Educator Interview Project

Professional Educator Interview Project Helen Casey Huffty Introduction to Pedagogy Dr. Dwyer

Educator Interview Project

Abstract The contents of this paper briefly explain interviews I have conducted with professional educators. The interviews are with two teachers that inspired my choice to become an educator. They are both teachers of the arts; one is a middle school teacher and the other is currently teaching high school.

Educator Interview Project

Educator Interview Project This project was quite interesting and inspired truly enjoyable conversation with two women that I greatly admire. For this paper I interviewed the two most fantastic teachers that I know. Mrs. Heather Gann is a sixth grade art teacher and seventh grade language arts teacher at Hudson Middle School in Lufkin, Texas. She has taught art, language arts, and ESL classes all over Texas. She received her bachelors degree in art at Stephen F. Austin and in 1999 began teaching art in Houston, and later went back to the university to earn her masters to teach language arts classes as well. She is also my mother, and my greatest inspiration to share my love of a subject through teaching. Mrs. Kristen Thomas is a remarkable woman who teaches AP and dual credit English classes at Nacogdoches High School. She has been teaching for nearly nineteen years and has spent fifteen of those years teaching at Nacogdoches ISD. Her mother was the one who ultimately inspired her to become a teacher; she teaches online English classes here at SFA. The interviews allowed me the welcome chance to catch up and converse with Mrs. Thomas as I never had, and allowed my mother and I to have a lovely conversation as equals. I enjoyed the inside look at my future career, and it greatly elevated my understanding of what is to come in my professional career. The feedback I received from these two women in regards to my choice of profession was incredibly encouraging. The personalities of these two women are easily conveyed through their answers, and it was great to get the viewpoint and advice from experienced teachers. Patterns and themes can be easily observed by the answers of the two teachers. Both are clearly passionate about what they are doing, what they are teaching,

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their students, and their responsibilities as educators. They both were very warm and encouraging and responded to my questions with great enthusiasm. I began each interview by asking several general questions about their personal reflections on their own teaching. It is evident by observation of the women that they value the intrinsic rewards of teaching above all else (Ryan & Cooper, 3). Both educators prized themselves to be compassionate and understanding, and held their relationships with their students above all. These women share my belief that the teacher should be an authority figure to students, but more importantly should fulfill a nurturing role in the students life. As stated in the text, if teachers possess empathy for their students and value them as unique ind ividuals, these teachers will be more effective and will derive more satisfaction from their teaching (Ryan & Cooper, 172). An amusing similarity between the two women appeared when I acquired about their educational philosophies; the looks on their faces made me realize something I have been told all year: in the real classroom, theory goes out the window. It was a scary revelation; the theories Ive learned in education classes are my crutches, and one day I will have to use my own legs. I was excited to share the belief in reflective and life-long learning with Mrs. Gann and Mrs. Thomas, and it encouraged my hopes for the future of education in this country. Both educators also emphasized the importance of getting parents on board with you early on in the school year. I strongly believe that as the two major forces for educating and socializing children in society, parents and teachers should be natural allies (Ryan & Cooper, 359). In my future years of teaching, especially after the chance to conduct these interview, I know that forming relationships with parents is of utmost importance and is crucial to the ensured success of my students.

Educator Interview Project

There were also very fundamental differences between the women I interview. Mrs. Gann is clearly an absolute romantic in her student centered educational beliefs even though she hadnt quite realized it before the interview (Ryan & Cooper, 299). Mrs. Thomas also leads a student centered classroom, but she is more accurately described as progressivism (Ryan & Cooper, 302). I was incredibly disappointed with the responses I received about motivating students. I think that this will be one of my main goals in my class room now, because the characteristics of reflective and eternal learning and intellectual growth are too important not to pass on to the next generations (Ryan & Cooper, 11).

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Educator Interview Questions and Answers Describe what inspired you to pursue a career in education? Mrs. Thomas: I have always known that I wanted to teach. Both of my parents are, my grandmother was a teacher, so I have been indoctrinated to a teaching culture. Genetics, I guess. Mrs. Gann: I knew I wanted to have children, and I didnt want my children to be a latchkey kid like I was; I chose teaching for its hours. Thankfully, I grew to love it. What is your educational philosophy, and how do you express this in your classroom? Mrs. Thomas: I believe that everyone can learn. I also believe that it is never too late to learn. Mrs. Gann: Its been fourteen years since I have thought about my philosophy, I guess. I believe all children can learn but need to be kept on track. Sometimes we believe in them more than they believe in themselves, and that is what they need. Describe what you consider to be the most effective way to establish classroom rules, and what are they? Mrs. Thomas: Physical violence. Obey me. That is all. (We laughed for a while here; I can vouch first hand that her methods work.) Mrs. Gann: From Day 1: clear and consistent goals, no back-pedaling. Respect goes two ways. Listen to instructions, I dont repeat them. Recollect your first day of teaching. What were your concerns and how were they resolved? Mrs. Thomas: That was 400 years ago. How is one to remember that? Im pretty sure I just wanted to survive. I did. The students didnt revolt, and eventually I learned that they just want to feel like they can trust that their teacher knows what he/she is doing. Mrs. Gann: Absolute terror- the sudden realization (she went off on a tangent claiming that SFA did a crappy job of actually preparing her for the real world. Or maybe it was the difference in degree plans, being an art major, teachin g minor I only had Educational Psych and maybe one other teaching class.) I thought I was so preparedpiece of cake, but when I was actually the one standing up in front of my own class, it was pretty scary. I felt like I was going to throw up!

