Laura Tucker

October 5, 2015
Teacher Interview
Planning Questions:
1. How do you write a typical lesson plan?
- All fourth grade teachers participate in team planning. My cooperating
teacher is in charge of planning writing instruction. She plans her lessons
on plan book. Plan book is an online lesson planner. That allows teacher
to share lessons, print lesson plans by day, week, or class and makes it
easy to make adjustment to your lesson plans. When planning a lesson
my cooperating teacher first looks at the standard and what the students
are expected to accomplish by the end lesson. My teacher takes the end
goal and works backwards to see how her students will get to that point.
2. What types of materials do you need available when you plan lessons?
- The types of materials I need available to me while planning my lessons
include the common core state standard(s), the class schedule, the
schedule for any special activities that might be taking place that week,
my student pull out schedules and the supplies that I will be using for the
lesson.
3. In what ways do you plan to accommodate individual differences in the
classroom?
- I paraphrase reading materials for students who are below grade level in
reading. My students are also grouped according to where they stand
academically but they are not aware of the group levels.
Instructional Questions:
4. What are some of your instructional challenges as a teacher?
- One of the instructional challenges I have faced as a teacher is
paraphrasing reading materials for students who are below grade level.
Students who are below grade level are still required to meet the same
standard as students who are on grade level or above grade level.
5. What have been some of your instructional successes as a teacher?
- My success as a teacher is anytime I see a student show any kind growth,
even something as small as mastering subtraction with regrouping.
6. What do you consider essential characteristics for successful teaching?
- Always be mindful of where your students are academically. It becomes
so easy to get caught up in lesson planning and grading papers while the
students are busy working. Make sure you stop to really listen to what the

students are trying to tell you. Always remember to celebrate the little
things.
7. How often do your students receive social studies/science instruction?
- In my classroom, social studies and science is taught four weeks at a time.
The first 4 weeks of the quarter, we do science and the last four weeks of
the quarter we do social studies or vice versa. My students normally
receive two hours of either science or social studies instruction each week.
8. Are you satisfied with the amount of time that you currently allot for social
studies/science instruction? Explain.
- No, I would teach social studies and science during reading and integrate
the reading skills.
9. What social studies and science topics/units will be studied during the second
week of my clinical experience? What are possible goals/objectives I could
address for my lessons? Do you have any instructional resources that would
support these goals/objectives?
- During your second week, for science we will be discussing magnetism,
for social studies we will be discussing the three regions of North Carolina
10.What does reading instruction look like in your classroom (e.g. readers
workshop, basals, etc.)?
What reading topics will be studied during the 2nd week of my clinical
experience? What are possible goals/objectives I could address for my
reading lesson? Do you have any instructional resources that would support
these goals/objectives?
- I do a mix between guiding reading and readers workshop. I have three
reading groups. Students are group by their reading levels. I see my
lower students every day, my middle students four days a week and my
high students three days a week. Each student has their best-fit book, I
do a mini lesson teaching then teach them a skill to apply to the book
they are reading.
Classroom Management Questions:
11.What motivation tactics do you use to ensure a desire to learn?
- We use data notebooks to ensure a desire to learn. Each student has a
data notebook; the notebook contains test from the beginning, middle and
end of the year and a list of individual academic goals each student has
meet for themselves. The notebook is something that can look back on
s=and see their growth.
12.Tell me about the classroom community. What are the class rules? How is
student behavior monitored? In what ways is positive behavior reinforced?
In what ways are negative behaviors prevented? Tell me about the
consequences for negative behavior.

Our rules are simple: (1) be safe, (2) be respectful, and (3) be a learner. In
my classroom, we use dojos to monitor student behavior and the respond
to this very well. I also have four pictures of yaks hanging in my
classroom, when the class is being talkative or not following direction I
take down a yak. If I get to the third yak, the class will have silent lunch
and if I get the fourth, the class had silent lunch and has to walk laps at
recess.

Reflection:
This interview was the first opportunity I had to meet my cooperating teacher.
I was extremely nervous. However, my cooperating teacher was really nice. She
answered all of my questions honestly and filled me in on how things work in her
classroom. I really liked having the interview with my cooperating teacher before
our two weeks in the classroom. It allowed me to get to get to know her and to
become comfortable around her. My cooperating teacher also used this time to get
to know me. She gave me so much useful advice that I cannot wait to implement it
into my own classroom one day. During the interview, I could tell how much my
cooperating teacher truly cared for her students. I like that all the fourth grade
teachers at this school participate in team planning. Not only does team planning
take a little pressure off of each individual teacher it shows they are willing to work
together to help their students succeed. One thing that really stuck out to me was
that my cooperating teacher said to always remember to celebrate the little things.
When you celebrate the small things, you are encouraging your students to do
better. During the interview, my cooperating teacher also emphasized how
important classroom management is. I really liked the classroom management
tactics she uses in her classroom. She monitors students behavior using Dojos.
Most of the time the Dojos work but when that is not enough she has four pictures
of yaks on the board, when her students are not behaving appropriately she takes
down a yak. The more yaks she takes down the higher the consequences. I left the
interview excited about what the next two weeks would bring.