Chris Wasnetsky Field I Teacher Interview

The teacher I interviewed is my aunt, Alaina Dietz. I plan to gain my certification in Mathematics and possibly Physics in addition to some future subject areas. Mrs. Dietz teaches a variety of science classes (over her career, only one specific class currently) and science is generally close to Mathematics so I thought she would be a good interview candidate. Mrs. Dietz teaches at the Pocono Mountain school district and has been teaching since graduating college in 1996 (just over 16 years). The interview questions and answers are as follows. 1) What were your expectations when first getting into teaching? How has teaching surprised or disappointed you? Mrs. Dietzs goal out of college was to get a job once graduated. The subject she wanted to teach was something related to science. The certification she received allows her to teach any type of science class in grades 7 12. She didnt know what class specifically she was going to teach or what grade level going into her teaching position. She mentioned how public schools have changed a lot from when she first started teaching. She used to like the teaching atmosphere when she first started, but she doesnt like it too much anymore since the school politics are focused around money now. 2) What do you do outside of school to prepare for class on a daily basis? How have your preparation and/or philosophy changed over time?

Since Mrs. Dietz has been teaching for so long, she tends to recycle most of her lesson plans and therefore does not have to do as much work as she used to. She likes to plan everything in advance, early in the year, and make modifications as needed. She values her free time at home and focuses on doing all of her work during free time at school. While other teachers use their free time/lunch to socialize, Mrs. Dietz uses that time to catch up on her school work so she has very little work to be done at home. Currently she teaches one class multiple times throughout the day so there is not as much preparation needed. When she first started teaching she had much more work to do outside of school. 3) How do you handle difficult students and/or situations in the classroom? Do you have a school-wide disciplinary policy? The Pocono Mountain school district has a school wide policy that students must adhere to dealing with basic issues such as dress code, no smoking, no drugs, etc. Mrs. Dietz does not have many serious disciplinary issues in her classrooms. She has a set procedure for what to do when entering class. The students are to be quiet and focus on the question on the board and remain silent and wait for class to begin. Her reason for this is that students need to cool down after having a lively, active break in the hallways before class. There havent been many major issues, only minor ones such as talking when the student is not supposed to. Very infrequently she has to call the parents about behavioral issues. 4) How do you handle diversity in your classroom? (Learning disabilities, various cultural backgrounds, etc.) Mrs. Dietz has a co-teacher in some of her classes for students needing special education services. Most of the accommodations are simple such as lengthening the time allotted to

finish a quiz/test, questions removed from test to make it smaller, word banks for fill in the blank questions, etc. Most of the time, the co-teacher takes care of these accommodations. 5) Describe your ideal classroom experience. Mrs. Dietz had a very short answer to this question. She wants to be able to teach engaged, interested learners who, specifically, dont have family problems. I didnt ask her in detail about this but I assume family problems come up far too often in her classroom, more so than other issues. 6) How do you communicate/interact with parents? Mrs. Dietz uses E-mail primarily to communicate with parents. In some cases she calls home, like mentioned above, but prefers to use E-mail. Direct interaction happens with parent-teacher conferences and IEP meetings. She noted that the school district has a website but that she prefers not to use it. She is very up-to-date on technology, so it is a preference, not an issue of not knowing how to use technology. 7) How much leeway do you have in regards to teaching material? Do you have to adhere to state standards constantly? Mrs. Dietz noted that she absolutely has to teach to the PSSA test. The school district also has a curriculum that all teachers have to adhere to. The teachers meet together and update the curriculum as needed, but when it was first devised the teachers solely came up with it while keeping in mind they have to adhere to state standards. In regards to the curriculum, teachers do the best they can to cover all of the material but they are not forced to rush material to cover everything. However, all material for the PSSA test must be covered as the administration is very concerned about high test scores of students on these exams. 8) How restricting/unrestricting is the administration of your teaching methods?

Mrs. Dietz stated very clearly that the administration has no clue what goes on in the classroom. This might be (my inference) because the school district is so large and has so many other issues that need to be taken care of. I would imagine in smaller schools more involvement would occur. She gets observed once a year, like every other teacher. During this time she needs to have her lesson plan, objective written on the board for the students, etc. 9) Are you allowed to use social media to communicate with students/parents? Website? Mrs. Dietz does not use social media in any form with her students or parents. As stated earlier, she is very up to date with technology, so lack of experience is not an issue. Also mentioned before was that the school has a website, but she chooses not to use it. She noted that, for example, the marching band uses Facebook for communication and organization. She believes social media is too risky with the potential lawsuits because of dealing with children. 10) How often do you have to earn college credits/further your knowledge in your field? Mrs. Dietz does not know the answer to this question exactly. When she first started, she either needed to get a Master of Education (which she opted for) or obtain 30 credits from a university eventually. Every 5 years teachers are supposed to take 3 credits which the school pays for (I forgot to ask if the school paid for all of the money or part of it). The schools provides incentives for doing so which include a pay raise.

Overall some of the information I heard was what I expected (school wide disciplinary policies, special education accommodations, etc.) but some of the information was new

(specifically how important it was to teach to the PSSA test and how administration had little knowledge of what went on in the classroom). Other information was good to know for the future to avoid going into the classroom cold feet. I like her method of dealing with school work and maximizing her use of free time during the school day to get work done. I am personally used to working for 9-10 hours non-stop (except for a 30 minute break) with very little, if any, of that time spent idling or chatting. I focus on my work and get it done. I feel I will be the same way in a school setting because all of the free time during the day will be so foreign to me. I learned a lot from this interview and I plan to learn more from her in the future. My aunt has always been supportive of my endeavors, more so than my parents in some areas, so I will feel comfortable asking her for future advice.