Teacher Interview

Teacher Interview
Interviewer: Jennifer Gulin Interviewee: Mrs.Yates

Grade: 3
rd
grade Date: 10/27/2014
Planning , Instructional and Class management Questions
How do you write a typical lesson plan? The literacy department meets once a week
and together using common core and essential standards we create lesson plans.
What type of materials do you need available when you plan lessons? Smart
boards are used a lot , our iPads are used as well. As we plan lessons we always have the
common core standards to reflect back to when working around the objective of the lesson
plan.
In what ways do you accommodate individual differences in the classroom? I
pull small groups. My class is already accommodated according to their math levels.
What are some of your instructional challenges as a teacher? Having to reach all
students needs in one class, I am only one teacher and unfortunately one of my classes is all
students that are not reading at grade level so during that time period it becomes a
challenge to reach every student. Getting all students to understand one concept is also a
challenge.
What do you consider essential characteristics for successful teaching? Having
the essential resources and patience to accommodate to students. Perseverance,
preparation ( I cant stress this enough ), organization, and definitely enthusiasm .
How often do your students receive social studies/science instruction? Social
studies and science is taught only to the students who are not eligible to participate in
readers to achieve. It is taught from 10:15 to 11:00 Monday through Thursday.
Are you satisfied with the amount of time that you currently allot for social
studies/science instruction? Explain. No I am not. Some students dont receive science
or social studies at all. This will eventually set them back in middle school but with the
emphasis placed on being able to read on grade level as much as I am not satisfied with the
way science and social studies is brought into the curriculum I dont know other idea would
be better.
How is student behavior monitored? Class dojo is an app used to monitor student
behavior. This app is used all day and sends alerts to parents. The app allows them to see
how their child is behaving throughout the day. There is also a BEE-havior chart in a folder,
after each block the students either gets a star or a unsatisfactory. Teacher can comment on
a satisfactory to inform the parents on why the student did not receive a star.
Teacher Interview
What does a literacy day look like in your classroom? I have two different blocks of
students the first block comes in the morning for 8:05-8:35. During this time they write their
homework and do word works. Word works consist of different activities every day for
different groups of students. From 8u:35 to 10:15 I have my second block of students.
During this time we do word work, Reader workshop and writers workshop. Then in the
afternoon I see my first block again and we do readers workshop and writers workshop.
How many years have you been teaching for? I graduated from VA and taught for 6
years there. I then moved to North Carolina and have been teaching at Highland Creek for 7
years.
What other grades have you taught? I have been teaching 3
rd
grade for 13 years now.
It is the only grade I have ever taught.

Reflection
From my experiences being in the College of Education program, I have observed many
different styles of teaching in different grade and classroom management. I have been in
schools with different student priorities as well as schools that implement different lesson
plan styles. Overall, I enjoyed working with Mrs.Yates during my clinical experience. I liked
how she used her time and materials for organization and planning. I absolutely loved her
variations of classroom management; I'm very much inspired to do similar versions in my
own classroom. She discussed the issue of time being an important factor when planning the
day, lesson plans, and units and even when delivering instruction. It's an obstacle that as
teachers we all face. Mrs.Yates has two block schedules and in one of her block schedules all
her students are receiving intervention. It is extremely difficult to have a class were none of
the students are meeting grade level reading or experiences other difficulties in class. Time
management is a challenge when she has to do so many activities with these students.
During during my two week experience I experiences time management challenges as well. I
grew such a big understanding for teachers during these past two weeks. We also talked
about classroom management; this is something that has always been a weak point of mine.
I know it will be a trial and error for me but over time I will perfect. As I observed Mrs.Yates
and her classroom I feel confident that I can one day run my class as well as hers.

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Teacher Interview

Interviewer: Jennifer Gulin Interviewee: Mrs.Yates

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