Teacher Interview

I interviewed Lauren Harris, she is a kindergarten teacher at Walnut Hills Elementary School in Shorewood Illinois.  She is in her 11th year of teaching.  She chose to opt out of doing a video interview because we could not seem to find a good time to meet and do it.  I respect her as a teacher and I plan on doing a lot of my hours in her classroom helping her.  She has a great reputation at her school and her students seem to absolutely love her and other teachers look to her for answers to some of their questions.  

I enjoyed her answers and I feel as though because of her grade level of teaching her answers may differ from other school teachers who are teaching older grades because their students probably know the regular rules and expectations inside of a classroom by a certain age.  I would like to teach kindergarten so I feel as though I will go to her for advice and I will follow the same rules and implementations she has inside of her classroom as well.  

Lauren utilizes a token reinforcement system inside of her classroom as discussed on page 268.  Lauren seems to utilize this system with ease, the opposite actually of our Woolfolk text stating that it is, “complicated and time-consuming...only used in three situations to motivate students, to encourage students and to deal with a class that is out of control” (page 268).  I think that yes, she is using them to motivate and encourage but she did not have an “out of control” class, she simply has younger students who are experiencing all day school for the first time and her token system seems to work great for her.  

The way that Lauren operates and manages her classroom, with rules posted and quick references to the rules when one is broken allows her as a teacher to make more time for learning, which is a goal of classroom management (page 491) and less time for disciplining because the children are conditioned in what their expectations are.  She has also created an environment where the children are learning to self-manage (page 492) because they know what is expected of them when it comes to their behavior inside the classroom and the rest of the school as well.  Chapter 13 in the Woolfolk text talks about routines and rules required (page 494), Lauren seems to follow this, specifically she talked about talk among students and interactions between teacher and student (page 494).  The rules she has in place in her classroom also fit into the guidelines for elementary aged students in our Woolfolk text, “respect and be polite to all people, be prompt and prepared, listen quietly while others are speaking and obey all school rules” (page 494-495).  The ability to teach students the rules and expectations at a young age and make them repeat correct behaviors allows them to grow and their school life can become easier and like “riding a bicycle” because they will know what the expectations are inside of school and they will not have to think about it so hard and constantly remind themselves of what they should be behaving like because they will have been taught to do it naturally.  Lauren also talks about how that the rules of the classroom and expectations need to be established in the first few weeks and our Woolfolk text actually talks about that too, that an effective classroom manager is well organized (page 499).  

I found this teacher interview to be very helpful in understanding how to properly manage a classroom and to also learn about what works for other teachers who are teaching in a grade level that I wish to be teaching in.  All grade levels seem to have different rules and sets of expectation because they are based upon the student's development level.  Kindergarten can be hectic and crazy and very much a learning experience for both students and teachers.  I think that Lauren wonderfully demonstrates how to successfully manage a classroom and I aspire to have such ease in classroom management in my future classroom.  

1. What are some of the most effective ways you have learned throughout the years to effectively manage the classroom and keep a positive learning environment?

It is most important that students are aware of the rules.  In class, we repeat the rules every day so that when a student breaks a rule it is very black and white because the rules are posted and everyone knows them. I also found it is important to have a reward for students going above and beyond.  You need students to want to go that extra mile.    

2. Do you utilize a reward system for individual students, the class as a whole or both?

I utilize individual rewards and whole class words.  In class, I have a ticket system.  Blue is the color every child begins on.  If they break a rule their name goes on the board.  They break another rule they move to green.  It continues to yellow then red.  If they stay on blue and go above and beyond expectations they can get on purple.  If they are on purple they receive a prize out of the prize box and special note home.  This is the first year I have done purple and they students have loved it.  They really do go above and beyond to get that purple. The overall behavior of my class has improved.  The whole class also receives a marble in a jar for doing well in the hallway, specials, and working quietly or hard in the classroom.  When the jar is full they get a class reward.  

3. Have you ever dealt with bullying inside your classroom and if so, how did you approach the issue and handle it quickly and effectively?

In kindergarten, I have never had a bullying issue. Knock on wood!

4. What has been your biggest challenge as a teacher? And why, how did you resolve it?

My biggest challenge as a teacher has probably been dealing with the parents.  Most parents are exactly what you may expect, trusting of you as a teacher but there are also other parents who will test your patients and can e-mail every single day.  I think this is more apparent for me because I am teaching at such a young grade and for some students this is the first time they have ever attended school outside of a couple hours a week of preschool.  I dealt with this issue through asking other teachers at my school if I was unsure of how to respond to a question so that I always maintained a professional manner and response when it came to email responses, I did not want anything to get “lost in translation”.  

5. What is the best advice you can give to a new teacher?

The best advice I can give to a new teacher is be consistent.  You have rules for a reason and it is important that you hold each student accountable for those rules.  Keep rules posted so when a student breaks on you can quickly reference it.  It is also important to establish rules and routines in the first few weeks.  Spend lots of time making sure the students are meeting your expectations and if not make them keep doing it until they do.  For example, lining up and walking in the hallway should be practiced over and over again until they meet your expectation of staying in line and staying quiet.  

6. How do you keep your students motivated when the task at hand may seem overwhelming for them?

In my class I facilitate a positive growth mindset.  I tell my students that if something isn’t hard they aren’t learning anything.  I continue to use this language daily in my class.  I tell students that I want it to be hard, because if it is then they are learning something.  A lot of my instruction is done in small groups as well so that I can challenge them but also scaffold them appropriately.  In my class they are most motivated when something is challenging.  It is is too easy why bother!?