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Name: Marco D.
Interview with an Adolescent
15 October, 2014
CI 3325, Dr. Mencke
I. Questions and Answer
1.

Student's name, age, & current grade level

L.D., 13 years old, 8th grader in middle school

2.

Name and location of school

Wallace B. Jefferson Middle School, San Antonio, Texas (NISD)

3.

Describe your school

Different
Q. How is it different?
It has its own certain way, very diverse and several foreign kids. It is different than other
schools, but I like it. Its very social and you do not feel like a stranger.

4.

Schools previously attended

Ward Elementary School

5.

Date and Setting of Interview

11 October, 2014 and at her house

6.

With whom do you live? (parents/guardians, siblings)

With my family.
Q. Can you tell me more?
Both my parents, my brother and my sister. But I have a big brother whose away for
college right now.

7.

Does your family urge you to do well in school?

Yes

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Q. How?
My parents want me to get good grades and only want to see As on my report card.
Q. Could you tell me more about that?
Yes, they want me to do my best in every class, achieve as much as possible, and they
want me to do great.
Q. What about your siblings?
My sister and brother will always help me if I am ever confused with my homework, and
they were smart so I want to be smart too.
8. How would you describe yourself as a student?
Hardworking and smart.
Q. How?
Because I always turn things in on time and have some grit.
Q. Can you elaborate on grit?
Im hardworking and I like to contribute in groups. I always help people, but I do not let
them cheat off of me. I am smart even though the test are hard.
Q. How hard are the test?
My teachers always tell me that I participate in class and I always answer the questions
right but I dont always do that well on them.
Q. What about group work, do you prefer that?
Yes, I always get As on group assignments and I have fun doing it. Studying is also more
fun when you are with your friends and everyone can help each other whenever someone
is stuck or does not get it.
Q. Would you say you get nervous during test?
Yes, I do not know why. I just get really nervous and I get scared when I see hard
questions because I think I know the answer, but then I think another answer is better.
9. How would teachers describe you?
Hardworking

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Q. Can you please explain?

They think I am a good student since I always follow the rules and behave good in class.
But I think they think that, because I never really talk to them unless they are asking a
question.
Q. What are some comments your teachers have told you?
Well Mr. Taylor said I was above and beyond.
Q. How does that make you feel?
Happy, because I know he thinks I am smart.
10. What do like most about school? Why?
Band
Q. How come?
Because I am good at it and I believe that I can get even better in high school. I like to
play my baritone too, and my section makes the class really fun.
Q. What about your band teacher or director?
She is fun, she gets to like the music and she is always telling us how proud she is of us
for getting better every day. And she never gets mad at mistakes, she just laughs and
helps us nicely.
Q. What about your section?
They make band fun, we all practice together and we are always sitting with each other.
We are all friends and we get along, and my best friends are in my section and sit next to
me.
11. What do you like least about school? Why?
History and some of the students. Some of the kids think they are cool when they are just
being fake because I knew some of them during sixth grade and they pretend to be the
popular kids when they are quiet in every class. I think they act cool but cannot carry the
same popularity when a teacher is around.
Q. What do you dislike about history?
It is boring, and the teacher is monotonous. He teaches out of the book and thats all we
ever do. Compare to my other classes, I get bored and sleepy in history

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Q. How does history compare to the rest of your classes?

Well in my other classes we usually have group projects and we get to talk a lot, but in
history all we do is worksheets or read out of the book. It gets really boring compared to
science, were we work with chemicals and look for chemical reactions or how things
foam up.
12. Think about your favorite teacher this year. What characteristics makes him/her your
favorite?
Ms. Dominguez, because she teaches my favorite subject and makes it really fun.
Q. Is that your band teacher/director?
Yes, shes awesome
Q. Can you tell me more about her?
She is really nice and she always gives us examples on hard music pieces. Usually she
has me show the class to play a piece correctly. She gives step by step examples of the
rhythm until she is able to get us to understand the piece as a whole. She makes scary
hard music seem easy and we all get happy when she smiles and claps when we learned
how to play the hard parts of a song. She is a calm and very good teacher, even if the
concert is coming up and she gets us to have fun we are setting up the seats for class and
we all wish we could be in there longer.
13. Think about your least favorite teacher this year. What characteristics does she/he have
that makes him/her your least favorite?
Mr. Taylor, because he does not make it fun and his class is boring.
Q. Can you elaborate on that?
His voice is pretty flat and boring and all we do in class is take notes. There is never any
group work involved in his class and no one is ever enthusiastic to go to his class. The
teacher is just there for the money, but I mean he is nice, but his class is boring.
Q. Do you dislike your history teacher or your history class more?
The class, I have nothing to look forward to in his class, it is all the same thing every day
of the week, and I get bored of doing that.

