Final Teacher Interview PDF

Preview

Summary

Task 2...

Description

A. Weblink of Content Standards: http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/sslearn.pdf B. Description: The teacher that I had the privilege to interview was Jamila Blades who has been in the teaching profession for 24 years. She currently teaches at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics located in the South Bronx. Due to the ongoing pandemic, she now teaches from home via Zoom. Ms. Blades uses the New York State 12th Grade Social Studies Learning Standards for Government and Economics. Throughout the interview, she mentioned that she incorporates content standards four and five into her lesson plans and projects. Throughout her career, she noticed that other teachers would share the standards with their students. For that reason, she began to share the standards with her students as a way to validate the importance of what they are learning. Ms. Blades argues that some content standards are more important to her as the community she serves is influenced by certain standards more than others. Ms. Blades takes on a constructivist philosophical approach to her teaching as she believes her students learn more by hands-on activities and projects. She states that she no longer proposes the standards to the students as many aspects of her academic process have changed because of remote learning. There are many internal and external factors that contribute to her success as a high school teacher. Ms. Blades assesses proficiency in her class through project-based learning. Through project based learning she is able to gather the students’ interests and apply them to what they are learning. In the beginning of the semester, her students are introduced to Government and are evaluated with a pre-test which helps her get a grasp on what students already know versus what she has to go over more in depth for the remaining half of the semester. She continues project-based learning and encourages students to participate in their local community board. As the semester continues and goes into the second half of the year, Ms. Blades changes course into Personal Finance and adds rigor to her classroom by having students participate in the H&R Block Budget Challenge. This app replicates real-life scenarios as it prepares her students with basic financial skills such as money management and paying bills. While students are taking part in the Budget Challenge, Ms. Blades issues weekly quizzes to go over key concepts and words that they have learned. After the completion of the Budget Challenge, students prepare for the National Certification Exam for Financial Literacy at the end of the year. She mentions that due to the pandemic, students are now offered office hours where students can meet with her and discuss any questions or concerns that they have for her class. Ms. Blades also encourages peer mentors and organizes virtual 10 to 1 tutoring groups. Other factors that contribute to the well-being of the students who attend the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics include various resources available to them including Advanced Placement courses, Special Education services, and courses for ELLs. Ms. Blades views herself as an evaluator of students’ learning (Hattie’s first mindframe). Throughout her lessons, she does her best to ensure students are learning and benefitting from the day’s lesson by relating the content to her students’ lives. She often employs both formative and summative assessments to evaluate her students’ learning and adjusts her lessons accordingly. For example, Ms. Blades uses weekly quizzes and check-ins in Personal Finance to formatively assess her students’ learning. Based on the results from

the assessments, Ms. Blades will review areas in which most students are struggling or will successfully move forward if all the students showed mastery of the content. The National Certification Exam for Financial Literacy that takes place at the end of the year serves as Ms. Blades’ summative assessment for her students. She uses the results from the summative assessment to adjust her approach for the following year or to take note of which particular strategies and lessons were successful in her class. Ms. Blades primarily focuses on evaluating how and what her students learn and relates their success as students to her own effectiveness as a teacher. Ms. Blades believes that the key to teachers’ growth in their profession lies in reflection and communication. Teachers need to reflect on the failures and successes of the year using assessments in order to adjust their approaches and be more successful in the following year. It’s also important to communicate with students and find out what they did and did not enjoy as well as what they felt was and was not relevant. After all, students are more engaged and successful if they feel the material is relevant to them. If teachers employ this reflection and communication, they embark on a path of professional growth and each of their successive years as teachers is more successful than the last. C. Feelings: Before the interview, I was nervous to speak with Ms. Blades as we haven’t kept in contact since I graduated. As the interview continued, I became less nervous as I noticed how excited and welcoming the teaching community can be. She has been teaching for over two decades and was eager to share her thoughts and ideas with the next generation of teachers. During the interview, I began to feel more inspired and excited for the journey to come. She spoke briefly on the beginning of her teaching career and advised me to network with more teachers in the field. Ms. Blades also assured me that she would love to stay in contact with me to support me. This made me feel a bit calmer as she opened up about her experience with networking and how it changed her teaching career. Ms. Blades encouraged me to reach out to some of her co-workers as they are always looking to help someone improve professionally. I believe Ms. Blades was thrilled to speak to a previous student who is passionate about the field that she is currently in. D. Evaluation: The interview aligned with and exceeded my expectations as Ms. Blades was very open about the positive and negative attributes of being a teacher in New York. It was great to hear her insight on the profession and how she has overcome challenges she has faced within her career. One thing that went well during my interview was that I was able to ask more questions outside of the given prompts. This helped me get to know Ms. Blades as a person to understand her teaching philosophies. It also helped the conversation as I was able to make her elaborate on some of her ideas and thoughts on her experience in the education system. One thing that I would do differently is pace myself. At the conclusion of the interview, I noticed that I dedicated more time to questions that weren't as relevant to the assignment which took up more time than I expected. E. Analysis I disagree with the way Ms. Blades incorporates her content standards into her online classroom. She claims the switch to remote learning has altered her ways of demonstrating the standards to her students since many aspects of her teaching has changed. I believe the

