to care. Long before we had the language for it, they were teaching us the foundations of who we would become. This first profile is a tribute to that legacy.
In this first profile for Silhouette, Amanda reflects on the shift from chasing promotions to shaping people—little ones, with big personalities. We talk about the lessons she teaches her students that she wishes adults could hear, too, working in a profession dominated by women, and what gifts educators actually want to receive. She also opens up about her interracial marriage, and how that partnership has shaped her into a more intentional educator and expansive human being.
It’s a story about changing expectations, pursuing passion, and chasing curiosity.
So, let’s begin.
Lauren | I know we’ve been friends for over a year now after we had the chance to be bridesmaids together for an amazing mutual friend, but I’ve never had the chance to learn about how you became an educator. I feel like for many it is a lifelong calling. Was that the case for you? How did you get here?
Amanda | I went to the University of Georgia and majored in business. I hated every single class I took except for an elective “easy A” that was suggested by a sorority sister. That class was . . . you guessed it . . . an education class. I was a senior by this point and absolutely not going to change my major, but it was an interesting experience realizing that not everyone hated all of their classes.
But, looking back, as a kid, I did want to be a teacher. I loved learning and teachers were such an important part of my life. Many people in my family were teachers and professors. I grew up with a very healthy respect for the profession. However, as I grew up, I formed a skewed perception of teachers. I had a very sad and misguided notion that people who became teachers generally had failed at becoming something else. Besides a handful of exemplary teachers, most of my high school teachers were not exactly inspiring.
Like most 18 year olds, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I liked school, I considered myself fairly intelligent, I wanted to see and understand the world around me, and I wholeheartedly wanted to be perceived as successful. So…. I started university with the mindset that to be the successful person I wanted to be, I needed a “prestigious” high paying job. I went the route of business, hoping to be successful in the corporate world eventually. My panic started before I even graduated. I avoided career fairs and pushed off interviews. So, when I graduated, I didn’t know what in the world I wanted to do, and I felt stuck. My solution was to kind of run away.
I went and lived with my brother in Vancouver and worked at an accounting start up for about six months. The only thing I liked about my job were my best friends I made there, and the beer and wine they had on tap. But, around month five, I internally started really panicking about how much I hated the corporate world, so I ended up moving back to the states, feeling like such a failure. It makes me laugh now, but even though I was only 24, I felt so stuck.
Finally, my now husband asked what I wanted to be growing up and if there were any classes I actually did enjoy in university. The answer was the same for both. Teaching.
I’ve now been a teacher for six years. Every single morning that I worked in the corporate world I woke up with dread, but ever since I’ve become a teacher, I’ve never once wondered if I could do this for the rest of my life.
Okay, I had NO idea you hadn’t always been a teacher! With that in mind, I know firsthand you surround yourself with women who still do work in the corporate world. What are the most striking differences, challenges, or benefits you see between your career and theirs?
Although I have always been so proud of my friends and championed them, in my early twenties the need to compare my job to others was such a thief of joy. But, with experience and age, I have truly realized that we all do such incredible things in different ways.
I would say the biggest benefit my friends have over me is salary. I work in the highest paid county in Georgia, so luckily I’m not making pennies like some teachers so unfairly are. However, teachers do not receive a yearly bonus. Getting glowing reviews on my yearly observations does not earn me extra money. I’m currently becoming a gifted endorsed educator, and this will not increase my salary either unfortunately. The only way to increase your salary is through a masters, pHd, and other specialty degrees. These all cost money and are time consuming to do on top of a full time job.
Working with kids is a benefit and a challenge. I genuinely love being around kids all day - they just want to love you and be loved by you. However, they say your name 8,000 times a day, They have zero conflict resolution skills and require your help for any minor problem, and they have no personal space. This last one led to Lice Gate 2024 and the reason I am sick nine months of the year.
I would say the biggest benefit I have over my Corporate Girlies is time. In addition to summer, I have six full weeks off during the school year for various holiday breaks and a generous amount of sick days. This job affords me so much time to enjoy my passions and hobbies. Additionally one day when I have kids, I can continue working if I want to and still be an incredibly involved mom.
