Teacher+Interview

Teacher Interview - Mrs. M. After having a rough beginning placement at West High School for Field Experience II, I have been reassigned with a great placement at North High School. I am now observing Mrs. M. I observe two of her 9th grade Honors English classes twice a week. She also teaches another honors freshmen English class and AVID classes. After being with an ineffective, uncaring teacher at West High School, it has been a pleasure to observe Mrs. M. whom I consider to be a great educator. After getting to know Mrs. M. after two observations, I asked her questions regarding various topics such as why she decided to teach, and what methods and strategies she uses when she is teaching. I first learned that Mrs. M. began teaching at Wichita North High School and this is her sixth year of teaching. When I inquired into why she decided to become a teacher she told me that it was her freshman English teacher who inspired her to become a teacher. She loved the things that she learned in her teacher’s class, and could tell that her teacher really cared about her students. Mrs. M. decided to specialize in teaching English because she loves the literature portion of the English content area. Even though she likes everything about English, she admits that her students dislike grammar. After learning why Mrs. M. decided to become a high school English teacher, I asked her what her favorite and least favorite parts were regarding teaching at the high school level. She explained to me, “I love the students, and or course my content area. I probably least like all of the after school/outside of school obligations that come with high school.” I was curious to know what other programs Mrs. M. alluded to and was involved in beyond teaching her classes. I found out that along with her responsibilities as a teacher she was involved with AVID, The Reading Committee, and is a mentor to a second year teacher. On top of all of this, she is currently working on her Master’s in C&I. Amongst all the responsibilities and work Mrs. M. still believes, “It is important to be involved! But time management is crucial! I try to offer my expertise in areas that I feel strongest about.” Once we had discussed why Mrs. M. became a teacher and her likes and dislikes of the profession, I then inquired into the methods she uses as a high school educator. I began by asking her when and how she prepares for an entire year’s worth of units and for individual lessons. She explained to me that she usually plans and prepares a semester at a time. Over the summer she will revamp or create new and/or different items for the following school year. When focusing on individual lesson, she told me that those lessons are driven by the state standards and district pacing guides. She explained, however, that following district pacing guides “doesn’t mean that [her lessons] lack creativity.” Mrs. M. keeps an outline of her unit and individual lesson plans in a personal teacher planner. She makes sure to build in an extra day into her unit plans so that way if a class falls behind a day she does not have to rush to get through all the materials. Once I learned about Mrs. M’s planning strategies, I was curious to ask her some questions regarding her preplanning for individual lessons content. I was particularly interested in knowing if she preplanned questions for a lesson. She told me that she does not, but instead bases the class discussion off of the students’ prior knowledge and what they need to know. She explained to me that she is aware of her final outcomes and where she wants her students to be upon the completion of a lesson/unit, so she lets those elements dictate the conversations. When I inquired into the resources she uses when developing a unit/individual lesson plan, I found out that Mrs. M. relies heavily on collaboration with other teachers. She also uses professional development materials provided by such writers as Jim Burke. As for discipline in the classroom, Mrs. M. explained to me that it all comes to classroom management starting the first day. She does not need a list of rules hanging in the classroom because the students know them without having to constantly reading them. She told me that she has not had to write up a student since her second year of teaching, but believes that a teacher must carry through with disciplinary actions. At this point in the conversation I decided to ask her questions based upon my major concerns with teaching. One of my greatest concerns when teaching during a block schedule is finding ways to keep students engaged for an entire 90 minute class period. I also wanted to know what strategies she uses to get students interested in English and the topic she is teaching. Mrs. M. advice was simply for a 90 minute block you have to plan multiple activities, and it is important that anytime you can modernize the content to connect with the kids do it. I am also worried about what to do when I face a student who just does not seem to care. I really admired Mrs. M’s response to my question regarding students who do not care, and gained even more respect for her when she replied, “I take it as a personal challenge! It is my job that he/she obtains the skills that they need to prepare them for the next year. So, most importantly I try to connect with that student.” Naturally, I was curious to learn how Mrs. M. connects with these and all her students at the beginning of the year and throughout the year. She typically uses a lot of “get to know you activities” such as name game, people bingo, takes as many as you think you need, and so forth. She explained to me that “students have to get to know each other and myself, so I try to do at least one activity everyday for the first couple of weeks.” She also takes time during the semester to talk to her students and inquire upon how they are doing in and outside of school. To conclude my interview with Mrs. M. I asked her two important questions that had been on my mind from the start. The first question was, “Is there anything you wished you would have known about or been told before you started your first year of teaching?” I had expected for her to comment about something to do with teaching strategies, keeping students engaged, or classroom management and discipline. Mrs. M’s actual response was very different and really struck me. Her reply was, “I wish I would have known how hard it would be not to get so attached to students. You can only help them in so many ways. In-fact, there is a lot that they have to figure out themselves.” In that simple reply I was able to realize how much Mrs. M’s students meant to her. I had observed that she cared from them by the way she would call her students “Sweetheart” when they came to her desk to ask her a question. Even though Mrs. M. can be tough on her students and maintains discipline in her class, it is evident that the students know that she cares for them. Any outsider can observe and feel that Mrs. M. is invested in her students and their success in and out of the classroom. The way that Mrs. M. decorates her walls with student projects and college pendants shows to me that she is proud of the work and accomplishments her students experience in her class, but still wants them to excel further and obtain what might not seem to them within their grasp. The second question I asked Mrs. M. was, “What advice would you give a first year teacher?” She told me in reply, “Don’t be afraid to say NO! As a new teacher, faculty members will try to talk you into doing a lot of things. Don’t fill your plate too full, especially your first year.” I found the advice to be very important as I could see myself being unwilling to say “no” to my fellow colleagues who have been teaching longer. I will make sure to take this advice and the other advice she gave to me about teaching during the course of the interview as I begin to look forward to student-teaching and my first year of full time teaching. I cannot describe how pleased I am to be able to observe and gain advice from such an excellent teacher as Mrs. M. who knows how to control her class, use various strategies to get her students to learn, pushes her students every day, and relates to them so that they know she cares for each and every one of them.