students should continue to have access to the content standards despite the changes that were made because it clarifies what is expected of them and allows students to reflect on whether they are meeting the academic goals that are set for them. Sharing content standards is essential to the academic development of the student since it encourages them to monitor their progress. However, I found myself agreeing with the internal and external influences that impact the school community because the practices that Ms. Blades uses help students develop a sense of independence while also becoming an active member of their community board. I agree with her view of self because through her constructivist philosophical approach, she is able to see what students value and create project-based assignments that genuinely interest the students. I agree with her ideas of professional development on communication and reflection. It is essential that as educators we are able to take a step back and think about the situation critically before adjusting our lesson plans. This is important because we are able to effectively meet the expectations that are set with the content standards for our given state. F. Conclusion This interview has been very informative in breaking down the essential role of a teacher. In this interview, I learned that teachers benefit from each other. For example, Ms.Blades noticed that other teachers in her school community shared the content standards with their students. She also noticed the immense academic improvement those students showed throughout the year. Hence, I learned that instructional specialists in the school community are vital to the day to day role of a teacher (ASCD). Collaboration is essential to what teacher’s do each day because it helps with planning instruction as well as encouraging the students to apply what they learned in other classes to the one that is being taught. If I were to conduct the interview again I would ask her how she chooses which standards best support the student body and community she serves. G. Action One of Hattie’s mindframes is “I am a change agent and believe all students can improve.” This supports teacher success by using an approach that is inclusive to all students. This approach mentions that each child is an individual and through methods such as positive perspectives, educators and parents can adapt an environment to meet the demands of all children (Hattie). Hattie’s fourth mindframe is important to the success of teachers because it allows them to guide the student in surpassing what the students think they are capable of. One of my strengths when I think of Hattie’s fourth mindframe is being empathetic as in order to be an effective change agent, I will put myself in their situation as I was once a student. An area of weakness related to this mindframe would be planning as I struggle to organize and arrange my ideas in a cohesive plan. This is an essential part to make change happen in which it allows those around me to see and sort out what needs to be done to create a successful community. By September 2023, I will improve student participation by using two different strategies (random selection, turn and talk) to increase their opportunities to initiate a conversation throughout each term. One professional development opportunity offered to teachers can be found at the New York Center for Teacher Development where they offer courses to teachers seeking professional development. “Encouraging Active Participation” instructed by Laura Cafarella is an online course that helps teachers advance their daily

instruction by offering different strategies to improve student learning (My NYCTD, 2021). This course aligns with my SMART goal as it is an instructional resource that I can take outside of WGU that will prepare me to incorporate the techniques shared into my classroom to adjust my lesson plans accordingly.

Works Cited: ASCD. (n.d.) Ten Roles for Teacher Leaders. Retrieved February 13, 2021, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept07/vol65/num01/Ten-Ro les-for-Teacher-Leaders.aspx Hattie, J. (n.d.). 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning. Retrieved February 13, 2021, from https://thinkingpathwayz.weebly.com/10-mindframes- visible-learning.html My NYCTD. (2021). Retrieved February 13, 2021, from https://www.nyctd.org/classDetail.cfm?id=20865...