Running head: TEACHER INTERVIEW

Teacher Interview Project

Lauren Allen
Ivy Tech Community College

Running head: TEACHER INTERVIEW

InTASC STANDARD PAGE

InTASC Standard #8 Instructional Strategies
The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage
learners to develop deep understanding of content areas and their connections, and to
build skills to apply knowledge in meaningful ways.

Name of Artifact: Teacher Interview Project

Date: February 27, 2015
Course: EDUC 101: Introduction to Teaching
Description:
This project is an interview I did with the two fifth grade teachers at Christ the
King School, Ms. Katheryn Newport and Mrs. Margie Heck. It begins with looking at
their background and history in teaching, and focuses on their opinions about education
and the teaching profession, as well as their strategies for teaching and classroom
management. A highlight of the project was learning what they think are the most
important qualities for a teacher to possess.
Rationale:
To document my understanding of InTASC Standard 8, Instructional Strategies, I
have selected this interview because I learned about several different instructional
strategies that are being effectively used in two fifth grade classrooms. I have seen in
both of their classrooms that their students are engaged in understanding of content areas,
as well as making connections to their own experiences and prior knowledge in
meaningful and interesting ways.

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1. Tell me about yourself as a teacher.

a) Why did you decide to enter teaching?
Ms. Newport: My love of children, when I was in second grade I just had this sweet
little nun and from that point on, I wanted to be a teacher.
Mrs. Heck: I always liked kids and I loved playing school with my younger siblings.
b) How many years have you been teaching?
Ms. Newport: I started teaching in 1980, 35 years.
Mrs. Heck: All my life! Since 1985, 30 years.
c) What grade levels and/or subject areas have you taught?
Ms. Newport: I have taught Transitional Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade,
Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade, and Seventh Grade Religion.
Mrs. Heck: Science is my favorite subject to teach, I have taught Preschool though
High School and have also been a Youth Pastor.
2. What are the traits of an effective teacher?
Ms. Newport: Organization, flexibility, love and care for the students, love of the
subject matter, enthusiasm, willingness and openness to learn in terms of professional
development. It is important to try and attempt new things, be careful not to jump on
every bandwagon.
Mrs. Heck: An effective teacher needs to be flexible, patient, creative, and a
multitasker.
3. What is the single most important quality a good teacher possesses?
Ms. Newport: A love of the children.
Mrs. Heck: To love children.
4. What are your values, beliefs or philosophy about the teaching profession? Have they
changed over the years, how?
Ms. Newport: Regardless of the level that they are, they can always learn and grow
and I also believe that its really important to develop a mutual respect, high
expectations and ways that they can rise to that. I think that its really important to
love the child and have them know that you care about them. Separate the

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behavior from the person. If a child thinks that you dont like them, tell them that is
not true. Instill confidence in their ability.
Mrs. Heck: I now support homeschooling and I didnt before. Some kids need that
small environment to do well and I realized that by homeschooling my son, who has
dyslexia. My philosophy is that we are raising the next generation of the world. I
love the quote One hundred years from now, it wont matter what car I drove, what
kind of house I lived in, how much I had in my bank account nor what my clothes
looked like, but, the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of
a child.
5. Tell me about your classroom and teaching strategies.
a) How is your classroom arranged to optimize learning?
Ms. Newport: The room is arranged students are able to converse with one another
about their lessons.
Mrs. Heck: Students are paired; those who can handle it work best in groups.
b) What are your strategies for effective classroom management?
Ms. Newport: Im in charge; I will certainly allow them freedom within limits. I think
choices are good, but they always need to know whos in charge. Manners and mutual
respect, they need to be rewarded, and a balance between the work and the play.
Mrs. Heck: Inspiring them to let them take ownership of their learning allows them to
remain engaged and encourages responsibility.
c) What types of lessons plans do you create? How do you incorporate state
standards in the curriculum?
Ms. Newport: For example Math, the type of plans would be interactive, I read the
standard and I just try to make sure that we include it in whatever it is were doing.
Read a lot of background material, I like for them to try to figure things out. Present
the material in such a way that they can come up with questions and arrive at
answers. I like to design them so that there is kind of a quest for the knowledge.
Mrs. Heck: The types of lessons I plan are lots of projects that encourage
discovering, exploring, and researching. I want my students to be really involved in
their own learning and to be responsible for it.
6. What advice would you give a future teacher?
Ms. Newport: To learn how to comply and not try to fight the system. Accept those
things that you cannot control. Work on building community, as apposed to tearing it

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down. Work with your cohorts, keeping a positive attitude. Not lose faith, remember
why youre there and it is for the kids, ultimately.
Mrs. Heck: Develop an effective organization system, employ parents help, establish
routines, find a mentor teacher, and encourage teamwork in the classroom.
7. Who has given you the most support in learning to be an effective teacher?
Ms. Newport: Its some students and some parents, teaching partners, and some other
staff members.
Mrs. Heck: A mentor teacher; Ms. Newport.
8. How do you encourage involvement of parents and families in the school and in
your classroom?
Ms. Newport: Inform them of what kind of tings they can help with academically,
invite them in to work on certain projects or to present, inform them when the child
needs help or anything that arises that needs to be brought to their attention.
Mrs. Heck: At the beginning of the school year, I do an interest inventory, which
allows the parents to let me know how they can and would like to contribute. I also
email parents frequently.
9. How much time do you spend outside of the week on preparation and grading?
Ms. Newport: A lot, I would say probably like three hours average of an evening, on
a weekend maybe ten hours. At least 35 hours outside of the classroom.
Mrs. Heck: I would say between 18 and 20 hours per week.
10. What do you think is the most difficult challenge for teachers?
Ms. Newport: Time, is a huge challenge.
Mrs. Heck: Time and prioritizing.
11. What do you see as the pros and cons of ISTEP? In what ways, if any, has ISTEP
affected your teaching?
Ms. Newport: ISTEP holds us accountable for the things that we are supposed to
teach. It is a con that everyone feels such pressure and it always trickles down to the
kids, the height and the pressure around it. Sometimes youre not as creative as you
would like to be for the ISTEP.

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Mrs. Heck: ISTEP encourages writing development for the students and the cons to
ISTEP are the time it takes, the stress it puts on the students, and that they judge
schools based on good or bad test scores.
12. How do you continue your professional development? What is required to
maintain your teaching license?
Ms. Newport: To maintain my teaching license, I take six credit hours every five
years. To renew a teaching license you need at least 90 points or three credit hours in
an area of content in a teachers endorsement area. For professional development we
are able to pick and choose which workshops sound most interesting to us and attend
those workshops.
Mrs. Heck: Meetings count toward professional development, there are also paid
workshops and conferences and at our school, when a teacher or teachers goes to a
conference they bring the information back to a staff meeting to show everyone and
we all benefit from the learning.