Host Teacher Interview & Reflection

Rachel Lorenzo

10/11/11

LAE 4530.001

Tara Payor & Nina Graham

 

Host Teacher Interview & Reflection

How do you make the first year of teaching flow?

Honestly, it's just something you have to go through. Nothing could have prepared me for my first year of teaching, not my internship, not any theories or practices you learn in college. The best advice I can give you is to stay on top of things and stay organized. I have to check my e-mails everyday because if not I miss out on a lot that's going on. Another thing is to get out of your own world. If you don't leave the classroom you're just going to get absorbed in your classes and you won't be able to make it work.

How do you tackle a new piece of literature?

I always read everything I assign to students. Even with something like now, where they're doing their independent reading [students got to choose their own utopian/dystopian novels], I've read each one of the fourteen books on that list. It's just a matter of being prepared. Sometimes they ask to read something else but I check it to make sure, look it up online, read reviews, and then I can approve it.
You just always have to be prepared, there's no other way around it. It's different every year. But I research the author, the time period, history, as well as analysis of the work. It's a lot but I have to be up and center, I have to know what I'm talking about.

How do you find time for or balance what you think students should be learning but is deviating from required programs such as SpringBoard?
I always do my own thing. You know, they get tired of SpringBoard, they like to do the projects I have. And it's not much. It's just snippets of information and-you saw how it was-fill in the blanks, the same kinds of questions and exercises, it doesn't challenge them. I just don't see how they can miss out on the classic literature so I add it whenever I can. You finish your requirements and move on.
I have an objective written on the board for everyday right above what they need to do that week. They look up at that board everyday and I can bet you not one of them knows that objective posting even exists. They don't care. It's just something the administration looks for but I'm not going to make it my top priority to change it as soon as I walk in in the morning. No. I get myself ready and settled and once I've prepared everything else I need to do, I'll write it.

How much time do you generally spend on a piece of literature?

It depends on what it is. Poetry I can cover several in one day, short stories will take about a week, and novels can take anywhere from one to three weeks. It depends on how much I can get out of one piece of literature. And you just go by the flow of things. If I see that [the students] are really enjoying something, really learning, I let it just flow. I'm not going to stop just to move on to something when they can get more out of what they're doing at the moment. If you get too caught up in what you're supposed to cover they'll never get anything out of it.


How do you know where to start instruction (at the beginning of the year) and where to go from there for the remainder of the school year?


That's pretty much done for you. You're given a curriculum to follow and you go by it.

If I could take one big "Ah-ha" moment from this interview it would be to just let things flow. Rules, the curriculum, and other requirements like SpringBoard are helpful and necessary, but students need freedom to explore the material. Providing activities that they can connect to and be engaged in is best. Activities like this are those that make them feel as if they're not doing work and really help them to answer what they really want to know. 

 

Not only did Ms. Rich express that she allows her students to enjoy what they're learning, she exemplifies this in her lessons. While going over King Henry VIII's wives, she was very conversational with her students. Though she knew time was short she stopped when a student asked questions and seemed interested, let them exchange remarks on what was going on at the time, etc. As long as they were on topic, she let things flow, interjecting additional information to move on but transitioning from what they said. 

Another thing I took away was to just relax about things. While it may be inevitable that the first year will be hectic and stressful, it is reassuring to hear an experienced teacher being honest about what is expected of you. I was glad that I would be able to set my own priorities as seemed fit for the time.

When I begin to teach I hope to keep these things in mind while keeping as close to the rules of the school as a first year teacher. The only thing that scares me from this interview is having to have read so much material and being so familiar with it before giving to a class as material to work with. I've read a lot of works but I will likely have to catch up on required texts. I've also never really been one to look up author or historical backgrounds unless required by a teacher or unless I am highly motivated to do so. With required readings I've always waited upon the teacher to either feed us this information or have us look it up. I guess this is part of fitting into the shoes of the teacher though, now I will be expected by my students to know everything inside and out. While it is more work than what the student has to go through, I would rather be prepared like this anyways. While I feel that teachers should be honest about sometimes not knowing the answer to a question, I wouldn't want to have to say "I don't know" to things like background information on a piece that I'm presenting.

The interview as a whole made me feel better about teaching. I've heard plenty of nightmare stories and I was glad to see that if I just take a deep breath and take things a step at a time, things will go well. I also liked to be able to interview Ms. Rich through a voice recorder, the interview felt more conversational than like a question/answer session.