Sara Williams

For a teacher in the education field, they go through many difficult

tasks. They have to plan for classes, deal with student behavior, call parents, assess
students, and keep the class focused. I interviewed Amy Williams, Robin Coon, and
Jessica Peppard, and asked them questions about being in the education field. Amy
is an assistant principal at Pisgah Elementary School, Robin is a Kindergarten
teacher at Kenwood Elementary School, and Jessica is an academic coach for
Northwest and Northeast. When interviewing these educators, I made questions
that would benefit me and answer important questions that I wanted to know. I
asked questions over planning classes, teaching methods, assessing students, noninstructional tasks, and questions about their experience as a teacher. These
questions included, Question One: On average how long does it take to plan for a
class period or plan for the upcoming day? And why do you feel it is important to
plan ahead? Question Two: During instruction time what method/s of teaching do
you prefer? Ex: Group discussion, small groups, lecture, etc. And why? Question
three: After instruction time do you asses students? Why or why not? Question
four: Do you feel that doing non-instructional tasks such as housekeeping and
managing students is just as important as other obligations? Why? Question five:
As a teacher what is the most rewarding/difficult part about your job? Question
six: What was the main reason you became a teacher? Do you ever wish you
perused a different career? Many of these teachers had similar answers, but they
also had many differences.
In response to question one, Robin and Amy said they spend about an hour
planning for a week. However, in contrast Jessica puts more time into it. They all
agreed that it was important to plan ahead so you can be sure you get through you
lesson in a timely manner. Surprisingly all teachers agreed on question two. They all
stated that they prefer group discussion and activities because it gives the students
multiple ways to learn and also it keeps them focused. On question three all
teachers agreed that students should be assessed, but Robin assessed them by
asking individual questions to make sure they grasped the concept. For question
four all the teachers agreed that doing non-instructional tasks are important, but
Amy focused on parent communication being a part of the answer because of her
job. In response to question five, the most difficult parts of their jobs were similar;
they all felt it was difficult to meet every childs needs while understanding them.
However, Robins response to the most rewarding part of the job was different from
Amys and Jessicas. Robin felt that having students or parents come back after
moving on from the grade and thanking her was the most rewarding thing. Amy and
Peppard both thought that having a positive influence on the students and helping
them grow was the most rewarding parts of their jobs. Finally, after asking question
six, I realized that although teaching seemed stressful all teachers answered that
they did not regret their decision to join the education field, and that it helped them
grow as a person as well as others.

After interviewing employees of the education field, I realized that the job can
be stressful and demanding at times, but the rewarding aspect is more than enough
to persuade me to join the education field. It would help me grow as a person, and I
would a positive influence on others. My mind has not been changed and I am still
looking forward to becoming a teacher.