Journal 3: Teacher Interview and Reflection

Interview Questions and Responses

1. What tips would you like to share for keeping students engaged in your classroom?

Walk the class. I would say to pattern it so that you can move between rows and make
observations of individual students. I also find that it is very engaging to write on the board while
talking, since it helps visual and auditory learners put information together. I like to couch
discussions of literature in connections to the real world and to my students’ personal lives. If I
get to a point in a discussion where things aren’t moving like I want them to, I can ask
conversational questions that are easy to answer like “who is a hero in our world?”

2. Keeping students engaged definitely helps with classroom management, but do you have
additional advice for managing a classroom? (This might include advice for those
situations that have nothing to do with your lesson plan or level of preparation.)

Never chest up to anybody - you are the adult, and you have to back down. In any sort of conflict
with a student who could become violent or create a severe disruption, you rewind or rethink and
approach it in a different way. Being aware of who the students are in your classroom is one of
the most important things you can do. If you have doubts about someone’s behavior, you have to
check with the specialists. For example, I spent a lot of time dealing with a specific student; I
saw what was going on but nobody came to me and asked me to act. It’s my job to discern where
action is needed, and I do that by being cued in to what’s going on in the classroom. I sweep the
class and make eye contact with every student every day. I make an effort to walk over and talk
with them and be aware of their feelings. It’s also one of my 10 Commandments of teaching to
get to know all of their names.

3. What do you do to address the diverse learning styles in your classroom/How do you
change instruction for individuals?

It is essential that you know your special education teachers/coordinators. When you’re in a
school, you have to put yourself out there and ASK the best way to reach them or look them up
on the IEP. If you have a troubling student, see if you know somebody who has had them before
and if they have advice for how to handle that student. In any case, it is good advice to make
friends with your students’ other teachers at the beginning of the school year. Then you can see
what problems you have in common and team up to find strategies that work for that kid. In
general, though, most of your IEPs tell you exactly what changes need to be made, like separate
testing. But knowing the kids helps too. Watch who they associate with and that will tell you a
lot about them. Language barriers, however, are the worst to attempt to differentiate for – I find
more issues with my Asian students than my Hispanic students because of the linguistic
differences. Still, we have an excellent ESL program here, so I use them as a resource, but when
communicating with parents, I also need a translator. Differentiation is a day-to-day process;
even seating position and making sure that I stand near certain students is a strategy for learning
what needs to be differentiated.
 4. Do you incorporate project-based learning and multiple-choice tests into each unit?

I assign a project for almost every book we read, which produce very diverse work, especially
with creative products and art projects. I grade on neatness, but not necessarily on being artistic.
I like to do group things because I know that there are some people with different skill sets and I
try to balance them. I want them to be in front of the class performing and presenting, and the
group setting makes that easier for those of them that aren’t as comfortable speaking. I usually
have two tests every quarter and a project as a third test grade. I incorporate at least one project,
sometimes two, with one in groups and one completed individually. Papers also counts for test
grades because it’s another way of ensuring what they’ve read. Whether they work in groups or
on their own, I think project-based learning gives them a chance to investigate and share things
with the class that they want to talk about.

5. How do you check for student understanding prior to a quiz or test?

Asking them questions aloud is the most practical way for me – it’s formative assessment
through a conversation. I usually can even look across the classroom and tell who’s with me and
who’s not. But repeating information out loud is the best way; sometimes I do choral responses
(not for a grade). I find that having the auditory response works and I try to incorporate the other
learning styles as well (for visual learners, I write on the board; for hands-on learners, I offer a
project opportunity). I also make it a point to draw in modern examples – using music and song
lyrics to study poetry is great. But if a quiz or test is coming up and students haven’t answered all
the questions (in writing) that I want them to, I’ll ask them to see me and answer orally or phrase
the question in a different way. With assessments, I find the biggest and hardest thing to do is to
respect the individual more than the test you made. They’re 17 and 18 years old and they’re
probably giving me as much as or more than they give anywhere else, and I’m their one chance
to get through it.

