- How many years have you been teaching?
- Where did you receive your degree?
- What age did you know that you wanted to become a teacher?
- Why/what made you want to become a teacher?
- Are there any teachers that you had that you will never forget? Good or bad?
- What do you love about teaching?
- Is there anything that you strongly dislike about teaching?
- If there was one thing that you could change the way teaching works, what would it be?
- How many schools have you worked at?
- Do you teach any extra curriculum activities?
- If you could give any advice to someone who wishes to become a teacher one day, what would it be?
- How has education changed from the time that you have started until now?
- What discipline actions do you take in your room?
- Has there ever been a problem that you could not settle? What did you do?
- Do you reward your students or punish them? How?
- How do you construct your classroom management?
I was given the privilege to interview a second-grade teacher named Mrs. Berner. Mrs. Berner is a fun, loving teacher that has given me the opportunity to observe her classroom a few times now this semester. When interviewing Mrs. Berner, although she let me ask her many interesting questions, she did not wish to be recorded. I respectively agreed with her discussion so instead of recording her, I took many of notes.
While observing Mrs. Berner, I noticed that she had all of her focus on me. She stayed engaged in our conversation which made me know that she was fully focused. I believe this to be a very good tool to use while teaching in class, but also in the outside world as well. Showing that you are all ears while someone is talking to you makes the conversations flow better and it makes that particular person feel more comfortable.
Mrs. Berner was not afraid to answer my questions with full honesty. She gave me many helpful tips on how to succeed in my future classroom, but she also warned me about some of the negatives that becoming a teacher has. She mentioned how much she loves her job for the sheer fact that she is helping children in many ways that others can’t, but with putting that aside, the pay is not great. As we all know that becoming a teacher is something that one does because they love children and not for the money, she mentioned that I must prepare myself for working long hours on some days with no raise. She continued to mention her love for her job while adding to the end of those sentences with the poor pay. I could completely agree with her on the fact that teachers do not receive enough money for what they do, but that is a battle that will never be won.
When discussing classroom discipline, Mrs. Berner mentioned that she does not yell, she talks loud. I laughed at that comment because I, too, talk loud so when people think that I am yelling, that is really just my everyday voice. Mrs. Berner also mentioned that when a student does not have their “listening ears” on, she has them sit at the circle table where they are asked to finish their work in silence and by themselves while others are finishing their work in groups. Once that particular student is sitting silently and working, she rewards them by having them join a group of their choice. I liked this idea of punishment and reward because I feel that the students will want to listen so that they can join others. Another reward that she would give is if the students were having an amazing day, they would be allowed to play a learning game on an iPad. The students seemed to always listen better when she would mention the idea of the iPad.
Throughout my experience of observing her classroom, I have learned many helpful things that I will carry on to my future classroom. I enjoyed watching her control her room in stern ways, but fun ways too. Mrs. Berner is an amazing teacher with a big heart. Although there were times that her fun voice turned to serious, she does not do it out of meanness, she does it so that the students learn to be respectful while others are talking. I enjoyed observing her classroom as well as interviewing her.
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