Danielle C.

Hicks
Mrs. Wright
Elementary Curriculum and Assessment
November 12, 2014
Teacher Interview and Response
I interviewed Mr. Andre Moss. Mr. Moss has his Bachelor of
Science Degree in Elementary Education. He has been a teacher for six
years at Whittaker Elementary but, he worked with children previously
for nine years as a teachers assistant. He has only taught the second
grade and he really enjoys it.
1.

How long have you been a teacher in OCSD 5? Six years as a

teacher and nine as a teachers assistant.

2.

What kinds of assessments do you prefer to give to your students? I

prefer to give my students multiple choice assessments because they are

easy to create and grade. The students also seem to prefer multiple
choice assessments rather than true/false or short answer.

3.

Do you grade homework? Why or why not? We review the

homework as a class but, I do not grade homework because homework is

given to provide the students with additional practice on key concepts
that they are learning and to see how much they have learned.
4.

Do you use a lot of closed ended questions? Why or Why not? No I

do not use a lot of close ended questions because they do not tell me if the
student has a deep understanding about the material that we are
covering. A lot of time when close ended questions are used the students
just guess yes or no because they have a fifty- fifty chance of getting the
answer right.
5.

What types of formative and summative assessments do you use in

the class? Why? The types of formative assessments that I use are mostly
informal questions that I ask throughout the lesson and sometimes I use
the ticket out the door activity. The types of summative assessments that
I use are tests, quizzes and sometimes I give the students projects to do. I
use these forms of formative and summative assessments because they
seem to
6.

What do you consider to be some of the most effective teaching and

learning strategies for your students? Hands on, questioning discovery,

and small groups are used in the classroom and they are the most
effective teaching and learning strategies.
7.

How do you assess non-verbal behavior? I assess non-verbal

behavior mostly by body language and facial expressions. For example if

I ask the class did they complete all of their homework and they sink
down in their chair, hold their head down, and frown or pout I know
that they did not complete their homework assignment. If I ask the class
the same question and the sit up straight and have smiles on their faces I
know that they completed the homework assignment.
8.

Why do you feel that it is important to allow sufficient wait time

for student responses? It is important to allow sufficient wait time for

student responses because all students no matter what age need enough
time to be able to think about what they are going to ay before they say
it. It also gives them time to be able to give a meaningful answer and not
just blurt out the first thing that comes to their mind.
9.

How do you feel about student involvement in assessment? Student

involvement in assessment is good because it stimulates student

interaction and it engages them.

10.

Why did you choose to be an elementary school teacher? Students

need love, nurturing instruction and direction. Lastly they will service
me in the future as leaders in the community so it is important that they
receive a firm foundation in elementary school.

Teacher Interview Response Below

Danielle C. Hicks
Elementary School Curriculum and Assessment
Mrs. Wright
November 18, 2014
Teacher Interview Response
The teacher interview was a wonderful experience because Mr.
Moss presented a lot of excellent responses that I will take into
consideration when I enter my classroom as a teacher. Mr. Andre Moss.
Mr. Moss has his Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education.
He has been a teacher for six years at Whittaker Elementary but, he
worked with children previously for nine years as a teachers assistant.
He has only taught the second grade and he really enjoys it.
We have learned a lot in class this year about assessments and
their importance but, Mr. Moss responses on assessments really helped
me to realize how big of a role it plays in the classroom. If the students
are not assessed properly then the teacher will not have a good
representation of how much the students understand or what areas they
need extra assistance with.

While conducting this interview I also realized the importance of

homework. Homework gives the teacher a representation of how well the
students understand the content and it should not be graded for
accuracy.
Additionally I realized the importance of allowing sufficient wait
time when asking the students questions. This is important because it
gives the students enough time to articulate a meaningful response and
not just give you a random answer.
Surprisingly he likes the common core standards, many teachers do
not like the common core standards because they feel that they are to
challenging for the students to be able to digest. Mr. Moss feels that the
students need to be challenged so that they are pushed to reach their
fullest potential. This interview was very insightful and I learned a lot
on the value of assessment in the classroom.