For the lead teacher interview assignment, I had the opportunity to sit down with and interview my son’s EC teacher from last year, Mrs. Hamm. Since my son started at the school last year, Mrs. Hamm has helped him in so many different ways. Mrs. Hamm has been teaching for over 20 years from her home state of Pennsylvania and more currently at Mount Energy Elementary School in Creedmoor, NC. Mrs. Hamm has been teaching at Mount Energy Elementary School in Creedmoor, NC for the last 12 years and recently awarded “Teacher of the Year”. Mrs. Hamm, up until this school year, was the main EC teacher for all grades Kindergarten through fifth grade at Mount Energy Elementary School. As of the present school year, the school district made the determination that she was over the acceptable number of students. As a result, they decided to hire an additional EC teacher and assistant to teach grades 3-5th and Mrs. Hamm would teach grades K-2. Mrs. Hamm was the teacher of 18 students until this decision was made, now with grades K-2, she has 9 students in her class. Mrs. Hamm discussed that she actually uses three different programs to help teach language and literacy to her students. The first program, which is actually her favorite of the three programs, is called “Read Aloud Library”, the second program is called “Language for Learning” and the third program is called “Reading Mastery”. Mrs. Hamm discussed the programs as being very helpful tools in helping children develop their reading skills. Mrs. Hamm integrates literacy in her classroom in many different ways. In the different programs, the students read one book together in which they work on for the week by breaking down the chapters so that children can retell the story and learn th... ... middle of paper ... ... parts is very important. The next way this interview was very helpful to me was knowing how to create manipulatives to help children in those literacy areas. When the manipulatives can provide help in learning letters and words needed for that particular grade level, I find that to be one of the best methods to use. Children learn a lot through play and when they can use manipulatives to put letters together to form words, that is the best way to do so. I feel that they will learn their many sight words required for Kindergarten quicker by being able to play with blocks and ping pong balls to do so. Another way this interview was very helpful to me was knowing how important immersion is to a child’s success in school. Not only did I learn ways to immerse children into literacy development and growth but I also learned how crucial that is in my future student’s day.
My assignment is a combination of two interviews. I interviewed an Assistant Principal, Ms. Katis Romig, as well as, our Curriculum Director, Mrs. Maria Petkanas. They are both responsible for the curriculum development and instruction for the school where I work, P.S. 811Q. I also learned a fair amount from Ms. Romig and Mrs. Petkanas including that District 75 Citiwide Special Education’s Deputy Superintendent, Ms. Barbara Joseph, had given the school feedback and suggested writing curriculum and textbooks. This was the only feedback she gave our principal during her observation last week.
The field expert was Mrs. Brenda Williamson, who taught various grade levels and subjects for special education. Mrs. Williamson has been teaching for twenty years. Currently Mrs. Williamson is a principal in a private school. Mrs. Williamson was chosen for this interview because after working with her I have learned many strategies to enhance learning and classroom management.
Mrs. Chris is more than “just the substitute” teacher at Westminster Christian Academy. Many of the high school students who attend attribute her determination
On October 26th, 2016, I had a phone interview with Mrs. Alexsundra Henry, who is an eighth grade gifted language arts teacher at Richards Middle School. She has been a middle school teacher for over twenty years and had experience teaching grade levels sixth to eighth grade. To be a middle school teacher, it is required to have a Bachelor’s degree of education and have at least a minimum of 6 months to 1 year of teaching experience. However, Mrs. Henry took a different educational direction by receiving her Bachelors in mass communications (similar to English) and Master’s in education.
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
I interviewed a teacher from the Philadelphia School District and here is the result from my interview. I am a teacher in the head start program of Philadelphia .I have been with the head start program for 10yrs. I see children younger than kindergarteners with special needs. I see this problem not only with education but behavioral. Children with special problems can learn. You have to know how to deal with children period. Regular children and special educational children all learn. Special educational children know exactly what they’re doing just as well as regular children.
