Interview Protocol-
Teacher
Interviewer: Alexis Finch
Interviewee: 5th Grade Teacher
Date: March 14, 2016
Time:
Planning Questions:
How do you write a typical lesson plan? Since we teach reading, writing,
math, science, and social studies, we dont typically write a single lesson plan
for just one day. We write weekly plans that include the common core
objective being taught, materials, teacher-directed activity, student
independent work, and small groups the teacher will work with for reteaching
or enrichment.
What types of materials do you need available when you plan
lessons? We need the pacing guide, recent assessment data on the skills
being taught or retaught, and the final assessment students will be tested on.
These resources will allow us to develop instruction that will meet all
students needs and ensure success on the assessment.
In what ways do you plan to accommodate individual differences in
the classroom? When some students data shows them to be far ahead or
behind their peers in a skill, we use workshop time to pull individual or
small groups of students for reteaching, extra practice, or assigning them
project-based learning activities to keep them motivated in class.
Instructional Questions:
What are some of your instructional challenges as a teacher? Within
the same grade, a wide range of academic ability exists. A small group of
students will already know how to do what you plan to teach. Another group
of students will not know the prerequisite skills required to learn the new skill.
You will have students who finish the work and are ready to move on, while
other students do not finish at all.
What have been some of your instructional successes as a teacher?
(and characteristics for successful teaching) Creating individualized
instruction where the activities are differentiated have helped students grow
the most academically. Once I learned to stop teaching at the whole class
and looked at individual students, my teaching improved.
How often do your students receive social studies/science
instruction? I teach science 45 minutes per day, four times a week. I
integrate social studies with our daily literacy block, so I am able to cover
many of those concepts. Last months novel study books were about the
American Revolution. This month we are reading books about the Civil War.
Are you satisfied with the amount of time that you currently allot for
social studies/science instruction? Explain. No. I wish I had more time
to go more in depth with these concepts, especially science. But it would be
hard to take time away from literacy or math.
What social studies and science topics/units will be studied during
the second week of my clinical experience? What are possible
goals/objectives I could address for my lessons? Do you have any
instructional resources that would support these goals/objectives?
We will be still working with the Civil War in social studies. Students have
textbooks that you could use as a resource. I use books checked out from the
public library to supplement the text. I also have a lot of background
knowledge from books I have read in the past. In science we should be
starting Structures and Functions of Living Organisms (Ecosystems). I will
share with you the CMS Science Wiki page for the pacing and resources.
What does reading instruction look like in your classroom (e.g.
readers workshop, basals, etc.)? What reading topics will be studied
during the 2nd week of my clinical experience? What are possible
goals/objectives I could address for my reading lesson? Do you have
any instructional resources that would support these
goals/objectives? We have 30-45 minutes of Writing Workshop each day.
Students are at different parts of the writing process, drafting, getting
feedback, revising, etc. Students then have about an hour of guided reading.
When you are here we will be working on drawing conclusions and
inferencing. During guided reading I pull small groups of students to work on
specific skills, and to discuss their novel study books. The last 30 minutes or
so of the literacy block is word work. Our group learns stem words and their
meanings. I can share with you the CMS literacy wiki page that includes
resources for language arts.
Classroom Management Questions:
What motivation tactics do you use to ensure a desire to learn?
Having a good classroom management system will help keep students on
task. If students become distracted they will not be as productive. In math
we have a weekly Sunshine Math problem page where the students earn
stars for correct answers. We keep track of stars on a standings chart, and at
the end of six weeks the top three students earn prizes. This is one of the
ways to help students maintain motivation for their work.
Tell me about the classroom community. What are the class rules?
How is student behavior monitored? In what ways is positive
behavior reinforced? In what ways are negative behaviors
prevented? Tell me about the consequences for negative behavior.
1. Be safe
2. Be respectful
These are very general rules, but the students know if they are out of their
seats or talking loudly they are being disrespectful to others. We have a
Think Trail list in our room. If a student is off-task or bothering others they
are put on the list. During recess they walk for ten minutes before having
free-play. We also keep track of table points. Tables earn points for good
behavior and for answering questions during class. Winning tables choose
from the prize box at the end of the day.
Tell me about the pacing of lessons and interaction in the classroomuse of time- and other aspects of timewait time, and time using
teacher talk and student talk. What works well with your students?
Having workshop time during class for both reading, writing, and math
helps all students to learn and grow academically. Students who have
mastered skills dont have to wait for other students to catch up. Students
who need more practice and one-on-one time with the teacher can get this
during workshop. If there is a skill that many students are struggling with
then we will spend more time with that skill before moving on as a class.
