A Teacher Interview : Interview As A Teacher

What does it mean to be a school teacher? Before mindlessly declaring my major in teaching, I have decided to ask a teacher them self about their experience. My mentor, Gina Biles, has taught sixth grade students at Clear Lake Intermediate School for more than fifteen years. The opportunity to mentor a college student sounded exciting to Ms. Biles, who has always loved motivating, inspiring, and educating the youth. Throughout the interview, her goal has been to portray the life of an educator and to stress the impact education has had on her life.

Doing field experience at St.Mary’s Preschool has taught me a lot not only about the educational system but about myself as well. I’ve learned over these couple of months that in order to become a wonderful teacher, you have to have an enormous amount of patience and dedication. Teaching isn’t an easy profession and through this experience, my respect for my teachers have grown tremendously. Many students often take their teachers for granted but they don't realize what they do for us.

Ashlyn Edwards is an elementary school grades teacher and is licensed to teach grade levels K-6. She currently resides in Texas and has taken some time off from teaching to be with her family. Before taking the time off, Ashlyn worked in two different schools, one of which was in Georgia and the other in Kansas. In Georgia, she taught Kindergarten and in Kansas she taught grade 1. I chose to interview Ashlyn because I had met her several years ago through another friend and I found out she was a teacher at that time. Even though I had not got to know more about Ashlyn before this interview, I was hopeful that she would be able to provide me some insight into what it is like being a teacher and the ups and downs of the job. I asked Ashlyn five questions related to her job and she provided answers that not only guided me but also helped me to understand ways that I can become prepared to teach.

I have taught students ranging from five years old to nineteen years of age. Hence, being an educator, I have learned that learning is always shifting, therefore I must keep improving with the incessant changes. As a little girl, I have always dreamt of being a teacher and I have carried out that dream. My career journey started as a substitute teacher, a floater between classrooms, an assistant teacher, a teacher, a center supervisor, and an educational supervisor. I presently work as an Educational consultant for Danya International LLC. As an Educational Consultant, I able to review and aid with the learning environment of teachers and educational management in a school

Even though I volunteered in different schools, I never had the opportunity to ask about the real feelings of a teacher. During the interview, I learned that there is more than just teaching in becoming a teacher. This is because she told me how one of her hesitation on becoming a teacher is the time one dedicates for the job. She told me that when one is teacher, one must prepare lesson plans, come to school early to prepare for the day, and even stay longer to grade papers. She said that her typical day starts at 7:30 am to prepare materials and school instruction starts from 8:00 am until 4:30 pm. Then, even though the class ends already, she needs to create lesson plans for the entire week. She said that all these things are part of a teacher’s job, but they do not get paid to do these things. Therefore, I learned that being a teacher is not easy because there are a lot of extra responsibilities beyond the job description and that being a teacher extend beyond the classroom. Additionally, her answer made me reflect on whether I want a job, where I have to work more than the “work hours.” However, despite this workload, what amazes me was when she said that if she could go back, she would still choose to be a teacher because of her passion to make a difference in the lives of the

As I logged onto my Facebook account last week, I received a notification saying that this time last year I was a Junior Knight Summer Camp volunteer photographer. I was in total disbelief because this year I actually got the chance to teach rising sixth graders along with my other two cohort members. I must say that being a “teacher” is completely different than being a “volunteer”. As a teacher, you are held accountable for everything that goes on in and out of your classroom that involves your students. I had the opportunity to be apart of the preparation process, build rapport with my students, build great co-teaching relationships and develop my leadership qualities even further.

I interviewed a childcare teacher engaged in the Early Childhood Development. She graduated from East Tennessee State University. She has been intrigued by children her entire life, she has volunteered with children with disabilities and worked with children since age 16. You can say that teaching has been a dream job of hers. Going through the interview I went through a series of questions as follows. What are positive and negative parts about being a teacher? What disciplinary styles work the best? And how can teaching in America be improved?

My decision to be a teacher did not come easily to me. This choice was dependent on a reflection about what I was passionate about and how I could make a difference. I have chosen to become a teacher, as I believe teachers have the ability to provide future generations the stimulation for one of the most significant roles in life; to become a lifelong learner. Many teachers that I have had during my education have had a positive impact on my decision to grow and develop the skills that are fundamental to pursue a successful teaching career. My aim is to be a part of an honorable profession with the optimism that one day I will become an efficacious teacher who can provide future teachers with inspiration, as my teachers have provided for me. Through personal educational experiences and peer-reviewed academic literature, I am able to shape my approach to my pre-service teaching, as it will influence my future practice. As a teacher, there is not just one singular approach to educating students; there is a need for flexibility, diversity, adaptation and reflection.

