Leadership and Advocacy in Educational Endeavors

TEL 410

Thank you for taking this survey! For my Leadership and Advocacy in Educa;onal Endeavors
course this semester I am doing advocacy work regarding the highlighted topic below. Please be
as candid and honest in your responses as possible as this will give me a beBer insight into the
factors that create a school environment students genuinely want to “show up” to.

Advocacy Topic: High rates of suspension and expulsion in lower income schools
Advocacy Ques;on: How can we create a more inclusive & engaging on-campus environment to
reduce behaviors leading to suspension and expulsion?

Interviewee:

1. How long have you been an educator? 16 years (6 years, then 8 years staying home with
kids, and now 10 years)

2. What school do you currently work at? Which grades do you interact with
predominantly? Mission Vista High School, 9th and 10th grade

3. What is your current posi;on within your school? (Teacher, counselor, administra;on)
Teacher
4. Do you run/oversee any school ac;vi;es? (Clubs, coaching sports, etc.)
I am the advisor for the Na;onal Honor Society Club at MVHS
5. How would you describe your rela;onships with students on campus, including those
you don’t know personally, or interact with regularly?
 I think that overall I have good rela;onships with students. I joke a lot, which helps me
to connect with most students. I make an effort to tell them about my family and my
experiences as a mom of high school and college aged kids.
6. When it comes to the layout of your classroom what sea;ng arrangement has returned
the greatest amount of student engagement (rows, spaced apart, table groups, circles,
etc.)?
Table groups seem to encourage the greatest student engagement in discussions and
group ac;vi;es.
7. Which methods for engagement have you employed in the past and found to be
unsuccessful?
I’m not sure I can think of something that was completely unsuccessful. Most of the ;me
if students are not engaged then mostly small changes are needed- break topics down into
more manageable chunks, using scaffolding to get students to the level where you ini;ally
thought you could start, etc.
8. Overall, how does classroom behavior vary between college prep and AP students?
College prep students can be a liBle more resistant to rules and norms like doing
homework or following instruc;ons. During COVID mask wearing I had no trouble with anyone
in my honors classes, but had several students that required daily reminders to wear their
masks properly.
9. What is your personal philosophy regarding “problem students”? What is your go-to
method for addressing disrup;ve behaviors?
I generally ask students that are having an “issue” to step outside my classroom door. I
will give them a minute or two outside and away from their peers and then speak with them
privately. Most ofen I am able to get students to see what the “issue” is and to verbally agree
to do a beBer job moving forward. The student usually returns to the class at that ;me.
10. Without disclosing personal detail, what out-of-school most factors impede your ability
to genuinely “show up” for your students (second jobs, caring for family, running your
home, etc.)?
Caring for family is my largest distractor. I have an elderly mother and a teen daughter.
There is a lot a stress involved in making sure that both are doing what they need to do.
11. How has your method of instruc;on evolved throughout the course of your career?

Ex: As a new teacher you ran your class in a more “social” formagng, crea;ng desk groups, mainly
u;lizing group work, etc. Now you find you tend to s;ck to lecture based teaching and keep students spaced
apart to prevent chaBer.
 I think that in general as I have gained more confidence in my ability to manage a
classroom environment I have become more comfortable with table groups and collabora;on
vs. tables in rows and being heavily dependent on direct instruc;on.

12. What do you feel like makes students genuinely want to show up for class, be present
through the dura;on, and engage in the lessons?
I’m not sure any adult truly knows what teenagers are thinking and feeling all of the
;me, but I like to think that I can make science relatable, fun, and real in a way that interests
students. I try to give examples that are engaging or funny as much as possible. I make an effort
to give students hands on experience with phenomena. I tell anecdotes from my life and
encourage students to share their own background knowledge. I make an effort to express my
own wonder at how science works so that students have some perspec;ve. Even adults
overlook the liBle things some;mes, and those liBle things can have profound effects on our
lives and the world in general.

13. All external factors aside –financials, instruc;onal ;me, materials- what would you need
to create the type of classroom environment you described in the previous ques;on?
I’m not sure how to answer this ques;on because nearly everything is based on needing
more money or more ;me. A class size of about 24 students would be ideal. That would be
small enough to give the personalized aBen;on that students need, but large enough to
generate new ideas and keep discussions going. The other needs that are required to have a
classroom full of engaged students are rela;onships, trust, empathy and warmth. When
students are comfortable and confident a lot can go right. If they are untrus;ng and guarded
then you can work really hard and get no where.