Personal Narrative: My Interview With A Teacher

School can teach you how to read, write, multiply or divide, but it won’t teach you how to handle death, work, or life outside the classroom. Some people can handle these situations, but others struggle for days, months, or even years. A life changing moment can teach you something for the good or the bad.

The best teacher I’ve ever had was my Honors English teacher, who was the strictest and harshest grader I’ve ever come across. With her as my teacher, I spent the majority of my sophomore year stressed out. What I didn’t realize, however, was that the only reason I was struggling, was because I refused to acknowledge that what she was doing was teaching. The teachers I had previously, never challenged me in the way that she did and, because of that, I could do the bare minimum and still pass. After I finished her class, I realized that she didn’t just set me up to pass her class, but set me up to excel in the future. She changed the way I looked at education, and made me acknowledge that having trouble in a class didn’t mean that I was incapable;

I walked into room 160 and saw a group of anxious 14 year olds, waiting for the lady we had all heard so much about to walk in. Rumors about her ranged from “she will make you cry daily” to “she’s basically the human form of a fire breathing dragon”. When the bell rang, we all prepared for the worst. The small lady that walked in, with short brown hair and glasses too big for her face did not look nearly as intimidating as all the stories suggested, which was comforting on that first day of class. This was Mrs. Carballo, my AP US History teacher. She started our first day off by talking about the summer reading and our objectives for the year. By the time the second week rolled around, I felt pretty comfortable with the course...that is, until we all received books that were almost bigger than we were!

I find myself reading this short paragraph over and over(above). My topic sentence makes me happy and proud. Going back to school was the best thing I have done. I chose to talk about going back to school to the “future employer” because it shows I am motivated as well as dedicated. This class has brought a lot to my attention. The mannerism that is expected in the “business world” is to speak and write well. It is extremely important to know how to write (type) a meaning full and proper paper whether it is for school or work. I have noticed a great impact in my vocabulary and writing skills. My boss told me on Monday he is impressed with the new docs I typed up for our new clients (with no help from him). I was not excited about this class

In this class, I have learned many new skills to improve my writing, and I have also learned new grammar rules. In regards to my writing, I have learned the importance of freewriting when beginning to write a paper. Additionally, I now know to allow ample time for revising and editing because I can look at my work critically for mistakes and make necessary changes. Furthermore, I have learned about grammar rules such as pronoun-antecedent agreement. This rule is something that I know subconsciously, but being made aware of it has allowed me to find mistakes I make more often.

For college students, perhaps the most difficult decision they will be forced to make is what occupation to pursue. Picking a particular career from the thousands available can seem impossible at times. According to the University of La Verne, 50%-70% of students change their major at least one time during their academic career. Informational interviews are an excellent way of learning about a particular job from someone with first-hand experience.

I have learned a lot in just 16 short weeks. I have learned how to organize my thoughts on paper, even when I have a fear of a writing assignment. I learned about pre-writing, outlining, rough draft, and finals. In each of these steps, I have learned to depend on each of them. They also help me find out what I need to do next. I always try to reflect on what I have written, even if it may be terrible. I use every bit of information I have to make sure I keep my thoughts in order. My strengths have increased as a writer. I love to write, and I know what to write about when given a topic. I feel strongly capable of writing more assignments, and essays in the future, especially in my Composition 2 class next semester. Having 2 English classes this semester really helped me with being able to

Danielle: 3 because she seemed too needy. I found myself being too repetitive with instructions and suggestions that were self-explanatory. I am not discrediting her intellectual ability in anyway but she seemed too disoriented than I would have liked to be. I will commend her for taking the initiative to meeting with me outside of the classroom because I initially approach this assignment with an independent mindset.

When I first think of education making an impact on my life, my immediately goes to the teacher that inspired me to pursue the field of education: Mr. Quesenberry. The truth is, I never expected to enjoy his 8th grade Civics class. Though I had many wonderful social studies teachers before 8th grade, each year history was always one of my least favorite subjects, and I expected Civics to be the same. Before I took his class, I thought that the government was just a bunch of old rich guys who made laws and ran the country, and I didn’t have the slightest idea about the many complicated issues that the United States was facing or about what I could do to get involved and fight for my values.

I interviewed a second grade teacher Ms. Hayes in James elementary school. This school was my kids’ school so I know most the teachers who work there. Ms. Hayes was a very nice and respectful lady who was welcome to interview her and make my observation about second grader. In that time I spent four hours with cute and smart students. Ms. Hayes’ classroom has twenty student’s seven girls and thirteen boys along with a wide variety of cultures. There were many different religious beliefs, family backgrounds, nationalities, races, social classes, and personality’s, represented in the class. The second grade classroom is a clean, decorate and has a lot of teaching technology devices and supplies which are very useful. Ms. Hayes has many technology

This is my 6th year at Mckeel Academy! I am certified in math 5-9, Social Sciences 6-12, k-6 Elementary, Middle Grades Integrated, and K-12 Art. I graduated from USF with a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. I've had the pleasure of interacting with Trynelle throughout every year of her high school career. During her freshman year, I taught her Algebra 1 Honors and the years following she returned to be my Teacher's Assistant as well as take my Creative Photography course in her junior year.

I was born in the Caribbean not until I was nine years old that I move to the USA. Growing up in the US was not easy for me, because having to learn English was so hard that at time make me regret my mom did that to e but i found a way to make it easy for me when I surrounded myself with friend that did not speak my language for me learn it faster way to learn because for me to communicate back to them i have to try my best,I felt left out being unable to understand what the teacher was saying I and the fun the kids was having was not the type of game I’m used to was hard but I learned faster that way because I motivate myself to be able to learn fast enough to be able to participate with my class in their activities.

Working with a student was harder that I thought it would be. I picked a child that was only 8 year’s old, who just came to the United States about 3 years ago, and doesn’t know much English. I wanted to see how hard it would be working with a student who doesn’t speck a countrys native language, and it turned out to be difficult. The student that I've picked her name was Mary Sefein, she was born in Egypt, and came when she was only 5 years old. When I first sit down with her I asked her “how hard it would be to be in school with other student who doesn’t speak the same language as you?”. She replied back and said “I hate it, I wish I could go back to my country where I was able to play with my friend, because here nobody want to play with

My cooperating teacher was observed this week in her resource classroom. I was present for the observation. Her performance was excellent! During the observation, I found it interesting how one student was purposeful to gain the supervisor’s attention while being disruptive.

When I finally met a tutor I could immediately tell she was trying to rush me out the door. She was trying to get through as many people as if she was in an assembly line. I told her I just needed her to proofread my three page paper. She then loudly sighed and made it bluntly clear that she wasn’t going to read the whole thing. She continued to say that I should only point out specific examples that I thought were errors so she can get through tutoring faster. I responded that I did not know where I had errors that’s why I came to see a tutor in the first place. I could tell she didn’t like me talking back to her, and this made matters even more awkward and frustrating. She was impatient and ignored my comment and hurried me to find errors.