When interviewing Mrs. F, she explained that a behavior concern for Richard is his inability to stay focus on a task for a long period of time. She mentioned, “He loves to walk around the class, especially when he sees a group of students talking. Richard will get up and try to join their conversation”. She expressed that his peers have difficulty understanding what he is saying because of his lack of speech. When asking her what she does when he becomes to wonder around the classroom, she mentioned that he just tells him to return to his seat. Richard is response positive to commands when they are given to him. He has not shown aggressive behavior when he does not get his way with Mrs. F. Mrs. F

It wasn’t until junior year of high school, I realized I had a strong passion for teaching and helping others. When I was a child, dress-up and tea parties were never an option for my “play-date” guests. I was always pretending to be a teacher, while my guest landed the role as the student in class along with all of my stuffed animals and dolls. I have always dreamed of becoming a teacher, but it wasn’t until I reached high school I realized I wanted to become a high school teacher. For a while I was unsure of what I would like to teach. All I knew was I wanted to teach at a secondary level. During senior year, I found my passion. I realized Family and Consumer Science was the path for me.

Over the last several years I have been involved in the hiring process for teachers, assistant principals, and principals at my school therefore I am very aware of the difficult process of determining if a candidate has the necessary skill set and qualities to be a part of a school. In the article Improving Teacher Selection with Behavior-based Interviewing written by Mary C. Clement she discusses behavior based interviewing which has been adopted from the business world into the education world. Gone are the days of writing a seven-point lesson plan, now the focus is on how was that lesson taught and how did you as a teacher handle specific situations.

The teacher I interviewed has taught for more than ten years at the same school. She started as a fourth grade teacher but she now works as an interventionist.

This past semesters has been an eye opening experience that has changed my views on teacher. Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to be a fourth grade teacher. However after being placed in a second grade classroom my views have changed. I liked the idea of teaching fourth grade because my fourth grade teacher was my inspiration in life. When I was in Ms. Petro’s class I enjoyed being able to watch the students progress over time. Being able to see the drastic improvements in little children is very rewarding and that is why I want to continue to teach lower grades. I have learned that being a teacher requires a special someone, a person who knows that sometimes you will have to deal with tough situations leaving you exhausted and feeling like you are not able to help more. But at the same time, being a teacher allows one to be a visionary for the world and those who surround you.

Brittni Darras is a young lady who knew since grade school she was destined to become a teacher. Although her mother worked (and still works) for a school district when she was growing up, Brittni says she developed a love of teaching on her own. She finished her undergrad in record time and was accepted into the Master’s of Arts in Teaching program at Colorado College when she was barely in her twenties, graduating by the time she was twenty two. Although she has only been teaching for a little over four years she has already learned a great deal about what it takes to be an effective teacher. Brittni teaches 10th and 11th English at Rampart High School. There are approximately 1600 students at Rampart High School and most classes have as few as 24 students and no more than 33. Less than 15% of Ramparts students receive government provided meals and approximately three students per class are on IEPs or 504s (There are approximately 200 combined 504s and IEPs in the entire school).

I am so delighted to have been able to conduct this professional interview- I was exposed to many aspects of teaching such as class management, any obstacles I may face, and stresses I may have to deal with as a teacher. I chose to interview my former, Grade 12 Biology teacher during his break in the science office at my former high-school (my former Grade 12 chemistry teacher was also present in the room). He provided me with a lot of information on my program, his views on teaching, and what he has learned from his experience as a teacher. He has been teaching for around 10 years, however, teaching is not his first profession, it is his third – he has experience working in an office setting as well. During his second career he realized that working an office job was not what he liked to do and so, he decided to pursue teacher’s college. The decision to attend teacher’s college came from his prior exposure to the world of teaching, with his wife and various other members of his family also working as teachers, as well as the realization that he was an effective mentor and trainer toward new members in his office. So far, he says, he enjoys teaching and has no regrets overall that he chose this pathway, however, there are times when he is exhausted and thinks “Why am I doing this?” but says it’s worth it when ex- students visit and tell him how his advice and what he has taught them is turning out to be beneficial for them or when they talk about their achievements- it