Teacher Interview Project Amber Davis and Tamara Truman Ivy Tech Community College

INTASC Standard, Description and Rationale Standard #3: Learning Environments The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

Description and Rationale Brief Description: For this project, in order to learn about our potential career choices, we interviewed two educators who are currently employed as school teachers. We spent time with both teachers that allowed us to gain first-hand knowledge of their different teaching styles, their beliefs about the students, classroom, school, community and the field of education in general. Rationale: To document our experiences of Standard #3, Learning Environments, we opted to include each of our interview questions as well as a brief statement concerning comparing and contrast of the two educators in reference to each question answered.

Question 1: Tell me about yourself as a teacher. Teacher A: I became a teacher because I was always the student who had difficulty learning. When I was in school, the teachers always focused on the middle group of learners so I was always behind. I became a teacher because I wanted to be the one who could teach to all 3 groups of learners at the same time. I have taught 2nd grade my entire career so far. Teacher B: My family was a large part of my decision to become a teacher. I am the child of a teacher and I loved going to school with her when I was a young girl. This is my 8th year. I have taught only in the elementary school. I have taught 3rd grade and now 6th grade. I am enjoying 6th grade a lot this year. I had my first child last year so being a mother has changed me in my classroom as well as my everyday life. Compare/Contrast: Every person who chooses to become a teacher does so for a different reason. It is great to get to hear so many different stories from so many great teachers.

Question 2: What are the traits of an effective teacher? Teacher A: The most important trait of a teacher is to be consistent and fair. Follow through with what you say you are going to do. You should also make sure you are teaching to all of the different learning styles. Making sure everyone feels included is key to running a successful and happy class room. Teacher B: I believe that all teachers are also learners. I think that a great teacher connects with the kids at their level and makes them want to become better students. Compare/Contrast: Both ideas were very good ways to achieve effectiveness in the classroom. It is very important to be consistent and fair, but also important to be a good learner as well.

Question 3 What is the single most important quality a good teacher possesses? Teacher A: Patience. Without a tremendous amount of patience, you are doomed. Teacher B: Love for the children.  Compare/Contrast: Having a love for the children you are teaching and patience while teaching them go hand in hand. You are going to have difficult children throughout your teaching career and learning to accept and love them and having the patience to work with them are vital.

Question 4 What are your values, beliefs or philosophy about the teaching profession? Have they changed over the years? Teacher A: Always focus on what is best for the children. Figure out what they need to be successful and then decide the best way to get them there. That is what started my career in teaching and I strive for that every day. Teacher B: My teaching philosophy is that I am teaching tomorrows leaders. I keep this thought in the back of my mind with every bit of work performed in my classroom. Even though we as teachers are now measured differently than when I started my career, I still believe in my philosophy. Compare/Contrast: Teacher A focuses more on helping the children to learn in the now while Teacher B focuses more on the future. Both ideas are well thought out and executed well by the teachers. There is not one right “answer” for this question. Everyone will have a different personal answer.

Question 5 Tell me about your classroom and teaching strategies. Teacher A: In my classroom, I make sure that I cater to all different learning styles and different groups of learners. When I teach math, I separate the children into 3 groups, the excelled learners, the normal learners, and the ones that need a little more time and help. The children of course have no idea, they just know that they are put in groups and they have to rotate through stations. For them it is a fun and different way of learning and they really seem to enjoy it.

Question 5 Continued Tell me about your classroom and teaching strategies. Teacher B: My classroom is set up in learning pods. Each pod has 4 students and the students work in groups. This set up encourages active participation and gains the kids self esteem in the social aspect of the classroom. I set out my rules and for the most part, the kids are receptive. I show respect and I command respect. I think I also have patience with those challenging students and I purposely set them up in a group of learners that will guide them down the right path through peer development. I like to add everyday events into our lesson plans. All of our 6th grade teachers come together to develop the lesson plans. We do this on a bi-monthly schedule. All of our lesson plans are now dictated by the core standards. During our professional development days, all district teachers are given the standards that we must go by, but we can add to them. I do this by adding in hands-on experiences. For example, last week we learned about 9/11 as part of our country’s history. I had a guest speaker come in and speak to the class about their experience as a firefighter during the 9/11 tragedies.

