Teacher interview
- In what ways do you play to accommodate for individual differences in the classroom?
2. Based on your experiences, what advice would you give a first year teacher?
Ask lots of questions! Find multiple experienced teachers to ask questions! They are most likely always willing to help. Also, make sure to stay organized. It can get hectic but if you’re organized, it makes a huge difference.
3. How do you actively involve parents in their child’s education?
I have a Wiki Space blog where parents can see what children are expected to complete weekly. Emails are the fastest way to get in touch with parents so that is typically the most convenient method. I send out a Purple Thursday Folder with each student that includes notes and work samples of what we’ve been doing. We also send out progress reports and report cards at the end of a specific number of weeks.
4. What types of materials do you need available when you plan lessons?
I typically have pacing guides that I use frequently. I also use teacher manuals and books as well. I also base some of my lessons around the student’s scores. If they successfully understand the content, I will plan to continue on and go onto a new topic. I also use calendars to plan around important dates.
5. What are some of your instructional challenges as a teacher?
Time! There isn’t enough time in an 8 hour day to cover everything I would like! Interruptions are always spontaneous and it’s hard to plan around them when you don’t know what’s coming. Another challenge is motivation. Some students need more motivation than others and that can take up time as well.
6. What do you consider essential characteristics for successful teaching?
Love for teaching! You have to be passionate about teaching. It makes all the difference in the world. Seeing students discover those “ah-ha!” moments and seeing them succeed is the greatest feeling in the world!
7. Are you satisfied with the amount of time that you currently allot for social studies and science instruction?
Yes, I am. With the increase in informational text in the Common Core Standards, we can read about Science and Social studies and truly work across the curriculum.
8. What motivation tactics do you use to ensure a desire to learn?
I always provide students with choices as much as I can. I allow them to do partner games and the levels of difficulty always vary.
9. Tell me about the pacing of lessons and interactions in the classroom-use of time-and other aspects of time…wait time, and time using teacher talk and student talk. What works well with your students?
Collaboration is key so student talk is part of each lesson. I try to be a good listener and see if students “get it”. Then I say what I heard the students say. This way, we’re all on the same page.
10. How do you write a typical lesson plan? About how much time do you spend lesson planning outside of a classroom?
I try to teach most of my lessons from an investigation point of view. I want students to learn and discover things on their own without me telling them everything. I have some very good lessons and favorite lessons that I’ve done in the past so sometimes I will use those and follow that format. We also have planning time that lasts about an hour and a half each week at our school. All the 2nd grade teachers come together and collaborate their ideas to create great lesson plans. Outside of that, I spend about 1-3 hours planning.
reflection
I think this teacher is absolutely phenomenal. When I was conducting this interview, she had a smile on her face the entire time. You can see how passionate she is about teaching. Mrs. H has so many great ideas that she incorporates into her classroom. She's constantly trying to find ways on how she can make things better for her students. She tries to create as many indirect lesson plans as opposed to direct ones. This definitely helps students to remember more of the material because they are learning it instead of memorizing it. She tries to integrate as many subjects together as she can into one lesson so it is more efficient. I really enjoyed working with Mrs. H and learning so many new techniques that will help me become a better teacher!