Interview Protocol

Teacher Interviewer: Meagan Boozer Date: 3/5/2014-3/12/2014 Planning Questions: Interviewee: Contact for Name/Private Time: N/A

How do you write a typical lesson plan?

This teacher pulls resources from school and pretests. She figures out the skills the students have and bases the lesson around that. They touch and refocus on past lessons. The school has a format to record our lessons.

What types of materials do you need available when you plan lessons?
From the school this teacher uses CMS documents, student data, and team planning. She also has common core workbooks that help guide her lesson planning.

In what ways do you plan to accommodate individual differences in the classroom?

Accommodations are done during book club and targeting specific math grouping. The teacher will also reteach students based on their results from testing. All accommodations are determined through map data, IEP data and data from the previous years. T Instructional Questions:

What are some of your instructional challenges as a teacher?

Classroom management is always different. Be adaptive and keep up with your data!

What have been some of your instructional successes as a teacher?

Collaboration with others to help get you out of a rut and from doing the same stuff over and over. Always try to have a good relationship/contact with the parents as well.

What do you consider essential characteristics for successful teaching?

Organization. Have a planner! Teamwork. Flexibility.

How often do your students receive social studies/science instruction?

Social Studies is Monday/Tuesday and science is Wednesday/Thursday/Friday but it also depends on the unit.

Are you satisfied with the amount of time that you currently allot for social studies/science
instruction? Explain. No. We have time to do it, but I dont like the schedule. I would rather do a unit of science and then a unit of social studies and not break them up.

What social studies and science topics/units will be studied during the second week of my clinical
experience? What are possible goals/objectives I could address for my lessons? Do you have any instructional resources that would support these goals/objectives? At the time of the interview the topic was TBA. She gave me the class textbook for both subjects. We later determined what was to be taught during my teaching time. I taught my science lesson on animal adaptations. My social studies lesson was a review lesson reiterating how a bill becomes a law.

What does reading instruction look like in your classroom (e.g. readers workshop, basals, etc.)?
What reading topics will be studied during the 2nd week of my clinical experience? What are

possible goals/objectives I could address for my reading lesson? Do you have any instructional resources that would support these goals/objectives? We do a mini-lesson structure and then break into book clubs where they complete/discuss an engagement activity. Right now we are on interpretation of text and how to analyze it critically using theme, plot, setting and characters. I taught my lesson on recognizing common themes. Classroom Management Questions:

What motivation tactics do you use to ensure a desire to learn?

Make it fun and interesting. Integrate technology-these kids thrive off of technology.

Tell me about the classroom community.

What are the class rules? How is student behavior monitored? In what ways is positive behavior reinforced? In what ways are negative behaviors prevented? Tell me about the consequences for negative behavior. The rules are school wide. They are listed in every classroom. The consequences are also school wide. There is a chart for negative behavior and students move down the chart if they misbehave. There are warnings so that helps prevent negative behavior from continuing. We use tickets as rewards and verbal praises. aspects of timewait time, and time using teacher talk and student talk. What works well with your students? It all depends on the unit. In the mini-lesson I can usually tell whos got it and little things throughout the day helps that too. That determines when to move on or not. ---Depends who Im talking to. I do however always try to get on their eye level.

Tell me about the pacing of lessons and interaction in the classroom- use of time- and other

Reflection: We were rushed on time for the interview. We had to split it into two days. I specifically liked how the school rules were consistent for every grade as well as the consequences. The class that I observed was very friendly and very chatty. I did notice that the teacher let them talk and walk all over her often. I would be a little more-strict had it been my classroom. For the students who are in the school more than one year, this is consistent. I had never heard of social studies and science being split the way that it was at this school. I do however disagree with only doing a social studies unit and then doing a science unit. I understand her point I just think that there needs to be constant indication of both in a classroom at all times. In my opinion the school should integrate the subjects to get more out of the units. This teacher is absolutely right. Students are very technologically advanced and our society is dependent on it. Adding technology will be a challenge for me, because I am not tech-savy. It will be something that I have to work on. Overall my interview with her went very smoothly, aside from it being spread out amongst two days. My teacher was very kind and very straight forward with me as to what I should expect. I appreciated that.