Personal Narrative: My Teacher Interview At Washington Elementary School

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 am a mother and wife to 3 beautiful children and husband and I felt like I was starting over every 2 years. I wanted to be a dance teacher. Well, I did that and I would probably still be doing it if I didn’t have a mortgage and 3 kids. Then I wanted to be hairstylist. Let’s just say that didn’t go as planned. $50,000 of debt in student loans later, and I have decided I want to become a teacher. The crazy thing is that I’m 31 years old but 10 years old in my heart.

For the first informational interview, I interviewed a credentialed teacher, who is part of a program called Urban Teachers. I selected her because I wanted to know other ways or path to become a teacher. Additionally, I always dream of becoming a teacher, but I am hesitant on whether I have the skills to teach students. Lastly, my interest assessment showed that one of the possible careers that are suitable for me is teacher. Therefore, I decided to interview a teacher, who was referred by my mother. The interview was done through Skype because she is currently working at Washington D.C since the program Urban Teachers is from John Hopkins University. The question that I asked were: what was her hesitation in becoming a teacher, what is her

When I arrived for my interview at Tunica Middle School for the seventh grade math teacher position, I was asked the usual questions about strengths, weakness, and my previous work experience. In turn, asked questions about teacher expectations. The teaching position was open in February. However, I believe it was the perfect opportunity for Mr. Newson, the principal, to divulge and share his vision for the school. He did not. Mr. Newson did not display many of the Envisioner traits in my first year.

I want to build a sense of community were discipline problems can be prevented, children can feel safe, secure, nurtured and supported by the environment through thoughtful arrangements. The large amount of space in my classroom will be devoted to the arrangement of individual student desks the U-shaped desk pattern in my classroom will allow me to make eye contact with every student and reach each student with ease and this is also good for frequent whole-group discussions. I will provide open passageways through the aisles so the children can move around the room, this is essential for children in wheelchairs to have mobility. My classroom will have brightly colored posters, rugs and furniture such colors as yellow, orange, red and green will be on the classroom walls. I will have a bulletin board in the entrance for posting lesson plans, information about special classroom activities,

Kindergarten classroom of 25 students they all sit at tables that will hold up to six students, however I have them sitting 5 to a table for ease of grouping. Each table is a team labeled by a color, a large construction paper crayon hangs from the ceiling above each table, and they have matching crayon nametags on their desks. There is a Smart Board at the front of the classroom as well as a white board. My desk is at the front of the room to the right of the white board. Different centers are located around the room such as the art center, the math center, the reading tree is in the opposite corner from my desk. The room also has a single restroom and a sink and water fountain outside of the restroom. We also have circle area to the left of the reading corner

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?

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)

For two years I begrudgingly walked into Fuller Middle School, sometimes staying home because I had a ‘headache,’ my home, as well as other places I was always resentful, pissed off, quick tempered, and just downright rude. I was a typical middle schooler going through family changes. I wore band tees and ripped skinny jeans to every event my mother would let me--including to school, I constantly violated dress coded until I found my way around authority and the policy, listened to heavy metal, colored my eyeliner on until I looked like a panda, and generally tried to make myself appear unapproachable. That’s when my mom began dating the man who I would eventually call my first lifeline.

A sit-down interview, in the interviewee’s classroom, on April 22, 2017, results in responses from Rachel, a female Elementary Education teacher at Deerfield Elementary School, in Deerfield, Wisconsin. Containing eight initial questions and two response follow-up inquiries, this interview represents a 4-year Kindergarten grade level perspective, and utilizes eleven years of teaching experience. As a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, Rachel began her career in Milwaukee before accepting her current position of nine years. With extensive knowledge of the field, Rachel qualifies as an excellent resource, both when actively pursuing plans to become an Elementary Education

My experience working at Cutler Bay Middle School through a nonprofit AmeriCorps program called City Year, makes me a good fit for this position. During my year of service, I help run tutoring in the morning, I did behavioral mentoring to a set of 8 students during lunch and ran an after school club. In the classroom, I did specialized interventions for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students in ESOL classes. I also helped run two successful events at Cutler Bay Middle school one was a literacy and math event and the other was a talent show. Please see the attached document for a copy of my resume and I look forward to speaking with you regarding my

The person I interviewed was Laurie Kaffka. Laurie Kaffka is a kindergarten teacher at Glenn View. She has worked at several other schools and has been teaching for 14 years and has worked in five different schools, Glenn View being her favorite school she has taught at. Her and I discussed several topics during our email interview. The topic we talked about most was how teaching is not a job for someone who is in it for the money and does not enjoy kids.

This interview had to be the most difficult to schedule. The administrator that I interviewed was Mrs. Kate Thornton, the Vice Principal at Chapman high School. Mrs. Thornton is also the activities coordinator for Chapman high school. Mrs. Thornton herself has a background teaching English, but she also has a speech/theatre background and licensure. I decided to interview her because after my interview with Mrs. Erickson, my cooperating teacher, she ensured me that Mrs. Thornton would love to do it. A little back ground information, Mrs. Thornton is Mrs. Erickson’s daughter, so she was basically volunteered by her mother. I have been doing my practicum placement in chapman so it was also convenient for me seems how I was there every day. After numerous attempts at emailing and scheduling a meeting with Mrs. Thornton, her mother talked to her and I was finally able to be squeezed into her busy schedule. So finally, on November 2, 2017 I was able to have my third and final interview.

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.

The classroom is organized so that the student’s stuff and the teacher’s stuff should not cross paths. The students keep their materials in their cubbies at one end of the room, their pencil boxes at their seats, and their book boxes on the floor. The teacher’s stuff is located on her desk, and the back table where small group stuff gets done. The classroom setting is definitely positive and interesting because it has a minion theme. Children in that age range love minions most of the time and