As a teacher, you need to encourage all attempts at reading, writing, speaking, and allowing children to experience the different functions and use of literacy activity (The Access Center, n.d.). Moreover, it is crucial for educators to understand phonological awareness and phonics; know what constitutes good children’s literature and how to use it; know children who need additional assistance with beginning reading and writing (Cunningham et al, 2004 as cited in McLachlan et al, 2013, p. 112). Educators also need to plan effective activities to assist children experience reading aloud, listening to other children read aloud, listening to tape recordings, and videotapes so children have opportunities to integrate and extend their literacy knowledge (The Access Center, n.d.). Morrow (1990 as cited in The Access Center, n.d.) notes that classroom with greater teacher facilitation promote literacy behaviours, so it is educators’ role to provide literacy rich
In conclusion, literacy focuses on the building blocks of vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, phonics, and phonemic awareness. Cooperative learning helps students become a better reader. In this research, there are many various ways to get a struggling reader to be fluent. The phonics and vocabulary practices give students many opportunities to get familiar with word parts, letter sounds, and repetition reading passages to form meaning of vocabulary words. Literacy is a major impact on students fostering reading and communicating with others in day-to-day
Vukelich, C, Christie, J & Enz, B 2002, Helping Young Children Learn Language and Literacy, Allyn & Bacon, Bosten MA.
Teacher Interview summary: I had the pleasure of interviewing the 3rd grade social studies teacher Mr. Columbie. As I observed Mr. Columbie on a weekly basis, I would constantly ask him questions on how he taught social studies in his classroom and what strategies he uses. Mr. Columbie informed me that he teaches social studies in his classroom once a week, but now that the students are preparing for the FSA test he has not been teaching social studies. He explained that the schools main focus is that every teacher is teaching and building students math and reading skills. He also explained to me that he can get in trouble with the principle if he were to teach a full social studies lesson in his classroom. He told me that for social studies he is giving his students reading passages and the students are answering comprehension questions at the end of the reading.
“I don’t think anything would help increase my joys, because I get excited every time I come in. This is truly a job where I don’t really think about the paycheck, I don’t think about the time, I pretty much get lost in my entire day, because I truly love what I do”, expressed Mrs. Leen . Mrs. Leen began her career in 2004, after realizing she had “the calling, and a love for kids”. Before making her final career decision, Mrs. Leen was studying to become a Speech Pathologist, but soon realized, like her family and instructors had insisted, that she was meant to be a teacher. Her educational career then consisted of four years of college and two years of the credential program. After asking her how helpful
I chose to do my teacher interview in my home town at Richard D. Crosby Elementary School. This K-3rd grade building is very new, it was built in 2010. It has 4 pods, one for each grade level and has a large discovery center in each pod. The school is very colorful, with each pod a different color so the children find it easy to go from area to area. I did my interview with Mrs. Doe, a special education teacher. Her room has a lot of materials for learning and is set up to have several work stations for group activities. Mrs. Doe shares her students with other special education teachers and also has a special education classroom aide. My research question is how does a teacher’s perspective on learning reflect theories and concepts in educational psychology? Mrs. Doe is faced with many challenges in her classroom, overcrowding, multi-cultural differences, learning disabilities, several students with low socioeconomic status and English language learners. There are many challenges for Mrs. Doe to deal with, but she has been teaching for 21 years and has a lot of experience. She started out as a regular classroom teacher, but switched to special education and has done so well that when she asked if she could return to the regular classroom setting, the Superintendent begged her to stay in the special education department because of her success.
For lesson planning purposes, what information do you need to know to help give you the greatest impact on instruction?
Two days a week in the morning, the children participate in a reading and writing block called “literacy and writing workshop.” The classroom is organized into five different levels with one group having one extra person; the levels are based on scoring of reading assessments. The groups are rotated so that each may spend 15 minutes cycles with either the teacher or Para-educator. The groups not with an instructor were to work on the “Daily-5” (explanation later) until their scheduled lesson. After the students finish their lesson, they are to fill the remainder of the workshop time working on “Daily-5.” This workshop is part of a regular routine. The students understand that after a reading a story with the teacher, they are verbally given a writing assignment. The assignment is usually to write a five sentence paragraph and color a picture related to the reading.