Assignment 2

Interview Paper

            For this paper, I interviewed two teachers: my former band teacher, Laura B, and my former English teacher, Erica E. In this paper I will summarize their answers, connect to concepts I have learned in my Education 310 class, and give my reaction to their answers. I will start with Erica’s interview.

Erica’s Interview

            I asked Erica how she typically taught her classes: what she did and what the students did. She responded that as an English teacher, she was a facilitator for basic skills such as reading and writing, and also for more complex skills such as analyzing, critiquing and applying concepts. She said she usually designed activities and assignments that required students to use all of the previously mentioned skills to different degrees and apply what they have learned to practical situations. This response of hers seems humanistic to me. In her assignments she definitely emphasizes relevance.

            Erica said that her favorite teaching technique was open discussion. She very much enjoys it when students voice their opinions and insights in open discussion. This also reminded me humanism. She encourages students to share their thoughts and feelings.

            When I asked Erica how she thought students learned best, she had a couple of ideas. The first thing she emphasized was hands-on application of a concept and review and repetition were very important. This stood out to me as being behavioral. She believes in practice in order to learn a subject.

            The second thing she mentioned was that it is important for teachers to find a way to relate the lesson to students’ personal experiences or prior knowledge. Right away, constructivism pops into my head. Relying on students personal experiences is a characteristic of constructivism.

            Erica accommodates the needs of the diverse learners in her classroom by designing activities that appeal to all the “different areas of strength,” also known as the multiple intelligences. I remember from high school that she did this very well. We would often have projects where there would be options or many parts to the project. I remember one that we had to write a paper, create a visual, and then present it to the class. Another project we had was to have a mock trial while we were studying the play Macbeth. She would also use music sometimes to get a point across. She was very good at incorporating multiple intelligences.

            Our small Catholic high school is located in a small town, so it is difficult to find a variety of diversity and multiculturalism right at a person’s finger tips. Erica stated that her number one rule when exposing students to different viewpoints is to not impose her views on the students. She encourages students to analyze situations from as many angles as possible.

            When it comes to motivating students to learn, Erica believes that some form of reinforcement can be very helpful. She will find incentives for students and always offers encouragement. The most effective motivation she has found is subject matter that appeals to the students. Then they end up learning without even knowing it.

            Erica has a simple discipline plan. She outlines her rules and expectations from the beginning. She gives out verbal warnings as needed. If a student’s poor behavior becomes a problem, she will talk to the student one on one after class. If a problem persists she will send the student to the administration or give out a detention. The fact that she outlines her rules and expectations right away is very important. She also meets the students’ “challenges” when they try to push the limits.

            Erica named several discipline techniques that she found to be particularly effective. Most of these were just a matter of her personal motivation and enthusiasm as a teacher. She said it was important to have high expectations of student behaviors, stay alert, move around the room, maintain eye contact, proximity, call students by names and try to be organized. Teacher organization is also something that motivates students to learn.  Another technique she employs is taking time to talk to students informally. She found that this often has a positive effect on students’ behaviors. Many of the behaviors that Erica lists as measures she takes to enforce discipline, are also characteristics of motivators for students.

Reaction

Erica had a lot of good ideas as a teacher and there was a lot of stuff that she does that we have learned about in Education 310. I particularly like how she uses multiple intelligences in her classroom. I have very fond memories of her classes. She always found interesting ways for us to learn and be involved in our learning.

            I also really liked her discipline plan. It was very simple, and she emphasized how motivated teachers have fewer discipline problems. I think some teachers try to have too many rules. Having a few behavioral rules makes enforcing them much easier.

            In general, diversity and multiculturalism lesson plans do not get used enough, and this is the case in Erica’s classroom. I think this is a very important part of development and should be incorporated more into classrooms. This is especially true in a small town like Winsted. As students, we were exposed to so little diversity. It would have been great if we would have had more intercultural lesson plans or taken more field trips to the cities.

Laura’s Interview

            As a band teacher, Laura’s in class duty is to get a group of students to learn a piece of music. She begins by score studying and then she facilitates the learning experience by using some methods that she finds help the students learn best. The ways that Laura teaches incorporate multiple intelligences. She appeals to kinesthetic learners by use of imitation. She may demonstrate a phrase or a rhythm by playing it and then having the students repeat it back. She uses the audio and visual types of learning in her explanations. She will give a brief explanation often using metaphors to relate it to something students are familiar with. She will use visual aids also so that the students can hear as well as see what she is talking about.

            Laura likes to challenge the students to find the answers on their own. She believes this creates good problem solving skills, which is an important factor for cognitivists. She also believes in the value of letting students teach each other. The students who are teaching end up learning what they have taught even better than they knew it before.

            Laura gave me some examples of how she accommodates diverse learners in her classroom. Some methods she has employed have been the use of study guides, strategically placing students closer to her or near a classmate who can help answer questions, and the use of enlarged copies for the visually impaired.

            Laura teaches students about diversity and multiculturalism by exposing students to a variety of experiences. She gave the example that when the choir and band sing and play carols at the nursing home they stay and talk to the residents. She also mentioned that she does not tolerate degrading talk and will pull a student aside to talk to them about it if necessary. She tries to be a model to students by treating everyone with respect.

            She was very brief in her comments about motivation. She simply stated that the best motivation for students is to have a goal. For music students, often times it is a team situation where a student’s goal is to play his/her part the best that s/he can and not let the group down. 

            Laura’s discipline plan is fairly simple. A student will typically get two warnings and then is sent out of the room and a parent gets called. If the behavior continues, she calls a conference. She does not like sending students out of the room, but she personally needs time to relax and think about what she is going to say. She also emphasized to remember that is the behavior, not the student that makes one upset and disrupts the classroom.

            Laura has found in general that if she keeps the class busy, involved and keeps things moving with minimal interruptions, then there are fewer problems.

Reaction

Laura also had a lot of good ideas as a teacher. It was particularly helpful for me to hear about how she thought that students learned best. It was different from Erica’s answer, and it would be different from any other teacher that did not teach music. Some of the methods she uses such as explanation with metaphors and imitation will be very helpful for me to employ when I am a teacher.

            Laura’s discipline plan is a bit stricter than Erica’s plan. I think in some ways for a band class, it has to be. There is just so much commotion and instrument playing that I think sending the student to the office after two warnings is very practical. It is especially helpful if you are upset and need some time to cool down.

            I think as a band director, that I may incorporate more diversity and multiculturalism into my lessons than Laura seems to do. I think music is a subject especially where teachers should incorporate as much diversity and music from other cultures as possible. Laura did mention that this is sometimes difficult because students may often be narrow minded about new and different types of music.

 Conclusion

            These interviews were a great experience for me as a future educator. I have found some practical ways to incorporate what I have learned into lesson plans. There are some methods and behaviors that these teachers use in their classrooms that I will be very likely to use as well. Completing this paper has also helped me to see some weaknesses that I can attempt to avoid. Interviewing Laura and Erica has really gotten me excited about teaching!