Fieldwork (Cluster 1): Interview With a Teacher

For this fieldwork assignment, I interviewed a kindergarten teacher in Valley Central School District. She has many years experience with children in this age range, and in my opinion, is wonderful at what she does. The students have a wonderful relationship with her and seem to grow and learn every day. My time in her classroom has been an enlightening experience to say the least.


Q: What effective teaching principles do you use to reach every child in your class?

A: I am continuously assessing the students in different ways, including daily observations. I keep strong records for the assessments so I can look back and use them to guide and support teaching. I also like to make sure I am teaching to different modalities: verbal, auditory, kinesthetic, visual. I give the students opportunities to do do hands-on interactive instruction whenever I can. I also really like to use a lot of group or partner work. I encourage them to discuss a topic between themselves, and then with me; I use turn-and-talks after almost every read aloud. Students are given time daily to work in centers. These are organized around the room and designed in a way for me to guide them in their choices. I like to keep a positive learning environment; positive redirection, positive problem solving. The schedule is posted daily for the students to see so they know what to anticipate through the day.


Q: What latest research are you referring to in your teaching design?

A: For ELA, the school district follows the Fountas and Pinnell Literacy Framework for instruction in:

• guided reading instruction
• shared reading
• shared writing
• interactive writing
• writing workshop
• work board centers

We refer to the Continuum of Literacy Learning to observe and plan for the "Behaviors to Notice, Teach, and Support" in order to plan for: Writing, reading, listening, and speaking. The K-5 staff are trained by Literacy Collaborative Trainers from Lesley University in the Literacy Collaborative Model. At the training, the staff was provided with over 15 resource books to utilize in planning and to guide instruction.

As for the New York State Modules, I don't feel that these modules are highly research based - I believe they were done in a hasty manner.While the concepts are mostly developmentally appropriate, the lessons and skill sheets are done in a manner that is so standardized it does not allow for any creative teaching or teaching in a way where math is integrated with literacy, science, or social studies. Also, the skill sheets are not supportive of a four, five, or six year old's way of thinking: there are many problems on a page, small counters to work with, and switch concepts on the same page.


Q: In what ways has the research on effective teaching empowered your continued learning process?

A: No matter how many trainings I attend, I feel like there is always something left to learn. We were provided with over twenty hours of initial training and coaching; currently we receive forty-eight hours of annual training and coaching as needed. I do believe the Common Core Standards can be taught in a more appropriate way, with more hands on and thoughtful way, which I try to interpret into my lesson plans.


As the teacher started talking about the effective teaching principles she uses in her classroom, I noticed many similarities to our book. She believes that children should be allowed to work together to learn in an engaging environment. Their class discussions were always so fun to watch; it was incredible to see what kind of connections the students made to what they had previously learned. She always keeps a calm and kind tone when talking to the students, even when someone was misbehaving. Students respond positively to this because, they don't feel like they are really being yelled at. She reasons with them and explains everything going on. The students never feel like they are left in a lurch or have no guidance; her directions are clear, concise, and easy to follow.

I thought it was interesting to have a teacher directly challenge the Common Core standards she was following, and agree to have me use it for class. After she showed me one of the worksheets she was using for a more or less math lesson, I could see where her concerns fell. The sheet was crowded and jumbled. She had to bring the students back to the meeting rug after every two problems so they understood what the sheet was asking for them. The next day when she went to review the same topic, she created her own activity where the accompanying worksheet was clean and simple. Students were able to complete the sheet after only one set of instructions.

I think the time I spent in this classroom has easily been the most influential and beneficial observation time I have spent in a school. Her methods for teaching students proved to be working as I watched the success of her students in each lesson.