Teacher Interview Ivy Tech Community College Education 101

Teacher Interview Ivy Tech Community College Education 101 Mrs. Deborah Cale By: Allison Reed Interviewed Mrs. Lauren Dunlap

Standard Description Child Development and Learning Theory, the teacher should understand the student that by what means he or she can learn more and could provide them the learning opportunities accordingly.

Introduction In this power point I will be interviewing Mrs. Lauren Dunlap from Liberty Park Elementary School. She is a very interesting , firm, and passionate teacher. She teach third grade and the children adore her. Visiting her classroom was a pleasure. The children understand when she means business and it is a very active teacher student learning environment. After interviewing and being in her class just gives me more motivation and eager to become a teacher. Enjoy

Questions 1. How do you encourage involvement of parents and families in the school and your classroom? Getting parent involvement may not always be easy, but it is definitely rewarding in several areas. First and foremost, I always call each one of my students' parents at the beginning of the school year (usually at the end of the day after the first day of school). I call to introduce myself and tell them how well their child did that day. This is important for two reasons: #1 - building a sense of trust with parents, while also clearly showing that parent-teacher communication is imperative for student success and #2 - it is a positive phone call home, rather than a negative one. This simple phone call does not take long, but is crucial to building a positive relationship with parents and setting the tone for a successful year. In addition, keeping parents "in the loop" through email, phone calls, weekly newsletters, and technology apps (Remind 101) is important, too.

Questions 2. What is the single most important quality a good teacher possesses? Flexibility! Things do not always go as planned, but you need to be willing to work through these challenges to make the most of your day. 3. Tell me about yourself as a teacher. a. Why did you decide to enter teaching? I have always had a passion for teaching. I had several teachers that I looked up to through my own schooling, and I wanted to be just like them. It was one of my easiest decisions. b. How many years have you been teaching? 7 years (in addition to one year of long-term subbing) c. What grade levels and/or subject areas have you taught? 2 nd and 3 rd grade; (long-term subbing in 2 nd, 4 th, and 6 th grade)

Questions What are the traits of an effective teacher? Flexibility, willingness to grow and challenge yourself, dedication, patience, ability to build relationships (professional and personal), openness to communicate. . . the list goes on, and on. . .

What do you see as the pros and cons of ISTEP? In what ways, if any, has ISTEP affected your teaching? Pros- Gives students something to "work toward" throughout the year. . . Pros- It is a way to measure all kids taking the same test. Cons- Too much pressure put on students (even as young as 8 and 9 year olds!) and teachers (and principals, and school districts, etc. . . ), does not give an accurate picture of what skills students are capable of doing independently, causes too much focus of teaching to be focused on passing "the test" ISTEP has affected my teaching by taking a lot of my instruction time to focus on various test-taking skills that students have to be familiar with while completing the test on their own. This takes time away from important real-world skills that students need to be equipped with.

Summary After answering all of my questions she was very nice to let me stay and observe her classroom. The children were they nice and most of them seemed eager to learn the lesson being taught. The lesson was over the main idea and how to get three supportive ideas. The children were all sitting on the floor and Mrs. Dunlap was sitting in a chair with a giant easel writing. The had read a story on worker bees and it was amazing how creative these children minds were. I noticed how much patience it takes to deal with children and all of their behaviors. Some of the answers the children seem to become bored I feel they were a little advanced for it. When we got into small groups. That was very fun four different groups played reading bingo and it was super fun. I then went to a table with her advance readers and they were reading about child labor. Very interesting to see how bright those third graders are. I really enjoyed the day with them and I know for a fact it will be easy but I can handle it. Can’t wait until I can become a teacher.