Jade Mears

5/2/17
Classroom Management

Interview Assignment

For this assignment, I had the great pleasure to interview two educational

professionals to learn more about their careers and philosophies of education. First I

interviewed Jody Boatright, who is a 2nd grade veteran teacher at Lee Elementary

school in Springdale. Secondly, I interviewed Layne Bass who is the current assistant

principal at Kirksey Middle School in Rogers. Both of these interviews were very

interesting to learn more about teaching and administration.

Mrs. Boatright is my current mentor teacher for this semester, so I have had the

opportunity to get to know her and her classroom management styles. However, there

were still many questions that I had but not been able to ask due to time. Being able to

sit down and interview her was awesome to really get to know more about her

management styles as well as insight into teaching. I structured my interview questions

into several categories that seemed very interesting to me. These categories were:

classroom management, professional development, parental involvement, and other.

My first two questions were what are your first steps in setting up your

procedures for the classroom? as well as how much time do you devote to

practicing/rehearsing expectations and procedures at the beginning of the year?. Mrs.

Boatright responded that she first sits the class together and has a grand conversation

about what we should and should not do. This allows the class to establish their own

routines, procedures, and rules together so they have ownership and a democratic

classroom. She then practices these expectations for a few weeks, usually around 2

weeks, then as needed. These expectations are explained and rehearsed at least once

a day during these first weeks. Some procedures they practice quite a bit in the
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Classroom Management

beginning are how to properly walk around the building, as well as playground rules.

Every year at the beginning they meet as a whole grade outside on the playground and

go over every piece of playground equipment to be sure the students know the

expectations. Mrs. Boatright pointed out that when setting up all these procedures she

was sure to modify and adjust as needed to fit the specific group of students.

The next questions that I asked Mrs. Boatright were, do you send home a list of

the expectations and procedures as well as incentives and consequences to parents at

the beginning of the year? as well as, has your philosophy of teaching and classroom

management changed over the years? If so, how and why?. In her classroom, Mrs.

Boatright uses a clip chart system with incentives to manage classroom behavior. Every

year she sends home a packet explain the clip chart and incentives to parents, as well

as the folder that students have to take home each night. Every day she writes the color

they ended up on for that day, and asks parents to sign it every Friday. To set up this

system she began contact and information with parents during the first meeting at the

back to school night. As for her personal philosophy, she states that she has to modify

and adjust ever year to meet the needs of the new group of students. Mrs. Boatright

loves the challenge and ability to learn new things every year with each changing group

of students, and she has learned that a teacher may think a certain way but not every

student is receptive to that so its up to the teacher to change their ways and modify.

Next, I switched to the professional developmental category of questions. I asked

the following questions, how much support or collaboration do you have with your

grade-level team and the rest of the school community?, what has been the most

helpful professional development training?, and how many hours of PD are required
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Classroom Management

here at Lee/Sprindale?. Mrs. Boatright responded that at Lee they hold faculty

meetings at least once a week, and PLC meetings with grade levels at least once a

week. The 2nd grade teachers meet at least once to twice a week to plan together. She

really enjoys working with her 2nd grade team, and they have been working together for

several years now. Mrs. Boatright noted that not every grade level works as closely as

they do, but she finds it very helpful because they can work together and plan quickly.

Often times they will have Google Doc where they collaborate and write weekly lesson

plans together. For professional development, Mrs. Boatright has found the literacy

training and Jones Web-anar the most helpful this year. In past years she has had the

opportunity to go to Little Rock for all day training and break out sessions. She said

these are the most fun because it not only combines PD but social time to get to know

your colleagues. At Lee she stated that teachers are required to complete at least 60

hours a year of PD. A great thing though is that the teachers can count the PLC time

and faculty meetings as PD.

The next set of questions involved parental involvement within her classroom. I

asked Mrs. Boatright the following questions, how do you initially establish positive

parent communication?, what are the communication barriers between you as the

teacher and parents?, as well as what is your approach to the challenge of non-

involved parents?. Mrs. Boatright responded that open house night is usually her first

contact with parents, and she sends home the folders that students will use all year

long. She is very adamant for parents to use this folder as a mean of communication

and will send positive notes home, as well as look for any time parents want to write to

her in the folders. Mrs. Boatright also gives each parent her cell phone number and
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Classroom Management

encourages them to text or call her with questions, or concerns. The biggest challenge

she faces with parents is language. Most of the parents in her class speak Spanish or

Marshallese, and so this is a huge challenge to communicate. Mrs. Boatright

commented that for many students to communicate home she has to get a translator,

and its hard when so many students at the school need the same services. When it

comes to non-involved parents she has realized that sometimes she just needs to take

over that role during the day. Mrs. Boatright has had several students in just very

negative home life situations, where no matter how much communication she has with

parents they dont, or cannot do what is best for their child. Mrs. Boatright makes a point

to love on students who need it the most, and wants to create a home away from home.

She makes a big point that when her students are in her room they are family. And

sometimes the best way to deal with a bad situation for a student is to be their momma

from 8-3.

