Mentor Teacher Interview

Marquetta Strait October 10, 2013 EDUC: 327: Elementary Education Curriculum and Assessment Mrs. Wright

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Marquetta Strait October 10, 2013 EDUC: 327: Elementary Education Curriculum and Assessment Mrs. Wright

Mentor Teacher Interview

While completing my field experience at Marshall Elementary School, I had the wonderful pleasure of observing Ms. Waymyers' fifth grade class. Ms. Waymyers teaches four fifth grade classes in social studies and writing. Through my observations, she notably used engaging activities that were hands-on and encouraged students to engage in discourse by placing them in groups for some of their activities. I decided to interview Ms. Waymyers on her reasons for delving into education, challenges that she faces, and instructional strategies that she implements in her instruction. My mentor teacher, Ms. Waymyers, has been teaching for sixteen years. She originally taught in the Orangeburg School District 3 at Dover Elementary School for six years. She also taught in the Allendale County School District at Fairfax Elementary for one year. She currently has taught at Marshall Elementary School for nine years. Throughout her teaching experience at Marshall Elementary, she has taught second to sixth grades in all major content areas. Ms. Waymyers chose the teaching profession because she had a passion for educating students and watching them progress overtime. She tries to find each students gifts and talents. She strongly believes that everyone has something unique and special to contribute. This enables her to reach her goal to encourage growth. Her philosophy of education is that all children have the ability to learn. She wants to assist students to develop a deep love and respect

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for themselves, others, and education. She wants to share her passion for learning with her students and have it become their passion as well. Her experience in her college education program was allowed her to comprehend the academic knowledge of teaching, but she does admit it was not enough. She admits that her schooling did not prepare her to teach her students. Through her student teaching experience, she receive additional preparation, but it was not until she officially started teaching did she fully comprehend the duties of becoming a teacher that would lead students to success. Being that I am a future educator, Ms. Waymyers offered advice that would be beneficial to my instruction. She advised me to unpack the standards. I can do this by searching for key words and making sure that I understand exactly what the standard is and what the students must know. From there, I can begin my research. Ms. Waymyers often uses her provided lessons as a guide and adds activities that she believes her students would relate and enjoy. She admits that in the beginning of her teaching profession, she would over plan, which resulted in her having too much for the students to do. She recommends that less is better. While managing her classroom, Ms. Waymyers tells her students the expectations she has for them in the beginning of the year. She sets reasonable rules and consequences. Lastly, she believes that I should say what I mean and mean what I say. In other words, I should not tell students anything that I do not intend to follow through with or that cannot really do. If students finds weakness in my plan, they will use it to their advantage. She stresses that I should review the rules and expectations frequently. I should also give praise and explanations to the students that are abiding by the rules of the classroom. As a future educator, she admonishes me to not try to be a "super" teacher. I should try to reach all students, but I need to understand that I cannot reach every student all at once. She

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believes that as long as I have done my extreme best, I have done my job. Ms. Waymyers states that growth is growth. If a student leaves their teacher better than they came in, then that teacher has made a difference. Unfortunately, educators cannot correct everything in one year. Some of her other tips were to avoid playing favorites, be firm when necessary, gentle when needed, and humorous as often as possible. The Teaching and Learning Framework drives Ms. Waymyers' instruction because she has to align her lesson to the Common Core Standards. Her instruction is driven by the state's academic standards, data that she receives from teachers' observations, district benchmarks, and common assessments. It is through her assessment that she forms her instruction. She looks at the standards that are most commonly not mastered by students on the assessments. Those are the standards that she chooses to reteach first to the whole group. For students who still do not master the concept, she will work with those students in small group sessions when possible. If small groups is not an option, she will use other tools such as Study Island to help reinforce the skills. Although Ms. Waymyers tries extremely hard to teach her students, one of her challenges this year is finding enough time to actually teach and reteach with all of the interruptions and assessments. These assessments, albeit are important for assessing students, tend to interrupt the flow of class learning. There are many times that she feels she spends more time testing than she does teaching, which could cause frustration in the classroom. To keep a leveled head, she tries to make many learning opportunities and avoid wasting time that could be spent on teaching the students. Although she faces this challenge, if she could rewind her life, she would still choose to teach.

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After interviewing Ms. Waymyers, I was able to retain an abundance of information. When I begin teaching, it is important to unpack my standards, try to incorporate content that is relatable and peaks the interest of the students, assess my students to improve my instruction, and maintain a well-managed classroom. I plan to continue to enhance my skills as a future educator to better assist my students to become successful.