Current Event Interview

We recently interviewed Ms. A about an article.  The article was about Colorado schools.  Some of them are choosing to become smaller, and the article discussed pros/cons to tinier schools.  Here is the link to the article.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16545520

Ms. A talked about the schools in her district that are smaller schools.  They are funded by Bill Gates, which is one of the pieces the article talked about.  Ms. A was one of the people who worked hard on a grant to get these schools.  Ms. A said that Gates’ heart is in the right place, but it’s about what is it that leads to success. 

The article points out certain small schools that did not improve test scores.  Ms. A thinks this is due to the fact that they didn’t plan well and they didn’t change the teaching style.  She explained how she had an opportunity to teach in a smaller school, but she opted out.

“I believe in certain teaching strategies but I wasn’t able to contribute that much time,” Ms. A said.

She described the school she works in as small.  There are only a handful of teachers in each grade.  She went to a large school and loved it and excelled there.  She said she got to choose different electives which she might not have been able to do in a small school. 

“I don’t know that a small school would have been my choice.  But small schools do work for some people,” Ms. A said.  “Time might change all of this.  People might need closer relations.  Some kids need it, but not all.”

Ms. A also talked about how it is about how much effort a teacher makes.  The school can be big or small, but without good teachers, students won’t learn and gain an education.  I agree with this theory.  A charter school in my district at home is smaller.  The kids there had just as good of an education as I did in the larger school.  That is because the district took the time to hire quality teachers.  I wonder if there is a way to tell which system works better for certain students.  Maybe a test could be created to help place students in the right environment for them.

Higher Order Questions

This week our classroom was participating in state testing for part of the class period so there wasn’t as much interaction as normal.  But there will still several questions asked that I can talk about.  I also thought back to past weeks in the classroom.

One question that Ms. A repeatedly asks the class is, “What did I just say?  Repeat it, class.”  I think this is a comprehension level question.  The students have to restate and discuss what the teacher was saying.  This is a good question to check in with the kids to make sure they were paying attention and actively listening.  It isn’t a higher level thinking question, though.

Ms. A also asks the kids to restate the definition of certain words in “kid words.”  This is also a comprehension level question.  She wants to know that the students can rephrase something academic and apply it to their own learning and life.

Several weeks ago when the students were reading a piece from their textbook, Ms. A asked them what the theme of the story was.  I thought this could be an application type of question because the teacher was asking them to apply their further knowledge of what a theme is, and then they applied this information to the story they were reading. 

The students do not ask very many higher order questions in class.  A common question for them is, “What do we do when we’re done?”  One example of a basic question they asked several weeks ago was, “Where do the dashes go in a hyphenated modifier?”  This is a basic knowledge question about the definition of something.  A higher level question from one of the kids was, “Would ___ be an example of ___?”  I think this is a synthesis question because they are applying prior knowledge to produce something new. 

After observing, I noticed that certain kids ask the same questions over and over again.  This happened throughout my schooling, as well.  I remember I would get embarrassed when the teacher would say, “That question has already been asked.  Were you paying attention?”  I also noticed that it is harder to ask higher level questions to an unwilling classroom.  However difficult, I think teachers should try to challenge students and make them think by asking evaluation and synthesis level questions.     

Lesson Clarity

Lesson clarity is very important when it comes to teaching.  If a teacher is not teaching effectively, the students will not get anything out of the class.  Like I said in my previous blog, Ms. A has the students write down the schedule at the beginning of class.  This is effective because it sets out the plan for the day.  It is clear what is going to happen and the students have a direction for the day.  My teachers all through my schooling have had the lesson plan written on the board for the students to see.  This helps students know what is happening and what the objectives and goals are for the school day.  

This week in Ms. A’s class the students were reading a scary story because Halloween was quickly approaching.  It is great to see a teacher who connects lessons to real life and the seasons.  This is called inclusive curriculum, where the curriculum is culturally relevant and introduces a variety of ways to learn.  The students were listening to the story on a CD and they were following along in their textbooks.  They could read and hear the story at the same time.  Ms. A would periodically stop the tape and ask the students questions.  This is known as critical pedagogy, where teachers are encouraged to pose questions to the students and present curriculum in ways that challenge students.  This is a great lesson strategy.  It helps keep the kids focused and engaged with the reading.  My middle school teachers would do this same strategy.  I remember they would randomly call on kids who didn’t look like they were paying attention.  Ms. A does the same thing. 