The last section of the interview I wanted to focus on asking two questions that

were important to me. First I asked, what are the biggest tips you can give me that I

might not learn in my pre-service teacher preparation program?, as well as what has

been your favorite moment with your class this year?. Mrs. Boatright said the biggest

thing that a new teacher can do is to get to know your team on a personal level. She

states when you are with a good team you can ask questions, get support, and knowing

them personally can make a huge difference. She also said be a good volunteer for

your school. By going to the after school events such as Fall Festivals and such, this

builds a stronger connection with both students and parents. Mrs. Boatright also said

get to know our students home lives by asking them, previous teachers, and having
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Classroom Management

parent teacher conferences. Finally, Mrs. Boatright stated that her favorite moment with

this particular class has been recently since they are learning cursive handwriting. She

stated that the students are so excited to learn that they just dont want to stop. Mrs.

Boatright stated that this is the best kind of learning when students can giggle together,

and be so engaged where they dont want to stop.

Layne Bass is the current assistant principal at Kirksey Middle School, where I

was placed last semester for practicum. Due to Mrs. Basss very busy schedule I was

only able to sit down with her for about 15 minutes, but I was able to ask several

questions and get some great answers. First I asked Mrs. Bass, what is your mission

statement (vision) for your school?. She answered that she felt her own personal vision

was a combination of the Rogers school district mission as well as Kirkseys mission

statements. Rogers school district mission statement is All belong, all learn, all

succeed and At Kirksey it is Empowering every student, every day, the middle school

way. Mrs. Bass felt like she connected to both of these because she firmly believes that

students should feel like they belong within their school. She stated that when students

feel like they belong in school they will be more engaged with their learning.

The second and third questions that I planned on asking Mrs. Bass ended up

being addressed all in one. These questions were, how often and in what ways do you

as the principal communicate with the families? and what events does your school

sponsor to build relationships with parents/caregivers?. Mrs. Bass answered that at the

beginning of the school year they try to build positive relationships with parents with

activities such as open houses, back to school nights, and bi-weekly PTO fundraisers at

local restaurants in town. She said she really tries to participate as much as possible
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Classroom Management

with these to support the families. Sporting events are also a great time for her to

connect to parents in a positive manner. I asked her on a day-to-day basis what kind of

communication she had with parents. Mrs. Bass responded that most of the day-to-day

communication is involving discipline, so she tries to be as involved as possible with the

more positive events. She also has a very unique perspective because she has a son

who is in 6th grade at Kirksey. Mrs. Bass believes that this connection helps her build

more positive relationships with parents because she has a similar perspective with

other parents.

Next, I asked Mrs. Bass, what is your philosophy in dealing with student

misbehavior?. At Kirksey, the administrative team has a philosophy of treating any

discipline issue as a learning opportunity, and trying to promote growth for the students

future behaviors. She said that on average she usually sees a student once for

discipline, because it is usually them making a one time mistake or doing something

goofy or inappropriate. Mrs. Bass mentioned that the hardest part is the rather large

population that Kirksey has (1,100 students). Within Kirksey, she is excited for their new

positive behavior intervention strategies that are being implemented school wide to

improve the overall school culture and climate. Mrs. Bass believes that this initiative will

be a very positive impact on student behavior.

The last question I asked Mrs. Bass was what are your expectations for first-

year teachers and what level of support do you provide?. Mrs. Bass stated that she

really wants first year teachers to focus on honing and improving their classroom

management skills, and really work on building that climate and positive culture within

their classroom. She believes that these skills a critical. Mrs. Bass also understands that
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Classroom Management

it takes 2-3 years for a teacher to really feel comfortable with their content area. But if

they work on setting the foundation of a positive culture then the content will come. At

Kirksey specifically they focus on providing strategies to their teachers. Mrs. Bass

stated that they believe that a variety of instructional strategies are the best way to

engage students, and do not want teachers to just use worksheets.

Although it was a short conversation, I really felt that I gains some better insight

into the role of assistant principals. Mrs. Bass was wonderful to talk to, and it was also a

unique experience to come back and learn more about Kirksey after interning there last

semester.

These interviews were very informative in helping me establish a more concrete

view of what classroom management will look for me. In both of these conversations I

realized two new perspectives that I think are the most important part of classroom

management. First is the connection built with students.

As we have discussed all semester long, building meaningful relationships with

students is the most important thing we can do as classroom teachers. Mrs. Boatright

does a fantastic job in building these great connections with her students, even to the

point of taking on more of a mother role for students who need it. Mrs. Bass also made

it clear that it is important for teachers to focus on creating a positive culture in their

classroom even before content, and this begins with the positive relationships with

students. This is a philosophy that I share with these education professionals, and I

know my foundation of classroom management first begins with the students. We as

teachers have to focus on the whole child and teaching them to be responsible future

members of society.
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5/2/17
Classroom Management

The second theme that was brought to light through these interviews was the

importance of a team system within schools. Mrs. Boatright really focused on how

important it is to build positive relationships with your grade level team members

because they are your support systems. Mrs. Bass promoted getting to know your

parents as a huge part of the team as well. Although I had thought about these

connections, I had not thought of them in terms of a classroom management system.

Having a support structure is a very critical part of a teachers management system

because it is essentially that growth mindset of I still have many things that I can learn

to be a more effective teacher.

These interviews were a rewarding project, and I feel that I learned quiet a bit

more about some aspects of classroom management that I had not previously thought

about.