Gabriella Sozio

Mrs. Mason

Tomorrows Teachers

10 February 2020

Interview with Mrs. Reilly

I interviewed my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Reilly, about her experience and opinions as a

teacher. She has been a teacher at Bunker Hill Middle School for 10 years. Bunker Hill is the

only school she has taught at. She has always taught 8th grade math, specifically pre-algebra and

advanced algebra I. She has also taught some BSI and supplemental classes. Mrs. Reilly went to

Rider University and double majored in elementary education and mathematics. She also

minored in middle school elementary. She is certified to teach K through 12.

1) What grading procedures do you use?

R: We have a set percentage for each class: 15% is homework, 35% is minor assessments

(quizzes), and 50% is test. So, that’s put on us, we don’t get to pick that. Every single

grade you get in the middle school is based on that scale.

2) Are there any English Learners in the classes?

R: Not that I’m aware of this year, but I have had them in the past. I hardly every get ESL

kids.

3) Are there any students who have special needs I should be aware of?

R: Yes. I have a couple kids who are specifically labeled “special needs”. It’s interesting

because they have IEPs and I always thought you were supposed to have another teacher

with you, but I don’t think it usually happens like that. You can have a kid who has an
 IEP that doesn’t apply to your class. I have kids who need accommodations but I don’t

have another teacher so I try my best to follow them but there are limitations. I have a lot

of kids who have 504s and there’s something called I and Rs (intervention and response).

That’s for kids where they see a pattern happening and they’re trying strategies because if

they don’t work, we might move towards a 504.

4) What are some ways you differentiate instruction?

R: A lot of times, I will cut out problems because I know some of my kids will get

overwhelmed if I give them too many problems. I’ll try to stack the groups, like if we’re

doing group work or even seating. Seating, a lot of times, I try to put strong with lower,

so that I can have them talk and learn from each other. When we do around the room

stuff or small groups, one day I might do low, middle, high, another day I might make

each group a good mix of each level. Testing especially, I’ll cut out problems. I keep in

mind who I’m talking to when I give them hints. One kid, who I know has the ability but

didn’t study isn’t going to get as good of a hint as someone who has worked their butt off

but just don’t understand the computation especially.

5) Will you please explain our philosophy concerning classroom discipline? What behaviors

do you discourage and encourage?

R: If someone is being disrespectful, I take very seriously; but it depends on what kind of

disrespectful. If someone is refusing to do their work, then I try to have a logical

consequence: if you don’t do your work now or participate, I’m going to give you

additional work to try and motivate you. Other students will get what I call chips. They’ll

come over and pick 3 up and its like their 3 chances. If they’re being distracting, I’ll go

over and take a chip and that’s like a visual way of being able to see there will be
 consequences when they run out. I haven’t had too many problems this year, but we have

really good administrators so if I’m having an issue I can just go and talk to them.

6) How do you maintain active communications with parents?

R: I have a hard time talking to parents. It’s the thing about my job that gives me the most

anxiety. I don’t know if they’re going to have a positive response and be supportive of

what I’m saying or they’re going to go off on me. What I try to do, is when I see a

problem starting, I’ll give the kids a heads up and say, “if you don’t stop, I’m going to

email home”. If it continues, I’ll email home and say, “I’m seeing this pattern can you

talk to them?” If it’s something more serious I’ll give the parents a call, although its hard

to get in touch with most people. Because this is an age where the kids are starting to be

more responsible for themselves, I do have remind and stuff to help them keep up on

their homework.

7) What techniques do you use to motivate students?

R: I try to have a logical consequence: if you don’t do your work now or participate, I’m

going to give you additional work to try and motivate you. For example, I’ve found for

one kid, who doesn’t like to do his work, the best way to motivate him is to say “if you

don’t get 10 problems done by the end of class, you have to…” insert consequence. I also

have my moolah. I give them out when kids answer a hard question in class or win a

review game. They can add moolahs to grades that aren’t as good as they’d like them too

be or if they have enough, they can use it as a homework pass.

8) What are the special challenges of teaching this subject or grade level?

R: Particularly in 8th grade, their hormones change so quickly. You could see someone in

the morning, and they have a smile on their face and then you see them in the afternoon
 and their eyes are all puffy. Everything is heightened because of hormones. So that’s a

little tough, but I also think there’s an opportunity there to talk them through stuff and

help them feel supported. Kids tend to, some kids not all kids, start becoming lazy, and

they’re still not organized. So, the fact that there’s so many classes going on, if you’re not

organized, you’re all over the place and then if you become lazy on top of it, it can be

challenging. You never know what you’re going to get with the kids. Also, math

specifically, the kids ask me at least once a unit, ‘Am I ever going to use this?’

Sometimes they just don’t see the meaning in what they’re doing. So, my go-to, is I say,

‘you’re going to have to problem solve every day of your life as an adult, and the older

you get the more you’re going to have to problem solve. When you problem solve, you

shape your brain a certain way so math is helping prepare you.’

9) How would you describe your school’s culture/climate?

R: These administrators have worked really hard to try to talk about the characteristics of

what being a well-rounded student here is like. They talk about being a “bulldog” a lot.

You don’t have to fit in this perfect mold, but we do look out for each other, which is

nice. They try to make it like a community, which is like what I try to make my

classroom like too. That’s why I’m ok with some talking, but it can’t get in the way of

instruction.

10) How important are standardized test scores to your school?

R: They’re important, I think they’re apart of funding. I don’t take it as a reflection of

myself. It’s not a test that I’m taking. I know I’m doing my best everyday and some kids

get to the standardized test and their parents say, ‘just guess, I don’t care’ and I can’t

control that. Do I want them to do well? Yes, of course. But I can’t control the outcome. I
 do look at the scores and I try to figure out why the kids do better or worse than I

expected. I try to motivate them to work hard, but it’s tough.

11) What is it like working with another teacher?

R: It depends. Sometimes there’s a good connection and you can go back and forth with

them and it’s perfect. Other times it sucks because you know it won’t work and you’re

stuck with this person for a year. Most of the time I really enjoy it. What I look for in a

partnership is someone who is an equal. A lot of times you have to figure out a nice

compromise. Especially if you each have different teaching styles.

12) Do you prefer having someone else in the room?

R: Most of the time I really enjoy it. I love being in a class with Mrs. Westerby (the other

8th grade math teacher). We do a lot of lessons together and we really go back and forth.

13) What are your favorite ways to make math fun?

R: I like doing things on the computer because the kids seem to enjoy doing things that

involve technology. It’s also really important to me for them to do things that involve

talking to other kids. I think hearing themselves talk in their own language about math is

one of the best ways for them to learn, and it’s a lot more fun than having a teacher talk

all the time. Games, competitions, and moolah are a good way to motivate them and also

be fun. I also try to build a rapport so I can make jokes and stuff like that. I try to get

them up and moving around so they don’t sit in their seats all the time. I think using real

world applications and making it about stuff other than equations helps them connect and

have more fun.

14) What do you do if your students aren’t getting the material, but you have to move on?
 R: It depends. If it’s the whole class that’s not getting it, I’m not moving forward if I

know they will need to apply it later on. If it’s a couple of kids, I’ll try to work with them

individually after school. Not everyone is going to get everything so at some point, you

have to move on. I’d rather them understand the basics very well and not totally

understand the tiny details like proofs.

15) What do you do if one of your classes gets behind the others?

R: I try to keep my classes at the same spot, but sometimes, some classes work faster than

others. For the classes that need more time to understand things I might pick easier

examples or do less example with them so I know they’re at the same point as the other

classes.