Documentary Synopsis:

My Name is Teacher is a personal documentary that explores what it feels like to be a beginning teacher in an urban school. It doesn't focus just on the rewards, but also on the sacrifices.

Karen Lauritsen decided to become a high school English teacher in 2003 and enrolled in the Multicultural Urban Secondary English (MUSE) program at U.C. Berkeley. We meet Karen the night before her first day of teaching. Soon after we are introduced to five other new teachers who reveal the ups and downs of working in the classroom with honesty and candor.

Karen begins to doubt her commitment on day one. Through the fall, she agonizes over whether or not she can continue. She interviews her MUSE friends to see how they are faring in their first year and considers her feelings in comparison. Ultimately she decides to leave before the end of the school year, prompting her principal to suggest her credential be revoked.

My Name is Teacher offers an intimate glimpse at what teaching feels like on a day-to-day basis.