Assignment 15: Interview

For this week's assignment, I interviewed my mentor. My questions are in black, her answers are in purple and my reflections are in pink.

When did you know you wanted to become a teacher? Was it always something you wanted to do?

--> Yes, actually it was. When I was little I loved acting like I was a teacher by creating lesson plans, "teaching" stuffed animals, and grading papers with stickers. In high school, I decided that wanted to be a math teacher because I had 3 awesome teachers and one REALLY bad one.

- My reflection: I did the same thing when I was younger! I feel as if I am taking the same path as my mentor. I also decided that I wanted to teach math while I was in high school, so it was awesome to get to see how similar my mentor and I are!!

What is the hardest thing about your job?

--> Honestly, my biggest issue is with the people that I work with because at times they can pose challenges.

- My reflection: This was interesting to find out because I would have guessed the most challenging thing would be the actual teaching, not dealing with coworkers so that was very surprising.

The easiest?

--> Being in the classroom and doing what I love to do.

- My reflection: I am glad that the easiest thing about being a teacher is working with kids and teaching!

What is something you wish you could change about your profession?

--> I wish that in education, especially math, that curriculum did not change so often. I wish we could keep standards for about 5 years or so and then change it versus constant change.

- My reflection: I completely understand how frustrating this can be, and that is exactly why I eventually want to pursue educational policy reform.

Have you noticed a correlation at all between distracted time in class and test scores?

--> Yes, I noticed that students who are distracted in class by cellphones, other students, or distracted themselves tend to score lower on summative assessments.

- My reflection: This is unsurprising because in my short amount of time being in the classroom I have also noticed this as a general rule.

What actions do you take to attempt to combat the amount of distracted time students take up during class?

--> I redirect students, sometimes I take cellphones, change of seating arrangements usually do the job.

- My reflection: I am not sure what else could be done to keep students engaged so this response was to be expected.

Are there any type of students that are more likely to use more distracted time than others?

--> Kids that have attention issues and students who over the course of their school careers who have struggled with math tend to find ways so they don’t have to do the work.

- My reflection: I also think that the students who are most distracted are those who need to be paying the most attention. I think that because they do not understand the material, they shut down and get their phone out instead of asking for help.

Is there anything you wish to find out through my research of distracted time?

--> I want to see the results to see if your assertion is true.

- My reflection: I am so glad she is as excited to see the results as I am!

How do you deal with questioning parents?

--> I do pretty well, when I was younger dealing with parents was nervous, but now I know what is going on with their students better than they do and a lot of times parents are just misinformed from their students.

- My reflection: I can only imagine how difficult it is to deal with angry parents, it is comforting to know that most of the anger is stemming from the parents wanting their children to succeed.

Do you have any advice for me as a future educator?

-->Stick with it even when you are forced to do little projects and things that you do not think are important, because they end up mattering and will make you a better teacher in the process.

- My reflection: I am glad she gave me this advice, it will help me to keep my positivity and my eye on becoming an amazing teacher!!