Shayne Kearney

ISM-6
th
period


ISM- Interview Summary

Mentor- Mrs. Troutt

(Question 2) Current educational level: Bachelors of Science in Education,
Lifetime Certification in Texas for General Education of K-6, continuing to learn
through Professional Development provided by CCISD
(Question 3) Typical day to day activities: teaches three 85 minute science
classes and one social studies class to her homeroom; starts the day with social
studies; block is from 9:00-9:45 a.m. where the students attend music, PE, or art;
30 minute lunch
(Question 7) Style of teaching: active, engaging, like to engage the student s
through singing; tries to make everything come to life (acting it out)
(Question 8) Ways that are affective for the students to grasp information:
students learn the material in different ways- seeing it (visual-spatial), hearing it
(aural-auditory-musical), writing it (visual), acting it out (physical-kinesthetic),
singing it (aural-auditory-musical); tries to include as many learning styles as
possible.
(Question 9) Challenges faced in the classroom: lack of focus, personal needs not
met (breakfast, lunch, no snack), lack of discipline/ repercussions for behavior,
talkative children, students completing their work on time
(Question 10) Learning styles present in the classroom: All learning styles are
present in the classroom, maybe not on a daily basis, but weekly; visual (spatial),
aural (auditory-musical), and physical (kinesthetic) are the three learning styles
that are the most/ consistently present in the classroom
(Question 11) Rules established in the classroom: The Golden Rule is do
everything you can that will help yourself and others learn. In the beginning of the
year the students and the teachers talk a lot about character and the importance of
doing your best. The students have a conduct sheet that has specific rules- listen
and follow directions, stay on task, organizes, uses, and cares for materials,
completes and turns in assignments, respects the rights and property of others,
respect conflict appropriately, accepts responsibility for own behavior
(Question 12) Format used to develop a lesson: My mentor uses the CCISD
curriculum; many of the lessons are the 5E model-engage, exploration,
explanation, elaboration, evaluation; the students have a warm-up everyday when
they first come in the classroom to get their minds working
Shayne Kearney

ISM-6
th
period


ISM Interview Summary

Other Professional #1- Mrs. Toellner

(Question 2) Current educational level: Bachelors from the University of
Wisconsin in May of 2012 and has teaching licensing in both Wisconsin and
Texas. Continuing education and training required: Required to become certified
to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) students, as well as training to teach
Gifted and Talented students. There is also constant professional development.
Clear Creek ISD requires 250+ credits every 5 years. Texas Education Agency
requires 150 hours every 5 years.
(Question 6) Potential growth in field: Many teachers go on to earn Masters
degrees in teaching, educational leadership, and counseling. Adding on many
certificates to your teaching certificate is always an option.
(Question 7) Style of teaching: 100% focused on her kids. Sometimes they need a
teacher who is able to be silly with them and some days they need structure. She
often tells them there is a difference between being strict and being mean. She
doesnt ever think there is a need to be purposefully mean but she knows that
structure produces an environment for kids to be successful.
(Question 8) Ways that are affective for the students to grasp the information:
Repeat, repeat , repeat! She says how to do a task many times before she actually
lets them complete it. She always models the task while shes repeating
expectations so that they know what it should look like. She has a list of
expectations on the board so they know there is no room for talking in between
tasks at any point in time. She always tells them You are here to be a learner
today! There are times when she tells them to put their heads down and close
their eyes. Shell say Give me one finger is you are totally lost and we need some
practice together. Give me two fingers if you feel you could complete the task
yourself but still are a little shaky. Give me three fingers if you are ready for Mrs.
Toellner to let you loose and you know youve got this! They are always honest
and its a great way for her to check on herself as a teacher to see how shes
explaining something.
(Question 10) Learning styles present in the classroom: All learning styles are
present in every classroom, Even if a student prefers one learning style, they
might gravitate towards another style when learning something new so she knows
as a teacher, shes got to be able to communicate in many different ways. Plus she
thinks its a positive thing to be challenged in new ways. One student may prefer
kinesthetic learning but participating in a lesson that involves music is something
that is growing them as a learner.
(Question 12) Format used to develop lesson plan: Each lesson has an objective
or TEK behind it that she needs to make sure her students have in their learning.
Read aloud, mini lesson, small group work time, independent work time. For this
she always thinks about her students. What read aloud can she use that they would
enjoy but still gets her point across? What project or activity can we be working
Shayne Kearney

ISM-6
th
period



on that is something they would enjoy but still challenge them? It has to be about
your students. Shes not going to have her kids change to meet the curriculum.
Shes going to have the curriculum change to meet the needs of her kids.


Shayne Kearney

ISM-6
th
period


ISM Interview Summary

Other Professional #2- Ms. Piazza

(Question 2) Current educational level: Bachelors Degree in Interdisciplinary
Studies (Elem. Ed.), Teaching Certificates: preK-6 General and early childhood,
4-6 Science, GT Supplemental, and ESL. Education and training required:
Required to have 150 Continuing Education hours every 5 years to maintain my
general certificate and she must do a 6 hour GT update yearly to be able to tech
GT students.
(Question 3) Day to day activities: Lesson planning, teaching (in the classroom
with the students), meeting with GT Specialists and SPED case manager to
collaborate about students in those programs, faculty meetings, design team
meetings, communicating with parents (email, phone, or in person), and grading
papers.
(Question 5) Typical (average or lowest to highest) salary: Starting pay is around
$45,000 and the range of pay is $45,000 to $60,000.
(Question 7) Style of teaching: Authoritative style of teaching. She is firm and
sets boundaries with her students but she also lets them know that it is ok to have
a little fun while learning. It is really important to form a relationship with y
students and for them to know that her classroom is a safe and loving
environment.
(Question 8) Ways that are affective for the students to grasp the information:
Every student is different and it is important to remember that when teaching a
lesson. She tries to vary how she teaches throughout a concept so that she can
reach each learning style. She has found that smaller learning groups are very
effective.
(Question 10) Learning styles are present in the classroom: All learning are
present (visual-spatial, aural-auditory-musical, verbal-linguistic, physical-
kinesthetic, logical-mathematical, social-interpersonal, solitary-intrapersonal.
Although, visual (spatial), aural (auditory-musical), and physical (kinesthetic) are
the three learning styles that are the most/ consistently present in the classroom
(Question 11) Rules established in the classroom: The number one rule in her
classroom is to respect one another. She believes that if we all do that the res will
fall into place.
(Question 12) Format used to develop a lesson plan: She looks at the district
curriculum for the skill she needs to teach. Then she pulls everything she has on
that skill from her files. She looks for the best ideas to meet the needs of her
students, taking into account the different levels within her classroom and the
different learning styles.