Another benefit that I really never even thought about, is that I work with 95% women. It is truly a career for a Girls Girl in the best way. My whole team is women and it’s just amazing. It’s a great feeling to flip between lesson planning to discussing breast feeding and birth plans and weddings without feeling awkward or silly because there are men in the room. This is not to tear men down in any way, but there’s something freeing being surrounded by women.
I have to say, I am surprised one of your challenges isn’t the parents!
I think the biggest thing about parents that surprised me is how different they are from when we grew up (in my experience at least). Growing up, the teacher was the adult and the educated professional, so their opinion was valued. Today, teachers are the very first person to be blamed without question or verification. A student makes a bad grade? Teacher’s fault. A student fell down at recess? Teacher’s fault. This is a generalization, and it’s obviously not all parents, but it is the majority. Parents tend to really like me, but, still, I’ll receive an email getting ripped into about something before the parent has even asked me about it.
And I also bet there are lessons you teach your children that you wish you could pass along to their adults at home, too.
Yes! In my classroom, I talk a lot about regulating emotions. Big emotions are okay and normal, but it’s not okay to take them out on other people. It’s okay to stand up for yourself, but it’s not okay to treat people badly because you’re in a bad mood or angry.
I also beg parents to please god read to your children. Give them a love of reading, and spend time with them by doing so. My mom was the best mom in the world for this. She made it the best time of night, she made it cozy, she did voices. There are countless studies that show, if you read to your kids at night, it will positively affect their academics, behavior, decision making, mental health, and more. Make reading a joyous thing for your kids, and they will grow to love it. My mom has always said “Everyone is a reader; they just haven’t found the right book”.
Finally, I know that parents are busy, but teachers spend almost as much time as you do with your child, especially in elementary school. There’s a reason so many of them accidentally call me mom on a daily basis. Get to know the person your kid accidentally calls mom.
We’ve unpacked all these challenges, and I don’t think it’s a secret that there has been a mass exodus of teachers over the past five years. So, what keeps you in the biz?
I think the main reason I’m so happy in the classroom is because I know the grass isn’t greener for me. I’ve seen the other side and already discovered how much it didn’t fit me. Additionally, I have been fortunate enough to work through any difficult situations I’ve had with parents or administration. Unfortunately, I think those two factors ultimately cause teachers to leave. Not feeling supported or feeling constantly beaten down by parents absolutely takes its toll.
Now that we’ve covered the adults, let’s get to the kiddos! If my math serves me correctly (big if), your incoming batch of Fourth Graders were impacted by COVID very earlier on in their formal education. Have you seen any trends that you attribute to the pandemic?
I will say social interaction is the biggest challenge I’ve seen for students who started school during COVID. Learning how to socialize away from your parents and siblings is honestly so important. It is so normal to treat your family differently than you treat the rest of the world, and a lot of these kids didn’t learn those distinctions and it made the early grades difficult. I find that my pandemic kids have such a hard time with minor conflict resolution, as well as quickening to crying and anger.
Another hot and seemingly ubiquitous topic of conversation is social media and teenagers. However, do you see an impact on students even as young as the ones you teach?
Absolutely. I used to privately make fun of the moms who were so intense about no screen time, but . . . I fear I will be one of them. First of all, there is just the sheer lack of attention span. But, more importantly is the bullying aspect.
Every year I have a case of a student getting bullied through an innocent enough kids game that has a chat component. This can evolve to older siblings logging on to their younger sibling’s accounts to “stick up” for them. There is also unfortunately the ability to create private chats on school-issued technology that teachers can’t see, and some students will use that to digitally bully kids in front of the whole class, even inside the classroom. It’s really hard to read when it gets brought to me.
With all these competing external sources of pressure and stress, how do you manage your classrooms and maintain “power”, while also keeping a healthy environment for young children to exist in?
Power needs to be balanced. The most chaotic or unhappy classrooms I have ever seen are when the teacher is on a power trip. Kids thrive on routine and rules, but they need to be purposeful. Rules like “be quiet” or reasoning like “because I said so” is useless. Kids need to have power in the classroom as well. I make sure they help me create the majority of our classroom rules. I also always make sure my kids understand why a rule is in place, or why I am telling them to do something a certain way.
Okay I am tucking that lesson in my future-parenting rolodex! Do you feel like your students also get to learn about you on a personal level? Are they surprised to learn things about you?