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What advice do you have for my first day of teaching?! Mrs. Thomas: Fake confidence. Know that it is super hard, but that you are up for the challenge. That which does not kill you makes you stronger. Mrs. Gann: Try not to throw up in front of your class, you will lose all credibility. How do you deal with parents, and get them to cooperate with you and their child in the classroom? Mrs. Thomas: I work very hard to communicate expectations clearly to parents and students. Parents generally want the best for their children, and like their children want to trust that their childs teacher is competent, and has his or her childs best interests at heart. Mrs. Gann: Be proactive, not reactive. Clear and consistent classroom goals: follow-through, keep good records, contact parents early on. Describe the ideal learning environment for students. What kind of lesson or activity offers the best chances of students actually retaining knowledge? Mrs. Thomas: There is not one ideal learning environment. The environment should be changeable so as to best meet the needs of all types of learners. And everyone gets bored with the same thing all the time. Lessons should be designed to elicit the complexities of thought demanded by the TEKS. Students should feel that they are being asked to do something worthwhile. Mrs. Gann: Pft. Thats funny. I almost think why botheryou will NEVER be actually confronted with that situationbut it never hurts to dream, if youre going to dream, dream bigIn an ideal learning environment every student will have had seven hours of sleep the night before, and would have been woken up by a parent who then fed them a decent breakfast. People (not teachers) often fail to see how a students home environment has a direct and lasting effect on how the student performs at school. Once at school, the student would have access to any and all media and technology that you could ever want. They would feel safe at the school and know that their teachers would do anything to protect them. They would be actively engaged, both mentally and physically, and projects would be student led. There would be adequate time for talk, both with the teachers and amongst themselves as well as adequate time to explore the fine arts. There would be no standardized testing and student attendance would be strictly on a volunteer basis. Keep them moving as much as possible, brain exercises.

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How do you get your students motivated about coursework? Mrs. Thomas: Threats. My students are intrinsically motivated, mostly. I remind them of how what we are doing will help them in college. Mrs. Gann: It is impossible to get students motivated on coursework. A student must be intrinsically motivated. A student who does not care about the coursework or the school will only be motivated when they, themselves realize what having an education can do for them. How do you manage all the paperwork?! Mrs. Thomas: LOOK AT MY DESK! I mean, have you seen it?!?! I cant advise on thiswe all have to manage it in our own special way. I personally drown in it. Mrs. Gann: (my mother did not even answer me, she just raised her eyebrows as if to say: oh honey youre going to die). What is your grading system like? Mrs. Thomas: My grading system is like an octopus. Or like a (she struggles to find a clever and funny response but gives up with a sigh and admits) I dont know. I take grades. Major grades are weighted 70% and daily are 30%. I give students a rubric for major assignments . . . stuff like that. Mrs. Gann: Luckily, I do not have a hard time with this considering the classes that I have. Our grading system is developed by admin: 9 daily grades and 4 test grades. My advice, dont procrastinate. Develop a record keepin g system that works for you; learn the teachers creed: beg, steal and borrow. How much time do you spend covering TEKS standards? Mrs. Thomas: All the time. There is no room for anything else. Mrs. Gann: You know, I really dont even think about it. The students are already nervous and stressed about it constantly. My students make high scores because I teach them beyond what they need to know for that thing.

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Do you teach directly to the STAAR test? Mrs. Thomas: No. The STAAR test is designed to make teaching to the test difficult to do. So we teach the TEKS and the STAAR test works itself out. Theoretically. The questions on STAAR (at least for English) are hard to game. There aren't any tricks to answering them. The questions require students to know the material they have read and answer in-depth questions about. It is more like the AP exam than like TAKS. There are test taking strategies that can be taught, for example, annotating, looking up words, picking apart a prompt, but really, kids need to be able to read and write. Mrs. Gann: Not currently but when I did I would say 80% of time was spent on direct STAAR teaching; concepts though, I dont waste time on strategies. What way do you assess that your students understand the requirements of these standards? Mrs. Thomas: English is skills based. Therefore, I make them demonstrate that they have the skills by making them write, mostly. And write, and think, and write, and read, and write. Mrs. Gann: Practice tests mostly, just to keep up with their progress without putting too much pressure on students.