6. What do you do on the first day of a new semester to establish expectations for behavior,
the classroom’s culture, and what short- and long-term work students will be doing?

The first good rule I teach my students is to be in their seat when the bell rings. Then I tell them
that I need them to be polite to each other. I want to hear everybody’s comments, so it’s only fair
that they don’t interrupt each other. In the beginning, I use “please” and “thank you” lots, but as
time moves on, they begin to learn the rules and I can ask “do I really need to take you outside?”
During the first two weeks, I have them complete writing assignments or take notes to turn in
every day – this gets them into a writing ritual. I also have them build annotating skills from the
first week when I tell them to take notes on the pieces of literature that they are reading,
especially on things they don’t understand so that they can ask questions. My students learn very
quickly that I don’t usually take people to the office, so when I do, they take it seriously.
Academically, I let them know that they will be doing individual and group work, and that they
will be expected to take responsibility in both. I also tell them that I like to give quizzes,
especially if I think they haven’t read – because I WILL expect them to read what they are
supposed to read (but I don’t give them very much because many of them have jobs after
school). What I don’t tell them is that it’s my job to work WITH them, not AT them. I want
buy-in.

7. How do you prepare students for formal essay writing? In other words, what kinds of
writing practice and feedback do they get as they develop their skills? (Scaffolded
writing, peer review, conferences, etc.)

Before we did the research paper, we discussed documentation of sources, and I also spent a lot
of time taking them to the library and have them work on computers (for a solid week) so I could
give feedback early on and figure out what their arguments would be. For practice, I have them
write short pieces all the time so that I can check through them quickly and help them build
style/grammar skills. Unlike my Honors class, most of my Academic/ICR students are writing
shorter pieces, and the research paper (in which they get to pick their topic) is the longest writing
assignment they have. I don’t have my students peer review – I find that they make incorrect
revisions to each other’s work, and revision is the process I want them to spend the longest on
anyway. One-on-one conferencing with me happens in the library, as questions arise, when
students need help. In general, I give my students general advice about how to start: take the
strongest thing you can write about and write that paragraph first, then find quotes that match
your thinking and just WRITE.

Reflection

I appreciated how practical and realistic Mrs. Cooper’s responses to my questions were. Most of
her answers reflected practices that I already see on a regular basis when I observe her teaching,
especially with how she engages students with different learning styles and makes great efforts to
build respectful relationships with all of her students. I don’t think that my assumptions about
instruction or assessment necessarily changed through the interview process, but I gained a
deeper understanding of Mrs. Cooper’s purposes in designing her assessment cycle a certain
way. I valued that her responses emphasized balance in all facets: learning styles, skill sets in
group work, reading vs. writing, traditional tests vs. project-based assessment, etc. I hope to
integrate this attention to giving each learner the opportunity to demonstrate their learning
through their sharpest skills into my own teaching practice. Mrs. Cooper’s emphasis on the
individual learner stood out to me with each response she offered in the interview, and while I
hope to apply these relationship-building skills with my future students, I would like to go
beyond the amount of collaboration she currently has her students practice. For example, it is
excellent that all of her students complete at least one project in groups, but I was surprised that
she never has her students revise each other’s writing in a peer review. I had trouble integrating
this notion with my ideas of how important and productive collaboration can be, but I understood
her reasoning. That said, a major difference between Mrs. Cooper’s overall teaching style and
my own is structure; her decades of experience have not only equipped her to instruct with very
few formal plans or scaffolds, but also to individualize her instruction and focus on each
student’s needs. Not only would I design activities with plenty of structure to avoid the concerns
that Mrs. Cooper has about peer review, but in general, my teaching (particularly in my
beginning years) will rely heavily on the structures and scaffolds I develop. I have both observed
and discussed at length the amount of time that Mrs. Cooper dedicates to ensuring student
learning through informal and formative assessment before assessing them summatively, and this
emphasis on the value of practice and process shows in her students’ growth as readers and
writers. My instinct would have been to get through more content more quickly and assess much
sooner, but quality time and focused, individualized attention are the biggest themes that drive
Mrs. Cooper’s instruction in a way that I would like to emulate.