Teacher Interview
For the Teacher Interview assignment, I gave one of my cooperating teachers, Mrs. Lowrance, the questions ahead of time and then asked her the questions the next day. The first question was "What do you do to lay the groundwork for a well-managed class at the beginning of the year, and how do you maintain a positive learning environment?" In response, she said that the class creates a list of rules together and then signs it in order for the students to gain ownership of their decisions. This is similar to an "expert teacher who worked with his students to establish a students' 'Bill of Rights' instead of defining rules" (Woolfolk 496). She also mentioned that the school implements PBIS, or positive behavior supports, which are "actual interventions designed to replace problem behaviors with new actions that serve the same purpose for the student" (Woolfolk 275). Although these are especially required for students with disabilities, these interventions are implemented school-wide because they help decrease disciplinary referrals. Finally, she stated that the class has a marble jar which the students can help fill up in order to gain a reward. According to her, it has been very successful which answers the fourth question, "What are your thoughts on using extrinsic rewards to motivate students?" Even Woolfolk has mentioned that some effective elementary teachers "used rewards to shape behavior" (500). Mrs. Lowrance also said, however, that these kinds of rewards depend on the students because they all have their individual interests.
The second question is "What kind of bheavioral issues do you seem to deal with the most? How have you typically dealt with them?" Since she is teaching 3rd grade, the problems that came up the most were conflicts with friendships. Therefore, Mrs. Lowrance stated that they teach social-emotional lessons because "Social and emotional self-regulation are steps toward preventing management problems" (Woolfolk 503). Finally, the third question is "Does the way you manage the class change depending on the particular students you have?" Mrs. Lowrance's response was that they make sure to meet the needs of students who have IEPs, as well as give these students self-monitoring tools through Check In, Check Out which is one of the interventions provided through PBIS.
The most important thing I learned from this interview is that communication with parents is very important for maintaining good classroom management. Even though I am not going to be a teacher, I should still make sure to communicate frequently with the parents of the students I work with. This is because they can help me learn more about the student and come up with effective strategies to help their child succeed in school.
https://youtu.be/dum62CDUo4o
The second question is "What kind of bheavioral issues do you seem to deal with the most? How have you typically dealt with them?" Since she is teaching 3rd grade, the problems that came up the most were conflicts with friendships. Therefore, Mrs. Lowrance stated that they teach social-emotional lessons because "Social and emotional self-regulation are steps toward preventing management problems" (Woolfolk 503). Finally, the third question is "Does the way you manage the class change depending on the particular students you have?" Mrs. Lowrance's response was that they make sure to meet the needs of students who have IEPs, as well as give these students self-monitoring tools through Check In, Check Out which is one of the interventions provided through PBIS.
The most important thing I learned from this interview is that communication with parents is very important for maintaining good classroom management. Even though I am not going to be a teacher, I should still make sure to communicate frequently with the parents of the students I work with. This is because they can help me learn more about the student and come up with effective strategies to help their child succeed in school.
https://youtu.be/dum62CDUo4o
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