Teacher Interview Paper

Interviewing teachers is a wonderful way for prospective teachers to learn about the world of education. Teachers love to talk to prospective teachers and share their wisdom and experience with them. I have interviewed teachers on everything from goals, learning strategies, behavior management and reasons for becoming a teacher. However, this was the first time that I was able to interview a teacher on lesson plans. I learned a great deal about lesson plans from my teacher interview and was lucky to have the opportunity to interview a teacher with a great deal of experience.

Interview

For my teacher interview I interviewed Mrs. Porter, a fifth grade teacher at Warren Elementary School in Baltimore County who has been teaching for nearly 20 years.

Mandates and guidelines make it necessary for Mrs. Porter and the other teachers at Warren to use lesson plans. However, they are not required to be sent to the principal unless they are observational lesson plans. Observation lesson plans are lesson plans to observe student growth and progress, which are done once every quarter. Most of the lesson plans come from the state curriculum, except for language arts lesson plans. These lessons normally take 20 minutes a day to prepare and an hour and a half for a whole week depending on what is being done in language arts class. I was very happy to hear Mrs. Porter state that making lessons plans becomes quicker and easier as teachers gain more knowledge and experience. The format Mrs. Porter uses is objective, goals, objectives, book or video, assessment, extensions and modifications, and homework.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Porter does not have much of a choice in what she teaches since she has to follow the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum (MVSC). While the curriculum is named voluntary, the MVSC is a mandated state program. Mrs. Porter explained that the program is called voluntary since the board of education does not want to appear too bossy or dominating. All students at Warren elementary complete a learning style inventory during the beginning of their first school year. At this point in the school year, Mrs. Porter already knows the names and learning styles of each individual student by heart.

When planning a lesson, Mrs. Porter has to follow the objectives and goals that the MVSC has set for fifth grades. The MVSC also dictates what activities Mrs. Porter has to do during a lesson. Mrs. Porter is fine with the fact that she barely has two or three minutes to engage and motivate students at the beginning of the lesson. Mrs. Porter happily states that the students are self-motivated and enjoy learning and getting good grades. Mrs. Porter likes to motivate her students by allowing them to do hands on activities and giving them a little surprise once in a while.

As an experienced teacher, Mrs. Porter has an idea of how long everything in the lesson will take and hopes for the best. While this idea may not sound too pleasant on paper, teachers have to be prepared for modifications and alterations to a lesson and consider the possibility that something might go wrong. As a teacher, Mrs. Porter is required to do a great deal of formative assessment throughout the school year. Mrs. Porter also likes to use exit slips and oral assessments as well. After a lesson is done, Mrs. Porter likes to reflect on things that worked and did not work during the lesson. Mrs. Porter uses this reflection to help decide what to include and not include in future lesson plans.

Conclusion

I was surprised to learn how little freedom teachers have when it comes to lesson plans. However, I agree with Mrs. Porter in using the philosophy that teachers have to do the best with what they have and make the most use out of the wiggle room they are provided with. I also strongly agree that intrinsic rewards should be use most of the time while extrinsic rewards should be used sparingly. Students should not expect to get a prize or reward every single time they do good work. When it comes to reflecting on lesson plans, the best thing to do is to think about what worked and did not work. Why change something that was successful and that the students enjoyed? I am glad that I had the opportunity to interview Mrs. Porter and grateful for the fact that she gave me many excellent answers.