14. Describe the students at your school. What do you like about them? What do you
dislike?

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They are different and very diverse. I like that they all like to have fun and something
funny happens at least every day when Im walking to class. They all are fun and social,
but everyone is a group of friends. I like the sports team, the football and volleyball
games are fun to watch since a lot of the kids go and cheer on their friends.
Q. What do you dislike about the students at your school?
They can be very fake sometimes. They try to be like each other and its annoying and get
on my girls.
Q. Can you give me an example?
All the girls fill in their eyebrows and wear eye shadow. It started in seventh grade and
now every girl does them to look cool and they think theyre popular but theyre not.
They would not have done it last year if since it was a hipster thing until hipsters became
cool. Those same girls now act like they do not like other girls and insist on hanging on
with the boys to feel pretty.
15. Tell me about your friends? What do you and your friends like to do for fun?
They are very funny, and they are fun to hang out with. I never get bored and I always
have a good day when I am with them. We always talk about funny things we see on vine
and most of them are in band, but some of them are in my regular classes. We always
hang out during lunch and sit at a big table.
Q. What do you and your friends talk about?
Mostly funny videos we see and show each other through our phones. Sometimes we talk
about high school and how we are going to split up between two different schools. We
talk about how exciting high school is going to be and what it is going to be like to ride
the bus every day.
16. What would you say are your greatest challenges as a 13 year-old at school and at
home?
Balancing homework and practicing for volleyball and band. Sometimes I feel like I do
not have enough time after practice to do my homework. A lot of it is online so I think I
have more trouble putting in the math equations correctly and I type really slowly.
Q. What class gives the hardest homework?
Algebra, it gets really hard and it takes me a while to get it done since the teacher assigns
15 problems at the end of class every day for homework.
Q. How would you describe your schedule?

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Sometimes busy but I usually have Friday and Saturday to do whatever I want. But I wish
I wish I had more free time during the day sometimes, but I like being on the volleyball
team so I think it is worth it.
17. Have you received any guidance or counseling or special services while attending this
school?
No, I really do not have any problems at school.
Q. How do you talk to when you are upset or need help on a personal issue?
My friends sometimes, but mostly my big sister since she always listens and helps me
makes the right choices. I can always rely on her for help for whatever reason.
18. What do you hope to do when your schooling is finished? What careers interest you?
Something with music.
Q. Why?
The only thing I like and I am always helping others in my class, like how Ms.
Dominguez inspired me to play the baritone. I feel like I can get even better in high
school and college, so I want to get better at it. Band is my favorite thing to do so I want
to do that since it is fun.
19. Is there anything else that you can tell me that will help me understand your
experiences and feelings about being a student at this school?
How awkward it could be.
Q. How?
Peer pressure and drugs. A lot of people meet new people and ignore what is wrong from
right just to pretend to be cool. Making new friends is awkward too, since you do not
really know them so they can want you to do wrong things like drugs or skip school. It is
pretty dumb that they believe that, since they might not even be long friends
20. What advice would you give me as a future teacher of adolescents?
Make it fun, especially if you teach history. That is how I like to learn and remember to
be a nice and cool teacher since it going to make kids pay attention and go to your class.
Make kids think and make them feel like adults instead little kids. Be enthusiastic when
you teach too, make your voice sound excited not just loud and strict.
II. Summary of the Interview

Running Header: Interview with an Adolescent

L.D., a 13 year-old eighth grade student attending Wallace B. Jefferson Middle School,
located in San Antonio. She is an honor roll student who actively participates in her schools
sports team and overall enjoys school. She resides with her family, and states that her parents and
siblings urge her to do her best and strive to make As in all her classes. However Laiszas
interview resonated with Vygotskys social constructivist approach, Piagets formal operation
stage, and identity development.
During the interview, Laisza continuously stressed that she prefers to work with groups
rather than individually and prefers classes that offer that form of education. Laisza mentioned
she disliked history due to a lack of group work. Laisza said that her favorite part of school is her
band class and her favorite teacher is Ms. Dominguez, the band director. While her least favorite
teacher and part of school involved her history class which is a lecture based class. As a student,
Laisza described herself as hardworking and a preference for group work. A creative learner,
Laisza discussed the difficulty she has with test, but often acknowledged for classroom effort and
progress by her teachers. She disdains boring traditional lectures, preferring a social and
collaborative environment.
Laiszas preference for group work resonated with Vygotskys social constructivist
approach. Laisza also mentioned scaffolding in band, where Ms. Dominguez teaches scary hard
music by giving the class examples on specific parts of the music piece, until the class is able to
comprehend the music piece as a whole. Laisza then discussed the peer collaboration between
sections under the directors guidance.
When asked to describe her friends, Laisza discussed how they often share laughs
through funny vines or other videos they watch through their phones. Laisza discussed how they

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often hang out at lunch or after school and how they even talk about high school. Laisza
acknowledges that her group of friends will split up at the end of the academic year as they will
attend different high schools, wondering what high school will be like. When asked about her
career interest, Laisza discussed how she wants to pursue a career in music to help develop other
students. This depicts Piagets formal operational stage through thinking about what might
become of her future and developing the ability to process abstract problems.
When asked about the biggest challenge she faces as a 14 year old, Laisza discussed
balancing homework, band, and volleyball. Although admitting her extracurricular activities take
time away from her schedule to do homework, Laisza stated that she has fun regardless and has
the weekends to relax.
When asked to discuss what she likes and dislikes about the students at Jefferson M.S.
Laisza discussed how the students are very social and easy to talk but often labels many as
fake. Specifically, how girls her age have started to fill in their eyebrows and use make-up to
get boys to hang out with them to feel pretty. However, Laisza dispels this growing trend among
girls as a fad, highlighting how Laisza is developing her identity as she refuses to use make-up
and choosing to be socially different than the other girls.
When asked about other experiences at school, she discussed the awkward situation of
dealing with peer pressure. Laisza discussed the problem of trying to become cool through
doing wrong acts, which she disdains. The awkward situation is rooted from making new friends
who pressure her and others to consume drugs or skip class with them. Laisza discussed how
many students will often give in to the pressure to gain acceptance from these newly acquainted
peers.

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When asked about what advice she would give me as a future teacher, Laisza stressed
how I need to make it fun. Laisza discussed how I need to be enthusiastic and nice to get students
to develop rapport with me, encouraging them to pay attention. Secondly, she stressed that I
ensure not to treat students as children but as the adolescents they have become.