Sophie ZIdek Instructors Name

Teacher Interview
Interview took place on 2/27/14 at 3:30 pm Planning Questions Q: How do you write a typical lesson plan? A: By looking at the common core, our pacing, resources, students, the students previous work. We write lesson plans using the Before, During, After model. We think about what we are using and how we can incorporate it into the lesson, our students backgrounds, and we each teach our own classes. Our big philosophy is, If it aint broke don't fix it. Q: What types of materials do you need available to you when you plan lessons? A: The common core, essential state standards, student data, CMS curriculum, internet and the smart board. Q: In what ways do you plan to accommodate individual differences? A: We have a resource teacher for a few of our students who changes our lessons for them. For our higher students we give them projects, and our lower students get skill based work. We base our students grouping off of their skills. Instructional Questions Q: What are some of your instructional challenges as a teacher? A: Meeting the needs of every child and monitoring their behavior.

TEACHER INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

Q: What have been some of your instructional successes as a teacher? A: Helping a struggling student to succeed. Teaching a child to become a reader. Helping a child to exceed expectations. Q: What do you consider essential characteristics for successful teaching? A: Flexibility, patience, a willingness to share, and answer questions. Q: How often do your students receive social studies/science instruction? A: Science they have everyday for 45 minutes and social studies is taught 2 times a week for 45 minutes. Q: Are you satisfied the current amount of time allotted for those subjects? A: No, science is okay. It has more time because it has an end of grade test. Social studies is not okay. I have been talking to the principle about changing it. Q: What social studies/ science topics will be studied during the second week of my clinical experience? What are possible goals and objectives I could address for my lesson? Do you have any instructional resources that would support these goals? A: We will be studying genetics and the government. Possibly the bill of rights. We have text books that relate to the students subjects that work well with teaching them. Q:What does reading instruction look like in your classroom? What reading topics will be discussed during the second week of my clinical experience? What are possible goals and objectives I could address for my reading lesson? Do you have any instructional resources that would support these goals and objectives? A: I am not yet sure where we will be when you enter the classroom. I will probably provide you with a lesson plan for this class. We use mini lessons and then enter guided reading groups.

TEACHER INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

Classroom Management Q:What motivation tactics do you use to ensure a desire to learn? A: We use a behavior clip chart, and just let instruction happen. We tend to use lots of candy. Q: Tell me about the classroom community. What are the class rules? How is student behavior monitored? In what ways are positive behavior reinforced? In what ways are negative behaviors prevented? Tell me about the consequences for negative behaviors. A:Our students have been together since kindergarten. They treat each other like siblings. We dont have class rules. We just follow the school rules. Positive behavior gets candy. Negative behavior gets a phone call home. Q: Tell me about the pacing of lessons and interaction 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? A: It depends on the day with my students. We run on 45 minute blocks in my classroom. Wait time is extremely important with my students. They love to blurt out answers while others are still thinking. Our class self regulates. Their behavior determines our schedule.

TEACHER INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

Reflection
The teacher seems to run a classroom that is based on the children self regulating their own behavior. The children are supposed to know what is expected of them at this point in time, and rise to meet the teachers expectations. It is a fifth grade classroom with students who have been together since kindergarten. The teacher has no set classroom rules. The students only follow the school rules. This worries me. I would like to know the expectations this teacher has for his students. The clip chart that is used to monitor behavior has different levels, blue, green, red, yellow, orange. The students seem to understand what the colors mean. During the interview, my cooperating teacher intended to scare me I believe. He told me multiple times that the students are chatterboxes. My teacher interview did indeed make me nervous. However, I plan to make the best of my experience with the students. I will give my own set expectations for their behavior. During the initial week I look forward to seeing how this self regulation works for the students.

TEACHER INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION