Learning and Teaching Background of a Teacher - Assignment Example

Teacher Interview Report Introduction Teacher Lil King is an English teacher of Queenz high School. Since the teacher I interviewed last time was very busy for the school event, I started to look for a new English teacher for my interview. This time, I tried to reach my previous English teacher, Lil King, in my Queenz high school who has been teaching for 17 years. I made a call to him first, and made an appointment about the meeting. He was still very friendly and nice to me. On the phone, we talked about my classmates and had a lot of fun. It was just like we were taking a time machine and flying back to the old days. The time went by like the pendulum swings. After ten years, I was going to meet my English teacher again. After three weeks, I went back to my old school. The feeling was kind of wired. The school looked very familiar but everything inside changed. I was excited about visiting my previous English teacher. I met with him at his office at two and talked for about twenty to thirty minutes. The interview took place on 13th may 2012. Would you please talk about your learning and teaching background? First, about the teacher’s learning and teaching background, Lil Kinggraduated in bachelor degree at Howard University and master’s degree inTwenty something years ago, I graduated from the English Department of Howard University and then was teaching in Queenz high school for two years, during which I was a substitute teacher and also in the class of education courses at that time, it's not a must to get a teaching certificate if people were to be teachers. After finishing the education courses, I attended the graduate school in Howard University, majoring in Education. Later, I became a formal teacher in Queenz high school. Speaking of my teaching background, I actually have taught in two schools over these 22 years. Lion high school and Queenz high School is where I am working and it is the 17 year now. Second, about Lil King teaching experiences, he has been teaching for over 22 years. 5 years in Lion High School and now, he is about 50 years old. So he began teaching English when she was 24 years old which age is the same to me now. Third, about the reason of being an English teacher, Lil King told me that it is because he loves English very much, especially about the theories, such as linguistics and language teaching. He likes almost all things about English except literature, because he thinks that sometimes the articles are too over and full of emotions. What's the big difference among these three schools? Queenz High School is my mother school. Honestly speaking, I have pressure from the teachers who had taught me when I was at high school. However, compared with the previous school, the atmosphere among co-workers or students is much more relaxing and pleasing. What grade are you teaching right now? Is it ranked one of the top three? I am teaching three classes of ninth grade and am also a ninth-grade homeroom teacher. The classes are all regular classes, no honored ones. Usually, my school takes their own strategy to classify students, which means one class has both good and bad students in terms of learning condition. Which grade do you often teach? Whom I teach is all ninth graders these two years. What grade do you want to teach instead? Why? I prefer to teach a class from the very beginning, seventh grade. Better interaction and relationship is what I want to create. Not only can I understand and handle students' learning condition through the following three years, but also they can cooperate with my teaching styles. What led to your choice of this occupation? The reason I have been a teacher is because of strong interest and enthusiasm. I like to talk to people and also like the school environment. Besides, I was an English major, so I think teaching is an appropriate choice. Most important of all, "chance" is another indispensable factor. If I donot have any chance, I might not be what I am. What is your belief and philosophy of teaching? Well, my belief is not that philosophic, but simple. I like to help people, from which I can be helped as well. This belief makes me consider teaching is not just an occupation, but a job I am in love with major as English teacher, a calling, in other words. Has it changed since you were a teacher? As we know, the education circle has changed over these years. And what I know is I am teaching every generation students and their parents are averagely well educated. So, I keep adjusting my mind, my views, and my thoughts. The principle bottom line is, dedicating to education, I am still with my belief all the way helping others and I will be helped. What skills do you need for this work? A sound knowledge of what I teach is a must. You know, language is changing, thus I need to improve myself all the time to up skill and enhance my language competence. Of course, I need to be organized. This is very important. Time management both inside and outside the classroom is also important. Being flexible and approachable are needs, too. In terms of personality, it is partially related to inherency. Sometimes, I am thinking I was born to be a teacher! Well, the main principle is I can accept this job and am willing to contribute myself into education. Also, I have to know how to be sensitive to observe and react, know how to deal with interrelationship, and know how to communicate with people around me. What are your major work responsibilities? What I am doing is I am a homeroom teacher of ninth grade and teach three senior classes. At the moment, my responsibilities are essentially towards my students, helping them to learn and making sure no one is left behind. For my homeroom students, future study is currently concerned. What I do is to deeply realize their learning backgrounds, conference them twice a semester, and provide them information about multi-enrollment. If you are a homeroom teacher of seventh or eighth grade, what will be different? Seventh graders' thinking is simple since they just graduated from elementary schools. So what teachers have to concern are their familiarity with the new environment, and also the adaptation to teaching and learning. As for eighth graders, teachers will try to notice their characteristics and behavior discipline. You know, after fitting in the school, their behavior might be deviant, which ought to be concerned carefully. What is a typical day like in your work? I am teaching seniors right now. Besides intensive teaching from Tuesday to Friday, I need to attend the conference held by twelve English teachers in Monday afternoon (once a month). Besides, I have to take care of my class and deal with class business. Also, class meeting is included. What is the function of the conference? It is an English research based on teaching and learning. There are two main purposes for the conference: one is to share teaching reflections and the other is to reach common goals, like how many lessons to teach, what activities to hold, and what suggestions to solve students' learning obstacles. It is generally an idea exchange conference. How do you prepare for your job? I think about what will interest the students. I try to be creative to keep them interested. I talk to other teachers about what they have done in class and what has worked or not. I have three classes to go. The lesson plan is in between, neither easy nor hard. We five English teachers in ninth grade frequently exchange experiences, discuss problems, and share resources. As you can see, teachers' teamwork is crucial here. What are the working conditions on your job? The atmosphere among coworkers is harmonic and interactive. We have good time when working and helping each other. We share the work burden, like material-designing and class-catering. We are not only colleagues but also friends. Since the school is not enrollment-oriented, the system is not that tight; that is teachers get more freedom and respect. Working in a low competitive school is not that serious; instead, we can take it easy to teach under less pressure. Speaking of equipment, we used to be trained how to make clever use of it, but the pity thing is to integrate technology into teaching is not an easy-to-implement task in junior high school. Instead, I use a radio oftentimes. How do you like your job? What makes you have passion to teach? Sometimes I like my job; sometimes I do not. I was in low spirits, hated teaching, and even wanted to retire. But, when I recall my very beginning is state of mind toward teaching, I tell myself not to give up because enthusiasm still works! Whenever I consider teaching is nothing fresh at all, I usually spend one semester reframing my mood and will feel refreshed after. Praying calms me; students' positive feedback supports me and warms my heart. One thing I want to point out here is I like teaching not because of summer vacation; however, I do need long vacation to rest the head and recharge my mind. After, everything there is fresh new semester, new students, and new me. Would you like to talk about the barriers and supports you face in the teaching context? The workload is heavy sometimes. My working hour is basically from 7:30am to 5:00pm. At nights, I might have special students' cases to deal with, such as not-coming-to-school or escaping-from-home students. Their parents mostly talk to or discuss with me on the phone. Such students make me introspect why they are not interested in study and donot want to stay home. Sometimes, these problematic students will affect my teaching and students' learning. I am not disappointed with them, but try to discover the problems. As what I mentioned above, teaching is not just teaching, I still have to pay attention to students' behavior. For English competence, the gap between the good and the bad is wide for many reasons. I try to take care of both overachievers and underachievers, giving them extra instruction when needed. On the other hand, students' positive feedback, family and co-workers' encouragement support me spiritually. They are truly my backups. How do you overcome the difficulties? When annoying things come to me, I will read books and relax, mentally and physically. I came to realize not to take things seriously but consider different aspects of the cases, and everything will be alright. Have you ever compromised with the real environment? In terms of Queenz High School, I am comfortable with where I am. As far as teaching is concerned, I am estimable to demonstrate my personal style. So far, no big conflicts occur between my belief and working environment. But, the school has to intervene with class management. In this case, I will compromise and listen to what they order. Why or how can you survive for many years? Interestingly, you used the word survive here. Learn how to protect myself, save some ideas or thoughts inside my mind, try not to endeavor with all my heart, or I will get hurt and be frustrated. As far as your career cycle is concerned, which stage do you think you are in? I am kind of in the career stability stage, but still pursue the professional growth and excellence. At the moment, I know how to manage the class efficiently, how to manage time well, how to self-realize and reinforce my professional skills. But in some cases, I am in the stage between enthusiastic and frustration. The mood of teaching changes over and over. Sometimes, I am satisfied with my job and am willing to update myself, but sometimes, I just get tired of it and do not want to apply new ideas at all. As you can see, the career cycle is circulated. Do you have any plans in the near future? If possible, will you study further? What field do you think interest you most? Why? Though I got a master degree, I have planned to go to England to get another master degree on Linguistics in the next two or three years. What I heard about this program is I can spend four summer vacations two months each year to get the diploma. Considering about my family, I think this program suits me. There are two reasons for oversea study: my sisters were studying abroad and it seems like a chance for an English teacher to seize what I care is horizon-widening, instead of salary-raising. I believe the more I learn, the more I can give. In terms of professional development, how often do you join seminars outside the school? What kind of activity do you participate in mostly? How do they help you? Hmm, I usually attend seminars held in winter or summer vacation. Nowadays, textbooks are with enrichment and diversity. In order to make teaching more creative, I joined the activities held by Chess and Carve book publishers, form which I learned how to use storybooks or little novels to make my teaching animated. My school doesn't hold many English activities. School permitting, I would like to promote an opera activity, then students can sing and act in English. It must be fun and worth-trying. What other occupations are closely related to this one? Would you like to try? I used to teach in a cram school, but I did not enjoy working there, though I made more money. Well, it is hard to imagine I am an office lady, whose working environment makes me afraid since I am not familiar with it. I think the occupation of tour guide might attract me. I like to talk to people and also like new things. So, I consider it as an interesting job. If possible, I will give it a try. How many years have you taken care of student teachers? How did you feel toward this duty? What were the good and bad points? Last year was my first time to take over this duty. The good thing was, the student teacher, eight-year older than students, brought new concepts and the latest information to me since I have been teaching for over 22 years, my point of view is conventional. Sometimes, I had blind spots in socializing with students; at this point, she had better understanding of students. It helped. However, the bad thing was we were not very much in sync, especially on the aspect of class-leading. I preferred to lead the class myself. If you were hiring a person for your job, what qualifications would you look for? Let's say if you are one of the judges in the teacher-selection interview, and the interview is giving 20-minute lecture, what will you expect to see? Creativity, interest, enthusiasm, and an ability to relate to students are necessary. Be active and enthusiastic is very much important. Without passion, teaching will be boring since you will get bored easily. If I am one of the judges, the first feeling and impression interviewees give me is important. The way of teaching is quite the same. The winning point is interviewees should be distinguished. A sweetly smiling face is very much welcome. Clear expression and good organization are also into consideration. What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about pursuing this occupation? Or what suggestions will you give to a student teacher when he or she is going to have an interview in other schools? Make sure he or she knows his or her stuff. Read a lot and be enthusiastic! Pray if he or she can. Take it easy, and be confident. When the term careerless came to me, I found it interesting. Compared with working in a company which mostly has promotion system, do you think teaching is careerless? Undoubtedly, those who work in a company in higher position get higher pay. But, what I am wondering is if their ability and horizon will be widen in some extent, or the title is just like a shell, poorly, nothing worth-sharing inside. I do not think teaching is careerless. I am not ambitious to achieve higher position, the reason of which is both Director and Principal are not at the front line to stay with students, which isn't included into my career goals. If I am not promoted, I will be a teacher all the way. Though the title has been Teacher, I have kept enriching my experience and fulfilling my life. I am usually hungry with my satisfaction; in this case, I will make my world differently. How does this occupation lead you to educate your children? I have one son and one daughter, who are ten and eleven years old, respectively. My students' ages are closer to my children's. If some students are outstanding, I will ask their parents to share the raising experiences. In addition, since I spend time with students most of the time, I can know how to get along with my children and realize what they are thinking. This helps me get to know my children easily. At the end, please describe your teaching career with one sentence. It is really hard to conclude in one sentence. Though what I teach is English, but differently, whom I teach changes every year and the problems needed to be dealt with hence differ. So, I would say teaching is also a grow-up process. I do learn a lot from students. Like what I mentioned above, help others and I will be helped. I have not regretted of teaching. I am treasuring this job. Conclusion In conclusion, this interview is just like a check-in step, helping me approach what teacher's career is basically like. I found out being a teacher is not an easy job, since he or she plays an important role in educating children. As we know, what teachers perform is expected in the whole society and education system. If school reform is to be successful, teachers must pay extra efforts to maintain the quality of teaching and learning. Thus, I strongly believe teaching needs professional knowledge and special skills, which must be maintained with contentious endeavor and research. On the exploration of teaching road, I think about narrowing down the choices of the specific teaching role what kind of teacher I want to be to create my own value. How to use the language in the real life context, how to integrate media and technology into instruction, and how to apply theoretic knowledge and skills into action are three aspects I need to think about. Still, I am very much impressive with what Lil King said help others and I will be helped. Teaching is an interpersonal process. As long as teachers are confident with this job, I am convinced the more effort they make the more rewards they will receive. Thank for Teacher Lil's rich experience sharing. I do appreciate her great help; it means a lot. All in all, this interview highlights my personal awareness. It not only gives me a basic acknowledgment of this occupation, but also helps me have a better understanding of how to follow up. Appendices Interviewing questions Would you please talk about your learning and teaching background? What's the big difference among these three schools? What grade are you teaching right now? Is it ranked one of the top three? Which grade do you often teach? What grade do you want to teach instead? Why? What led to your choice of this occupation? What is your belief and philosophy of teaching? Has it changed since you were a teacher? What skills do you need for this work? What are your major work responsibilities? If you are a homeroom teacher of seventh or eighth grade, what will be different? What is a typical day like in your work? What is the function of the conference? How do you prepare for your job? What are the working conditions on your job? How do you like your job? What makes you have passion to teach? Would you like to talk about the barriers and supports you face in the teaching context? How do you overcome the difficulties? Have you ever compromised with the real environment? Why or how can you survive for many years? As far as your career cycle is concerned, which stage do you think you are in? Do you have any plans in the near future? If possible, will you study further? What field do you think interest you most? Why? In terms of professional development, how often do you join seminars outside the school? What kind of activity do you participate in mostly? How do they help you? What other occupations are closely related to this one? Would you like to try? How many years have you taken care of student teachers? How did you feel toward this duty? What were the good and bad points? If you were hiring a person for your job, what qualifications would you look for? Let's say if you are one of the judges in the teacher-selection interview, and the interview is giving 20-minute lecture, what will you expect to see? What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about pursuing this occupation? Or what suggestions will you give to a student teacher when he or she is going to have an interview in other schools? When the term careerless came to me, I found it interesting. Compared with working in a company which mostly has promotion system, do you think teaching is careerless? How does this occupation lead you to educate your children? At the end, please describe your teaching career with one sentence. References Alsup, J. and Michael B. (2002). “The Fantasy of the ‘Seamless Transition.’” Teaching Writing in High School and College: Conversations and Collaborations. Ed. Thompson, Thomas/ Urbana, Illinois: NCTE. Binns, D. 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(2002). “Productively Contentious Discussions: Teachers Talk about the Teaching of Writing.” Teaching Writing in High School and College: Conversations and Collaborations. Ed. Thompson, Thomas/ Urbana, Illinois: NCTE. Hess, N. (2001).Teaching large multilevel classes. (pp. 2-4). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tomlinson, C. (1995). Differentiating Instruction for Advanced Learners in the Mixed-Ability Middle School Classroom.Disabilities and Gifted Education Reston VA.(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED389141). Read More