Question 5 Continued Tell me about your classroom and teaching strategies. Compare/Contrast: Both teachers ran very well behaved classrooms. They both demanded respect and in return treated the children with respect. We did observe some discipline while we were observing and with both classes the rules were very clear and the students knew what would happen if they were not followed. Both classes also had students work in small groups to help develop social skills as well as putting students together who had similar learning strategies. Both classrooms seemed to run smoothly and the transitions from one subject or activity to another seemed to be smooth as well.

Question 6 What are the most exciting aspects of and teaching and your work? Teacher A: The most exciting part of teaching for me is the moment when you are looking in a child’s eyes and what you are saying just clicks. Especially if it is something the have really been struggling with. It gives you such a sense of accomplishment when you know they get it. Teacher B: I would have to say seeing the wheels turn in their heads as we go over some new discoveries. It’s always very rewarding to see my kids achieve a small short term goal. Compare/Contrast: Most teachers have the same opinion about this question. This is what you work for. Your entire career is spent trying to help a child understand and get what you are teaching.

Question 7 Who has given you the most support in learning to be an effective teacher? Teacher A: My husband has been a great supporter. We met in college and have been together every since. He is currently working as an elementary principal so he understands the challenges and hours that my job requires. Teacher B: The other teachers in this school. I learn from their experiences. Since we do come together so often to plan our activities, I think that they are my biggest supporters. Compare/Contrast: Sometimes you can find the support you need in all different forms and from all different places. You just have to be open to it. If you are not finding it in one place, try to look in a different place.

Question 8 How much time do you spend outside of the work day on preparation and grading? Teacher A: I am a part time teacher so for me it is not nearly as much as a full time teacher but I still put in a minimum of 5 hours a week outside of the classroom creating games and fun learning activities that will get the children excited about learning and keep them interested. Teacher B: On average, probably 1-2 hours extra a day. I try to do most of mine in the early morning hours. I get up very early and usually get to school by 6:30 am for an 8:30 start. Life happens in the evenings so morning work best for me. Compare/Contrast: For a full time teacher, the hours you put in depends on how much you want to put in to the job. The better teachers don’t really ever stop thinking about teaching but as far as actual labor hours, about 10 hours a week seems to be the average.

Question 9 How do you know you are successful? Teacher A: When I can take a child and get teach them something new and get them one step closer to where they should be, I have been successful. Teacher B: I know I am successful because I am changing lives daily. Success can be measured many ways. My internal voice tells me I am successful because when my kids walk out this door every night, they take with them my voice encouraging them to learn. Compare/Contrast: There are a million ways you can measure success, but it is all about what makes you feel successful. Every person has their individual measure of what it means to be successful and as long as you are doing your best and focusing on the children, you can be successful.

Question 10 What advice would you give to a future teacher? Teacher A: Make sure this is really what you want to do. Most people think teachers have it made with summers and holidays off. The truth is, not only is your work day very challenging and exhausting, but then you go home and you are thinking about things to do or grading papers. Even during the summer your focus is always on the upcoming year and thinking about all of the things you are going to need to do. Another piece of advice is learn to love the kids you get. You have them for a whole year and even the challenging ones have their great attributes that you can focus on. Teacher B: Enjoy your journey. And continue to enjoy your journey long after you become a teacher. Your kids will know if you love sharing your knowledge with them. Take advantage of all of the workshops offered and get to know your school corporations grant writer. We do a lot of extra’s in our classroom thanks to grants that we receive. Share with your grant writer what your goals are for the year and they can search out ways to help you pay for the extra activities. Compare/Contrast: This was our favorite question because it seemed like they were giving us personal advice to help us succeed. We cannot wait to learn more and more while taking this journey.

Conclusion We both got to observe some very well run classrooms. There were quite a few things we will take away from this experience and put into practice as we start our own career paths. We also took a look at new technology and new ways to do certain activities. Amber: I have always been very good with children in general. I am the oldest in my family so I spent most of my childhood looking after my younger siblings. Through that, I have learned patience and I have also had to learn how to gain the respect of a group of children. Tamara: I am a lifelong learner. I learn best by action so my goal is to incorporate this concept into my future classroom. Since I have been a substitute teacher this past year, I plan to capitalize on all of the different classroom techniques and challenge myself to develop my own.