Kids have a really loose grasp on adult ages, and my younger students were usually very shocked that I’m married and not in high school. My older students are surprised to know that I actually have a social life and do cool things - they’re always surprised when we’re talking about a country and I’ve been there in real life!
Speaking about your marriage, you’re in an interracial marriage with your husband Sheryar (who I adore!). Has that experience shaped you personally? As an educator?
I was welcomed into the most amazing family with open arms despite our differences. On paper our families couldn’t be more different (Canadian vs Pakistani, Muslim vs Christian, different parenting styles etc.). Personally, I love expanding who I am and who Sheryar is. I love sharing our cultures with each other and being a part of new things. I love that our kids will have so much history to their ancestry.
I will say Sheryar’s family has helped me find my voice a bit. I come from a Canadian family who don’t tend to shout, and they don’t make a fuss when they’re upset (as Canadians tend to be). Sheryar’s family is a bit different, his culture is different. I’ve learned it’s ok to be a bit louder sometimes and speak up when I’m not being treated right.
These lessons have transferred over to standing up for myself in the workplace, and it has also helped me be more comfortable with the families I teach. At my school, the student population is predominantly Hispanic and Latin American. Many of these students come from big, loud, passionate, and beautiful families. I don’t mean this as a criticism of Canadians, but in contrast, we can sometimes be more quiet and reserved. I think being in a relationship with someone from a cultural background similar to that of my students has allowed me to build a stronger, more personal connection with the school community.
That is truly so beautiful, Amanda! You also mentioned your students love hearing about your travels. So, if you could take your students on a field trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I think my dream field trip would be an archeological site at a pyramid in Egypt (with some fun spooky activities involved, obviously). As a kid half of my personality was Egyptian history and mythology. A field trip that would create a love of history in kids while also keeping fantasy and imagination alive would be my dream.
Now, I want to get to the teacher “perks”. The best part has to be the breaks, right? How do you spend yours?
Absolutely they are. I genuinely believe every profession should have the breaks that teachers do. People would be so much happier.
My ideal break is sleeping in, reading, spending as much time as humanly possible with my husband and dog, going to workout classes in the middle of the day, and then one day of total silliness (dressing up and going to get champagne or martinis at 11 am).
In reality, I do all this, but I also spend a large part feeling guilty. There is always some chore that could be getting done. Sometimes that is legitimately enjoyable - being able to spend the day deep cleaning the house slowly is such a luxury! But, at times, I want to just relax and I still have the guilt of feeling like I should be doing a chore instead. The guilt is something I'm working on!
You should not feel guilty except for when you have martinis at 11:00am without me! I also have to ask: What gifts do teachers actually want to receive?
I’ll preface this by saying, the thought really does count. I get so many gifts from kids that have obviously been found around the house, and I will always adore anything a child feels they want to give me as their form of appreciation. Another huge one that’s free is a card from the parent or student letting me know how I’ve positively impacted them. The cards have always been my favorite and the thing I have saved year after year.
However, if a parent wants to spend money on their kid’s teacher . . . gift cards. A monogrammed water bottle is cute, but, if they aren’t a first year teacher . . . gift cards.
My favorite gift was a gift card to a sports apparel store. Not because I care about sports, but because I spent the year talking to a little boy about the Braves (which I know nothing about, I hate baseball). But he loved them and I loved talking to him about them. He was ecstatic to give me a gift card to put toward a jersey, which I did, and I wear it anytime my friends force bring me to a game.
What about school supplies? That used to be my favorite part of the year - going to get fresh notebooks, pens, the works. Any particular items you absolutely cannot live without?
Pencils and tissues, as boring as it is! Kids go through both like the air they breathe. I would never restrict these things, so I love having an insane excess so that I don’t even have to think about it.
Note to the reader - you can shop Mrs. Ali’s School Supply Wishlist on Amazon!
And, of course, to close, I need to ask - where are you having your dream french fries & champagne?
In my opinion, french fries and champagne is best with 2-3 girlfriends. Preferably when we all have some amazing gossip that doesn’t affect us directly, have a book to discuss, and nowhere to be after. This would obviously all take place in a café down the street from our fabulous Paris residences where we spend spring.
