Interview A Teacher : An Interview With 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.

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.

It wasn't until she went to do fieldwork in schools, that she decided to become a teacher. She realized, through inspiring teachers and students she worked with, that she wanted to do just what every teacher that inspired her to do. She wants to be seen as a positive role model to her students and teach them how to cooperate with each one another. She wants to leave the great impact that each of her teachers has left on her, and she wants to have a positive impact on their lives. Getting to know a student and understanding their lives and possible hardships they face, can have a huge impact on how a student views you. Being there for your student, being supportive, being understanding, are just a few qualities all teachers should

Mrs. Lawrence: When planning a lesson, I start with the objective. What is it I am supposed to be cover. Once I know, I start with a hook. I access their prior knowledge then I move on with either an example or model. All along I ask questions to make sure the students

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

I have always been surrounded by teachers, and I have invariably been fascinated by the amazing feats they are able to accomplish. I admired how they were able to captivate an entire room of rowdy

She explained positive parts about being a teacher as being able to do what you love with growing children. As children go through stages of development, it is a good feeling to see what they are going to become in the future. She explains the bond she has with her students as one of the greatest feelings in the world. In early childhood, being their first teacher can have a major impact on how well they are going to do. Being able to create a good well-educated start to education is important. She explained that she wants to be able to educate children in the best way she can because the outcome of seeing them succeed is amazing.

For this assignment, I chose to interview Ms. Lisa Parker, who is a Math co-teacher and resource teacher for grades K-5 at Krahn Elementary which is a part of the Klein Independent School District and is one of the teachers I have been observing for my field experience. Ms. Parker has been a teacher at Krahn Elementary since 17 years. She started as a 1st grade teacher and was moved to 3rd grade after three years. The administration saw that she was really good with management and math, so she was given the below average, special education students and kids with adaptive behavior after seven years of teaching. With this, she adopted a style for teaching kids with special needs and decided to get a certification in Special Education. Ms. Parker has been teaching specifically in Special Education (SPED) since five years now and the special populations served by her in Krahn elementary include Gifted and Talented students (GT), students with Autism, students with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), students with Learning disabilities (LD), students with Other Health Impairments (OHI) and Emotionally Disturbed children (EBD)

Mrs. Wilson is the teacher who has had the most impact on my life. She was my first grade teacher and the woman who gave me a love for learning. I was a child with a very low self-esteem. I felt like I struggled to fit in, I had two older brothers, who to me, seemed to be great at everything. My brothers are four and five years older than I am. My oldest brother got straight A’s and my other brother was very athletic.

Your interview with Mrs. Marybeth Elswick was absorbing. I liked the questions and answers that you asked her and she gave you. I like what Mrs. Elswick said about handling the classroom discipline. I know as a future teacher I will take that into consideration. I also agree with Mrs. Elswick about if teachers should be responsible for their student's performance. When you are a teacher, you are being told how to teach daily and not letting things go your way. Even the questions paper you set applies to scrutiny and your notes too. Then what are the form of a teacher? And the second point should be you are held responsible for students performance.

One of the questions I asked her was “What skills and personal qualities are important for success in your field?” after I asked this question she told me that some of the keys that make a successful teacher is someone who is patient and loves kids. She also said that being a teacher is one of the most rewarding jobs to have because no other occupation is possible without a teacher. Her response made me think about myself and made me realize that I really do want to be a teacher.

My fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Wilsey, has influenced my life. Right before I entered fifth grade, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. Crohn’s Disease is an incurable disease that causes inflammation throughout my entire gastrointestinal tract. While in fifth grade, I had to miss numerous days of school because of the treatments I would receive during the school day that was three hours away, as well as suffering from complications due to my Crohn’s Disease. Even though I was worried about falling behind in my classwork, Mrs. Wilsey was always there for me and guiding me through the most difficult time of my life. She was always willing to help me get caught up with the assignments I missed, and she would allow me to have extra time to make

The atmosphere she created in her classroom was unlike any teacher I’d ever had. If there’s one thing I could say, her class was never boring. Whether she was wearing a witch hat waving around a plastic sword – in correlation to Macbeth, or jamming out with an air guitar to Iron Maiden - pertaining to Dante’s Inferno. She could include anyone’s interest to make sure learning was fun for everyone. The love and compassion she has for teaching radiates off of

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

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.