Teacher Interview - Paper Example

This is an interview conducted in August 2017 with a senior level teacher at a Community School in Illinois in the United States of America. Through this interview, I discussed with the teacher issues concerning the teaching environment and how he handles the students to ensure effective and efficient learning. This discussion assisted in collecting relevant information that would not only improve education but also help the teacher realize the gaps that need to be filled in the course of dealing with the students. During this interview, we discussed issues pertaining challenges of teaching, the school mission, lesson planning, classroom management, family involvement, assessment, and reflections.

Interviewer: What are the challenges of teaching?

Teacher: Given that I deal with students of a senior school, their behaviour becomes quite challenging. Every student I face has individual needs which need to be met at a personal level. It becomes challenging especially when a students needs are not well realized. Similarly, students in this stage undergo life problems, i.e., sexual and social issues. These issues may hinder teaching as students become less attentive. When it comes to assignments, I have to find one that will be fair as the students have different levels of understanding. Consequently, some students are naturally uncooperative in classroom activities and thus posing a challenge to the teaching process. Nevertheless, teaching is my passion, and I enjoy doing it.

Interviewer: Tell me about the school Mission.

Teacher: The Schools Mission is To the Heights by Hard work. This was a simple motto that a group of students in the senior class came up with. It just portrays the vision that the students in this school have and the effort that must be put in for them to achieve success.

Interviewer: Tell me about your lesson planning.

Teacher: Lessons in our school are planned strategically, particularly with objectives assigned to each. Every teacher has a plan for every lesson which they must follow to the latter. Goals that are assigned to every lesson are meant to collectively meet the needs of all the students in the class.

Interview: Tell me how you manage the classroom.

Teacher: Managing the classroom could be quite challenging given the nature of students at this stage of development. Personally, I use reinforcements, both positive and negative to help shape up the behaviour of the students within the classroom. Similarly, I set strict rules and routines which the students must follow whenever they are in the classroom.

Interviewer: How do you ensure there is family involvement?

Teacher: I promote family involvement by inviting the students parents for monthly meetings. This way, I get to share the students performance in school with the parents or guardians for them to assist the students where necessary. Similarly, I use phone calls and email to notify family members of any event that could be happening in the school, and also to offer invitations to the same. I believe that family involvement is essential in boosting the students moral as well as motivating them.

Interviewer: How do you assess the students?

Teacher: I assess my students using continuous assessment tests which help to show the understanding of the lessons taught. Similarly, we use graphs throughout the term to show the students progress and also indicate the specific areas that they should improve on.

Reflections:

I learned that different students have different educational and social needs. It is therefore important for the teacher to understand the students needs for there to be active learning. I enjoyed interviewing the teacher as I got to learn a lot.