After the kids finished the scary story, she had them work on writing their own frightening tales.  They had to include five different literary techniques, such as humor, figurative language, repetition, and full-circle endings.  Before they could type their stories, they needed to have an adult in the room read over their paper.  This was effective because it introduces the scaffolding technique.  When students do not understand the material, the teacher can work with them to model the skills when they are beyond their ability.  I helped a boy fit in the techniques he needed.  It is more helpful for struggling students when they receive help one-on-one.  It is also good that students of different abilities are in the same class. 

Ms. A showed a good example of lesson clarity.  However she did give the students an hour to work on their stories and several of them had finished early.  Is there a better way to manage the classroom time?  Social interaction is also important in the classroom.  Could Ms. A include partnering or group work to help the students work together more?     

Classroom Management

                Classroom management is very important when it comes to teaching.  Students need to respect the teacher and the classroom should have some control.  As students come in the door Ms. A greets them and has them write the daily schedule in their planner.  She also tells them what they need for the day, like their book or a notebook.  I think this is an effective way to start class because it gets the kids ready to focus.

                Ms. A says that discipline is her weakest point.  The day we were observing there were several kids who were misbehaving.  One kid jumped across the desks to get to his seat.  She told him to go back to the other side of the classroom and walk to his desk instead.  It was good that she called this kid out because other students shouldn’t think it’s okay to jump around the classroom.

                When she is trying to get the attention of the class she holds her hands up and counts down from 5, but she doesn’t say anything out loud.  I don’t know if this is the most effective strategy because it is silent.  Also, Ms. A tells the kids to use “kid words,” to describe the vocabulary word list.  This seems juvenile, even though they are in 7^th grade I think they are more mature than that.  It does help the students know the terms in an easier language.

                One kid was reading while Ms. A was lecturing.  She went over to his desk and asked his quietly to pay attention.  I thought this was a great strategy because it didn’t embarrass him, but it helped him focus more in class.  Another kid was loudly talking and distracting the whole class while Ms. A was reading out loud.  She asked him to take over the reading to the class.  This worked really well because it was effective.  This was a benefit of keeping the trouble maker in class, versus sending him to the hall or to the office.

                Certain students are slower, and Ms. A will help them and explain the instructions over again which is great since there are different levels of learning in the classroom.  When students are absent, she pairs them up with another student who was in class to have them explain the work they missed.  That way she doesn’t have to explain the instructions over again and it means more classroom involvement.  When the students are working on a project, Ms. A sets a timer for 10 to 15 minutes.  This means kids can’t argue with how long they have been working.

                Overall, I think Ms. A does a great job of classroom management.  There will always be several kids who are disruptive.  I think they respect her as a teacher and the classroom.  Her strategies remind me of my middle school years.  My teachers handled rowdy kids the same way Ms. A does, they try not to embarrass them but they just bring the students back to the focus of the class.  

Philosophy Interview

It was my first day in the schoolroom.  I was sitting in the back of the empty classroom talking to the teacher I would be helping throughout the semester.  Ms. A* began teaching in 1991.  Unlike me, her family had been in the teaching world for years; her mother was a teacher and her grandma was in education.  Ms. A thought it would be “cool” to be a teacher.  She had substituted in her mother’s kindergarten classroom.  She did not like how clingy the students were, but she really liked teaching.  We both had similar motives for wanting to be in the classroom.  She explained how she wanted to make a difference in kid’s lives.  She wanted to help kids feel good about themselves.

Ms. A spent four years in Louisiana teaching 8^th grade Language Arts.  She then moved to Oregon and substituted while she was getting certified to teach in her new home.  She got called in to substitute for a life skills class.  Ms. A didn’t know what that class meant…but she quickly learned that it was for students with disabilities.  It became her permanent sub job and it was quite the challenge.  She ended up getting a special education degree. 

Ms. A was then moved to LRC for four years, which is a class for students with mild disabilities.  She taught them reading, writing and math.  However she didn’t like all the paperwork that went along with special education.  She took a great deal away from the experience, though.  Teaching those students gave her experience and techniques to deal with all types of students.  Now, she is in a 7^th grade Language Arts class.    

She described her weakness as not disciplining her students.  She believes that kids should be given the opportunity to be respectful.  If someone is misbehaving she asks them to step out into the hall so there is not an audience for their bad behavior.  Since it is the third week of school for them, Ms. A said that she still has some work to do with the kids.

Lessons are flexibly structured.  The kids have an idea of what to expect and learn each day, but it’s the kids that drive the class.  Ms. A explained how as a teacher, one plans for the average, but has to adjust along the way.  In 7^th grade they focus on social justice.  This teaching strategy brings up social constructivism views.      

*name has been changed    

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